The Girl Who Leapt Through Time

"There is a future that we can't wait for."

2006 1h 38m JA

🙌

7.8

BANGER

★7.8TMDB · 2,326

FantasyAnimationDramaScience Fiction

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

When 17-year-old Makoto Konno gains the ability to 'leap' backwards through time, she immediately sets about improving her grades and preventing personal mishaps. However, she soon realises that changing the past isn't as simple as it seems, and eventually, will have to rely on her new powers to shape the future of herself and her friends.

“There is a future that we can't wait for.”

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Cast

Riisa Naka
Makoto Konno (voice)
Takuya Ishida
Chiaki Mamiya (voice)
Mitsutaka Itakura
Kousuke Tsuda (voice)
Ayami Kakiuchi
Yuri Hayakawa (voice)
Mitsuki Tanimura
Kaho Fujitani (voice)
Yuki Sekido
Miyuki Konno (voice)
Utawaka Katsura
Makoto's Father (voice)
Midori Ando
Makoto's Mother (voice)

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Mamoru Hosoda
Writers: Satoko Okudera
Languages: Japanese
Countries: Japan

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 7

ERA

Did you know

Released 20 years ago.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 7

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Mamoru Hosoda, shot by Yoshihiro Tomita. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 7

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Kiyoshi Yoshida. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 7

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Shigeru Nishiyama shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 7

CAST

Did you know

Riisa Naka and Takuya Ishida and Mitsutaka Itakura carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 7

FACT

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "There is a future that we can't wait for.".

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 7

WILD

Did you know

IMDB entry: tt0808506 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Mamoru Hosoda directs. Yoshihiro Tomita behind the camera. Kiyoshi Yoshida scores. Shigeru Nishiyama cuts. Runs lean at under 100 minutes. Produced in Japan. Dialogue in Japanese.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Released 20 years ago.
2Directed by Mamoru Hosoda, shot by Yoshihiro Tomita. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
3Original score by Kiyoshi Yoshida. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
4Editor Shigeru Nishiyama shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
5Riisa Naka and Takuya Ishida and Mitsutaka Itakura carry the top of the cast.
6Marketing tagline: "There is a future that we can't wait for.".
7IMDB entry: tt0808506 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
8Classified under 16 themes, including "high school", "time travel", "surrealism", "love".
9Released under 11 different titles around the world.

The technical file

Cinematography: Yoshihiro Tomita
Original score: Kiyoshi Yoshida
Editing: Shigeru Nishiyama
Runtime: 98 min · 1h 38m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Box office: $3,478,290
Original language: JA
Certification (US): NR
IMDB: The Girl Who Leapt Through Time (2006)

Awards

Animation Kobe Theatrical Film Award
Mainichi Film Award for Best Animation Film
Japan Academy Prize for Animation of the Year

Individual records documented via Wikidata; the summary above may count more.

Also by

Mamoru Hosoda

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Trailers & featurettes

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Community reviews

What people are saying

CinemaSerf2025-07-09
★ 7/10
“Makoto” is one of those young girls who would probably be late for her own funeral. Every morning is a last minute rush as she gulps her breakfast then heads to high school and her two best friends “Kosuke” and “Chiaki” to continue with her very mediocre education! Indeed, the best part of their day is spent playing baseball and chatting and putting the world to rights. One afternoon, whilst she is investigating something curious in the laboratory she finds herself in a sort of puzzling Groundhog Day! She is reliving the same moments with the same outcome each time. After a quick chat with her “Auntie Witch”, she optimistically concludes that she might be able to change things for the better and help her friends - but each time she realises that there are as many unpredictable outcomes that she hadn’t or couldn’t factor in as there were improvements from her actions. Indeed, many of her interventions made things decidedly worse! Things become even more complex when her friend “Chiaki” suggests that they might like to date! Just how many times can she revisit that scenario without ending up ruining their friendship? Now I can’t pretend that I liked the young lass - in fact I found her really quite annoying, but as she to’s and fro’s guessing and second-guessing the domino effects of her actions, and as we see that unpredictably deliver serious, mischievous and funny results, the film livens up nicely. Though you might think it could tend to the repetitious, it doesn’t at all and the last twenty minutes introduce us to an unexpected twist that brings so much of the preceding hour into an amiable, maybe even slightly sentimental, perspective. The animation itself is simple, yet vividly detailed, and as the story recycles itself there are some sometimes quite subtle differences incorporated from time to time to keep the imagery interesting as this young girl makes discoveries about herself and her friends that suggest that there’s no such thing as a quick fix.

Production companies