5 Centimeters Per Second ( 秒速5センチメートル) is a slice of life romance manga adaption of the movie of the same name by Shinkai Makoto. The two volume adaption came out between 2010-2011 and was illustrated by Yukiko Seike.
The story follows Tono Takaki in a few phases of his life. In the beginning he is a loner grade-schooler who finds a soul mate in fellow frequent transfer student Shinohara Akari. They share a deep interest in reading and learning. Akari ends up having to transfer away before middle school but the pair continue to keep in contact with letters. Before high school it is Takaki's turn to transfer again. This time he is moving to Tanegashima in southern Japan and will be very far away from Akari. They make a secret plan to meet one last time before they are separated by half of the country. The trip is stalled by a snow storm, causing it to take twice as long. In the end they confide in their deep feelings for each other and sorrowfully move forward, apart.
The second part is with Takaki nearing the end of his high school career in Tanegashima. The story this time is told from the perspective of Sumida Kanae, a girl in his grade who has a strong crush on him. Kanae struggles with whether she will ever be able to reach through to Takaki and if her feelings will be reciprocated. While he is popular, friendly and kind to everyone there is a sadness and distraction that Kanae senses from him. She knows there is someone holding his attention and he will leave the island as soon as possible to return to Tokyo, where she suspects this mystery person resides.
The third part finds Takaki years later in Tokyo, working as a salaryman, living an unfulfilling life. He does not understand what he will gain out of life and only continues on with his existence due to having little other options. To some extent he has tried to move away from Akari and has been dating a girl for a few years, but he is uncertain if he can truly provide her with the attention she deserves.
Much like the manga adaption of Voices of a Distant Star, this manga rendition of the award winning movie by Shinkai works to expand the world more through expanded dialogue and additional scenes. The manga faithfully includes the majority of the scenes and segments of the movie and interjects more parts. The first part is mostly unaltered but the expansion really kicks in with the 2nd and 3rd parts. In addition to this there is an expanded afterward that wasn't even hinted at in the movie. For fan's of this movie the expanded parts of the manga do well to solidify the stories core and to further flesh out the characters.
Art wise it is not as impactful as the amazing animation and coloring from the movie. The movie is fantastically beautiful and breath taking in the attention to the world around you. Due to the constraints of the medium of the manga it struggles to match that. It does well to recreate many iconic scenes from the movie but the lack of color and motion dull their impact. But that's not to say the artwork is bad, because it isn't, it just has to stand against the movie, which is hard to do.
It was great to return to this story, which I really really enjoy, in a new way finally. If only Shinkai would remake the movie and incorporate these additional segments into it, of better yet, he needs to make a short series instead of constraining himself to an hour or and hour and a half.
The manga is available through Vertical and can be purchased pretty easily. If you have not checked it out and are a fan of Shinkai's work this belongs in your collection.
The story follows Tono Takaki in a few phases of his life. In the beginning he is a loner grade-schooler who finds a soul mate in fellow frequent transfer student Shinohara Akari. They share a deep interest in reading and learning. Akari ends up having to transfer away before middle school but the pair continue to keep in contact with letters. Before high school it is Takaki's turn to transfer again. This time he is moving to Tanegashima in southern Japan and will be very far away from Akari. They make a secret plan to meet one last time before they are separated by half of the country. The trip is stalled by a snow storm, causing it to take twice as long. In the end they confide in their deep feelings for each other and sorrowfully move forward, apart.
The second part is with Takaki nearing the end of his high school career in Tanegashima. The story this time is told from the perspective of Sumida Kanae, a girl in his grade who has a strong crush on him. Kanae struggles with whether she will ever be able to reach through to Takaki and if her feelings will be reciprocated. While he is popular, friendly and kind to everyone there is a sadness and distraction that Kanae senses from him. She knows there is someone holding his attention and he will leave the island as soon as possible to return to Tokyo, where she suspects this mystery person resides.
The third part finds Takaki years later in Tokyo, working as a salaryman, living an unfulfilling life. He does not understand what he will gain out of life and only continues on with his existence due to having little other options. To some extent he has tried to move away from Akari and has been dating a girl for a few years, but he is uncertain if he can truly provide her with the attention she deserves.
Much like the manga adaption of Voices of a Distant Star, this manga rendition of the award winning movie by Shinkai works to expand the world more through expanded dialogue and additional scenes. The manga faithfully includes the majority of the scenes and segments of the movie and interjects more parts. The first part is mostly unaltered but the expansion really kicks in with the 2nd and 3rd parts. In addition to this there is an expanded afterward that wasn't even hinted at in the movie. For fan's of this movie the expanded parts of the manga do well to solidify the stories core and to further flesh out the characters.
Art wise it is not as impactful as the amazing animation and coloring from the movie. The movie is fantastically beautiful and breath taking in the attention to the world around you. Due to the constraints of the medium of the manga it struggles to match that. It does well to recreate many iconic scenes from the movie but the lack of color and motion dull their impact. But that's not to say the artwork is bad, because it isn't, it just has to stand against the movie, which is hard to do.
It was great to return to this story, which I really really enjoy, in a new way finally. If only Shinkai would remake the movie and incorporate these additional segments into it, of better yet, he needs to make a short series instead of constraining himself to an hour or and hour and a half.
The manga is available through Vertical and can be purchased pretty easily. If you have not checked it out and are a fan of Shinkai's work this belongs in your collection.
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