Teaser Trailer for the Live Action Adaptation of Makoto Shinkai’s Hit Anime Film 5 CENTIMETERS PER SECOND

Anime fans have every reason to be wary when it comes to live-action remakes. For every good project, there’s a long trail of underwhelming adaptations that miss the heart, tone, or just the basic visual magic of the original. But the first trailer for the live-action remake of 5 Centimeters per Second might just be the exception.

Makoto Shinkai’s 2007 film has been praised for its quiet emotional weight and dreamlike realism, and it’s getting the live-action treatment, and based on this first look, it looks solid.

Directed by Yoshiyuki Okuyama, 5 Centimeters per Second was Shinkai’s second feature following The Place Promised in Our Early Days. It’s told in three interconnected chapters, tracking the emotional drift between two childhood friends, Takaki and Akari, as they grow apart.

The synopsis reads: “Told in three interconnected segments, Takaki tells the story of his life as cruel winters, cold technology, and finally, adult obligations and responsibility converge to test the delicate petals of love.”

The film stars Hokuto Matsumura as adult Takaki Tono, with Yuto Ueda and Noa Hirayama playing his younger selves. While Shinkai has expressed complicated feelings about the original, calling it a result of his creative immaturity, director Yoshiyuki Okuyama clearly sees something timeless in it, and he’s committed to honoring that.

Okuyama said: “There are things that can only be made now and perspectives that we will eventually forget. I want to carefully and sincerely craft each scene and every second, together with the team I trust wholeheartedly, as if placing a warm hand on Takaki’s back, who carries a sense of loss and anxiety.

“Since this is a work I’ve watched countless times myself, I feel the weight of responsibility every day. Every fan has their own interpretation and world of the story, and I am one of them.”

The film opens in Japanese theaters on October 10th. Let’s hope the rest of it is as beautiful as these first frames.