So I rewatched「秒速5センチメートル」- 桜花抄エピソード (Byousoku 5cm – Sakura Extract/Excrept(?) this afternoon. But first, I’ll do a short introduction of Byousoku 5cm.
Byousoku 5cm「秒速5センチメートル」is an animated feature film by Makoto Shinkai (See She and her cat 「彼女と彼女の猫」, Voices of a distant star 「ほしのこえ」 and The Place Promised in Our Early Days 「雲のむこう、約束の場所」 ). This film consists of 3 segments:: Ōkashō (桜花抄), Cosmonaut (コスモナウト), and Byōsoku 5 Senchimētoru (秒速5センチメートル). The first segment debuted on Yahoo! Japan for Premium members from 15th February to 19th February and the full featured film on 3rd March 2007.
Due to my current geographical location, I have only been able to grab the first part thanks to the kind uploaders on the internets. I am also eagerly waiting for the DVD release (even better if there’s HD XD). Okay, now, back to the main point of this post.
If those who have watched Makoto Shinkai’s previous works might have noticed a basic theme used in each, that is the relationship between the characters. From there, he explores and creates a fine masterpiece, taking to account the finer details of everyday life.
In this rewatch, I found out that Byousoku 5cm is based in the Year 1995, around February. There are several ‘clues’ scattered throughout the 1st segment.
Firstly, we have the JR train schedule book which Takaki purchased from the bookstore. 1995 (February Issue). Funny how they have a 29th in their world :p
「種子島の鉄砲とザビエル」, the book besides the JR train schedule book does exist, although I can’t any relation between the book and the author 石原由躬雄（石原結実）(Ishihara Yumio). Someone might want to help me with this.
Also, there’s the Super Nintendo in Takaki’s room. Nostalgic isn’t it?
The cate scene where Akira and Takaki meets Chobi, the cat. In 「彼女と彼女の猫」She and Her Cat , the cat is also called Chobi. A pure coincidence, or a deliberate choice made by Makoto Shinkai? I have no idea :/
I have extracted the sound file for that part just for you guys to confirm it’s “Chobi”
Chobi.mp3 (00:05, MP3, 84KB)
Finally, a Casio Frogman Model, the DW-6300-1A (1993 – 1995). Frogman is a model of wristwatch of the G-Shock style made by Casio. I think it’s a DW-6300-1A as it’s the first Frogman model to be produced.
Read more on the DW-6300-1A <Link>
Edit: The wristwatch is actually a Casio G-Shock G 2500. Thanks Sjors for the heads up!
G 2500 <Link> Just look for the G 2500.
All these kind of leads up to my basis of it being based in 1995. Though many may argue why did I bother to do this write up and research. XD
Also, another blog that took note of these details :) I found it while searching for 石原由躬雄 on google.
http://blog.livedoor.jp/kyouin15/
