The Place Promised in Our Early Days (2004)

Original title

雲のむこう、約束の場所

Directed by

Makoto Shinkai

Genre

drama film, science fiction film, romance film, science fiction anime and manga, drama anime and manga, romance anime and manga

Country

Japan

Runtime

1h 31m

Rated

G

Rating

6.6 of 10 from 562 voters

Elsewhere

IMDb

How it feels

Two childhood friends drift apart after their mutual friend vanishes. Years later, against a backdrop of a divided Japan and a mysterious tower, they reunite and discover she holds the key to a world-threatening mystery.

melancholicslow-burndreamlikebittersweetvisually lushnostalgicpoignantcontemplativedelicate

What happens

The Place Promised in Our Early Days (Japanese: 雲のむこう、約束の場所, Hepburn: Kumo no Mukō, Yakusoku no Basho; lit. 'Beyond the Clouds, the Promised Place') is a 2004 Japanese animated dystopian drama film written, produced, cinematographed, directed and edited by Makoto Shinkai in his feature film debut. Set over several years in an alternate history where Japan was divided after the Soviet Union occupied the island of Hokkaido, the film follows two childhood friends who grow apart after one of their friends disappears. As international tensions rise and a mysterious tower built by the Union starts replacing matter around it with matter from other universes, they cross paths once again and realize their missing friend might be the key to saving the world. Unlike his short film Voices of a Distant Star, which was largely made by Shinkai on his own, The Place Promised in Our Early Days is a full-scale production, as reflected by its better animation quality and longer running time. It has been broadcast across Japan by the anime satellite television network Animax. It was licensed for North American release by ADV Films and is now licensed by GKIDS. It was one of Makoto Shinkai's films to be selected to be screened at the Japanese film festival in India as part of celebrations of 70th anniversary of establishment of India-Japan diplomatic relations. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

Trailer

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