The Place Promised in Our Early Days was the second of Shinkai's works that I watched after initially discovering 5 Centimeters Per Second. It is also coincidentally the second animation that Shinkai created, after his first Voices of a Distant Star. It is also a sci-fi film, but this time with military and parallel universe themes. The scope is also a larger and this reflects on the more ambitious take on the world.

Details

• Directed by: Makoto Shinkai, Yoshio Suzuki
• Produced by: Makoto Shinkai
• Written by: Makoto Shinkai
• Music by: Tenmon
• Studio: CoMix Wave Inc.
• Licensed by: ADV Films, Anime Limited
• Released: 20 November 2004
• Runtime: 90 minutes

Synopsis

From MyAnimeList.net:

In an alternate-reality 1974 Japan, the country is split, with the southern islands controlled by America and the northern lands claimed by the Soviet Union. Hokkaido, referred to as Ezo in Kumo no Mukou Yakusoku no Basho, decides to construct a tower into the sky designed by Ekusun Tsukinoe.
By 1996, Hokkaido Tower's construction is complete and three students of Aomori have big dreams concerning this tower. Hiroki Fujisawa and Takuya Shirakawa are considered child prodigies, and both harbor romantic feelings for Sayuri Sawatari, though neither of them would dare admit it.
When a drone crashes down, the two boys resolve to repair it and fly to the top of Hokkaido Tower. Assisting them is their boss at the military plant, Mr. Okabe. They name the drone Bella Ciela, but before their dreams of flying it are realized, Sayuri vanishes. Unbeknownst to them, her disappearance is related closely to the tower that the two dream of reaching.

Story

Don't judge a book by its cover. That's what people always say not to see things by its outer appearance. If you see the promotional poster of The Place Promised in Our Early Days, you'd think: "That's odd. It's a sci-fi film right?" Well, it is and the two characters playing violins are also related to the story. This is the first feature length animated movie directed by Shinkai after Voices of a Distant Star. It is shown on the overall better quality and having a bigger budget means a longer running time.

Watched the film years ago and having completely forgotten about it, I decided to watch it again. The film is in the sci-fi genre but like Voices of a Distant Star, it touches many aspects of humanity. That being said, this is not as simple as it sounds and looks. There are many things going on the movie itself.

The themes are quite numerous. Friendship, romance, branching universe, alternate reality, and so on. But, the ones that stand out the most are friendship and romance. Here, they are shown quite deeply and resonate with each other. They are blended quite perfectly with each other I might say. But, sadly the other ones are not really represented equally and resulted in a rather haphazard way of delivery.

The connection, both physical and mental, between Hiroki and Akari is shown rather vague at the beginning. Over the course, we can see that both of them yearn for the same thing which is to meet again and be together. However, the fate seems so cruel because they are reunited but at a cost of something. I won't tell you what it is but it's so subtle yet robs them of their years to come.

Shinkai referenced and used many literary works, especially poetry in this movie. The self-narration is quite lucid. Akari seems to realize that she is dreaming but she doesn't know how to get out of it. The surreal atmosphere of Akari's dream world really does a great job at telling an alternate condition of Earth. Reality bleeds in and she started to having difficulties between separating what is real and what is not. A perfect example of Shinkai's imagery style which involves hazy and vivid symbols.

There are many high-level concepts and terms of physics although they are not important to the story and it can be enjoyed thoroughly without even bothering them. There is also a subplot involving the two boys' former boss about war and revolution, as it is set in an alternate timeline where the Soviet Union occupied the separated Japan. It is hinted in the film that the boss also experience similar things to the main characters with his two friends, one that is shown to have become a renowned physicist and the other one who is not shown.

However, after watching the film you'll find many things left unanswered although they are really trivial matters. I haven't got the time to read the manga or novel but maybe you can see the answers there. The ending is quite heartbreaking but nonetheless accomplishes its task.

I might point out at this time that Shinkai newest feature film, Your Name, contains a lot of similarity with this film. Starting from the themes, the characters, and most importantly the scenes. I will talk about the similarity, which I found to be rather unusual, in Your Names' post.

Visual

There is a significant upgrade regarding its visual style and character design. The tone, color, and lighting give a "Shinkai" feel, and the depth of characters is enough to make them real. The backdrop has become quite breathtaking and evolved into what we will then see as the usual in Shinkai future works. I haven't got much further to say though. At least the characters have become more alive.

Audio

This is where it differs than all of his works. Starting from Voices of a Distant Star, Shinkai likes to use guitar and piano as his main instrument in the soundtrack. But in this case, violin is the one. There are scenes with contain song which is played quite beautifully yet hauntingly by Hiroki and Akari. The main theme is also played by a violin. Truly a tenderly sweet piece of work from Tenmon.

Characters

There are many improvements regarding the characters' complexity and characterization, but the characterization is still shaky although not quite so disappointing. Shinkai managed to bring these characters into life. Because of the longer running time, we managed to see each characters' traits and unique characteristics. The boss is actually quite a deep character and well-developed, having many regrets that he wants to patch.

The bond between Hiroki and Takuya is very dynamic and constantly changing. They are shown in the beginning to be very close, having a brother-like relationship. At some point in the story, they have been ignoring each other for a very long time. Hiroki is the one who is in fact always trying to fix things up but Takuya has grown bitter. However, in the end Takuya begins to see things the other way and tries to mend his wrongdoings.

Conclusion

Another above the average work from Shinkai. In terms of depth and plot, The Place Promised in Our Early Days may not be shining as bright as others but it still has a nice feel to it. Many messages and meanings can be looked for in its entirety. I strongly suggest you watching it because of how beautiful it is crafted.

It is sad that The Place Promised in Our Early Days becomes the odd child of the Shinkai family. Many attribute it to the fact that it was developed in the stage where Makoto was still searching for his style and struggling to see his vision manifested. However, it is still an enjoyable movie. In fact, I bet you don't know that Shinkai used the alternate timeline theme first in this movie. That's why you can see its hazy presence on Your Name, especially with the climatic encounter.