The Girl Who Leapt Through Time

I watched this movie by accident. Now I am very glad that I have run into it. It has been a long long time since last time I feel this great about our everyday life. Once again I was moved by the innocent love that is no longer easy to regain.

Director: Mamoru Hosoda
Producers: Mamoru Hosoda, Shinichiro Inoue, Jungo Maruta
Writers: Satoko Okudera, Yasutaka Tsutsui
Cast: Riisa Naka, Takuya Ishida, Mitsutaka Itakura, Sachie Hara

An unexpected delight and one of the most acclaimed anime features in recent years, THE GIRL WHO LEAPT THROUGH TIME is the first animated adaptation of a 1965 young adult novel that had been an instant sensation in Japan, spawning countless films and TV programs over the ensuing decades. Director Mamoru Hosoda updates the tale to present-day Tokyo, all while remaining true to the same enchanting story of a girl who learns to time-travel...

Makoto (the niece of the original heroine) is a vivacious—if klutzy—17-year old tomboy who spends her days playing catch after school with her guy pals Kosuke and Chiaki. Her carefree summer days are literally thrown for a loop when she discovers a mysterious ability to leap back through time. Her trivial temporal maneuvers—undoing little blunders or finding out exam questions in advance—soon lead to complicated wrinkles that have an inevitable impact on those around her. And when Chiaki confesses his love for her one day, she not only finds their delicate friendship triangle crumbling, but also that there are some things time can never change—or prevent.

Hosoda is a remarkable new talent who, together with a stellar creative team including art director Nizou Yamamoto (PRINCESS MONONOKE) and character designer Yoshiyuki Sadamoto (NEON GENESIS EVANGELION), has crafted a magical and surprisingly affecting film full of humor, warmth and the bittersweet pangs of first love. After soaring through this journey with Makoto, one will never experience each moment quite the same way.

Animanity

This video reminds me that humanity doesn't only belong to us.

Being a nerd...

Last night I finally got the New York based magazine, "Theme". It features a special issue this month about nerds. Why do I care about it? Well, they did a profile for me. -_- Am I a nerd?

Nerd has been a relatively negative vocabulary in my memory. But I have never thought too much about the meaning of this word. Now looking at the definition on the web:

Nerd, as a stereotypical or archetypal designation, refers to somebody who passionately pursues intellectual or esoteric knowledge or pastimes rather than engaging in a social life, participating in organized sports, or other mainstream activities.

I feel both proud and also a bit shame that I am a 100% nerd. The article on the magazine is a really good summary of my game design philosophy, too bad it's only available on paper. And here's the table of content.