5 Centimetres per Second Novel

Below you’ll find three links to posts where I’ve spent time making a detailed comparison between the 63 minute animated movie and 163 page novelised version of Makoto Shinkai’s “5 Centimeters per Second“, otherwise known as “Byosoku 5 Centimeters” in Japan.

This was his third commercial movie and was one that originally started out as a series of draft short stories that he wrote before picking out three of the best to use. One of the ten stories he wrote and didn’t use was “The Sky Outside the Window” and was included in the Japanese limited edition DVD.

The “5 Centimeters per Second” collection.

This official novel is a result of rewriting those draft stories he picked and is also the first to be written by himself personally. Previous novels such as the one for “The Place Promised in Our Early Days” weren’t written by him.

Managed to get it signed when Makoto Shinkai appeared at the Anime Now weekend down in London.

Please be aware that what you find here are not intended to be full translations of the novel that was released on 16th November 2007. I have only summarised the parts of the novel which I felt was new or different from the movie thus, I recommend you have already watched the movie before reading on.

I hope they help give you a better understanding of the movie, in particular the last episode. And if after reading, you still want to know more about 5cm or enjoy its artwork then, check out Makoto Shinkai’s artbook, “Sora no Kiseki“.

Oukashou
Episode 1 - Oukashou

5cm - Cosmonaut
Episode 2 - Cosmonaut

5cm - Byosoku 5cm
Episode 3 - Byosoku 5 Centimeters

5 Responses to “5 Centimetres per Second Novel”

  1. The sky is the limit « the last arial, on May 10th, 2008 at 5:48 pm Said:

    [...] purchase Japanese novels, mainly because my Japanese reading comprehension is beyond pitiful, but Xcomp’s Yuuenchi’s blog has done such a cracking job of selling this book to me that he should be getting a [...]

  2. Ray, on July 8th, 2008 at 10:22 am Said:

    interesting website of a chinese company producing.. anime

    http://www.l-key.com

    there’s a trailer to 2nd life always remember

    http://tracker.anirena.com/download.php?id=9420

    go watch it and tell me what you think

  3. Xcomp, on July 8th, 2008 at 12:09 pm Said:

    I’ve watched it. Omo pointed it out on his blog a while ago.

    I like the idea about how the more one recalls a memory, the more it becomes an illusion. The artwork and music’s very similar to Shinkai’s work too but, I feel the build up and story telling isn’t as good.

  4. Ecko, on August 30th, 2008 at 3:30 pm Said:

    Want a video clip screensaver?..I like the movie very much so I made one a while ago. Just want to share it. Its not much and improvements can make it much better.

    Made it using Instant Storm and Xilisoft Video Converter Ultimate.

    Here’s the links:
    http://rapidshare.com/files/141314345/5cmA.exe.html
    http://rapidshare.com/files/141313282/5cmB.exe.html

  5. Ecko, on August 30th, 2008 at 3:41 pm Said:

    video-clip screensaver song
    by Tenmon
    - One more Time One more Chance -

    http://rapidshare.com/files/141317513/5cmSONG.exe.html

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