Some spoilers. I talk about plot structure a bit, though not necessarily about specific events.
The Girl Who Leapt Through Time
Though it compares unfavourably to my mind with Shinkai's later work, The Girl Who Leapt Through Time smacks of his trademark styles; revisiting the past, youthful protagonists bound by a romantic connection, astounding cinematography (though obviously not as evolved as later iterations) but still a basic thinned-lined, no shade energy to the whole production that renders it pleasantly enjoyable to watch. I don't know that there's much more to say on the praise side of things other than I enjoyed most of it and it was a good watch, but the ending kind of left me feeling a bit unsatisfied since it kind of chose a slightly more middle-of-the-road path than I would have preferred.
I did enjoy the way small events compounded and became big events, or the sequential progression of Makoto letting things play out, screwing up, discussing something with her Aunt, jumping back; I wasn't super into Makoto at the beginning when she's being super immature about the whole thing, but I suppose not every character in time-travel fiction has read time-travel fiction, so I suppose that's being a bit unfair. The mid-section of the movie I think is the strongest; the multiple compound hits of setting up Kousaka with the GF, then the reveal about the bike, then the fake-out, then one twist, then the second twist... that was all really excellent, and I was totally caught up in the film. And of course I love anything with quick cuts that efficiently gives the audience necessary information without any unnecessary meandering.
But it's around that point that for me the movie begins to subtly unravel; not necessarily in direction or tone, but around that point my suspension of disbelief begins to fray somewhat. It's where Chiaki moves from the role of side character to main character and frankly he kind of suffers for it. Obviously this reveal is strong and important, but his overall motive seems kind of... flat, for lack of a better word. Compare Your Name, where they really handle the balance of the deuteragonists in a really skillful way; here, revealing Chiaki as knowing and important to the mysteries of the film actually, to me, kind of alienates him from the emotive heart of the plot and makes him into more of a plot mechanic or contrivance.
The ending, I feel, is also a bit weak-willed - though perhaps that's just because I'm seeing it in contrast to Your Name (recently) and what I remember of 5cm per Second, both films which choose an ending and explicitly spell it out for the audience for a complete, if not necessarily satisfying, resolution (though Your Name leaves it somewhat to the imagination). Time on the other hand tries to have its cake and eat it, which is to say, both have a logical/plot resolution and a emotional resolution, except unlike the other two movies they don't seem in sync here so it all comes out a bit off.
Still, well worth watching.
/EDIT I AM AN IDIOT
