byousoku go senchimeitoru
You know what? Don’t even bother looking for this one, because I’m going to try to force you to watch it with me eventually anyway.
Okay, I recently tried to defend myself when I was slighted by a friend who soundly rejected a suggestion I made when it came time to watch a DVD. In this defense, I said that I wasn’t the kind of person who had a stack of movies that were required viewing in order for a person to qualify as my friend. Now, in defense of this defense, it recently came to my attention that two members of that elite circle, both of whom I’ve known for well over a decade, revealed to me early this year that they had not yet watched Road House. Now, while a part of me felt like a failure as a friend and a human being in general upon hearing each of these independent admissions, I remembered that I try not to force anything on the people I like. Even when it involves the indisputable awesomeness of Patrick Swayze. Instead, aware of my mediaslave status, I rely on the fact that I’ve taken in a wide enough range of stimuli that I feel comfortable tailoring my suggestions to each of you.
That said, I’ve found something that, more than any of Tarantino or Wong Kar-Wai‘s movies, more than Suzumiya Haruhi no Yuuutsu or Evangelion, more than Battle Royale, I think you should see. And if you’re not into it, maybe we need to talk for a while. Otherwise, you’re missing something significant in how I can try to appreciate a world that I normally find hideously repulsive. Admittedly, your missing out on such insight may very well actually be a win for you. Nevertheless, Byousoku Go Senchimeitoru (Five Centimeters per Second), the latest entry in an impeccable series of efforts from Shinkai Makoto is singular in its impressiveness. Because of its US DVD release this week, I wrote up a review for New York-Tokyo. If I’d bothered to think about it, I wouldn’t have been surprised, but this passage that was intended for you was neatly snipped out of the piece for posting over there:
Obviously, art is subjective by definition and visual art has a wide range of methodology and goals, none of which can be deemed unquestionably more worthwhile than any others. However, if you don’t think Shinkai produces some of the most emotive, striking, and uniquely impressive visuals in animated work, you’re just wrong. And I hate you.
The rest of the review is largely written to be read by people for whom I don’t give a shit if they like it or not, but I need to tell you that one of the reasons I’ve expended so much energy in trying to understand and adapt a Japanese mindset for the last couple years is because I’ve been made to actively dislike myself and the way I went about trying to be happy in the past. Now, changing the very thing that once made me so proud of who I was has proven to be problematic at best and nigh-impossible at worst. Still, trying to embrace one aspect of Japanese thinking which is so perfectly encapsulated in this anime has helped me take baby steps toward my goal.
I was having a conversation with my friend Rie a couple months ago that struck me as typical of this particular perspective, where she asked me if I’d ever had a dream in which I could fly. I told her that I had, and it sucked, because when I woke up, I knew I couldn’t fly and I’d spend the rest of my days trying to recapture that wondrous feeling of freedom. She told me she was jealous of me, because she had never had such a dream and therefore had never even had the chance to know that feeling. At this point in time, I realize that I’m still just an impatient, bratty only child who knows little about patience and growth that comes from surviving and withstanding hardship. But some part of me hopes that I too will one day be able to romanticize and revere the fact that this constant, empty, aching, insatiable desire for something impossible has replaced the part of me that was once able to love.
Maybe we can try to continue this conversation after we’ve all watched the movie.