Byousoku 5cm: I miss you, I miss you so far
I have about nine entries in my feedreader’s Byousoku news bin that I’ve skimmed through briefly for fear of them influencing my review (yeah, you people sure can write). They’re all related to 5cm, but I’ve noticed two things they’ve neglected to point out, and this will therefore constitute most of what I’m going to say, if not all.
Do we take our ability to interpret symbolism and less coherent storylines in anime for granted? How much life experience do you have to have before you can relate to issues like what Byousoku addresses? I say this since I saw 5cm twice; the first time alone, in the middle of the night, and the second time with a group of about eight friends. The contrast between my reactions and theirs were large, to say the least, and I was left wondering if I liked 5cm only due to my exposure to both.
and the collision of your kiss that made it so hard, made it so hard
First of all, though, I loved 5cm for its brutally honest portrayal of love separated through distance. We all know by now how Makoto Shinkai must have been separated at some point in his life from a loved one of his, and we’ve seen proof of it in Voices of a Distant Star and Beyond the Clouds, That Promised Place. We get how he’s so obsessed with romanticising the concept, even to the point of beating us over our heads with the same theme from different angles.
The real-life angle that he took this time around was comforting. A far cry from the dramatised Voices or fantastical Beyond, it was like watching an animated version of Crying Out Love, In the Center of the World with less pure love fluff and more realism. I liked how the pacing ebbed away through the chapters, as if to illustrate how a relationship gradually fades into nothing with distance. Oukashou was intense and held my attention throughout; Cosmonaut was languid and subdued; Byousoku 5cm was wistful.
Which brings me to my first question: How much life experience must you have to appreciate 5cm? I say this because I know that it’s definitely a requirement from what I’ve observed; my 11 year-old sister, while finding H&C funny, thought that it was “too emo” for its own good. So there definitely has to be some sort of pre-requisite in having “lived out” that part before you can begin to relate or identify to the characters on-screen.
What I regard as an innate weakness of Shinkai’s work so far from what he’s done (not counting She and Her Cat since I haven’t seen that one) is that he panders to the long-distance relationship survivor, like moe panders to the otaku. The reactions I got from the group I showed it to were mixed: “unrealistic emotions”, or a total lack of suspension of belief like “why didn’t they use handphones (in Oukashou)?” Nevermind how it was 1995 and handphones weren’t exactly available then, the only person who truly enjoyed it was a fellow otaku in the group who smiled when I asked him and said “it’s meant for people like us”.
“People like us”? Are we, the anime-consuming people, special in any sense to say the least? I realised I was expecting too much out of a bunch of people I very well know haven’t ventured beyond anything more thought-provoking than the standard Hollywood mainstream flick, which is where my second question comes in: do we take anime for granted? I say this due to 5cm’s potentially confusing storyline where the meta-narrative is scarce, the blanks only filled in at the end, and, in the words of another friend, “without a proper ending”.
I’ve mentioned previously in my H&C live action review that watching a show with a bunch of people who don’t know much anime helps you see it through their eyes, as it were, and now I’m wondering if I “got” 5cm only due to my previous exposure to other stuff in the same vein. This does not necessarily diminish 5cm’s value as it were, but I went into my efforts with showing 5cm to my friends assuming that they would enjoy it as much as I would, only to come back with mixed reactions.
That aside, I think that 5cm, while not necessarily better than Beyond the Clouds, shows off Shinkai’s ability to diversify, although he really needs to move on from this “distance” theme because I’m sick of it. While Beyond felt like an extended version of the various trailers (they spoiled that much) it had parallels with 5cm that I felt didn’t challenge his abilities as a writer; Pireze points out here how the disillusioned, wandering male protagonist monologue in the city has been done before.
while Omo found the “1000 messages” to be a nod to Voices, I on the other hand chuckled at the “hikouki?” indirectly referencing Beyond. remember how we watched that damn trailer for 2 and a half years?
To elaborate a little more about what I said regarding pandering earlier: it’s something not everyone necessarily goes through. The problem with identification is its endlessly subjective nature and how one person might find it more tragic than another, who might not get it at all. Impz, for example, cried when watching it. While I didn’t, I was struck breathless by how honest the range of emotions portrayed were (in Oukashou especially), from the breathless anticipation before meeting for the first time in ages, to the one-sided, pained silence of unrequited love, to the detached feelings that come with reflecting on the past.
Could the same be said if I had not gone through those feelings before? While 5cm wasn’t aimed at a young age group, there are the same people I know of in the group I showed 5cm to (South-East Asian, Christian, middle-class conservative) whom I’m pretty sure have led relatively tame love-lifes, if they’ve even had one at all.
It’s an issue of sympathy v.s. empathy. While it’s one thing to make that connection and feel sorry for a character on-screen, there’s the other matter of feeling what Takaki, or Akari, or Kanae felt, which, in my opinion, lends for a deeper understanding of 5cm as a whole. Does 5cm work playing on sympathy? I’m doubtful of it. Without having known what it’s like to understand even a little of what any of the characters went through, 5cm becomes another Sappy Romance Movie, albeit a very beautifully animated one. What do you think?
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I have noticed Byousoku 5cm to be one of the more heavily-analysed/reviewed films so far this year (in terms of bloggers). Whilst I would not go so far to say that such a reaction indicates the quality of a film, I think that it does show that it resonated with us on quite a deep level. And it is no surprise for an anime film to appeal to anime fans (I hesitate to use the word ‘otaku’). The various references to Shinkai’s older works add ’service’ for the followers of his films.
“How much life experience” should be quite easily indicated by the perceived target audience. This is not a film for little kids, who have little or no understanding of the tuggings of adolescent love, nor is it necessarily for people like 50 year olds with a stable life, having cast away their foolish adolescent years. The target audience is between 17 and 40. What your friend meant by “people like us” is less a reference to anime experience as to possibly the state of our love lives.
It might be stereotyping generally, but many anime-lovers have pretty pathetic love lives (me included), but that does not in any sense mean that we have not experienced what the character Takaki has. It’s like a universal experience insofar as the core target audience goes. The similarity of the emotions portrayed in this film to my own enhances the empathy that I feel. If a viewer is watching the film and feels sympathy, then the film is not for that viewer.
icie: I brought these two issues up because it felt, to me at any rate, that it seemed, after seeing my friends’ reactions, like 5cm was nothing more than an echo chamber; what’s the use of a movie being so pretty, stylised, and emotive if it’s only going to be understood by a small sub-culture?
In the end if 5cm doesn’t allow more than a select few to grasp its brilliance, would it really be doing its content justice? That’s what I’m trying to get at, and maybe you guys can help me answer that question, because I’m still wondering.
I think the culture rather than the medium accounts for the things you noticed. Emotional distance and unrequited love are to Japanese romance as “love will conquer all” is to western romance. Just about every Japanese live action romance is some kind of lament.
The only reason we _strongly_ associate those themes with Makoto Shinkai’s work because he makes it explicit with physical distance (a clever parallel at first, but getting old). So I think weeaboos get this type of story because we understand the usual conventions. Also it’s a pretty minimal film, so if you can’t read the subtext or use conventions to interpret the directors intention it’s just going to lack meaning.
somewhere along the line, you regained “intelligence”
Owen S: I am really not so sure if a film appealing to its target (albeit niche) audience is such a problematic thing. Perhaps I am being overly post-modern, but this film, like most other texts, give back to its viewers in equal amounts the emotions and knowledge that the viewers bring to it. What we get from it is in every way a subjective experience. If we acknowledge that we need to study context and linguistic conventions to “properly appreciate” Shakespeare, then it also makes sense that we need to have in place the proper framework to appreciate the nuances of Byousoku 5cm, be it cultural understanding, or experiences of lost love.
That said, I find it quite incredible that your friends have not experienced those feelings of the characters. Certainly, long distance love is not something we all have experienced, but the uncertainties, the knowledge of the futility of adolescent love, the anxiety to see someone we like, the searing feelings of a crush, the striving for beauty in the midst of the everyday grind…I had thought that these were universal experiences, things that anyone who had been through high school or work would have had.
As far as justice needs to be done to its content, I am under no illusion that the content of Byousoku 5cm is in any way unique. I am sure there are other films or texts which also portray such themes, perhaps in a way which would appeal to other audiences (like your friends). Byousoku 5cm does its job within its limited framework, and that is sufficient.
Eh.
Welcome to the arthouse film genre. Anime is such a wonderful thing that you get the worse commercial peddling mingled with some quality rare gem-like production like 5cm–so both people pedestrian and eccentric can both share a film that speaks about an ordinary human relationship told in its own unique way.
As far as people’s perception, well, that’s their perception. I don’t believe 5cm is really that “otaku.” It is “arthouse.”
I haven’t seen this in its entirety so I might be way off but taking part 1 and his earlier works together, I’m asking myself this: is Shinkai trying to awaken feelings in the viewer or is he trying to explain feelings he himself has?
The reason I’m asking this is because I’m sure he’s aware that not everyone has experienced the events exactly as the characters have – e.g. I’ve never needed to deal with a full long-distance relationship but I know what love feels like. Because of this, I can still relate to the movie by drawing from my own experiences, using the imagery and narrative together with them in order to ‘get’ what the film is trying to say.
To make sure I’m understanding what Owen’s getting at: Shikai’s movies are very good at bringing out what’s already in the viewer’s head, so you’re questioning how good they are at putting a new feeling in there? I’d say Place Promised (I’m working on a re-written review right now, coincidentally) does this. I’m familiar with the feeling of unexpressed feelings for another person, as well as feeling isolated in a new environment, but the feeling you get from, say, going back and helping that person overcome an inner trauma is new to me so I needed to have it explained. I think the movie managed that so, um, yeah.
Does that make any sort of sense…?
icie: The two questions go hand in hand, actually. Assuming that my friends have indeed gone through enough basic emotions to identify with 5cm, then could it be that the method of delivering that portrayal was the one that held them back from liking it more than they had?
In other words, is the packaging that 5cm comes in something that only those familiar with will identify with? Assuming that the viewer has adequate life experience, then to what extent does 5cm’s exterior come into play? Is it too self-indulgent to be something that only a select few in this sub-culture can recognise in terms of brilliance?
omo: Could you elaborate or define “arthouse”? By saying “arthouse” I’m assuming you’re trying to explain 5cm’s inaccessibility to the man on the street, though I might be wrong.
Martin: Yes, your question does make sense. Although this will probably be the fuzziest question I’m ever answering, I guess I am approaching it from that angle and asking that question. We can never really have a complete set of experiences that allow us to relate to anything and everything portrayed on-screen, and I’m wondering if 5cm is all that good.
The thing is that I can’t answer it all that well, or honestly, because Oukashou and Cosmonaut was familiar ground for me, ditto Byousoku 5cm. It’s pretty tough to differentiate between awakening something already dormant and shedding light on non-existent feelings, so yeah. I see where your question is headed with that, but I can’t answer it myself.
Great. I’m glad I made some sense. :) Okay, I may be starting to get the empathy vs sympathy thing. Shinkai’s definitely a film maker who produces sympathy for the characters, but the sci-fi elements of his earlier stuff shift the focus away from the viewers’ personal experience so maybe 5cm, with its more ‘everyday’ setting without parallel universes and aliens, gets closer to evoking empathy than its predecessors did.
My other train of thought really is still quite fuzzy and a bit off-topic so I’ll leave my rambling there for now.
You’ve convinced me to finally get off my ass and watch 5cm soon, Owen. I’ve been putting it off for various reasons and forgot about it now, but you reawokened the urge in me. I’ll have to try to watch it soon and add my own thoughts when school isn’t as pressing.
I like the distinction between sympathy and empathy. It’s a very tricky thing, because the ability to enter into the feelings of a character I think is very subjective–as you say, for a lot of stories it will depend in large part on having had similar kinds of experiences, or the writer being able to connect uncommon occurrences to more universal feelings and experiences. (That’s how good fantasy and SF works.) But empathy is crucial to the best fiction, because it’s the means through which catharsis happens.
I don’t think the experience of unrequited love is at all uncommon, though, and/or limited to otaku. The backgrounds are those of daily life observed in meticulous detail, not of giant robots. Yes, it is about failed relationships, which is perhaps more associated with “geeks” and otakus, but virtually everyone has gone through breakups and/or drifted away from people to whom they were once close. If there is any flaw, I suppose, it’s that the time period of Oukashou was somewhat unclear–I did remember asking myself the question why these people didn’t use cell phones. (There’s not enough clues for the non-Japanese audience to tip off the time period instantly.)
Still, this film, along with The Girl Who Leapt Through Time, is one I’d feel comfortable showing to people new or unfamiliar with anime, precisely because it doesn’t indulge in otakuisms. This is Shinkai’s first film of which I can say that, because I feel the sci-fisms of his past works frequently got in the way of more mainstream acceptance. He should try entering this in film festivals or something. I’d like to see the Variety or Ebert review one of these days. :)
Owen: “By saying arthouse Im assuming youre trying to explain 5cms inaccessibility to the man on the street, though I might be wrong.”
Sort of. The average man on the street can understand an arthouse film, but the average arthouse film probably doesn’t work that way.
here’s another thought: how about those people who get their life experiences from watching anime?
it’s not a statement that’s easy to make as it’s typically associated with being a loser / hikkikomori, but i argue that the portrayals of life are so diverse in anime that it’s impossible for one person to have experienced everything. if i ever have to take a test at ninja academy, i’ll know what to do. if i happen to grow my hair out and enroll in a girl’s school, i’ll know what to do. and if i had feelings for an osananajimi who lived halfway across the world, i’ll know what to do.
and i have nothing but anime to thank for that.
others may not mirror my view – i tend to assign an didactic purpose to everything i do in order to justify my frivolous use of precious free time – but one has to admit it takes a certain level of maturity to be able to view anime in such a lens. if anything, that is the life experience you speak of – the knowledge to know what you don’t know, and the humility to accept new information as pieces to fill in that hole.
what has byousoku taught me? that it doesn’t always work out. it wasn’t anybody’s fault that akari and takaki drifted apart over the years – it just happened. and while we can sit and hypothesize about what could have been, as takaki seemed to be doing throughout his adolescent years, it may just be the more mature route to accept it as an experience and move on. i thought that final music video portion did an incredible job of conveying this – through all the missed chances and almost encounters, the two have always felt close but never together. and in the end, finally presented with the opportunity to look back, chase after the one he longed for, he keeps walking forward – in the direction opposite from that of Akari. having established the mental stability and independence to move forward with his own life, takaki was able to break free of his childhook wish and truly become an adult.
it’s something i’ve never experienced, and probably will never experience, but because of byousoku 5cm, i feel that much more learned and prepared.