Byousoku 5 Centimeters
Chapter 1
Hey
They say it's 5 centimeters per second.
Hmm... What's that?
The speed at which cherry blossom petals fall, 5 centimeters per second.
Hmmm...
You seem to know a lot, Akari.
Heh...
Hey...doesn't it somehow resemble snow?
I wonder...
Hey...!
Wait up!
Akari!
Takaki-kun!
Next year, wouldn't it be good to watch the cherry blossoms together again?
Oukashou
Dear Tohno Takaki-sama, I'm really sorry for not having contacted you in a while.
It's hot during summer over here...however,
it's much cooler compared to Tokyo.
But come to think of it, I still prefer the sweltering summer in Tokyo.
The asphalt which looks as though it might melt, the shimmering high-rise buildings in the distance,
and the overly-cold air-conditioning in the department stores and subway.
We last met at the primary school graduation ceremony...
It has been half a year since
Hey...Takaki-kun,
do you still remember me?
Greetings to Takaki-kun!
Thanks for the reply. I was really happy about it!
It'll soon be autumn, right? The autumn leaves here are beautiful.
Yesterday, I dug out my first sweater of the year.
Tohno-kun
Senpai
What's that? A love letter?
Ah, that's not it.
I'm sorry for leaving you to do all these.
It's OK. It'll be finished soon.
Thanks. Hey, is it true that you're going to switch schools?
Ah. Yes. During the third semester.
Where to?
Over to Kagoshima. It's due to my parents' jobs.
Is that so... It'll be lonely then.
Club activities have recently started earlier in the morning. That's why I'm currently writing this letter on the train.
I just had a haircut recently.
It's become short enough to just see my ears.
If we do meet up, you'll probably won't be able to recognize me right?
I'm back.
Welcome back.
You are also changing bit by bit, aren't you?
Salutations. The cold weather continues. How are you doing?
It had been snowing here countless times.
I had to wear really thick clothes to school because of that.
It hasn't started snowing in Tokyo right?
I haven't gotten used to the move,
so I've been watching Tokyo's weather forecast too.
Looks like it's not gonna rain...
But it's pretty hard being cooped indoors too.
Hey, have you guys ever been to Tochigi?
Huh? Where's that?
Tochigi.
Nope.
How would I get there...
Dunno...take the bullet train?
It's far, isn't it...
Freshmen!
Yes!
Three weeks to go!
Fight oh! Fight oh!
I was pretty shocked when I heard that you were transferring this time.
Have we both become used to transferring schools from having done so for so long?
Even still, to transfer to Kagoshima...
It's pretty far away this time, isn't it?
When the time comes,
it will no longer be a distance which would allow us to just get on a train and meet each other.
As I thought...
it's going to be a little lonely.
By all means, I wish you the best of health.
Good day to you, Takaki-kun!
I'm really happy about the promise to meet up on the 4th of March.
A year has passed since we last met.
Somehow I'm feeling nervous about it.
There's a huge cherry blossom tree near my house.
During spring, that's probably the place where...
...the cherry petals fall at 5 centimeters per second.
"Wouldn't it be nice if I could..."
"...stay with Takaki-kun until spring comes". That's what I think.
- Want to drop by my place on the way home? - Yeah, since it's raining anyway.
- The weather forecast says that the snow will be coming. - Eh...I thought it was getting cold. It's March already after all.
It looks like many people are going to catch the cold.
- Hey, let's grab a bite to eat afterwards. They say that it's gonna rain in Shimokita.
Ah, yes.
Tohno...
Let's go for our club activities.
Oh...
Look here...I don't think I can make it today.
Because of the moving preparations?
Something like that. Sorry.
It's a great help that you'll be coming to my local station, but...
since it's a long journey, please be careful.
As promised, I will be waiting for you at the waiting room of the station at 7pm.
On that promised day with Akari, it started snowing after midday.
Ah- Hey, Takaki-kun!
A cat...it's Chobi!
This one's always around here, isn't he?
But he looks like he's alone today.
What happened to Mimi? It's lonely by yourself, right?
How was the book?
Very absorbing. I read through 4 billion years in one night yesterday!
Where did you read up to?
Until the part when the Anomalocaris emerged.
The Cambrian period!
I like the Hallucigenia...they look like this.
Well, it looks similar, I guess.
What are you a fan of, Takaki-kun?
The Opabinia I guess.
Aah. It's got 5 eyes doesn't it?
I think Akari and I were somewhat similar in our thoughts and feelings.
One year after I transferred to Tokyo,
Akari transferred to the same class.
We, who were still small and sickly at that time,
preferred the library over the playground.
That's why we came to naturally become friends.
Because of that, we were teased by our classmates.
But...
strangely, when we were together, we weren't too perturbed by those things.
We eventually started commuting to the same secondary school.
"We would be together from then onwards"
For some reason, that's what I thought.
Shinjuku, Shinjuku. This is a terminal station.
Disembarking passengers,
please transfer to the subway JR line and Keiou line.
It was my first time coming to Shinjuku station by myself.
It would also be my first time taking the railway lines from here onwards.
My heart was beating quickly.
I will be meeting Akari after this.
The guy from before, how was he?
Who?
You know, that guy from Nisshou!
Eehhh...? Don't you think that's bad taste?
We will be arriving at Musashiurawa shortly. Repeat: Musashiurawa.
At the next station Musashiurawa, we will be waiting for the express train...
In order to await the arrival of the express, this train will be stopping here for four minutes.
Customers who are in a hurry to reach Yonohonmachi and Oomiya are advised to...
Uhm...it's Shinohara here.
Uhm...is Takaki-kun there?
It's Akari-chan.
Huh? Transferring?
What about Nishi Secondary? We worked so hard to get accepted.
They say I have to go to Tochigi Public...
I'm sorry...
No...it's not something you need to apologize about...
I told them to let me commute from Aunt Katsushika's place, but...
they told me I couldn't do it until I was older...
I got it.
It's alright.
It's OK...
I'm sorry...
I was pushing so hard on the telephone receiver that my ears hurt.
I understood perfectly that Akari had been hurt, but...
I couldn't do anything about it.
At the transfer station's terminal, it started to become crowded with people returning home from work.
Everyone's shoes were wet from soaking in the water from the snow.
The air was...
infused with the unique smell of a snowy day in a city, and was cold.
Attention please, all passengers.
The train on the Utsunomiya line, headed towards Koyama and Utsunomiya,
will be arriving around 8 minutes late due to the snow.
We offer our sincerest apologies to passengers who are in a hurry.
Until that moment, the possibility that the trains could be delayed
had not even crossed my mind.
My uneasiness suddenly increased.
Due to the snow, this train is currently around 10 minutes late.
Our sincerest apologies to those who were in a hurry to catch this train.
A little while after we passed Oomiya station,
in the blink of an eye, the buildings in the scenery became sparse.
The next stop is Kuki, Kuki.
Our sincerest apologies for the late arrival to this station.
Passengers transferring to the Toubuisezaki line, please approach the number 5 exit.
Due to the following train being delayed,
this train will be temporarily stopping here for 10 minutes.
We offer our sincerest apologies for the trouble we are causing to passengers in a hurry,
but please wait here for a while.
I'm sorry.
Due to the following train being delayed,
this train will be temporarily stopping here for 10 minutes.
We offer our sincerest apologies for the trouble we are causing to passengers in a hurry...
Nogi, Nogi...
We offer our sincerest apologies to our passengers,
Due to delays in the following train, this train will be temporarily stopping here...
We appreciate the difficulty that this is causing for passengers in a hurry...
The time it took to go from station to station was unbelievably long.
And the train stopped at each station for an unbelievably long time.
The invisible winter wasteland outside the window,
the flowing away of time, the painful hunger,
all these things gradually wore down my heart.
The promised time came and went.
By this time, Akari must have started worrying.
On that day...that day the phone call came,
The fact that I could not offer Akari even a single word of kindness,
even though she was beset by a far greater sadness than I was,
is something that I was very ashamed of.
So...
it's goodbye for us today.
Akari's first letter arrived half a year after that.
During the summer of my first secondary year.
I remember everything she wrote in that letter.
2 weeks before today, the promised date,
I wrote the letter that I was going to give her in person.
Things that I couldn't not tell Akari, things that I wanted her to hear:
in truth, I had a lot of them.
We sincerely apologize for the trouble. In a moment, this train will start moving towards Utsunomiya.
Koyama, Koyama...
Passengers using the Touho bullet train, please transfer here.
Passengers getting on the Touho bullet train outgoing from Morioka, please go to the first platform...
Passengers boarding the train headed towards Tokyo, please go to platform 5.
Attention please, passengers,
due to the snow, the Ryouke line is currently suffering a major operational delay.
We are terribly sorry for the trouble.
Until such time when the train arrives, please wait.
In any case,
I have no choice but to forge forward to the station where Akari is waiting.
The train arriving on track number 8 heading towards Ashikaga-Maebashi, will be going to Takasaki.
Please stand behind the white line.
Attention please, passengers,
Due to the current snowstorm, this train will be temporarily stopping.
We apologize for the inconvenience caused.
We are currently unable to provide a time for the resumption of service.
Repeat:
Due to the current snowstorm, this train will be temporarily stopping.
We apologize for the inconvenience caused.
We are currently unable to provide a time for the resumption of service.
Takaki-kun, are you well?
Club activities have recently started earlier in the morning. That's why I'm currently writing this letter on the train.
For some reason, the Akari I imagine from the letters was always alone.
Just like that, the train ended up
stopping there without a sound for nearly two hours.
Every minute felt like an eternity.
Time, clearly as if it had a malicious intent,
slowly ebbed away above me.
I clenched my teeth,
and keeping myself from crying was the only thing I could do.
Akari...
Please...just...
...return...
...return home already...!
The train arriving on track number 3 heading towards Ashikaga-Maebashi, will be going to Takasaki.
This train will be stopping here momentarily due to the snow.
Akari...
Delicious...
Really? It's just normal Houji tea.
Houji tea? It's my first time drinking this.
No way, you must have drunk it before.
Really?
Yes.
And after that, we have this...I made it, so I can't guarantee the taste, but...
if it's alright with you, please eat some.
Thank you!
I was really hungry.
How was it?
It's the most delicious out of all the things I have eaten up to now.
You exaggerate...!
It's true!
It must be because you are hungry.
Really?
Yes.
I'm going to eat some too.
You're going to be moving soon, right?
Yes...next week.
Kagoshima, huh...
It's far away.
Yeah.
But Tochigi is pretty far away too.
Heh, so far away that you can't return home.
We'll be closing the station soon. There are no more trains running anyway.
Ah. Yes.
Since it's snowing this much, please take care of yourself.
Yes sir.
Can you see it? That tree.
The tree from the letter?
Yes. The cherry blossom tree.
Hey...
Doesn't it...somehow resemble snow?
Yes, it does.
In that moment,
the dwelling place of eternity, hearts and souls...
became clear to me.
It was as if I understood everything that had happened in my life these last thirteen years,
and...the time which was to come.
I became unbearably...sad.
Akari's warmth, her spirit,
how should I treat them, where can I bring them?
That was something I did not know.
That we could not be together forever after this
was a fact I clearly grasped.
The vast lives we had ahead of us,
the boundless amount of time which laid unavoidably stretched out in front of us.
But...
the anxieties which I had caught sight of soon melted away.
And after that, only Akari's tender lips remained.
That night,
we stayed at a small barn beside a field.
Sharing an old blanket, we talked long into the night.
And before we knew it, we had fallen asleep.
In the morning, I boarded the train which had started running again.
Akari and I parted.
Uhm...
Takaki-kun...
Hmmm?
Takaki-kun, you'll...
be alright from now on. I'm sure of it!
Thank you.
Akari, you too, be well!
We'll write letters...and telephone too...!
I did not tell Akari
that I had lost the letter which I had written to her.
From before to after that kiss...
it seemed as though everything in the world had changed.
I strongly wished for the strength to protect her.
Just thinking that, as always,
I continued watching the scenery outside the window.
Chapter 1: Oukashou: End
Chapter 2
Kanae, are you going after school too?
Yeah. Are you alright with that?
Yep, but make sure you study properly too.
Yep!
Alright!
Good morning.
Good morning, Tohno-kun. You're early today too.
You too, Sumida. You came from the beach didn't you?
Yes.
You're hardworking.
Eh...
Not really...heh.
See you, Tohno-kun.
Ah!
Got it? It'll soon be time for you to decide.
You have until Monday to submit.
Discuss this with your family when you're filling it in.
It seems like Sasaki-san will be going to a university at Tokyo.
Wow. I might be going to a junior college in Kumamoto...
What about you, Kanae?
Uhm...uh...
Getting a job?
Uh....
You really haven't thought about anything, have you...
Only about Tohno-kun eh.
That guy must have a girlfriend in Tokyo.
That can't be...!
Hehe
Ah...
You still can't do it properly?
Mmm...I wonder what's the problem...
Don't worry about it too much. You can still get on the wave.
It's all very well for you to be so relaxed.
Why are you in such a hurry?
At this rate, I won't be able to say it before graduation...
Thank you, sis.
I can come fetch you back.
No, I'll go back to Kabu's.
Ah. Sumida, are you going home now?
Yes. You too, Tohno-kun?
Yup.
Wanna go together?
If I had a tail like a dog,
it'd probably be making a buzzing sound from shaking so quickly with hidden joy.
"Aahh, I'm so lucky that I'm not a dog", I thought to myself with relief.
Thinking that, I was amazed at myself for being such an idiot.
Even so...
The road home with Tohno-kun was a happy one.
From the very beginning, Tohno-kun was somehow different from the rest of the boys.
I'm Tohno Takaki.
I am used to transferring schools because of my parent's work, but I'm not familiar with this island yet.
I look forward to working with you.
I started liking him from that day in the second year of secondary school, and wanted to go to the same high school as him.
After studying really hard, I somehow managed to pass.
Even then, I fell even more in love whenever I saw Tohno-kun's figure.
It was scary, and each day was filled with anguish.
But feeling happy everytime I met him,
was something about myself that I couldn't do anything about.
Tohno-kun, you're buying the same thing again.
This is good.
Sumida, you're somehow always so very earnest.
Yep!
I'll go first then.
Yeah...
Can I have this please.
That's 90 yen.
Yep.
As always, thank you.
Welcome back. What did you buy?
Yup, I couldn't decide though...
Tohno-kun would sometimes be typing mail to someone.
During those times, I'd wish that I was the one receiving the mail he was sending.
For some reason, I kept thinking that every time.
Kabu! I'm back!
Kabu, Kabu, I've come back!
This is a notice from the town hall: the next duty stand will be Sakai's Agricultural Cooperative Fuel...
Sumida Kanae from third year first group,
Itou-sensei requests your presence at the student guidance room.
Isn't that your girlfriend?
She isn't my girlfriend.
Sumida, you're the only one in your year who hasn't submitted your form.
I'm sorry...
Look, despite what we've been telling you, it's not something you should be too worried about.
Did you talk to Sumida-sensei about this?
No...
If you really cannot decide, how about going to a local junior college?
But...
It's got nothing to do with sis...
Because...
my elder sister who coaxed me into starting surfing.
and the important person who occupies most of my thoughts...
I have still yet to...
As always, thank you.
That's OK. See you.
When I came to the place where Tohno-kun was,
the inside of my chest started hurting somewhat.
Tohno-kun!
Sumida! What's up? How did you find me?
Heh...I found your bike, so I came along. Is that OK?
Mmm, I see. I'm glad.
I didn't see you at the scooter parking place today...
Me too!
He is kind.
At times, it seems like he's going to cry.
Hey...are you going to be taking the exams?
Yes, the acceptance exams for a university in Tokyo.
Tokyo...I see. I thought that would be the case.
Why?
I somehow always thought you'd go somewhere far away.
What about you?
Uhmmm...
I'm not even sure about tomorrow.
I think...everyone is like that.
No way! Even you?
Of course.
You don't seem like you're undecided about the future at all.
No...I am full of hesitation.
I only somehow manage to do what I can.
I see.
So that's how it is.
A paper plane?
Yep.
...amazing.
They say it's 5 kilometers per hour.
Huh?
It's going to the Minamitane launch facility.
Oh.
This year, we'll see a launch at long last.
Ah...they say it will continue travelling through the solar system and beyond...
No matter how long it takes...
You should seriously discuss Kanae's future with her.
She's such an absent-minded girl.
It'll be alright. She's no longer a kid.
I was once like her too...
Hey...Kabu, Tohno-kun is unsure too.
He's the same as me...Tohno-kun.
That would really be...
...a journey so dark and lonely as to be beyond all imagination.
To exist so earnestly in pure darkness...
...without meeting even a single hydrogen atom by chance...
To absolutely and wholeheartedly believe that somewhere in the abyss, you are getting closer to the secrets of the universe.
In that manner, where are we headed towards?
How far will we go?
When did I start typing messages that are never sent?
Kanae, have you decided on your future path?
No...I still don't know. But it's OK. I've decided...
I'll do the best I can, bit by bit. I'm going now!
From that day on, a few typhoons happened to pass by,
and on those occasions, the island became cooler bit by bit.
The wind which nudged the sugarcane gradually became pregnant with chill.
The sky really became a little higher,
the contours of the clouds became gentler,
and the classmates whom Kabu jumped on ended up looking like they'd put on thin jumpers.
When I managed to stand up on the wave for the first time in half a year,
there was still a little bit of summer left. It was the middle of October.
This evening's weather will be clear, with a reported maximum windspeed of 8 meters.
It seems like Sasaki-san has confessed to Yamada.
Wow, just as you would expect from her!
Huh? Kanae, you seem really happy today.
Did something happen with Tohno-kun?
Hehe...
No way!
Today, I too...
...will confess to Tohno-kun!
If I don't tell him on the day I managed to get on the wave,
I will not be able to tell him from here on in.
Sumida
Toh-
Tohno-kun...
Are you going home now?
Yes.
I see.
In that case, let's go together.
Hmmm? Sumida, you've decided already?
Yes...
Hmm?
I...
What's wrong?
I...
...to me.
Huh?
No...
Sorry...it's nothing.
It's not working?
Yes...it's strange...
No good?
Yeah...it could be that the plug has given up the ghost. Was this a hand-me-down?
Yeah. I was my sister's.
Did it have problems when you were accelerating?
It might have.
Let's just leave this here today and have someone from your family pick it up later.
We'll walk home today.
Eh...I'll walk home myself! Tohno-kun, you can go first.
It's not that far from here,
and I kinda want to walk as well.
Tohno-kun...
Please...
What's wrong?
I'm sorry...it's nothing...
I'm sorry...
Sumida...
I beg you...please...
...stop being...
...so kind to me...!
To desperately and blindly stretch out our hands towards the heavens,
to launch such a big mass into the sky,
and to fix our eyes on something in the darkness of the far reaches of space.
Even if only a little, I've come to realize
why Tohno-kun seemed so different from the other boys.
And at the same time,
I also came to the full understanding that Tohno-kun...
...would never look at me.
That's why, I did not say anything to Tohno-kun on that day.
Although Tohno-kun is kind...
...he's very kind...but...
but...
Tohno-kun has always
...been looking at something far beyond, far higher than me.
I could never give Tohno-kun that which he desires.
Even so...
Even so, I'm sure that even when tomorrow comes, or the day after, or thereafter,
I will still be helplessly in love with Tohno-kun.
Thinking only about Tohno-kun,
and crying, I slept.
Chapter 2: Cosmonaut: End
Thinking back to that day,
surely, that person must also strongly feel it when she thinks back.
The last train on the Chuou Soubu line going to Tokyo has arrived.
If only you could go back after the New Year...
Yes...but I've got various things prepared, so...
That's right. Make sure you cook him some delicious food too.
Yes.
If anything happens, give us a call, Akari.
It'll be alright. There'll be a meeting ceremony next month, so you don't have to worry.
It's cold, so please return home.
I saw a dream from long ago.
Both of us were still kids.
It must have been because of the letter I found yesterday.
Mizuno-san.
Ah...yes!
Shall we have the meeting now?
Yes.
By just living one's life, sadness accumulates here and there,
be it in the sheets hung out in the sun to dry, the toothbrushes in the bathroom,
and the history logs of the mobile phone.
"I still like you, even now."
so wrote the lady I had dated three years ago in her email.
"But, even if we were to exchange a thousand emails..."
"...our hearts would probably not move even one centimeter closer together."
In the last several years, I have forged ahead without any regard,
just to touch what I cannot reach. That email was a definite indicator of that fact.
Without understanding the sources from which
this menacing thought surged forth from, I continued working.
When I at last noticed, my heart had already become hard from the gradual loss of its youthful vitality.
And on a certain morning,
when I at last came to an earnest realization...
that I had lost everything that was beautiful,
I knew I was at my limits,
and quit the company.
Yesterday, I had a dream.
A dream I have had since long ago.
In that dream, we had yet to turn 13.
We were in a vast countryside completely covered with snow,
the lights of the houses extended far into the distance, a dazzling sight.
We walked on the thick carpet of fresh snow, but did not leave any footprints.
And like that,
"Someday, we will be able to watch the cherry blossoms together again",
both of us, without any doubts at all,
that's what we thought.
I'm always searching, for your figure to appear somewhere
On the opposite platform, in the windows off the street,
Even though I know you couldn't be at such a place
If my wish were to come true, I would go to your side right now
There would be nothing I couldn't do
I would put everything on the line and hold you tight
If I just wanted to avoid loneliness, anybody would have been enough.
Because the night looks like the stars will fall, I cannot lie to myself.
One more time, oh seasons, fade not.
One more time, when we were messing around
I'm always searching, for your figure to appear somewhere
At a street crossing, or in the midst of dreams
Even though I know you couldn't be at such a place
If a miracle were to happen here, I would show you right away
The new morning, who I'll be from now on
And the words I never said: "I love you."
The memories of summer are revolving
The throbbing which suddenly disappeared
I'm always searching, for your figure to appear somewhere
In the town at dawn, at Sakuragi-cho
Even though I know you wouldn't come to such a place
If my wish were to come true, I would go to your side right now
There would be nothing I couldn't do
I would put everything on the line and hold you tight
I'm always searching, for fragments of you to appear somewhere
In a store during my travels, in the corner of newspaper,
Even though I know you couldn't be at such a place
If a miracle were to happen here, I would show you right away
The new morning, who I'll be from now on
And the words I never said: "I love you."
I always end up looking for your smile, to appear somewhere
At the railroad crossing, waiting for the express to pass
Even though I know you couldn't be at such a place
If our lives could be repeated, I would be at your side every time
I would want nothing else
nothing matters except for you.
Itsudemo sagashite iruyo, dokka ni kimi no sugata wo
Mukaino HOOMU, rojiura no mado
Konna toko ni iru hazu mo nai noni
Negai ha moshimo kanau nara, imasugu kimi no moto e
Dekinai koto ha, mou nanimo nai,
Subete kakete dakishimete miseru yo
Samishisa magirasu dake nara, dare demo ii hazu nanoni,
Hoshi ga ochisou na yoru dakara, jbun wo itsuwarenai
One more time, kisetsu yo utsurowanai de
One more tiime, Fuzake atta jikan yo
Itsudemo sagashite iruyo, dokka ni kimi no sugata wo
Kousaten demo, yume no naka demo,
Konna toko ni iruhazu mo nai noni
Kiseki ga moshimo okoru nara, imasugu kimi ni misetai
Atarashii asa, korekara no boku
Ienakatta "suki" to iu kotoba mo
Natsu no omoide ga mawaru
Fui ni kieta kodou
Itsudemo sagashite iruyo, dokka ni kimi no sugata wo
Akegata no machi, Sakuragi-cho de,
Konna toko ni kuruhazu mo nai noni
Negai ga moshimo kanau nara, imasugu kimi no moto e
Dekinai koto ha, mou nanimo nai
Subete kakete dakishimete miseru yo
Itsudemo sagashite iruyo, dokka ni kimi no kakera wo
Tabisaki no mise, shinbun no sumi
Konna toko ni aruhazu mo nai noni
Kiseki ga moshimo okoru nara, imasugu kimi ni misetai
Atarashii asa, korekara no boku
Ienakatta "suki" to iu kotoba mo
Itsudemo sagashite shimau, dokka ni kimi no egao wo
Kyuukou machi no, fumikiri atari
Konna toko ni iruhazu mo nai noni
Inochi ga kurikaesu naraba, nando mo kimi no moto e
Mou nanimo nai
Kimii no hoka ni taisetsu na mono nado
Subtitles by icie and Windbell. (pireze.org | moeside.net) Copyright licensing: non-profit distribution and modification allowed provided this notice stays unmodified.