A feast for the eyes. Truly artistic, and with a simple, yet very "real," story.

The visual aspect of this animation is stunning. It takes the traditional anime look (which has basically been the same for 30 years) and opens a door into a new dimension of realism with its detail, lighting, depth-of-field effects and cinematic camera angles. It's a groundbreaking work of staggering beauty. Eye candy aside, the story is, well, different, which is not a bad thing in itself, although there are some dialogue pacing problems which make parts seem very dialogue heavy. Mixed bag.

Great visuals but was not really on board with the idea of a 16 year old being in love with some girl he went to elementary school with very briefly.

It makes me uncomfortable. But the good kind of uncomfortable.

I'm all about melodramatic romantic films, but this was just sentimental ad nauseum. It didn't earn any of the emotional weight it ascribed itself so it wound up feeling sappy. Nice visuals, though. I'll give it that.

The vague characters of this short romance are nowhere near as entrancing as they think they are, and I really didn't appreciate the incongruous musical ending, which said and resolved precious little.

Deeply touching and deliberately paced to match the theme: the drifting away of people with each other. Three shorts with stunning visuals that are worth seeing for fans of animated movies.

Characters and plot may be forgettable but the emotions created through the beautiful animated images will stay with you.

Somebody, maybe on Amazon, described the movie in context of humankind reaching its final frontier, as evidenced by the rocket scene. I think this is an interpretation very much worth thinking about.

a nice story of a love triangle is being told in three related episodes narrated by three people involved. beautiful poem-like japanese dialogues and breathtaking animated landscapes.

A wistful, nostalgic tone is woven through these episodes of youthful romantic pinings turned into bittersweet adult reminiscences. The art is uncommonly beautiful, with extraordinary attention to detail, gorgeous color and lighting, and images that deftly evoke a sense of melancholy. I could relate to the unrequited adolescent yearnings but had to roll my eyes at all the tinkly piano and whispered voiceover. I was easily charmed by the gentle rhythms, pleasant characters, and lovely visuals.

All the marks are really for the animation (which is totally amazing!) & the one or two effective scenes where the characters aren't opening their irritating mouths in order to philosophically whisper at you about what a total losers they are! The annoying voices in the English dub are terrible! Somehow they emphasise what a bunch of sociopathic introverted idiots all the characters are! I wanted grab Takaki by the neck & tell the little idiot to man-up & grow a pair of fucking balls.

This film takes the same thematic concerns of Shinkai's earlier film The Voices of a Distant Star (even drawing narrative parallels between the two films in the second act) - young love's effect on someone as they age, separation by great distance from the one you love - but handles it all in a far more mature, and thus emotionally resonant, manner. It also helps that the animation is downright gorgeous.

I love the first story, the animation is so beautiful

Some beautiful moments but overall a bit too slow in my mind.

The plot couldn't be simpler: me and your mother last night.

It could have done better without the ending. Upto that point the nature of the story was naive, with last 5 minutes the film became naive.

Emotionally engaging and visually stunning anime. It is typical work for Makoto Shinkai - very detailed and beautiful backgrounds, a bit rough character design, almost no story, but plenty of emotions.

Loses points for the ending, and the lame song. I really enjoyed the first couple of chapters.

Every shot is beautifully composed and animated; I can't imagine the amount of dedication that went into this film. The story starts out cute but becomes something painfully human. Unfortunately, the plot and characters are ultimately forgettable, really only serving as a vessel for the more memorable visual component.

beautiful movie, some good monologues, amazing animation. would have given it an even better rating if i didn't despise what japanese animation makes human beings look like.

Beautiful animation, breathtaking vistas, average story.

Better than The Place Promised in our early days but still pales in comparison to Voices of a Distant Star. With Makoto Shinkai, shorter is better.

This is a really gloomy movie, maybe it's because I've felt the long distance pain. Beautiful animation and soulful characters. Some really great scenery. The song at the end, while the lyrics fit, kind of kill the mood a bit. Anti-ending, cruel but affective.