User Reviews

This movie moves often at a languid pace, but I recommend it because it does tell a decent story about Kazuko (Tomoyo Harada), a 16 year old schoolgirl who finds herself in a strange time warp after fainting in a chemical lab at school. She has two friends, but it seems to be Fukamachi (Ryoichi Takayanagi) whom she likes. Pay attention from the beginning and you'll get the gist of the film, which has a sweetness that is genuine. I'm sure if you're a teen you'll like this more, as it is about the awakening of love. Tomoyo Harada, who has gone on to a fairly interesting career as an actress, is very good in this role. In a small role is legend Takako Irie, in what had to be her last appearance in film. The reason it is not rated higher is the slow pace, but I like its sentiment and its simple message of first love. I'm sure there were tears shed by many watching the film due to its sentimentality, but its not a sad film. Very good cinematography. If you like drama, you'll like this.

Tomoyo Harada is an average student in high school. She has an old friend Toshinori Omi who goes to the same school, and Ryoichi Takayanagi who is also her classmate, but is not quite the old friend she thinks he is. One day after a routine cleaning of the school's chem lab, she starts to experience a time warp in her life where she experiences the same event multiple times. Quite by accident, she is getting drawn into the plan that came from the future. She soon discovers why she is experiencing the time warp. The story is set in the beautiful town of Onomichi which is also the birth place of the film's director Nobuhiko Obayashi. Obayashi made several movies in this town where the town becomes an integral part of the movie. The beautiful classic Japanese town scape of Onomichi makes this movie worth seeing along with the interesting twist in the story's plot.

Starring at the stars one night while on a school ski trip, 16-year old Kazuko Yoshiyawa (played by former teen idol Tomoyo Harada) bumps into a mysterious stranger also starring up at the evening sky. It's only Fukamachi of course, one of the boys she's known her whole life - or has she? As romantic feelings blossom, strange things are happening to Kazuko - she's living moments she's already experienced, and waking up from dreams inside of dreams. Is her mind playing on tricks on her, or is she moving backwards through time? Is there something more sinister at play?

Obayashi Nobuhiko's adaptation of Tsutsui Yasutaka's "The Girl Who Leapt through Time" is dated, but for fans of Obayashi's campy but fun "House", this film is a great Sunday afternoon flick that displays a lot of Obayashi's strengths with movement. Obayashi keeps things interesting with a lot of neat strobe and colorization tricks, as well as some incredibly outdated and laughably-bad 80's computer effects. Where Obayashi really shines though is in the shots that immerse you in Kazuko's world - wonderfully subtle pans inside school hallways, classrooms, climbing the steps in Kazuko's beautifully serene town.

Most of the acting is a bit stiff and juvenile, with the exception of a young Ittoku Kishibe as Kazuko's language teacher, but the film and story are enjoyable nonetheless. "The Girl Who Leapt through Time" was a widely successful pop blend of teenage melodrama with the supernatural in Japan, and Japanese movies and anime have never looked back.

Kazuko Yoshiyama (Tomoyo Harada) is just an average, though cute and perky, high school student in the picturesque old town of Onomichi. But one day while cleaning the science room she hears a noise. She investigates and becomes overcome by fumes that smell like lavender. After waking up in the nurse's room, she feels well enough to go home, walking with neighbor (Toshinori Omi) and passing by his grandparents (Ken Uehara and Takako Irie). The next day is Saturday, but being 1983 she still has to go to school. The day after that is Saturday, too, and she goes through the same routine. Then after that is Saturday, and she tries to find some way to break out of that. Unlike Bill Murray, she succeeds, but goes off into several other periods at a rapid pace. Somehow things get resolved between her and her neighbor and also the tall guy she likes (Takayanagi). This is a Junya Kadogawa production, showcasing new idol Harada (who grew up nicely to play the wife in Shiawase no Pan). He chose the popular fantasy novel written by Yasutaka Tsutsui, which had been filmed before and since. And he assembled some good talent, including old-time film stars Uehara and Irie, along with director Nobuhiko Obayashi (House). It's a quality production, but still the acting is a little off, as would be expected from a first-timer like Harada. She does have good screen presence, though. And with an intriguing story and director Obayashi's favorite backdrop of Onomichi, it's a better example of the Japanese idol teen flick.

Having already seen the 2006 anime adaptation, I had the expectation going in that this could not possibly be nearly as good as that movie. I was right. However, this ended up being a movie I enjoyed. It has a slow pace, and the time shenanigans are much more restrained than the anime remake (at least for the most part). I really liked the lead actress, who reminded me of that of "Sailor Uniform and Machinegun". Turns out, she starred in a TV version of that movie prior to starring in this.

In short, if you are looking to experience the best possible version of "Girl Who Leapt Through Time", please turn your attention to the 2006 anime. If you enjoy this period of japanese culture as well as live action over animation, this is worth a look. The credit sequence alone is enough to make it worth a watch.

This movie is a gem for many Japanese, especially those over 50. It was an enormous hit on its release in 1983, and the leading actress Tomoyo Harada, who was only 15 at the time, became a national heroine. This film is so much more than a cheesy sci-fi flick with outdated special effects. It captures a glittering and often bitter time of youth with such delicacy and subtleness. It is also a cruel tale of a girl who falls for the wrong guy. They share a love so supreme that after losing it, a void opens up in her life.

The whole movie is reminiscent of the Showa era with nostalgic sceneries of Onomichi (Tokyo Story by the great Yasujiro Ozu was also filmed in this historic town of Hiroshima). I still listen to the beautiful soundtrack which for me is a true classic.

For admirers of House, Obayashi's debut, which remains popular amongst western audiences, this film is worth watching. It might not work for everyone, but it is so redolent of my teenage memories that, like the rest of its avid Japanese fans, it will always have a special place in my heart.

Ok, so I've watched about three iterations of "The Girl Who Leapt Through Time", one which is from the amazing animator Mamoru Hosoda, the second one is a modern reboot from 2010 and this is "the OG" but there's still a tv show from the 70s with the same name, I don't know if the tv show even has a connection to those at all (although funnily enough, IMDB lists the 70s shows as the original to the animated film and the 80s film as the original to the 2010s film which is WRONG). The 80s original packs a lot of slow paced pensive charm that makes you wonder about time and just what a fantastic premise this is.

The Girl Who Leapt Through Time follows Keiko, a cheery high school girl that acquires mystical time powers after something happens while she and her friends are cleaning their chemistry lab. The movie then spends a considerable amount of time of her trying to get to the bottom of why she got her powers.

First off I gotta say this is a gorgeous film, Nobuhiko Ôbayashi makes excellent use of practical effects even if they're a bit toned down in this movie compared to "School In The Crosshairs" but Nobuhiko Ôbayashi still makes this a thoroughly stylistic and beautiful movie. The actors are mostly good and the music fits amazingly, I even think that the animated version of this movie makes use of some of the original soundtrack (I gotta rewatch it to confirm tho!).

And now to the negatives, I know this movie was wildly popular for its time and it basically launched the career of Tomoyo Harada but I think she's perhaps the weakest part of the movie, and it's not really her fault. The movie spends most of the time with her trying to make sense of what's going on with her like she's not aware of her time powers until super late in the film, which is so annoying. The animated one in retrospect is better because it uses the power of leaping through time as something fun and gains momentum of the girl understanding her powers fairly early in the movie but in this movie she walks around being confused, sad, , melancholic, dizzy and then more confused and then surprised which for me personally doesn't do much. And I don't think this is the actress's fault but they should've spent more time making her into her own and fun character.

Still the movie has a wonderful allure that makes you stay for the rest of the story, I think in fact the ending is super worth it to watch and it's super unexpected and kinda sad to be honest, which is so different from what a teen movie would do to be honest!

Despite some gripes that I had with the movie I think this is a worthwhile watch not just because of the story and the practical effects but because I think it has a lot to say about time and space and love also this movie shows why this concept of a high school girl leaping through time being such a cool and interesting concept to explore. If you have seen the animated I recommend you skipping the "newer" 2010 remake in favour of this one because it has a lot to offer.

I'm used to high quality Japanese movies - this is the country of Kurasawa, after all - but it shouldn't have surprised me to discover that there are Japanese movies from the 1980s that look as cheaply and artlessly made as a teen-themed 1980s TV series. What surprises me is seeing other reviews that like the way this was filmed, and to discover through wikipedia that this was done by an experienced director who has been successful in his field. Because this is as pedestrian-looking as you can find, and lacks any sort of tension or interest or, in the subtitled version I saw, interesting dialog.

This was the sort of movie you can tell isn't going to be any good from the first instant, but I was interested in the story because I'd recently watched the terrific animated version of The Girl Who Leapt Through Time, which is a sequel, and I wanted to see a version of the original story. So I thoughtI'd just wait until the story kicks in. But the story doesn't so much kick in as slowly, slowly, slowly creep in.

At one point about a half hour in I gave up, but then I watched the sequel to this - Time Traveller, which is much better - and that made me even more curious, so I started half-watching while reading something (which is hard to do with subtitled movies, because you have to keep looking up). Even though I was entertaining myself in other ways, the movie still moved about as slowly as any movie could. It felt like they were trying to expand a 20 minute short into a full featured film entirely through long pauses, slow talking, and filler dialog.

Still, the movie does become slightly more entertaining as it gets into what there is of a story. Unfortunately, it also gets increasingly far- fetched, and a final big time jump is a senseless and bewildering hodgepodge that severely tried my patience.

The leads are so bland that their pseudo-romance fails to resonate; in fact, the only affecting scene in the movie is one near the end involving two minor characters. It's altogether irrelevant to the story, yet it was the only worthwhile moment in the entire film.

This is one of the worst Japanese films I've ever seen, poorly made in almost every way. It boggles my mind that other people here enjoyed it.

THE GIRL WHO LEAPT THROUGH TIME is an adaptation of a popular Japanese novel by the director of HAUSU, but sadly that gentleman is unable to bring the same level of vivid excitement to this production as he did to that one. The end result is, in the end, a disappointment, and I suspect that the recent anime adaptation of the same novel is far better. The characters are okay and the direction is often unusual and creative, but it doesn't help that the story slowly plods along, alternating between confusion and boredom. Many of the stylistic touches are nicely handled, particularly the freeze-frame montages accompanied by beautiful music, but I was left wanting so much more.