Voices of a Distant Star (2002).

Created using only his Mac, Makoto Shinkai conveys a long distance relationship in this 25 minute short film. Living in the future (around 2045), Mikako is a 15 year old girl who is sent into space with the UN Space Army to fight the Tarsians (weird alien monster things). Her closest friend, Noboru remains on Earth, leaving the two to communicate via mobile phone. As Mikako's mission leads her further from Earth and deeper in to the universe, the time taken for a message to reach Noboru increases, from days to weeks, months, years. Noboru decides to wait for her. Mikako experiences hallucinations, emphasizing her longing to return to Earth and Noboru. The film builds up to a war scene between the UN Army fleet and the Tarsians. Inbetween the shots of big mecha machines fighting with these aliens, are images of Noboru and Mikako's life together before she was sent out. Coupled with a soliloquy from both characters, this section really appealed to me as it emphasized the distance between the two, yet it shows how close they were, as both of their thoughts converged around the same subject.

Throughout the short 25 minutes, Shinkai continuously delivers character buliding speech, original ideas, more superb attention to detail and beautiful scenery. In all three films I've seen these past few days by him, his use of light is simply genius, creating an engulfing atmosphere which just captivates the audience. His detailing is also second to none - as Mikak and Noboru stand conversing at a railway crossing, he inserts shots of the passing train, the gleaming tracks, the lifting barriers, all while the two are talking. It's just giving you a view of what you would probably see if you were actually there, with them. Truly magnificent. The drawing style of the characters is yet more blocky and sketchy than in the other two films, yet the scenery and background artwork is still amazing. The theme of time always going on and never stopping I think is something that everyone can relate to, allowing Shinkai to fan out the relationship between Makaki and Noboru. The simplest plot. Yet the script, the colouring, the detail make this a wonderful 25 minutes of anime.