The Place Promised in Our Early Days (2004).

This piece by Makoto Shinkai was released in 2004 telling the story of three friends (Hiroki, Takuya and Sayuri) from Aomori living in Japan in the 1990s in some alternate timeline. It is suggested that a Separation in Japan meant that the USA occupied the South whilst the "Union" had the North. There is a mysterious tower which stretches to the sky, making for some great scenery. The tower was constructed by the Union, and later revealed to have been designed by Sayuri's grandfather. Like 5 Centimeters, there are defined sections to this film, following the three characters in their childhood and then later on in life. The film starts by showing the friends in eighth grade. Hiroki and Takuya are best friends, and have gotten a job in Emishi Manufacturing factory for the summer. With the help of their boss, they plan to get parts to rebuild a crashed plane that they found. Initially this plane (named Bella Ciela) is kept a secret, but as Hiroki and Sayuri meet and become good friends, she is also brought in on the project. The two also seem to develop feelings for each other. The three children grow close and promise to fly the plane to the tower in Hokkaido. However, after summer, Sayuri mysteriously disappears. We are then brought to 3 years later, where the two boys have also grown apart, and did not continue working on the plane due to Sayuri's disappearance. The three are somehow brought into contact again through the scientific facility that Takuya works for, which researches into parallel universes. There is surprisingly a prominent science fiction genre to this film, as it deals with how dreams are linked to said parallel worlds, all of which are linked to the mysterious tower. The Union is revealed to be attempting to use the tower to replace the world with a parallel universe, and so the Uilta (underground group trying to reunify Japan) plans to destroy it. Sayuri is now hospitalised, in a continuous sleep where she is in an unpopulated parallel universe. It is discovered that she is connected to the Union's tower, and its ability to change the surrounding land into alternate universes. Sayuri's coma seems to prevent the tower from activating, and the closer she is to awakening, the larger the radius of the tower's effect. Hiroki is now in Tokyo at high school, but is severely depressed due to the loss of Sayuri. He gets hold of a letter that Sayuri wrote before she was completely comatose and goes searching for her. The two somehow have brief contact in her old hospital room, leading Hiroki realise that Sayuri will wake up if she is taken to "the place promised in our early days" - to fly to the tower in the Bella Ciela. Thus he finds Takuya to help him finish the plane and get Sayuri, who is now being held at his research facility. However, the whole thing with Sayuri preventing the tower doing its dirty work means that the two must choose between saving Sayuri or saving the world. The film changes perspectives between each of the three characters so you get a really complete storyline. Sayuri's parts are most interesting I think because she is shown in a parallel universe, and it's hard to tell which parts are real, and which parts aren't. The saddest moment in this film is near the end when she realises she is going to wake up soon, and that "the thing that she will lose" is her memories of the past 3 years. Upon awakening, she has lost the memory of her feelings for Hiroki. So sad :( But he promises to start making new memories :)

The ending to this film is much more satisfying than 5 Centimeters. Thea ending montage again takes the conclusion further by giving some fantastic shots to a wonderful song - female vocalist this time! As this was before 5 Centimeters, the character development and character drawing style isn't as complex. Blocky colour is used for many of the scenes for the characters, and only when there is a close up does the art step up. However, the scenery and detail are still amazing. Shinkai continues to use light and detailed surroundings to truly capture the mood. I noticed this especially in the early train rides with Hiroki and Sayuri, where there were just shots of the light flooding in from outside into the train etc. It really emphasizes the moments between the two characters, focusing less on the conversation they are having and more on the details of their surroundings, giving the whole film a more realistic feel. The colour palette is filled with golds and warm light in the childhood parts, truly mirroring the happiness felt by the three friends. Later during Hiroki's depression in the city, grey-blue tones and vignetting is used to build a dark and tuned-out effect. Superb detailing of the city and his room effectively show his loneliness. The water may have been over-sparkled, but it gives a really magical effect to the childhood part of the story. Th sunsets are truly magnificent thanks to some more magenta colouring. I can't really put this film in any specific genre, as it has aspects of drama, romance, war and sci-fi; but Shinkai draws them all together seamlessly. There are dominant themes of dreaming and separation in the film which I found really interesting, especially the one that parallel universes are"dreams" of the current universe.

I loved this film a lot. The story was original, the artwork divine. Shinkai animates in a very realistic style, with his focusing and detailing. The soundtrack is pretty awesome too, done by Tenmon, who has done a lot of work with Shinkai's films/short pieces. More please!


I have learnt that a lot of the beautiful scenes are actually photosourced which makes them less impressive in my opinion.. but they still astound me. Also, "Popsi" is this film's featured branding.