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S E A R C H    D V D B e a v e r

(aka "The Girl Who Leapt Through Time" or "Toki wo kakeru shôjo" )

 

directed by Mamoru Hosoda
Japan 2006

 

Makoto Konno is having one of those days. After getting up late for school she’s hit with a pop quiz. She just started a fire while cooking in her home economics class and then she gets knocked down by some of the guys while they wrestle. How much worse can this day get? While performing an errand for her mother, Makoto loses the brakes on her bike and barrels headlong down the street into an oncoming train. This would have been the capper for a horrible day, but for some reason something strange has happened. Time has suddenly stopped and moved her backward. With her newly discovered ability to literally leap backwards in time Makoto finds that tests become a piece of cake, embarrassing situations are corrected and she can have her favorite food anytime she wants. Unfortunately her carefree time traveling has adverse effects on the people she cares for. With every successful leap Makoto somehow alters the fate of those around her. This wasn’t supposed to happen and as she races back in time to fix everything, she notices that her abilities are not limitless but with every successful jump she’s one step closer to discovering the most wonderful secret in her young adult life.

***

"The Girl Who Leapt Through Time” is anime of rare pedigree. Director Mamoru Hosoda, the Ghibli refugee originally slated to helm Howl's Moving Castle, Gainax's master character designer Yoshiyuki Sadamoto and longtime Ghibli art director Nizo Yamamoto coming together at Madhouse to adapt a story by Paprika author Yasutaka Tsutsui. Sounds like it should be absolute magic… and it very nearly is.

We meet Makoto Konno, an outgoing high school girl living a daily life of fun. She's not the best student in the world, but she has two of the best friends in the world - Kousuke, who's the strong, smart dependable type, and Chiaki, who is a fun-loving slacker. They spend their days together goofing off, singing karaoke and playing catch. But on this particular day, things aren't going so well for her. After failing a pop quiz, nearly setting her cooking class on fire, and enough physical accidents to fill a Buster Keaton movie, she gets killed when the brakes on her bike stop working, sending her directly into the path of an oncoming train.

… Except she doesn't die. Rather, she finds herself a few feet away, a few seconds earlier, and more or less, safe. Freaked out, she consults her aunt, who tells her she's simply time-slipped, and that it happens all the time. Soon, she finds she can control her time slipping by taking a flying leap.

Excerpt from Anime News Network

Posters

Theatrical Release: 15 July 2006

Reviews           More Reviews       DVD Reviews

Comparison:

 CJ Entertainment (3-Disc Limited Edition - Korean Version) - Region 3 - NTSC vs. Bandai - Region 'A' - Blu-ray

Big thanks to Luiz R. for the DVD Review!

1) CJ Entertainment (3-Disc Limited Edition - Korean Version) - Region 3 - NTSC LEFT
2) Bandai (2-disc) - Region 'A' - Blu-ray RIGHT

 

DVD Box Cover

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Distribution

CJ Entertainment

Region 3 - NTSC

Bandai - Region 'A' - Blu-ray
Runtime 1:37:51 1:38:53.969
Video

1.85:1 Original Aspect Ratio

16X9 enhanced
Average Bitrate: 8.66 mb/s
NTSC 720x480 29.97 f/s

1080P Single-layered Blu-ray

Disc Size: 21,107,323,694 bytes

Feature: 20,175,556,608 bytes

Codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video

Total Video Bitrate: 19.98 Mbps

NOTE: The Vertical axis represents the bits transferred per second. The Horizontal is the time in minutes.

Bitrate DVD

Bitrate Blu-ray

Audio Japanese Dolby Digital (5.1), Japanese Dolby Digital (2.0) Dolby TrueHD Audio English 1509 kbps 5.1 / 48 kHz / 1509 kbps / 16-bit (AC3 Embedded: 5.1 / 48 kHz / 640 kbps / DN -4dB)
Dolby TrueHD Audio Japanese 1336 kbps 5.1 / 48 kHz / 1336 kbps / 16-bit (AC3 Embedded: 5.1 / 48 kHz / 640 kbps / DN -4dB)
Subtitles Japanese, Korean, English, none English, Text, none
Features Release Information:
Studio: CJ Entertainment

Aspect Ratio:
Widescreen anamorphic - 1.85:1

Edition Details:
• 3-Disc Boxset
• Photobooklet
• Dual-Layered DVD
• Audio Commentary
• Advanced Screening Press Conference Speech (No English Subtitles)
• Oku Hanako Video Clip (No English Subtitles)
• Theatrical Trailer
• Promotional Footage
• TV CF
• Director's Commentary (34 min.) (No English Subtitles)
• Press Conference (No English Subtitles)
• Behind-the-Scenes Footage (No English Subtitles)
• The Girl Who Leapt Through Time Sketch Book with Director and Staff Commentary

DVD Release Date: September 21st, 2007
Boxset

Chapters 21

Release Information:
Studio:
Bandai

 

1080P Single-layered Blu-ray

Disc Size: 21,107,323,694 bytes

Feature: 20,175,556,608 bytes

Codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video

Total Video Bitrate: 19.98 Mbps

 

Edition Details:
2-Disc Boxset

Includes Dual-Layered DVD
• Main Feature with Storyboards
• Audio Commentary with Mamoru Hosoda (Director), Riisa Naka (Makoto), Takuya Ishida (Chiaki) and Mitsutaka Itakura (Kousuke)

• Audio Commentary with Mamoru Hosoda (Director), Toshihiko Ito (Assistant Director) and Hiroyuki Aoyama (Animation Director)

• Direction File (A Talk with the Director, Mamoru Hosoda)
• Premiere Event In Tokyo
• Behind the Scenes at Premiere Event
• Hanako Oku “Garnet” Music Video
• Theatrical Trailer
• Promo Clip

Blu-ray Release Date: April 26th, 2011
Standard Blu-ray Case

Chapters 21

 

Comments:

NOTE: The below Blu-ray captures were taken directly from the Blu-ray disc.

ADDITION: Bandai - Region 'A' - Blu-ray - April 11': If the CJ Entertainment DVD was progressive I would probably pass on an upgrade - but as it is interlaced - the difference 'in-motion' is more significant than viewing the static captures. Without identifying any specific attribute the 1080P resolution produces a more dynamic presentation. Period. Colors and detail don't rise dramatically as it is seamless animation appearing artifact-free in either format. The interlacing weakness is really the bugaboo with the DVD transfer and it gives the Blu-ray visual presentation that much more value in comparison.

Audio gives the option of the original Japanese and an English DUB - both in modestly robust lossless Dolby True-HD tracks (haven't seen that for a while). There is some separation - not particularly crisp but the overall sound is clean and consistent. The film doesn't warrant any aggressive depth. There are optional English subtitles on the region 'A'-locked disc.

There are no extras to speak of on the single-layered Blu-ray disc itself (only 3 film trailers and disc credits) but included is a DVD that mimics most of the supplements on the CJ Entertainment - with the commentaries and adds some different material tidbits including a few minutes on the Premiere Event In Tokyo, a 'Behind the Scenes' peek at that same Premiere Event, Hanako Oku “Garnet” Music Video and a theatrical trailer.

I bought the DVD after Luiz' review and liked the film quite a lot. It has the simple innocence that many find refuge with Japanese animation but there are also, perhaps only perceived, allegorical subtexts that give it re-watchability. I was in the perfect mood to enjoy revisiting The Girl Who Leapt Through Time and am very pleased to watched via Blu-ray - the superior presentation to date.

Gary W. Tooze

***

ON THE CJ Ent. DVD: This includes a full package of supplements, 3 DVDs plus a thick photo-booklet with excessive information that can't be understood unless your Korean is up to date, but the images are nice.

The second and main extra DVDs do not have English subtitles so this is the major drawback of this package in my opinion. The third disc comes with a complete storyboard that you can watch together with the movie in a small screen. There are two audio commentaries for the storyboard, but no subtitles for them are available.

The feature DVD is almost all dedicated to the movie (there is a trailer and a teaser) and the image quality is excellent, I believe it is the same transfer from the Japanese release. The only complaint is the interlacing (see sample below). I still don't understand why these new and expensive releases still are interlaced.

The sound quality is also quite strong, although the 2.0 audio option sounds alright the 5.1 is the right choice here and the same one used in the theatrical run.

Overall this is a worthy package in my opinion and besides the annoying lack of English subtitles for the supplements, I still recommend it.

 - Luiz R.

 



DVD Menus

 

 

Bandai (2-disc) - Region 'A' - Blu-ray

 


CLICK EACH BLU-RAY CAPTURE TO SEE ALL IMAGES IN FULL 1920X1080 RESOLUTION

 

Screen Captures


Subtitles sample

1) CJ Entertainment (3-Disc Limited Edition - Korean Version) - Region 3 - NTSC TOP
2) Bandai (2-disc) - Region 'A' - Blu-ray BOTTOM

 

 


1) CJ Entertainment (3-Disc Limited Edition - Korean Version) - Region 3 - NTSC TOP
2) Bandai (2-disc) - Region 'A' - Blu-ray BOTTOM

 

 


1) CJ Entertainment (3-Disc Limited Edition - Korean Version) - Region 3 - NTSC TOP
2) Bandai (2-disc) - Region 'A' - Blu-ray BOTTOM

 

 


1) CJ Entertainment (3-Disc Limited Edition - Korean Version) - Region 3 - NTSC TOP
2) Bandai (2-disc) - Region 'A' - Blu-ray BOTTOM

 


1) CJ Entertainment (3-Disc Limited Edition - Korean Version) - Region 3 - NTSC TOP
2) Bandai (2-disc) - Region 'A' - Blu-ray BOTTOM

 

 


1) CJ Entertainment (3-Disc Limited Edition - Korean Version) - Region 3 - NTSC TOP
2) Bandai (2-disc) - Region 'A' - Blu-ray BOTTOM

 

Interlacing on DVD

 

 


1) CJ Entertainment (3-Disc Limited Edition - Korean Version) - Region 3 - NTSC TOP
2) Bandai (2-disc) - Region 'A' - Blu-ray BOTTOM

 

 


More Bandai (2-disc) - Region 'A' - Blu-ray Captures

 

DVD Box Cover

Thinking of buying from YesAsia? CLICK HERE and use THIS UPDATED BEAVER PAGE to source their very best...

 

Distribution

CJ Entertainment

Region 3 - NTSC

Bandai - Region 'A' - Blu-ray




 

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