I'm falling more and more in love with japanese animated films. 5 Centimeters Per Second, much like The Girl Who Leapt Through Time, is beautifully animated and more often than not had me gasp at the exciting and visceral use of colours and lighting. Don't however think that the impressive visuals are merely there to replace a good story. At the heart of this film lies the melancholic coming-of-age tale of a young boy and later grown-up adult and his many encounters with love, either told through his point of view or that of his lover. The story is told with a sensitivity and calmness that is very rare in modern cinema and a lot of things are left open to the viewer's interpretation. I highly recommend seeing this as it is yet another masterpiece in the japanese animation department I've seen in just one week.