Ok, so I've watched about three iterations of "The Girl Who Leapt Through Time", one which is from the amazing animator Mamoru Hosoda, the second one is a modern reboot from 2010 and this is "the OG" but there's still a tv show from the 70s with the same name, I don't know if the tv show even has a connection to those at all (although funnily enough, IMDB lists the 70s shows as the original to the animated film and the 80s film as the original to the 2010s film which is WRONG). The 80s original packs a lot of slow paced pensive charm that makes you wonder about time and just what a fantastic premise this is.
The Girl Who Leapt Through Time follows Keiko, a cheery high school girl that acquires mystical time powers after something happens while she and her friends are cleaning their chemistry lab. The movie then spends a considerable amount of time of her trying to get to the bottom of why she got her powers.
First off I gotta say this is a gorgeous film, Nobuhiko Ôbayashi makes excellent use of practical effects even if they're a bit toned down in this movie compared to "School In The Crosshairs" but Nobuhiko Ôbayashi still makes this a thoroughly stylistic and beautiful movie. The actors are mostly good and the music fits amazingly, I even think that the animated version of this movie makes use of some of the original soundtrack (I gotta rewatch it to confirm tho!).
And now to the negatives, I know this movie was wildly popular for its time and it basically launched the career of Tomoyo Harada but I think she's perhaps the weakest part of the movie, and it's not really her fault. The movie spends most of the time with her trying to make sense of what's going on with her like she's not aware of her time powers until super late in the film, which is so annoying. The animated one in retrospect is better because it uses the power of leaping through time as something fun and gains momentum of the girl understanding her powers fairly early in the movie but in this movie she walks around being confused, sad, , melancholic, dizzy and then more confused and then surprised which for me personally doesn't do much. And I don't think this is the actress's fault but they should've spent more time making her into her own and fun character.
Still the movie has a wonderful allure that makes you stay for the rest of the story, I think in fact the ending is super worth it to watch and it's super unexpected and kinda sad to be honest, which is so different from what a teen movie would do to be honest!
Despite some gripes that I had with the movie I think this is a worthwhile watch not just because of the story and the practical effects but because I think it has a lot to say about time and space and love also this movie shows why this concept of a high school girl leaping through time being such a cool and interesting concept to explore. If you have seen the animated I recommend you skipping the "newer" 2010 remake in favour of this one because it has a lot to offer.
