Live-action reboots of anime are always a controversial subject, but there’s a pre-built recipe for success when the anime in question is often regarded as being more beautiful than most live-action movies. Makoto Shinkai, the director of Your Name and Suzume, is the latest director whose work is being given the remake treatment, with his 2007 hit, 5 Centimeters per Second, getting a live-action adaptation.
The first trailer for the live-action 5 Centimeters per Second has been revealed, and it looks absolutely stunning. Live-action anime adaptations have a strange reputation for looking cheap and underfunded, often as a result of trying too hard to imitate the anime they are adapting. But 5 Centimeters Per Second absolutely nails Shinkai’s aesthetic in live-action. The director is obsessed with almost-lifelike visuals and incorporating the real weight of a camera into his animation. The live-action 5 Centimeters per Second perfectly embodies that visual style in its first trailer.
Makoto Shinkai’s Second Movie Gets Promising Look at Live-Action Remake
5 Centimeters per Second was Makoto Shinkai’s second feature film, following 2004’s The Place Promised in Our Early Days. While the film is highly regarded as one of Shinkai’s best, the director famously dislikes the film, believing it to be a result of his immaturity at the age he released it.
Directed by Yoshiyuki Okuyama, 5 Centimeters per Second features Hokuto Matsumura portraying the adult Takaki Toni. The younger versions of Takaki will be played by Yuto Ueda and Noa Hirayama. The official synopsis reads, “Told in three interconnected segments, Takaki tells the story of his life as cruel winters, cold technology, and finally, adult obligations and responsibility converge to test the delicate petals of love.”
Live-Action 5 Centimeters per Second Director Comments on the Film’s Legacy
In a statement, via the film’s official website, director Yoshiyuki Okuyama said that 5 Centimeters per Second captures a specific ideology that one can only hold at a certain age. Despite Shinkai’s reflections on the movie in recent years, Okuyama is eager to recapture that unique spirit and message in the live-action remake.
“There are things that can only be made now and perspectives that we will eventually forget,” the director said. “I want to carefully and sincerely craft each scene and every second, together with the team I trust wholeheartedly, as if placing a warm hand on Takaki’s back, who carries a sense of loss and anxiety. Since this is a work I’ve watched countless times myself, I feel the weight of responsibility every day. Every fan has their own interpretation and world of the story, and I am one of them.”
The live-action adaptation of 5 Centimeters per Second premieres in Japanese theaters on October 10th.
H/T: 5 Centimeters per Second Official Website
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