The Girl Who Leapt Through Time

[sandalwood]

Hey guys!!!!!

I was just watching The Girl Who Leapt Through Time with my parents. It was the second time I've seen it, so I noticed a few things that I'd missed the first time around.

Anyway, my mom and I had a few theories about what exactly the movie was trying to say. There seemed to be a lot of symbolism within the sci-fi, and the most confusing aspect is, of course, Auntie Witch.

What do you guys think of Auntie Witch? Does she symbolize Makoto, or is she ACTUALLY Makoto's future self, talking to her? We're just debating on whether or not she is super essential or simply a "voice" or "medium" meant to drive the plot along?

Other than that question, let's just analyze the movie. I want to hear what your ideas are about it, if you figured something out, if you felt it was trying to say something, or just what you liked/disliked about the film.

God bless!

[Atria35]

I don't think there's any real grounds to believe she's Makoto's future self- she seems to be a character there to offer a voice of wisdom to Makoto, and I've never seen her as anything more than that.

There's no reason the movie can't be saying several things at once. Movies can have more than one theme to them.

[ABlipinTime]

It was entertaining. I do believe that's what it was meant to be.
Most people here don't seem to prefer over analysis of the meanings in stories (correct me if I'm wrong people, but I haven't noticed it). Perhaps because a story is just seen as pure entertainment with perhaps a moral lesson here or there. After all, lots of people on this board write fantasy without any intention of conveying some religious or spiritual idea. The same, in my opinion, seems to be the case with this film: it's an entertaining romance, not some deep philosophical analysis of time travel. The latter just happens to be a medium by which the story is conveyed (and it makes escapes rather amusing).

[ClosetOtaku]

"Auntie Witch" is

[spoiler] the protagonist from the first story of 'A Girl Who Leapt Through Time', which was a novel produced back in the '60s. If you look at the picture that Auntie Witch is looking at when she speaks during one particular encounter with Makoto, you'll see a reference to that original novel. She actually did have 'time leaps' herself. Her story had been made into a number of different films before Madhouse's 'sequel'. [/spoiler]

I very much enjoyed the movie, and recommend it highly. It's a film that speaks to missed opportunities and future regrets, and yet hope that our dreams may still be realized.