[An] exquisite, light-drenched tone poem.

As poet of heartbreak, Shinkai could be accused of treacly mush (the voice-overs are a bit florid, and the saccharine piano score doesn't help), but he's got a delicate touch with sentiment that will have receptive viewers reaching for a Kleenex.

This is a tearjerker coming-of-age anime about unrequited love and missed connections. 5 Centimeters Per Second is filled with beautiful images and insightful observations about how people who are once very close can slowly drift apart.

Beautiful story that had me tearing up at multiple points. I really think each individual story is fantastic, but I was not a huge fane of the second act. I did not enjoy adding a third character into the fold. It would have been better to keep the focus on the main two. Animation is great, but I can tell they were still honing their craft as it was not as sharp as his newer work. Overall, I still really enjoyed this, the short runtime really makes this a fun digestible short with film style quality. Score: 74% 👍 Verdict: Good