Evaluation Essay ~ Five Centimeters and Distant Star

There are very few movies that exhibit the beauty of love withstanding all time and distance perfectly. Sure there are those that attempt it, but they become the atypical romance movie. Most of the love stories follow the usual line of the man and woman falling in love, get angry with each other, don’t talk for awhile, then make up at the end while living happily ever after. It is rare to like the movie that ended in something totally original, because of the desire to see the two together at the end of all the trials they faced. Those movies do not compare to Five Centimeters Per Second and Voices of a Distant Star by any means. The writer of both of these films, Makoto Shindai, did an epic job of creating a story of friends who share a powerful bond, but are separated by strong forces of either time or distance, sometimes both, while soon being kept apart permanently. It is hard to choose which of Makoto’s films shows the story of love the best, but Five Centimeters Per Second has a better resolution than Voices of a Distant Star.

The storyline in Voices of a Distant Star starts out with different scenes of a seemingly vacant city while the main character, Mikako Nagamine, is attempting to contact people through her cell phone. The last place is an empty classroom with stacked chairs where she says, “Noboru? I’m going home, okay?” Which is a rhetorical question that is only heard by a busy signal. That whole sequence turns out to be a dream when Mikako wakes up to find that she is in her mecha or robot. As time passes on she keeps in contact with Noboru Terao over emails. The distance between them grows to interstellar proportions and the email’s arrival time turns into years. Near the end of the film she is curled up talking to her younger self and as they speak the image of herself morphs into one of the Tarsian enemies then into her older self. She soon is sobbing and pleading with her doppelganger to let her see Noboru once more and to be able to tell him that she loved him. Her other self reassures her that everything will be alright and that she will see him again. Mikako cries that she doesn’t understand then she enters battle with some Tarsians. The ship, Lysithea, leaves her behind and after she defeats the Tarsians Mikako allows herself to drift off into space. There is no clear ending to whether she stays drifting in space or that she eventually does make it back to Earth, but a wonderful story nevertheless.

Five Centimeters Per Second is more difficult to explain than Voices of a Distant Star, because it is more complicated than the latter. Two people, Takaki Tono and Akari Shinohara, become fast friends when Akari transfers to Takaki’s elementary school. Soon there friendship turns into a seemingly unbreakable bond as they fall in love with one another. Once they finished with their elementary years they soon move to different cities due to their parents’ jobs. Takaki and Akari write letters to one another and despite their special feelings that exist between them, they are beginning to drift apart. Takaki becomes aware that he is moving once again and he decides that he must see Akari before they get too far away. After several snowstorm delays, Takaki makes it and they share their first kiss. He soon realizes that they will never be together again. They promise to continue writing each other, but they both knew that their relationship had ended that morning. The story continues on with Takaki and he is now in his third year of senior high. A fellow classmate of Takaki’s, Kanae Sumida, has a strong crush on him. She doesn’t ever express her feelings for Takaki, because she believes that he was searching for things far greater than she could ever offer. Takaki soon leaves this home behind because of his parents’ job. During the last section of the movie, the three of them have gone their separate ways. Takaki is now a computer programmer in Tokyo while Akari is preparing for her wedding. One day as Takaki was walking down a road, he then passes a woman to the other side of the railroad crossing. He stops suddenly when he makes the connection of a strong resemblance between her and Akari. They both turn around, but their vision is cut off by some passing trains and as soon as the trains had finished passing he was disappointed to see that the woman was gone. Takaki continues on his way with a slight smile on his face.

Both films by Makoto end beautifully, but also sadly. Five Centimeters Per Second ended more completely because it doesn’t leave as much room for the possible assumption that Takaki and Akari meet once again. Voices of a Distant Star and Five Centimeters Per Second are beyond the average everyday romance and executed perfectly.

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Blogger’s Notes:  I wrote this in one and a half hour. Amazing, ne? It is probably the crappiest essay I have ever written next to the one that I had done previously.  It isn’t because of the topic… trust me I love these movies to death, but the me waiting till last minute is what made it such. I know the concluding paragraph is just bleh. I could of done better, but I had 30 minutes before it was due.

Grade: C+ (Had a awesome intro though ^_^)

Extinct Constitution~Prologue

“ ‘We the People of the United States, in order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common Defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish the CONSTITUTION for the United States of America.’ ”

 

The words that my grandmother had just spoken echoed perfectly off the many bookcases that surrounded us. She had closed the book and brought it close to her heart while bowing her head. I bowed my head as well to observe the moment of silence we always held. Thank you God and everyone else before me who fought to bring this great country back on track to what it formerly was. I thought then lifted my head and saw the elderly woman placing the tattered book back on its shelf. It sat there limp with its title nearly gone, but it had so much life and power pulsing in its pages. I knew that power would never fade.

Curiosity began to plague me for I knew all too well that my grandmother never needed to read the Constitution’s Preamble from a book. She had memorized it long before now. My next words sat on the tip of my tongue while I stood there and wondered if I should let them be known. I noticed a certain glint in her eyes, but I couldn’t read into what they were trying to reveal to me. The meaning was hidden deep.

 

“Go ahead and speak your mind, James,” she said softly. Her tone was warm and tender, but I detected traces of her Presidential authority that encouraged me to have my say.

“Grandmother, I’m wondering…” I trailed off as I struggled to bring forth the words. It seemed as if I were afraid that she might ridicule me for asking, but that thought seem disappeared when she gave me a signal to continue. “I’m wondering why you continue to read from this book. Why continue when you already know the words?”

 

I jerked the book from its shelf to show her what I meant then cringed shortly afterwards as a few other books fell to the floor. I quickly bent over to pick them off the floor, but snapped back up in a standing position as soon as a laugh was expelled from her throat. She took the aged book from my hands and flipped through its pages.

 

“James, when I speak the words I do feel the great meaning of them, but when I read them while I speak that feeling intensifies. I can’t really explain it…but there is a special reason why I choose this particular book. Do you know why?”

 

I shook my head as my expression began to show my confusion when she held the book out. It was opened on a particular page.

 

“Read the words out loud, please,” she directed.

“ ‘This book was written and owned by Kyle Henry,’ ” I quoted.

“Do you know who Kyle Henry is?”

“No,” I replied sadly while I found it odd that she was smiling.

“I guess you haven’t gotten that far in your American and family history education, but I’ll tell you he was a great man.” She pressed the book firmly into my hands. “And you will have to find out how great he is yourself.”

 

She placed an arm around my shoulders and began leading me out of the room. A deep silence hung between us as we walked towards the exit of the Library of Congress. I pulled my jacket tightly around my torso while using the thick book as a semi-shield from the harshly brisk wind. Out of the corner of my eye I could see a limousine pull up to the sidewalk while a Secret Service agent was walking behind us. The sun was lowering itself behind some buildings in the western horizon while the street lights flickered on and began to brighten. Before my grandmother pulled me into an embrace I saw my father get out of the car.

 

“James,” he called.

I pulled away from my grandmother then ran over to my father. He pulled me into an one-armed hug then let me go quickly.

“Go to the car. I’ll be there momentarily,” he said then walked past me. I turned slightly then waved good-bye to my grandmother then got in the car while leaving the door open. I smiled at my mother then began to relax in the car seat.

 

“So how was your day?” she asked me gently.

“It was alright. The new building for the Library of Congress is stunning. I’m glad that is finally completed.”
“Maybe I could visit it with your father sometime,” she said mostly to herself. My mother soon noticed the book in my lap. “What are you going to be reading?”

“I don’t know to be honest. I only know that is about a man by the name, Kyle Henry.”

“Well, you’ll enjoy reading it. I’m sure of it.”

 

I nodded then settled even further into my seat. Moments later I heard the car door slam shut, cutting off the draft of cold air. The sound of the engine revving as it pulled the vehicle across the asphalt was a good sign to me. No need to keep up an image for anyone. I could hear the soft murmurs of my parents discussing a new bill to be passed in the near future.

 

The car slipped into a smooth and easy stop into the driveway of our home. My little sister ran over to me and wrapped her arms around my waist.

 

“Big brother, how are you?” she squeaked.

I smiled as I knelt down eye level with her. “I’m doing alright, but I believe it is your bedtime, is it not?”

She looked down with her bottom lip slightly protruding outward. “I want to see you and mommy and daddy.”

I chuckled softly. “It is fine, but I’m going to be heading up to my room to start reading this book, alright?”

 

She nodded then hurried over to our mother. I turned slightly and then my smile widened. “I’m glad to see everything is where it needs to be,” I whispered then averted my gaze. “Mom, Dad…I’m going to go ahead and head off to bed.”

 

“Alright then…” my mother said with a sigh.

“We’ll see you in the morning, son. Good night,” my father said gently.

“Good night and sleep well.”

 

I went up to my room then locked the door. I tossed the book onto my bed then studied its tired appearance. For the first time I noticed the faint, silver lettering on its cover. I swiped it off my bed and narrowed my eyes to attempt to read the words in the dim lighting. “Extinct Constitution…” I whispered. “Hm…”

 

I collapsed onto my bed and began looking through the book’s contents. There were many maps and pictures that had caught my eyes. I had stopped occasionally to look at them. It was amazing how it was depicted in the sketches. Excitement and enjoyment began to sprout in me. I found the first page then began reading.