Time Traveller: The Girl Who Leapt Through Time
Here is a story that has been done repeatedly over in Japan, repeatedly. After extensive research (or you know, the out reaches of a certain website), I will tell you this, it started off as a book published in 1967 that would later go on to become a 1972 television series. Then in 1983 a direct book adaptation transpired which launched a song, followed by a short story parody. In 1985, a Japanese drama based one of its on the book and then 9 years later, a five episode television series occurred. And another film was made in 1997. By 2002, a television movie starring a famous pop band happened. In 2005, there was a manga, 2006 an anime and 2010 another live action movie.
Guess which version we are going to talk about now?
That’s right, the latest one only because I didn’t know about the rest until now but sure enough, after falling head first into this plot, I will be leaping through time to find them. The Girl Who Leapt Through Time centres on Akari, a young teenage girl whose mother is the leading scientist in finding a time travelling potion. When the mother ends up in a horrible accident, she instructs Akari to use the elixir to find a mysterious man of her mother’s past. But the young girl messes up the date and winds up two years off from the actual date. She now has to race against time (we will get to that,) in order to complete the mission.
Akari, played by Riisa Naka, is a great actress. She is absolutely adorable and has this endearing quality making her journey a little bit more special. This likeable time travelling movie isn’t meant to be taken seriously and the draw of her performance keeps you bouncing along on this (rather ridiculous) movie. Helped along by Ryota, a boy she meets in the past, this is a delightful movie that will warm your cockles on a winter’s month.
The most pivotal point here, despite the unusual relationship with what would be her father’s best friend in the past, is the wonderful relationship between mother and daughter. As a brilliantly intelligent single mother/scientist, the pair are so good together that it is the strong crux that holds the story together as Akari is simply trying so hard to save her mother, or a memory of her mothers.
Ok so the end may seem a little contentious with a ridiculous ending, not to mention truly heart breaking moment. However, it is funny and a really good. It’s an enjoyable quest into time travel that doesn’t involve aliens or a mad man in a blue box; just a sneak peak look at Japan in the Seventies and some great moments with a bit of a brutal end.
It is also nice to watch a Japanese film that doesn’t revolve around ghosts, death or bloody murder.
Lovely.