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5 Centimeters per Second Limited Edition DVD Arrives with Interesting Booklet and Short Story

5 Centimeters per Second Anime Reviews

5 Centimeters per Second Limited Edition DVD Arrives with Interesting Booklet and Short Story

Yes, after watching a downloaded copy I liked the movie so much I decided to shell out for it. My limited edition of "Byousoku 5 Centimeters" arrived from Play-Asia safely this morning with no custom charges. The last time I tried ordering a Japanese DVD, they taxed me around £10 or so... Originally I was planning to order from the customs free Yes-Asia but I hesitated and they ran out of stock before I could order.

I'm very pleased with the purchase because it contains the sort of content I wanted from such a beautifully drawn and written movie.

Photo 1

The box itself contains 2 DVD cases, the main movie case and bonus case.

Photo 2

Photo 3

Inside the movie case is of course the movie disc itself and also the two limited edition items, a 20 page booklet and a film strip.

Photo 4

The film strip seems to be random because on fellow Anime fan Kurogane's blog, he has one with shots of the train station. As you can see I got the scene where Takaki's waiting for the delayed trains. I would have preferred the happy little scene where Akari and Takaki were eating together but, this is still pretty good.

Photo 5

The scene itself from the movie.

Scene from film.

Looks like it's supposed to be an actual cut from the reel used in the cinemas. There's a notice at the back of the box saying so and that "there maybe scratches".

BTW, if anyone else gets this limited edition DVD too then, please do leave a comment here and let me know which part of the film you managed get. I would be very interested to know! Who knows... Maybe we'll swap! (Just kidding!)

Box

The menu from the movie DVD. Besides the movie itself there's also two trailers and a huge 36 minute interview with Shinkai. Unfortunately, there is no English subtitles for those of you wondering.

Movie DVD Menu

Here's the booklet itself. I've only taken out the few pages that I thought would be of interest.

Photo 5

The first page with the movie's tagline:
どれほどの速さで生きれば、きみにまた会えるのか。
"What speed do I have to live at to see you again?"

Followed by the next page with a long introduction about how the movie all started.

Photo 7

For this third commercial title, Shinkai wanted to shrink the world setting further. In his first title "Voices of a Distant Star" there was outer space and in "Beyond the Clouds", there was the country's borderline between states. This time he didn't want a sci-fi setting but an everyday environment.

To start off, he drew up sketches and wrote various draft short stories with different characters and themes. He then picked the ones that would be easy to make into a movie and began production with the storyboarding. What began as something that Shinkai thought would be a quick piece of work, ended up being longer than planned as it became a series of short stories. It was around June 2005 before he began to draw up the plans for the movie. Memories of producing his last work "Beyond the Clouds" were thinning so he felt it was time he tried to make something new.

However he was unsure about how to go about his work until one night he wanders outside to take a break and with an empty stomach, he walked into a convenience store. He can't remember how many times he went there but, he heard Masayoshi Yamasaki's song "One more chance, One more time" which encouraged him, giving him the confirmation he needed about what he wanted in his movie; a sense of something lost yet was never there in the first place.

When he heard the song Shinkai had thought, "Our lives are like the pop song; we grow stronger as our personal experiences build upon one another and we get caught up in this consumer's society but yet, we can certainly feel how beautiful life is. Hearing the song has helped me confirm that."

If you watched the entire three part movie already, you'll know it just so happens there's a scene where Takaki hears the song at a convenience store too...

Takaki at the convenient store.

Another interesting note Shinkai made in the intro was that when the movie premièred in Shibuya, the date was March 3rd 2007. This just happened to be the day before Takaki set out to meet Akari again. What a coincidence.

Here is a summary of the 3 parts of the movie which confirms the dates I came up with in my previous post. It also contains some other details not mentioned in the movie.

Photo 8

If you're interested in a fuller summary, you can visit my first 5cm post.

Oukashou
It was the end of the Winter season in 1995 when Akari and Takaki decided to meet up again during junior high school.

Cosmonaut
The scenes that take place between Takaki and Kanae happen in their third year of senior high in 1999.

5 Centimeters per Second
It's the year 2007 and Takaki is working as a "system engineer" in Tokyo. For years he has been working until late night everyday at his workplace. He breaks up with Risa towards the end of the year who he has been having a relationship with for 3 years. In 2008, Takaki quits his job. He felt there were many reasons why he quit but none of them he could accept himself.

Photo 9

Above is one of the 10 short stories Shinkai drafted up before writing up the plans for the 5cm movie. It's called "Mado no Soto no Sora (The Sky Outside the Window)". You can read a rough translation of the story in a later post. I think there's quite a bit of philosophy in the story.

Below Shinkai sets out to do some location hunting in 2005 between September and October. You can see the same photos in the bonus DVD but here, you can see a direct comparison between the final Anime version and the actual photos. The team took over 5000 photos while shooting at Tanegashima for "Cosmonaut".

Photo 10

Shinkai done the storyboarding using coloured pencils. He used a total of around 300 A4 pages (the bundle of paper you see in the top-left below) and 980 cuts were made to create the final movie. They then scanned in the drawings frame by frame for a rough draft and sound was processed using Soundtrack Pro for the MAC.

Photo 11

Shinkai making corrections as the staff works to produce the movie. They used Adobe Photoshop for the rendering.

Photo 12

Again here the team uses Photoshop as they transform the photos they took.

Photo 13

Here's the bonus DVD case containing the bonus disc that features:

Bonus DVD Menu

  • The storyboard version of the movie.
  • Streaming version of "Oukashou" that shown on Yahoo.
  • Special edition PV of the song "One more time, One more chance."
  • Interviews with the cast.
  • A photo slideshow of the production process.

Photo 14

There's also the 11 track OST CD which unfortunately, doesn't contain the vocal version of the theme song but the music's still good. "Sora to Umi no Shi (A Poem of the Skies and Sea" and the "End Theme" would probably be my favourite tracks. The full listing is:

  1. Oukashou
  2. Memories are Distant Days
  3. Uneasiness
  4. A Station in the Snow
  5. Kiss
  6. Kanae's Feelings
  7. A Dream
  8. A Poem of the Skies and Sea
  9. Feelings that won't Reach
  10. End Theme
  11. One more time, One more Chance (Piano Version)

Never knew that both the composer Tenmon and Shinkai previously worked for one of my favourite Japanese RPG developers, Falcom! No wonder the artwork and the OST is so good!

Interview with Makoto Shinkai


後ろの絵をスクリーンセーバーとして欲しいなぁ(笑)
I want those pictures in the background as a screensaver!

Photo 15


お疲れ様でした、5cmのみなさん!

A truely great movie even though it may bring back some bitter memories for some. Now I must keep an eye on Shinkai's site and other news sites for the novel's release date.

6/3/2024 Update:

After 17 years Shinkai reveals an unused poster that's just slightly different to the one when Takaki heads off to Tochigi in the very first part of the movie to meet Akari.

Doesn't quite work does it with the young him walking towards grown-up Akari? Especially considering how the story ends.

Why not take a break?

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#1

Ela


OMG! the cute little cat! :X:X I want it!

Reply

#2

Gemabuluk


gosh, thanks for the writing, LHY! i love mr shinkai's works very much, too.

keep posting for newest info about mr shinkai's works. *ctrl+d your blog ha3*

Reply

#3

Xcomp Author


Thanks for the response!

I think it would probably be more economical to just buy the film reel itself than trying to collect all the film strips, lol.

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#4

MHMorpheus7


I was unlucky.
My filmstrip shows only the snow covered town and night sky.
I´d rather have the (more colorful) cherry blossom scene or the passing trains scene.


I too have been wondering if all the strips come from the same reel, and if there aren´t repeated strips scenes.
And if someone gathers all the strips, would one have a whole film?
Well, anyway I think it´s impossible to gather all filmstrips, as they are scattered all around the world (mine is here in Brazil, got it while living in Japan).


Jaa nee!

P.S: sorry for eventual english mistakes. ^^'

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#5

5 Centimeters Per Second - Special Edition Japan DVD Set (review) « ディエゴの日々


[...] = Mine! (details above) 15:13 = Kurogane 15:47 = Xcomp 20:09 = Yahoo! Auctions Japan (indirectly referenced through Xcomp) 29:30 = Yahoo! Auctions Japan [...]

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#6

Xcomp Author


Thanks for the response, Diego.

It doesn't say but even if it wasn't cut from the première reel, I think it's good to have something that you wouldn't normally be able to just go to a shop and buy anyway. You'll also look at it and remember it was used when the movie was shown in the cinemas once and that it's not just a fake piece of plastic someone made (providing the box notice is telling the truth). A nice collector's item.

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#7

Diego


My filmstrip's from about 12 minutes in, when Takaki's train was stuck at Kuki station. The lad is standing by the open door of the carriage; a puff of frozen breath forms and dissipates in the air as he raises his left arm to check his watch; an old man is shivering in his seat behind him.

Incidentally, is there anything special about the reel these clips were taken from? (Assuming they're all from the same reel, that is.) Or did they simply pick one of many ordinary prints and chop it up for the LE boxsets?

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#8

Eric


@Xcomp

The scene's around 31:10 or so ... I was a bit unlucky, a few seconds earlier would've given me a blushing Kanae ^^

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#9

Xcomp


There's two limited editions available just now.

The one you see here is the Japanese edition which you can import from Play-Asia. It comes with everything I've pictured here but has no English subtitles.

Then there's the Hong Kong version that Coldplayer bought which doesn't come with the OST or film strip but has English subtitles. You can import it from YesAsia.

Or you can always wait for ADV's English release which is out on March 4th apparently but I don't know if they'll be releasing a special edition like this.

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#10

Nincha


Hey..I'm from germany..and i want to watch this anime too T.T but where could i get this dvd box??pleas help me T.T

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#11

Xcomp


Z-Itou16,
What gave you the idea I got it from Shinkai...? I bought it from Play-Asia ^^;

Yang,
If it's the Japanese LE you ordered, I hope you get a good scene for the film strip!

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#12

Yang


hi, just want to thank you for such an in depth presentation, plus the translation, i was able to order my dvd box with confidence, even though i'm only beginning to learn some Japanese words n.n

can't wait to see what comes in the mail! and also for the translation of the short story~ i'm sure that'd save me hours of looking it up on babelfish, haha, thanks again!

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#13

Z-itou16


WOW...i envy so hard...waooooo you got the dvd from shinkai-san.....WAOOOO that is so so so so so so so so GREAT!!! Shinkai-san is my hero, so is Tenmon, for me those 2 are the best combination... man i am so happy for you, waoooo.. just by looking at the boxes i cant stand my happiness...

hey take care of it ok, these are animation made by God (makoko shinkai and comixwave)

good luck and peace to everyone

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#14

Soaxportal


eeeeegh man!

do u have those pictures?? are so cool T.T

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#15

Coldplayer


Ah I see. That helps, thanks. Well in any case, sooner or later, Madman should release 5 cent, dubbed of cause, hopefully there be a limited edition version available for us Aussies.

Thanks again mate! Bye!

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#16

Xcomp


Thanks for the pics!

You have the Chinese LE release which doesn't come with the film strip and OST like the Japanese version I have here. Postcards are included instead. I think it's still a good inclusion though because the artwork's beautifully done!

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#17

Coldplayer


Oh, but I did get 4 awesome Postcards with mine, Don't know if u guys got them. Enclosed in a really nice envelope too.

Oh and u got a OST Disc as well? I got burned! must of got a later version of the Limeted edition, Because im lacking that on my front. Even the back of my box is different.

I've taken some shots, of what i got, here.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/22769623@N07/

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#18

Coldplayer


Well i got mine a few weeks back here in Auz, but the most dissapointing thing for me was that i didn't get a film strip with mine. The one thing that i was realy excited about, apart from actualy getting 5 cent, it's self. So i lucked out. a real shame. Still! i loved it, though i didn't cry like i did with in our early days.... Man, Growing up sux. im losing all my emotion. Sux, Sux!

Thanks for the heads up on the Play-Asia release. Your wonderfull! bye!

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#19

Xcomp


@Eric

I can't exactly remember which part that is but, thanks for the reply!

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#20

Eric


My filmstrip's from the evening scene in Kanae's narration describing her meeting Takaki, the classroom view with two girls chatting in front ...

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#21

Marnix Warren


I really loved this anime. Thanks for the soundtrack list. I only had it in Japanese, so my translated titles were close but rough. I wish I could get my hands on this. I'll just have to wait until December.

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#22

Travis


If my Japanese language skills were better I would have tried to get this limited edition DVD but I am afraid I will have to wait for ADV. Oh well. Anyway, I watched a fansub of this last night and was very impressed. As you mention in your last paragraph it did bring us some bitter and difficult memories but sadness like this is part of life and sometimes it is good to bring back some of those feelings and memories. I find Shinkai's work always has a simple and universal emotional core that is easily accessible to others, one that allows me to easily identify with his characters and feel the emotions attached to them. That would probably be my greatest draw to his films.

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