NINJA SCROLL (1993)

Back in the day, a freelance ninja (Kibagami Jubei) is walking across a bridge minding his own business, when out of nowhere some bandit buttholes try to jack his shit, but instead he murders the fuck out of them fools. Skip forward a little bit and this totally badass stone guy (like literally made out of rock) brutally murders an entire group of highly skilled ninjas. Shit happens and the next thing you know, Jubei is being hunted by a mysterious group of freak monster assassins! It's awesome!

 

I remember first watching NINJA SCROLL on VHS back in the 1990's and thinking it was badass.  And it was.  Watching it again now (January 2021), it still starts out really strong, but definitely runs out of steam by the last act.  That said, it's 100% worth watching for anybody interested in animation and/or just looking for a good movie to watch.

STORMY NIGHT (2005)

Caught in a violent thunderstorm a young goat, Mei, is separated from his friends and takes shelter in an old barn. A little later somebody else comes in the barn, but it's too dark to see who it is. Mei is scared and believing that it's another goat he starts talking to the stranger. But the stranger isn't a goat, it's a wolf! His name is Gabu and he thinks the stranger is a fellow wolf so they keep taking. By the time the storm ends they are friends and even agree to meet the next day in front of the barn for lunch. There secret password to recognize each other is "stormy night". When they meet face to face the next day they are both shocked, but the bond they built the night before is strong and over time their friendship becomes stronger and stronger.

It'd be cruel to tell you anymore. The story is filled with lots of cute moments, but it's also pretty serious. The animation is simple, but very beautiful and I thought it fit the story well. Very sweet film and it deserves a bigger audience (like maybe an official Blu-Ray release here in America) so I say check it out!

THE PLACE PROMISED IN OUR EARLY DAYS (2004)

I'm glad I saw 5 CENTIMETERS PER SECOND before I saw this film. Otherwise I might have just skipped over 5 CENTIMETERS all together. TPPIOED is a beautifully animated film, but it's fucking sloooow. 5 CENTIMETERS was light years better.

In an alternate post-WWII universe Japan is divided into two sections. There is this huge tower climbing all the way into the clouds and coming out of that tower is another universe, but Earth is safe because the invading universe is held back by the dreams of a young girl who's been asleep for 3 years. Confused yet? So was I and I'm not a hundred percent sure I even got that right.

There's also two teenage boys who are making their own airplane to go and see the tower up close. They discover the story about the sleeping girl so...ohhhh I'm so confused! The animation is gorgeous, but the script is a mess. After 5 CENTIMETERS I was really excited about this movie, but it bored me to tears. I'll never watch it ever again.

THE GIRL WHO LEAPT THROUGH TIME (2006)

[Update 01/10/2021: Going to rewatch this and fix the review and replace the screenshots with better ones.]

Makoto is an average teenage girl until one day she accidentally gains the power to literally jump back in time. The farther she jumps, the further she goes back. At first she's very confused, but then starts to have fun and does all kinds of wacky stuff (ace the math test, sing karaoke with her friends for 10 hours, etc.) but then she realizes that all the jumping through time can mess stuff up so now it kinda gets like GROUNDHOG DAY where she has to get everything right. Things get even more complicated when...well, I ain't gonna tell you and ruin it for you, but I'll just say there's some romance shit involved and it's awesome.

Overall a very enjoyable time travel movie. Not as great as say BACK TO THE FUTURE, MY SASSY GIRL or CYBORG GIRL, but still a lot of fun to watch. I especially enjoyed the montage where she first gets her power. All the wrecking she does when she lands was hilarious: "How does somebody even fall like that?!"

In a strange turn of events I actually liked the English language audio better than the original Japanese one. Whoever did the English voice of Makoto did a amazing job. I also liked the music a lot. Very low key, but still moving.

Could have been a few minutes shorter to streamline things a bit, but still very much worth watching if you like anime or time travel.

Live-action version - Time Traveler: The Girl Who Leapt Through Time (2010)

5 CENTIMETERS PER SECOND (2007)

Hmm, I think I'm going to have to kill my cleaning woman cause it suddenly got really dusty in my living room towards the end of this movie. Did I say kill? I meant fire.

Told in three segments, 5CPS is the touching story of a young teenager, Takaki, who changes schools a lot. He falls in love with Akari and even though they try to continue their innocent relationship after he moves they eventually drift apart over time. During this period he moves even farther away to yet another school and here a young girl, Kanae, secretly falls in love with him. They become friends, but he always seems distant.

5 CENTIMETERS PER SECOND is an amazing film in every way. The story is mature, well told and touching; the music is perfect; the voice acting is emotional and the animation is beautiful! Not only is it jaw-dropping just to look at, but the cinematography so natural in it's movements that you forget at moments that you're even watching a goddamn cartoon. I was so impressed that I actually watched it twice back-to-back. Highly recommended for lovers of animation and/or romantic motherfuckers like myself.