Byôsoku 5 Senchimêtoru

TENMON

 
" Byôsoku 5 Senchimêtoru is an extremely well executed romantic score "

Written by Joep de Bruijn - Review of the regular release

Byôsoku 5 Senchimêtoru (5 Centimeters Per Second) is a beautiful 2007 Japanese animated romantic drama film directed by Makoto Shinkai. The director's cinema flourishes by romantic love stories set within a realistic environment, deeply and wonderfully exploring the theme of love. In other films, the same universal theme of love, including all its ingredients, are intertwined with themes of fantasy and infinite space, as seen in a film such as Kumo no Mukô, Yakusoku no Basho (The Place Promised in Our Early Days).

Byôsoku 5 Senchimêtoru is a 65-minute film, divided into three interconnected segments, as we follow a young man Takaki, from his first love at a young age which goes unanswered, to adulthood as he finds out if the everlasting love for this girl may finally come to bloom.

The remarkably charming score is written by Tenmon (Atsushi Shirakawa). He composed a series of great scores to various films and games directed by Shinkai, but at a certain point the director turned to other composers; radwimps, Akihisa Matsuura and Daisuke Kashiwa.

In making Byôsoku 5 Senchimêtoru, the director sought inspiration from a Japanese popular song to add to the feel of childhood nostalgia and love; Masayoshi Yamazak' One more time, One more chance. The instrumental qualities of the song formed the structure of the mesmerizing score by Tenmon, whose main instrument is the piano, while also using strings, harp, percussion, and guitar occasionally. At times, it follows the original song with the same popular progression, while also arranging it f for a leisure jazz variation, and more traditionally with strings and other instruments in the fashion of traditional (orchestral) romantic scores.

The score is the perfect reflection of what it means to be in love and how deeply love can hurt, without overcomplicating things musically. For anyone who loves the film, as the original song 'finally' appears near the end of the film, there's a sudden break with the overall charming and intimate feel of the entire film; a terribly inconvenient feel of crapulence. In hearing the absolutely terrible song, it is such a strong reminder of how well Tenmon, with help, miraculously arranged and transformed the otherwise fine source melody for his enchanting score.

Byôsoku 5 Senchimêtoru is an extremely well executed romantic score, conceivably nothing special, but it was written for a film that approaches all aspects of love from a realistic point of view, not avoiding the schmaltz though, rather than crafting a canvas of love that quickly fades away as the film has ended. Strictly from a musical point of view, the song is well arranged, the piano dominated feel of love is so strong and the level of intimacy is heartening. It's a bitter-sweet and yet incredibly moving score.


Tracklist
01 Oukashou 4:51
02 Omoide ha Tooku no Hibi 1:41
03 Shousou 1:10
04 Yuki no Eki 2:19
05 Kiss 3:14
06 Kanae no Kimochi 1:47
07 Yume 1:40
08 Sora to Umi no Uta 2:00
09 Todokanai Kimochi 1:41
10 END THEME 2:53
11 One more time, One more chance PIANO ver. 5:00

Total duration: 28:16



(written 23-11-2021)
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(total of 2 votes - average 5/5)

Released by

CoMix Wave Films (regular release 2007)