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.
From Novel to Movie and Back
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.
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.
Summaries of the Novel
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.
Episode 3 – Byosoku 5 Centimeters
I hope you have a better understanding of the movie after reading the above, 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“.
Or if you’re one of the people who wonder why Shinkai didn’t give this movie a happy ending, check out his response when someone asked him that very question.
English
日本語
繁體中文
