We have officially run out of Studio Ghibli films! But let's continue with the spirit of our Ghibli Movie Nights by watching some other wonderful anime that Hayao Miyazaki himself would have been proud to conceive and direct!

• When: Every Friday at 8:30 PM (ending approx. by 11:00 pm)
• Where: KCECH 1938 Lounge (snacks and refreshments provided)
• No RSVP required: just show up, and feel free to bring your friends!

By popular demand, we're doing one more (and last) session!

This Friday, to bring our series to an end, we will be screening two of Makoto Shinkai's beautiful short/mid-length features: 秒速5センチメートル, Byōsoku Go Senchimētoru ("5 Centimeters per Second", 2007, runtime 01:03, music by Tenmon) and 言の葉の庭, Kotonoha no Niwa ("The Garden of Words", 2013, runtime 48:33, music by Daisuke Kashiwa), both produced by CoMix Wave. They received many accolades, and established Shinkai's reputation as the new Hayao Miyazaki. Unlike his best known works (like Children who chase lost voices, or the immediately following and super famous Your Name, Weathering with you, and Suzume), there are no fantasy or science fiction elements in these films. Instead, Shinkai gives a realistic view of the struggles many people have to face: time, space, people, and love. Critics remarked how good these two movies are "at piercing the veil of the everyday to reveal a poignant, evanescent beauty most of us notice only in rare moments."

The title 5 Centimeters per Second comes from the speed at which cherry blossom petals fall, with petals being a metaphorical representation of humans, reminiscent of the slowness of life and how people often start together but slowly drift into their separate ways. The plot consists of three segments, each following a period in the life of the protagonists --Takaki Tōno and Akari Shinohara-- beginning in the early 1990s up until the present day (2008). During elementary school in Tokyo, they both become very close and eventually realize they have fallen in love, but are separated when their parents' jobs demand they move to faraway areas of Japan. They cling to each other through letters and one last visit, in which they promise to someday watch the cherry blossoms together again. Inevitably, however, distance makes them grow slowly apart...

The title Garden of Words comes from Man'yōshū poetry (the oldest extant collection of Japanese waka) and the traditional Japanese word for "love" (koi) as "lonely sadness" or "longing for someone in solitude". (As noted by Shinkai, "romance" or ren'ai came about by Western influence). It uses shoes as a metaphor for life, with the two main characters' sudden awareness that they have been teaching each other "how to walk". The film focuses on Takao Akizuki, a high-school student and aspiring designer, who is skipping his morning class; and a mysterious young woman he keeps meeting at Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden on rainy mornings. Without ever introducing themselves formally, the two begin socializing in the park, talking about life, art, and poems. She tells Takao nothing about herself (not even her name), while Takao opens up to her, sharing his passion for shoes and deciding to make a pair for her. When Takao learns her identity, emotions come to a head...