051: 5 centimeters per second & why lingering hope hurts | cryable anime with gabe (pt. 1)
This week, we're joined by Gabe (@daemoncorps), a cartoonist and letterer with "too many opinions on anime," for the first installment of our two-part cryable anime series.
Gabe shares his journey re-discovering himself as an artist—including an anime convention horror story that accidentally made him go viral on YouTube—and how he found his authentic voice publishing video essays online.
Nins then takes us through 5 Centimeters Per Second, Makoto Shinkai's heartbreaking animated film about first love, distance, timing, and the quiet grief of growing apart. Together, our hosts unpack Shinkai's melancholic storytelling, how nostalgia can become its own kind of heartbreak, and why longing for the past can stop us from living in the present.
Note: this is part 1 of 2. Next episode, Arns brings her own anime to sob over. :')
About our guest: Gabe s a Filipino American, Bay Area-based, self-taught artist. A talented writer, he draws us in with his compelling video essays: some hot takes, others deeply emotional, but all incredibly thoughtful. Visit Gabe's portfolio or follow along on Instagram to learn more about him and his work.
In this episode:
creative careers & viral YouTube success
anime as emotional storytelling
Makoto Shinkai's 5cm/s
longing, distance & missed timing
growing up and accepting change
finding happiness in moving forward
Chapters:
00:00:00 - Preview
00:01:58 - Introducing this week's guest
00:05:00 - Welcome, Gabe!
00:06:32 - COVID: some people made sourdough, Gabe made a YouTube Channel
00:09:03 - Gabe's journey toward making art again
00:11:03 - An anime convention horror story that accidentally went viral
00:16:21 - When art becomes performing vs. creating
00:19:26 - The point of art
00:25:43 - Nins' confession about anime
00:27:14 - About 5 Centimeters per Second
00:49:16 - How we choose to reminisce about the past
00:54:29 - Why the ending of 5 cm/s was so emotional
01:00:59 - When leaving the past behind *is* the happy ending
01:07:25 - Outro: stay tuned for part 2!
Referenced in this episode:
Gabe's portfolio
Gabe's "Making Art is Hard" YouTube essay
Gabe's "Drew Pickles is Trash and I Can Prove Why" YouTube essay
Makoto Shinkai's 2007 animated film 5 Centimeters Per Second
Makoto Shinkai's Z Kai prep school commercial
Makoto Shinkai's "She and Her Cat"
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Speaker 2: 00:00
I gave them my business card and she like looks at it and she kind of glares at me and she threw it over her shoulder.
Speaker 3: 00:08
Oh my god!
Speaker 2: 00:10
People are so obsessed about like what the face of an artist should look like and the things that they're supposed to be into and the things they're supposed to make. Because everyone is obsessed over the same things, it kind of leads everything to become so samey over time.
Speaker 4: 00:25
I stand before you both, a humble servant, a blithering idiot, because on this anime special, I have no fucking clue what I'm talking about. Okay?
Speaker 2: 00:35
That was like my first video that really like made it big. So you went viral. Not COVID viral, but like you could still get like a a sneeze from it viral. Yeah. It's like kindergarten viral, you know?
Speaker: 00:51
Oh, so super worse.
Speaker 4: 00:56
This is BRB Crying.
Speaker 3: 01:08
Hello everyone, and welcome back to BRB Crying. I'm Arns. And I'm Nins. And and Ooh, I thought about this.
Speaker 4: 01:17
Okay, of course you did. Knock knock. Who's there? Boo.
Speaker 3: 01:24
Boo-hoo. I wonder where this is gonna go. Gosh, Arns cried again? That's that was my joke.
Speaker 4: 01:33
Really good. Thank you. Uh as you can tell, Arns cried again. Mm-hmm.
Speaker 3: 01:39
So did I. So we're here to tell you about it. Yep. That's our pod. And if you don't already follow us on socials, what are you doing? We are at BRBCrying.podcast everywhere. And uh also if you're new here, welcome. If you're old here, welcome back, crybabies. I am so excited to announce we have
Speaker 3: 01:58
a very special guest. He is an old friend, an old crybaby, as we found out recently. He reached out to us and he said he wanted to do a little collab. So we're gonna talk about him a little bit, warm you guys up, give you guys a reason to have a buy-in, you know, like why do why do we want to listen to this guy? So our dear friend today is named Gabe. So Gabe is an old friend from college because as you all might recall, Ninz and I went to grade school, middle school, high school together. We even went to college together. And here is where we met our our friend Gabe. And we were in, all three of us, our college's Filipino club. Shout the fuck out. Shout the fuck out. Or should I say bark the fuck out?
Speaker 4: 02:55
Our club was called Barcada. Our club was called Barcada, which means Um, it means we were like the coolest club in the college. We were all Filipinos, we were all fucking lit. Okay. That's what Barcotta means.
Speaker 3: 03:10
That is the direct translation from Tagalog to English of Barcotta. So we were all in Barcotta together. So we spent a lot of time together hanging out in our little, our little lounge area, and Gabe and I would talk about anime because it was a shared love of ours. So we were really excited when Gabe reached out. He was like, Hey, I don't know if you guys remember me. I'm like, hello! Yes, of course I remember you, Gabe. And he has a really cool channel on YouTube. He goes by what he says was his screen name when he was 12 years old. Which you know I had to out him. He goes by Demon Core, which is spelled D-A-E-M-O-N-C-O-R-P-S. And that's where you can find him on YouTube. But he does video essays. He calls himself an aging millennial who thinks too much about pop culture, which I feel like sums it all up. No one thinks about it enough.
Speaker 4: 04:08
Let me just say that right off the bat. It's not possible. Don't think too much. Nope. Nope. We are all academics, as you can tell from our bachelor's degree that we received. From the Filipino university.
Speaker 3: 04:20
Yeah, from Barcotta. Our bark chillers. Someone please stop her. Okay, so I think that while I would love to talk about Gabe's channel, I feel like maybe he should pipe himself up a little bit. You know what I mean? Hmm. If only there was a third chair in the studio.
Speaker 4: 04:42
If only. So without further ado, here is our conversation with Damon Corpse. With Gabe. Okay.
Speaker 3: 05:00
Hello, Gabe, and welcome.
Speaker 2: 05:05
I'm glad to be here.
Speaker 3: 05:06
Yeah?
Speaker 2: 05:06
I'm like wondering how this is gonna look when it like in post where the chair will be empty and then it'll be like bewitched style, where it's just like a pair.
Speaker 4: 05:15
Yeah, I guess we should explain. I guess we should explain. Gabe has a flourishing YouTube account.
Speaker 2: 05:22
That was not on purpose.
Speaker 4: 05:24
But he does like to keep his identity a secret, kind of like a superhero. So we actually decided to keep his face anonymous, which explains why you don't see him on our YouTube video, but trust.
Speaker 2: 05:42
You gotta pay extra for the face review.
Speaker 4: 05:44
Yeah. Handsome, incredible face, just chiseled jaw, just gorgeous shiny hair. Great hair. Great hair, I will say. I will say.
Speaker 2: 05:53
I was told that my face is like stop sign-shaped from like other borcada members.
Speaker 3: 05:59
Was that a compliment?
Speaker 2: 06:00
I don't know.
Speaker 3: 06:01
I think so.
Speaker 2: 06:02
They never explained it to me fully.
Speaker 4: 06:04
Yeah, because they're so like alluring, they go, stop, you know. That's what it is. That's what it is.
Speaker 2: 06:10
Love it. I gotta pause myself. Yeah. I gotta collect all my emotions before I speak to this man. Yeah, my goodness.
Speaker 4: 06:18
That's what it is.
Speaker 3: 06:18
Yeah. Well, welcome, Gabe.
Speaker 2: 06:21
I'm happy to be welcomed.
Speaker 3: 06:23
Yeah, we're really excited to have you here. We really are. I was really excited when you reached out to us. No. No, I was because I was like, wait, I did not know you had your own YouTube
Speaker 3: 06:32
channel.
Speaker 2: 06:33
Yeah, well, I mean, like I hinted at before, it was just kind of by accident. Like, um, are we gonna like backstory everything? Yes. No. Perfect segue. Yeah. So I feel like it was my COVID activity. So when everyone was like making bread and having fun making bread.
Speaker 4: 06:51
What else did people do?
Speaker 2: 06:52
Animal crossing.
Speaker 4: 06:54
Push-ups, Salgona coffees. Yeah. Um they drew fruit on Instagram stories.
Speaker 2: 06:59
Why was that a thing?
Speaker 4: 07:00
I don't know, but let's get back to you. I don't care about that. I want to only focus on my stop sign bow.
Speaker 2: 07:08
Yeah, so I made a YouTube channel in uh early 2020 when everything was like, you know, going to hell. But I think before I even get to that, we need to go a little bit further. Um, a few years before The day you were born. I was I was actually born a few months after the earthquake.
Speaker 3: 07:26
Oh the Loma Prieta earthquake. Okay.
Speaker 2: 07:29
So I like to think that that was like the secret sauce that made me who I am.
Speaker 3: 07:33
Ooh. Oh, yeah. I can see that. I love that.
Speaker 2: 07:37
But like after that.
Speaker 3: 07:38
Yeah, so after you're born, okay.
Speaker 2: 07:40
So um a little bit after college. Well, during college, I keep going further back.
Speaker 3: 07:47
I told you, just start at the beginning.
Speaker 2: 07:50
Um during college, my my parents were very much the Filipino parents that were like, you need to either be a nurse or you need to be an engineer. And you're good at drawing, so I guess that's an engineer. They're like rounding up to the nearest like Filipino job that they're familiar with.
Speaker 4: 08:08
Wait, what engineering majors were you?
Speaker 2: 08:10
Civil engineer.
Speaker 4: 08:12
Hello?
Speaker 2: 08:13
So was I. Yeah.
Speaker 4: 08:15
Oh.
Speaker 2: 08:17
You didn't sense it when we went through the door.
Speaker 4: 08:21
It's just weird. Like, I came in with my hard hat.
Speaker 2: 08:24
I don't know why you didn't come in with your hard hat, but there's too many like silly asides that I can like go through this. So we need to like insane episodes. We need to lock into the backstory right now.
Speaker 3: 08:34
I'm gonna shut the fuck up now.
Speaker 2: 08:36
Please. So um my my parents were very much like, you need to be an engineer. Like, this is how it's done. This is how you get the job. You're not gonna get a job by talking about anime ulti or whatever. And so I was very much like, okay, but like once I graduate, I'm allowed to do whatever, right? And they were like, yes. And I I like melted that into my brain. I was like, okay, once I graduate, I'm just gonna do whatever. So I went just like um
Speaker 2: 09:03
I started just making art again. I didn't make art at all in college. Like, never ever. I I stopped in high school.
Speaker 4: 09:11
But you were into art.
Speaker 2: 09:12
I was into art though, yeah.
Speaker 4: 09:13
What do you mean by you made art? Like drawing?
Speaker 2: 09:16
I would draw, I would like make comics. I was I was really into what is it, Dave Pilke, Mr. Captain Underpants, like stuff like that. Would like really inspire me to just like make ugly drawings and be like uh this is this is what the teacher looks like, guys. Um But then I had to stop all that in college and I had to pretend to be serious for like four whole years. Can you imagine all of that being pent up for four whole years? Yeah. Um so once once college ended, I was like, okay, I'm gonna make a ton of art. I'm and I made a ton over the course of like maybe two or three months because I knew that the convention season was starting up. Um so I made a ton and then I just started tabling for a few years, and that's just how it was. It'd just be like anime season again, I gotta go table again. And the whole time I was doing that experience, I was kind of like, oh man, this is this is gonna be like great, I'm doing what I like, I'm gonna find my community, I'm I'm gonna be embraced by my community, they're all gonna love me, I'm gonna be the best friend of all these cool artists. And the the funny thing about um being an artist at art conventions is that people don't tell you that artists are introverts. They don't like talking to people. So if you try to get in on their personal space, there's a lot of barriers that need to be knocked down before any of that happens.
Speaker 4: 10:46
Yeah.
Speaker 2: 10:47
And it was just a lot of work when it comes to that, where I'm just like, okay, like I don't want to put in, invest so much time talking to people if they don't want to talk to me. Yeah. Yeah. But who knows, you know, I'll give it one last shot and just see where this goes. So um
Speaker 2: 11:03
there was one convention that I was not tabling at, but I was like, I should go anyways to try and network with people. And I I I made a ton of business cards, and just to sweeten the deal, I taped haichu candies on the back of every business card.
Speaker 4: 11:22
Hell yeah, give me ten of them.
Speaker 2: 11:23
And I was just like, surely people will be endeared by that, and that would be enough for them to like want to reach out to me or just you know lower their guard a little bit. And most people were like fine with it. Most people were like, Oh, thank you. You know, they're very gracious about it. Um but but one person, and I don't want to like blame them. Maybe they were having a bad day. Oh no, I'm nervous. I gave them my business card, and I was just like, oh yeah, like on the back it has like a candy and everything. And she like looks at it and she kind of glares at me, and she threw it over her shoulder. Oh my god! What? And I was so like, yeah, you know when someone is just like so rude to you that you don't know how to respond. Yeah, yeah. I I was just like flabbergasted.
Speaker 4: 12:12
What the hell?
Speaker 2: 12:14
It just like left a really bad taste in my mouth. And um yeah, I was super just like, oh man, like I don't yeah, I don't want to deal with this anymore. Like this is yeah, this is honestly awful.
Speaker 3: 12:29
That's really traumatizing.
Speaker 2: 12:30
Um I guess it was like a blessing in disguise because during COVID, a few years later, I made a video called uh Making Art is Hard. And I talked about how the whole convention scene here is just like a whole mess, you know. People make art that has like a shelf life of like two seconds, you know, they make fan art of whatever the new anime is that season. And then if it doesn't sell, then you know, they move on to the next big thing, and then you just they just gotta keep churning stuff out, and it it really just kind of like erases the image of what an artist is is supposed to be doing, which is like, you know, pursuing what makes them happy, not what makes other people happy, you know. Yeah. And I I brought up the person that threw my business card away. Yeah. And I think that was like enough like jiciness to attract people. Yeah. And people like drama in that sense. Yeah. That was like my first video that really like made it big.
Speaker 3: 13:34
Oh, okay, okay. So you went viral.
Speaker 2: 13:37
Uh like baby viral, like not COVID viral, but like, you know, you could still get like a a sneeze from it viral. Yeah.
Speaker 4: 13:50
I'm so gonna steal that.
unknown: 13:53
Oh my god.
Speaker 2: 13:55
It's like kindergarten viral, you know?
Speaker: 13:57
Or it's just like oh, so super weird.
Speaker 3: 14:04
Okay, okay, okay. So you had this baby viral video.
Speaker 2: 14:09
Yeah, and it it kind of like gave me the confidence to keep making more. Yeah. Um, I mean, okay, I feel like I'd be remiss if I didn't like say that my first actual viral hit was a Rugrats themed video I made. I think the title is Drew Pickles is trash and I can prove why.
Speaker 4: 14:25
I watched that one. I watched that one over dinner. I watched that one. He is trash.
Speaker 2: 14:30
And part of me is just like, oh man, this is so embarrassing because I like I barely scripted it and I had like an awful microphone. You can tell when my mic peeks and all of that.
Speaker 3: 14:40
Oh but people obviously connected with it.
Speaker 2: 14:42
Well, like I feel like that's like that such is the way of creating things online where it's just like it's always gonna be the one you least expect that you put the least amount of effort into. Yeah, you know, it's just like you have like no makeup on, you're like in the middle of sneezing, and everyone's just a billion hits. And we're just like, but I look ugly in that one, you know? Okay, so that was technically my first hit. And then my my second hit was making art is hard. And after that, like it really all you need are like the two to kind of give you the confidence boost.
Speaker 1: 15:12
Yeah.
Speaker 2: 15:12
And then like every time after that, I'm just like, okay, this can do like whatever, and I'll still be like fine. Yes. Because yeah, because people still want to listen to me talk about the awkward interaction I had with a girl that threw the business cart away in front of me and made me feel bad.
Speaker 4: 15:30
Yeah, first of all, just so it's very clear, fuck that girl. Yeah. But also, I so appreciate you opening up with that story because it's so true. It's like for people who are born to create art, it's such a burden to have to work on like all the marketing and all the like networking, and it takes away from the value of what the art is giving you and giving the world.
Speaker 2: 15:53
There's so much that people don't see.
Speaker 4: 15:55
Yes, yes, yes. So I'm glad that as much as that interaction sucked, it allowed you to explore other ways where you can still hold on to that. Yeah. Enter your YouTube channel.
Speaker 2: 16:08
And it really was just like, oh my god, like I I feel like a a person again, you know, versus like I feel like even when I was like excited to make art, it always still felt like I was pretending to be a person.
Speaker 1: 16:21
Yeah.
Speaker 2: 16:22
There's a Flintstones comic that came out a few years ago, and I always like referencing it because I feel like it encapsulates the like artist strife so much. So in the issue, W Wilma, the the wife, she wants to pursue an um, you know, her interests in art, and she ends up going to a um an art convention. It's basically my experience. Or just like people kind of ignore her, and like everyone around her is kind of like fake artists, you know, they have the like the fancy hat and they have the like cheesy vests and stuff, and she just wants to make art, and she's like preparing for this art event, and she's like trying on all these different outfits, and it's just like not her. She doesn't want to like dress up who the person she thinks she needs to pretend to be is like. And she's so like defeated, too. She like tried on all these like clothes, like a supposedly like what a good artist is supposed to look like, and she's just exhausted after trying on all these outfits. And what she says after all of that is I feel like a shallow parody of the club I want to join. It seems like anytime I try to fit in, I only prove that I don't belong. And I honestly I think about that quote like often because it captures what being an artist is like in modern times so well. Because it's just like, oh my god, like people are so obsessed about like what the face of an artist should look like and the things that they're supposed to be into and the things they're supposed to make. The aesthetic. And the the aesthetic of it all, exactly, where it's just like it just kind of reaches the point where it's just like because everyone is obsessed over the same things, it kind of leads everything to become so same-y over time. And and you see that at conventions too, where it's just like everything is either like uh anime of the second fan art or like quirky plant mom stickers, or like crocheted tiny animals. Yeah. And it's just like those are those are adorable. Like, let's just be clear about that. I love that stuff, but it's just like when everyone thinks that's what the experience is solely about, it's kind of icky. Yeah. So when um when I started making my YouTube, I kind of kept that observation in mind and was just like, okay, like I'm not gonna make things because someone tells me to. Or it's trendy. Yeah, or because it's trendy. I'm gonna make something because I just binged like the entire series of IUs, K-drama, when life gives you tangent wounds. Oh my god, I haven't watched it, I'm scared. And it's so traumatizing, but so good. I don't want I don't think I want to. I think everyone needs to watch it. It was her birthday last Friday, you didn't do anything for her. But yeah, just like stuff like that, where it's just like this is gonna get like zero views, but I like it. Yeah, so you're gonna like this.
Speaker 4: 19:20
I I absolutely love that because your art needs to feel authentic for it to be meaningful to you. And
Speaker 4: 19:26
actually, the whole time that you were talking about the Flintstones comic, you know what I was thinking about? I was thinking about that episode of The Office where Pam displays her art at some show, and like no one from the office shows up to support her, or like I think like two people do, and then they like kind of like talk shit because it's not the best, right? But then after that really you know kind of awful night for her, Michael Scott ends up showing up. And like that one interaction where Pam sees, oh, one person. And it was so sincere, one person saw the value of this, and it like basically made the whole night worth it. And I think that's just like what I constantly have to go back to because sometimes it's so true. Like, we put this show out there, we're like so obsessed with the data. How many downloads, how many people are following, etc. etc. But then we get one person reaching out to us saying, Hey, I love what you're doing, we want to collab. And it's like you forget all of it, right? Because you realize, oh shoot, it doesn't matter that you know this is not viral, it's not trending or whatever. But what I'm doing, what I'm putting out there is affecting someone, it's making someone think. And that's like that's the whole point of you creating art. It's not to make sales or whatever, it's it's really just to like open up people's world a little bit.
Speaker 2: 20:49
Yeah. And okay, this is kind of like a jaded way of putting everything that you so beautifully worded. But like, I really do feel like people are kind of like getting stupid when it comes to stuff like media literacy. Like, Superman's smiling, that means he's a good guy. And then all the comments are just like, oh my god, so true, so true, so true.
Speaker 3: 21:12
It's just like so you're here to set the record straight. No, I I love that though, Gabe. Thank you, thank you so much for sharing because everything you're saying about feeling authentic, I just I feel like that same exact way. And exactly what Ninz was saying too. It's just like whatever feels good for you and helps you connect with yourself, and then that is what inevitably connects you with other people, which is why we were so excited. And you you think I kid when I say we were so excited when you reached out, but genuinely we were so so happy because like wow.
Speaker 2: 21:45
Oh, that makes me that makes me happy.
Speaker 4: 21:48
Happy and honored. Someone someone who already has this like well practiced muscle of diving into media and explaining it is. Seeing that, oh, that's what they're doing too. Let's join forces.
Speaker 2: 22:05
Yeah, and and it really is like I don't want to be like real recognize real, but real recognized.
Speaker 4: 22:14
But not gonna stop you from doing that. Please. Let's be very clear.
Speaker 2: 22:19
Like it really is like so true though, because when I when I found out that the two of you were making a podcast, I was kind of like, well, okay, like let's see. And then I'm like, and I'm just like, I'm not even a mom, but like I relate to all of us.
Speaker 3: 22:39
Wow.
Speaker 2: 22:40
I was like, okay, they they got the juice, as they say. So I was like, uh, I gotta, I gotta reach out and see if they feel the same way.
Speaker 3: 22:49
Yeah, we do. We do. And that's why you're here right now.
Speaker 2: 22:53
Fantastic.
Speaker 3: 22:53
On this middle chair.
Speaker 4: 22:55
Thank you so much for that opening.
Speaker 3: 22:58
Yeah.
Speaker 4: 22:58
I think it's a good segue into what we have planned for this episode. Yes.
Speaker 3: 23:03
So for this episode, Gabe gave us little homework assignments. He came up, he came up with this really honestly so comprehensive list of quote unquote cryable anime. And he gives little synopses of each one. He was like, okay, these are all the different things that like I think that would make you all cry. And we each picked one. And today we're gonna share just like we always do, except now we have a third voice to give some snarky remarks. An actual expert. Yes.
Speaker 2: 23:36
I don't know about that.
Speaker 3: 23:38
I would say much more than us. Much more than us. When it comes to anime. Yeah.
Speaker 2: 23:42
It's a little like diploma in crayon.
unknown: 23:45
Yes.
Speaker 3: 23:46
Yes.
Speaker 2: 23:47
Graduated from here, guys, trust.
Speaker 3: 23:49
So that's what we're gonna do today. I actually don't even know who's gonna go first.
Speaker 4: 23:52
I don't think it matters who goes first. Alright, is yours like gonna fuck me up, fuck me up, or like?
Speaker 3: 23:59
Um I mean it fucked me up. It was gonna fuck you up, but why? Is yours gonna fuck me up? I will say just like Yeah, who let's have Gabe. Let's have the expert. What have your first or whatever you think? What do you think?
Speaker 2: 24:15
So before I before I even came here, I I feel like I crammed before a test. Um I I re-watched both of the movies that both of you watched. And I feel like one of them, my opinion of it went down a little bit.
Speaker 1: 24:31
Oh fucking.
Speaker 2: 24:32
And one of them, my opinion of it went up a little bit. And like I'm talking about this like I'm the one that made the movies. Like, if you don't, if either of you didn't enjoy them, feel free to just be like it was bad. That was a bad recommendation.
Speaker 4: 24:46
No. That would never come out of my mouth.
Speaker 2: 24:49
But yeah.
Speaker 4: 24:50
So we'll do your least favorite one first. Okay.
Speaker 2: 24:53
Oh, really?
Speaker 4: 24:54
Wait, now I've got questions, but I feel like it's probably gonna be mine.
Speaker 2: 24:58
Because I both of you didn't watch the other person yesterday. I did not.
Speaker 4: 25:02
So should we start with the the shitty one? Yeah, we'll start with the shitty one. I'll go first. Fuck it. I'm gonna change your mind game.
Speaker 3: 25:09
Persuasive writing. All right, all right. Have I been right? Was it mine? Okay.
Speaker 2: 25:15
I'm sorry. I feel bad for like recommending it on the list now.
Speaker 4: 25:20
Dude, I've been fucking writing this movie for like my entire life, not like two weeks ago. How dare you?
Speaker 2: 25:26
Okay. So I'm wrong, and here's why. Is that why? Yeah. Or do you want to do it?
Speaker 4: 25:31
No, no, no. Well, just do it. Let's just get into it. Okay. All right.
Speaker 4: 25:43
Let me go cover this story that Gabe does not like anymore. So I pride myself on being a cultured academic of this world. One who is well traveled and well read, a decent cook, and so fucking smart and so knowledgeable. Yes, all true. But today I stand before you both, a humble servant, a blithering idiot to the nth degree. Because on this anime special, I have no fucking clue what I'm talking about. Okay? I am embarrassed to say that my anime education went as far as Sailor Moon, How's Moving Castle, oh yes, and my neighbor Totoro.
Speaker 2: 26:33
I mean those count. But that's it. But it's not like you're watching, like, I don't know, Ninja Turtles or something. Or you're just like that's anime, right?
Speaker 4: 26:42
No, but like that's it. Okay. Like that's really it.
Speaker 2: 26:45
That's fine.
Speaker 3: 26:46
We don't judge.
Speaker 4: 26:47
But as much as this proves that I am, in fact, uncultured swine, I actually think it made this assignment really fun because I literally had no expectations. So it was cool because I was like, all right, let's just fucking press play. You know? So as we mentioned, Gabe put together this incredible and super helpful list of recommendations for us to watch. And on this list was a movie with the description that Gabe wrote:
Speaker 4: 27:14
childhood friends that have lost contact with each other over time reminisce about the past. And I thought to myself, yeah, that'll hurt. That's gonna hurt. So today, the student becomes the master as I anime splain the 2007 film, Five Centimeters per second, written and directed by Makoto Shinkai.
unknown: 27:42
Okay.
Speaker 4: 27:42
Gabe wrote a little kukuk-ka context of his own. So I'll let him read it before I fucking masterfully explain what the fuck this is about.
Speaker 2: 27:53
Yeah, I mean you clearly outclassed everyone here with your anime knowledge now, so So for today's Kukaka Context of five centimeters per second. Uh Makoto Shinkai is one of those creators that is good at exactly one thing, but nobody cares because he's really, really good at it. Uh debuting in 1999 with his five-minute short film She and Her Cat, uh, it was clear even within those five minutes that Shinkai was a master of writing melancholic characters with a deep yearning for something they can't quite put their finger on. While modern audiences know him for his films Suzume, Weathering With You, and the infamously, infamously Oscar-snubbed Your Name, I would argue that none of these movies would be what they are if not for his 2007 movie 5 cm per second. I've lost contact with so many people over the years, over seemingly nothing in particular. So 5 centimeters per second scratches that very specific cry itch of lost loves that maybe could have worked out if only one tiny thing worked in their favor. And is a reminder of the domino effect of circumstances that have to hit just right in order for people to meet.
Speaker 4: 29:30
Okay. Alright, I did write some context too that is kind of similar to what you just said. And I'm just gonna fucking reread it. Good. I don't have the capacity right now to rewrite on the spot. Nope. Fuck it. Alright. So here's my kuku conte kusuto.
Speaker 2: 29:46
Here's the better context. Okay.
Speaker 4: 29:48
I'll I'll judge. I'll be the judge. Okay. So the writer and director of five centimeters per second, as you mentioned, is a man named Makoto Shinkai, who is one of the most celebrated anime filmmakers in Japan. Born February 9th, 1973. Aquarius. My dude is full-blown Aquarius. Let's go. Okay, and as we say about all Aquaria living in his own world. But thank God he has the artistic genius to show us what that world looks like. His style of animation involves these beautiful, like hand-drawn backgrounds with these like saturated colors and light patterns. And in a lot of his shots, I noticed that he always emphasizes the sky. Like stunning sky. Whether it's a bright blue day with floating clouds or a pastel-filled sunset, or even like a snow blizzard at night, all visually stunning. Okay. Shinkai has created several movies over the course of his career. His first short film that Gabe mentioned, the 1995 short story called Her and Her Cat. I watched it because it was so short. It was like five minutes. Um it is the story of this boy cat who gets adopted by this woman in her 20s. And the whole story is from his perspective. It's like the first year of them living together, and it's like the cat is so obsessed with the woman. He's like, Yeah, I'm so in love with her.
Speaker 2: 31:26
It's very much like a cohabitation.
Speaker 4: 31:29
It's like it's cute though. Yeah.
Speaker 2: 31:31
That's every anime where it's just like on paper, it's creepy, but you watch it and it's cute.
Speaker 4: 31:37
But it is also moody, and there is this subtle undertone of longing and melancholy, which I think, as Gabe mentioned, again, is pretty consistent with a lot of his works. So yeah, granted, I've only watched two works from him: this short story and then this film that we're about to cover. But in my research, I do see that a lot of the stories that he shares centers around young people struggling to form and maintain interpersonal relationships. Again, that longing, that loneliness, and overthinking and second-guessing when it comes to love and friendship. It already hurts. And it's about to get a lot more painful. So, five centimeters per second, here we go. So, this story focuses on a boy named Takaki Tono and his friendship with a girl named Akari. Their tale is told in three parts. Part one, entitled Cherry Blossom, opens up with Takaki and Akari as children walking home from elementary school, while cherry blossom trees drop petals all around them. Akari gestures to the falling leaves and tells Takaki, look, it's five centimeters per second. Cherry blossoms. That's how fast they fall. Five centimeters per second. That's right, babes. Opening lines, fucking metaphor. Okay? Do we know what for yet? As they continue their walk home from school, Akari pulls ahead and runs down the street. Takaki can't keep up with her, and before you know it, the two are on either side of a train track. And then a train passes through. Akari and Takaki wait for it to pass, and over the train, Akari shouts, Wouldn't it be nice to watch cherry blossoms together next spring? So we're just gonna fucking watch this opening scene. You gotta do it. It's like the first, it's like two minutes long. You have to have to. It just sets the tone for the whole fucking story. Yep. You know? Mm-hmm. Alright. So if I forget to press stop and we just end up watching the whole fucking hour-long thing. That's fine. Oh no, you know? Okay. So after this intro, we then see scenes of Takaki living his life, going to school, hanging out with friends, playing sports, coming home. But in the background, we hear Akari's voiceover, and she's reading letters that she's wrote to him. You gather after that opening scene, at the end of their school year, Akari moved away, and she and Takaki are no longer classmates at the same school. So, to keep in touch, they send each other letters, updating each other about their lives, the weather, their new friends, their new hobbies. We don't know exactly what Takaki says in his replies, but as we watch him go about his days, we see how meaningful these letters are from Akari. He keeps them close and he spends so much time like drafting each reply. And even when he's around other people, he gets this kind of quiet, distant look in his eyes, and you know that he's thinking about her. Then we find out that Takaki's family will also be moving even further away at the end of the school year. Knowing that Takaki and Akari will most likely never see each other again because of the distance, the two make plans to meet up one more time before Takaki moves. So Takaki maps out this super long train journey he's going to make to meet Akari in her new home. But on the day of his trip, as Takaki boards that first train of many to meet up with his girl, it starts to snow. So, with all that time on the train, Takaki reminisces about his friendship with Akari. We see flashbacks of them meeting, becoming friends at school. We also see the day Akari first tells him that she's moving away. And as Takaki continues this voyage, each train stop brings on more and more delays as the snowfall gets heavier and heavier. Takaki then spends the next few hours just fucking quietly panicking. He and Akari agreed to meet at 7 p.m. I'm stressed. This is pre-cell phone days, too.
Speaker 2: 36:31
It really is just like super stressful watching.
Speaker 4: 36:34
Like my hands are sweaty. Okay. So this is he can't just like text her and be like, oh, I'm running late. So he has to just sit there and fucking pray that she's still waiting for him at the station once he finally arrives. The only thing he can do to pass the time while he waits is reread this letter that he's written to Akari confessing his love for her. But at this point, his transfer is delayed for hours. You just hear the overhead speaker, this train is delayed. You know, like I'm gonna throw up. Yeah. Meanwhile, the snowfall is coming down harder and harder. It's it's fucked. Okay. Also, I feel so bad. He's probably so hungry. And I'm like, you know, like when you're so hungry, your breath stinks. Like, oh my god, he's starving. Anyway.
Speaker 2: 37:31
What the hell? And my socks are wet. It's just like a million different bad things.
Speaker 4: 37:36
It's bad. It's bad. Yeah. So as Takaki runs to his last train transfer, the wind fucking picks up out of nowhere, and the letter that Takaki wrote, stop, flies out of his pocket. Stop. And is gone to the wind. I don't want to hear this. Bye. You know, like bye letter. Yeah. You know? Again, I'm fucking stressed, right? But what is he gonna fucking do? Like, write a new one. No, it took him like four months to write to the letter. Anyway. Finally, finally, finally, at 11 p.m. No! 11 p.m. Actually, I think it was like 11.15 p.m.
Speaker 3: 38:16
Even worse.
Speaker 4: 38:17
He arrives at the station four hours late. And yet, there is Akari waiting for him in the lobby. They tearfully reunite and then have a simple yet delicious dinner in the train station that she makes him. As they walk towards Akari's town in the dead of night, they pause in front of a huge cherry blossom tree. But it's winter, so the tree is bare. Under this tree, they share a sweet kiss as the snowflakes ball down on them. So let's watch this scene. And the scenes after, all the way till Takaki leaves the next morning. And this is at the 2153 mark. So I just played these scenes for RNC Gabe. And as they share this long-awaited magical kiss, all of these thoughts run through Takaki's mind. And his voiceover says, and right then it felt like I finally understood where everything was. Eternity, the heart, the soul. It was like I was sharing every experience I'd ever had in my 13 years. And then, the next moment, I became unbearably sad. I didn't know what to do with these feelings, her warmth, her soul. How was I supposed to treat them? That I did not know. And right then I clearly understood that we would never be together. Our lives not yet fully realized, the vast expanse of time, they lay before us, and there was nothing we could do. But then all my worries, all my doubt started melting away. All that was left were Akari's soft lips on mine. The two then share the night at a little shack they find down the road. Supposedly they talk and talk and talk and then fall asleep in each other's arms. And that is what I will choose to believe happened. Okay. Nothing else. Nothing else. And then Takaki heads home the next morning. Akari stands outside his train and she kind of hesitates and she says, Hey Takaki, I I think I think you're gonna be okay. I know you will. I know it. Which is like kind of weird. But as the train pulls away, we see her pull out a letter from her bone bag. A letter that she intended to give to Takaki, but then ultimately decided not to. Which I think is pretty telling because in Takaki's case, he didn't have a choice. The letter flew out of his hands, whereas Akari made the conscious decision not to give this letter. But that brings us to the end of part one. So then we start off with part two, which is called Cosmonaut. And it opens up a few years later, showing Takaki as a high school kid in his new town of Kagushima. We are introduced to a new character, a girl named Kanai, who is one of Takaki's classmates, and she has this huge fucking crush on him in Lerve.
Speaker 2: 42:00
Massive.
Speaker 4: 42:01
Massive. Okay. The two are friends, but no matter how many hints Kanai tries to give him and how much she tries to gain the courage to confess her feelings, Takaki is so fucking oblivious and so emotionally unavailable because his mind and heart are always somewhere else. Kanai is also really different from Akari. While Akari is thoughtful and straightforward, Kanai is kind of scattered. Like, almost like this free spirit. Even though they're seniors in high school, she has no idea what the fuck she wants to do after she graduates. She spends her days kind of with her head in the clouds, trying to learn how to surf and honestly just like trying to get Takaki's attention. Like one evening, she sees Takaki sitting atop a hill looking at his phone. She joins him and the two talk about their futures, what they're gonna do after graduation, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. On their way home, they come across this huge cargo truck carrying pieces of a Japanese space shuttle that's being launched sometime that year. They look at it and wonder while Takaki tells her, it's going to the edge of the solar system. It will take years. Essentially, there's like this Japanese space shuttle that's going to be launched into the sky. That night, in his room, Takaki continues thinking about this spaceship. I can't even picture that. It must be an unimaginably lonely trip, cutting straight through the darkness of truth to the point where you can't even find a single hydrogen atom desperately reaching for the secrets of a world at the edge of all that blackness. How far will we go to find those answers? How far can we go? A few months go by, and Kanai tries to muster up the courage to again confess her feelings. She's like, today is the fucking day I have to do this. Every day. She wakes up. So on this day, Takaki and Kanai are walking home together from school. And Kanai just starts crying because she just can't do it. And in that moment, as Takaki tries to comfort her and ask her, like, yo, are you okay? What's wrong? Again, my guy's fucking clueless. No idea. Because he's hung up on this other chick. The rocket they talked about before launches up into space. And Takaki and Kanai stop their conversation and just stare at it and wonder. So let's watch this scene, which starts at the 44-minute mark.
Speaker 2: 44:56
It feels like so much more meaningful when you say it versus when I watched it.
Speaker 4: 45:00
Oh, not me convincing you.
Speaker 2: 45:02
Yeah, but actually.
Speaker 3: 45:08
Oh my god. Also, are we just like casually seeing like the northern lights constantly? What?
Speaker 4: 45:18
No, literally, the sky in this movie, it's crazy. Stunning. I'm like, relax. Yeah, you know?
Speaker 2: 45:25
And that's his like thing for all of his movies.
Speaker 4: 45:29
Okay. So in this moment, watching Takaki stare up at the sky, Kanai has this epiphany, and we hear her voice over Sari. Desperately, recklessly, reaching our hands to the sky, launching something so massive, staring at something so far away you can't even imagine. I think I understood then why Takaki was so different from other people. And at the same time, I knew, without a doubt, that Takaki was definitely not looking at me. That's the reason I couldn't tell him all the things I wanted to that day. Takaki is kind to me. He's very nice to me. But he couldn't see me. He was always looking right past me at something very, very far away. And obviously, there is such a mirror to the way that part two and part one end, right? This realization that for whatever reason this coupling is not going to work.
Speaker 2: 46:38
Even though they're the movie poster, that's the shot they use in the movie poster. Is it?
Speaker 4: 46:43
Oh, I didn't realize that.
Speaker 2: 46:44
Which is kind of like curious. I think actually I think they they make it a little bit vague on purpose, where it's like it's clearly the um the the like space thing being shot up.
Speaker 1: 46:54
Yeah.
Speaker 2: 46:55
But um the girl next to Takaki is holding an umbrella. So you're like, oh, is this the same scene or is it a different time? Like they make it as the on fire does.
unknown: 47:05
Yeah.
Speaker 4: 47:06
I got you. Um, but it is interesting because the way that Kanai finishes this realization is a little bit more accepting. Whereas when Takaki had his realization, he was like, but at the end of it, all I feel are Akari slips on mine. There is still that hope at the end.
Speaker 2: 47:29
It's like lingering hope.
Speaker 4: 47:31
Exactly. Whereas part two, a little bit different.
unknown: 47:35
Okay.
Speaker 4: 47:36
And thus begins part three, called five centimeters per second. Takaki is now a full-blown adult living in Tokyo. It's springtime again with the cherry blossoms at full bloom. One day, walking through the city, he passes by that same train track that he and Akari got separated at when they were kids. And as he walks across it, a woman walks past him in the opposite direction. Once over the tracks, Takaki pauses and he's like, Holy fucking shit. No way. Is that? But as he turns around to get a second look at the woman's face, a train passes through. Shut the fuck up and blocks his view. We then see snippets of Takaki's life in Tokyo. He works at his boring desk job. We see that he's in a relationship that he does not give a fuck about. He's like constantly ignoring her calls.
Speaker 2: 48:42
And you see the girl too. She's like messed up. She's like homely, also. So you feel super bad.
Speaker 4: 48:52
I'm like, why can't they make her cute?
Speaker 2: 48:55
She's kind of like frumpy with glasses, girl.
Speaker 4: 48:58
Just like the copy dude.
Speaker 2: 49:03
She's sending these over like a flip phone, too. Do you know how difficult that is to type?
Speaker 4: 49:08
And like how expensive. We were not unlimited messages in 2007. Okay. Anyway.
Speaker 4: 49:16
His entire existence is tinged with this layer of sadness and unfulfillment. And then we abruptly cut to Akari. Beautiful, stunning woman. Of course. Who is so full of life and excitement, happy, healthy, whole. She's heading to Tokyo to see her fiance. No, I knew it. I know it. And as she sits on the train on her way to Tokyo, she reminisces about Takaki. The night before, she finds the letter that she meant to give him. So this makes her remember that one night that they spent together talking. But there is such a contrast in the way that she recalls these memories from the way that Takaki does. While Takaki feels longing and yearning, Akari looks back with fondness and lightness. We cut to Takaki, who's fucking down bad.
Speaker 2: 50:26
This poor man.
Speaker 4: 50:28
I hate my life. I'm sad, you know? Yeah. So straight up, let's just watch the last fucking seven minutes of this whole thing. Alright, fuck it. I don't care. We're just gonna watch this whole fucking thing. Sure. Okay. What? Okay, so we just fucking watched the entire ending. I did not give a fuck. And at the start of the ending, we see Takaki being all mopey. He says, as I went about my life, bits of sadness piled up here and there on the washed sheets, on the toothbrush by the sink, on the cell phone's call history. For the last few years, I wanted to move on. I was reaching for something I couldn't have, but I didn't know what I was reaching for. I couldn't figure out where these thoughts came from, why they were threatening me like this. So I just kept on working. It was hard, and I could feel my mind losing its edge day after day. One morning I realized I lost all the ambition I had. Whatever kept me going was now completely gone. So then we jumped to a fucking fire flame banger song. I actually did not, I should have taken down the name of the song, but um we basically watch a music video. And in the music video, we see snippets of every character in this whole movie. We see snippets of their life throughout the side.
Speaker 2: 52:06
It's like an afterword type of thing.
Speaker 4: 52:08
Basically, you kind of piece together what ended up happening to all these different characters. And the lyrics of the song, I didn't write them all down, but basically the message of the song is that no matter where I look, I'm basically looking for you. All of these things that have happened to Takaki and Akari since time and circumstance pulled them apart, and we see how differently each of them chose to respond to what life had to throw at them. This all culminates into the final scene where Takaki is once again standing in front of this moving train, wondering if he'll see who he thinks he'll see, waiting for him on the other side. The train rushes past him, cherry blossoms falling down all around him. And as the train finally clears, waiting on the other side is no one. Akari is not there. She kept on walking, no longer looking back at the past. On Takaki's face as he realizes that she's not there is a small grin. And then he keeps on walking. And then the story fucking ends. This is exactly the type of movie that does not click until you get to the very end. And even then, if you're kind of dumb like me, you kind of have to like re-watch it multiple times. Like the first time I watched it, I was like, huh! Right? And then I had to put the story together and I was like, wait. The first scene of this movie tells us the speed at which cherry blossoms fall. Five centimeters per second until they finally hit the ground. But that's the thing. It's always falling. It's always descending. The same way that distance will always pull Takaki and Akari apart. There is an ending to it. But Takaki refuses to see the cherry blossoms. He can only see the snowflakes that surrounded them that night that they kissed, frozen in time. We
Speaker 4: 54:29
see how this obsession with the past, this longing for something he knows he can't have, stops him from fully living. He can't see what's right in front of him. He turns away from other loves, other means of connection, other sources of joy. And it ruins him. This endless, fruitless journey into the blackness. And I think that's why I was so overcome at this ending. Because you can feel your heart pounding in the same way that Takaki's must have been, just waiting and wondering if you're gonna see Akari on the other side. And when she's not there, and he smiles to himself, it's like you feel his relief. Like, oh my god, this can now end. All this yearning, all this longing and wondering and hoping, it's finally hit the ground and I can move on. I know that we're accustomed to thinking that happy endings only happen when the couple gets together at the end. But we all know that Makoto Shinkai is built different. Because at the end of this story of his, we see Takaki leave behind the past and instead walk towards a new beginning. And I like to think he walks towards it at five centimeters per second.
Speaker 2: 56:05
This is the best movie, best Shinkai movie.
Speaker 3: 56:08
Oh my god. It is so tragic, but hearing you bring it back full circle, like the smile at the end, the release. Fucking smile at the end.
Speaker 4: 56:22
I feel like it's tragic the whole time until the end.
Speaker 2: 56:28
That's true. There's never like a moment for you to breathe and be like, oh, they're happy again. Like it's always either like neutral or somebody is like bringing down the mood.
Speaker 4: 56:39
Yeah.
Speaker 2: 56:39
And also, can I just say that I feel like Akari, when she's looking at the letter again and thinking of Takaki, she thinks of Takaki the same way someone would think of a really good sandwich they ate in the past. There is an emotional like connection to it, but it's it's different from the initial when they were 13. No, exactly.
Speaker 4: 57:06
But I feel like in the same way that Takaki had this realization while they kissed that they were never gonna be together, she probably also realized the same thing, but did not leave that open-endedness, which is why I think she didn't give him the letter.
Speaker 2: 57:22
Yeah, she chose not to give the letter, but he he didn't have the chance to, so so he clings on to it. Oh my gosh. I just under you just explained the movie to me.
Speaker 4: 57:33
It's like he didn't have the option to make that choice.
Speaker 2: 57:36
10 out of 10 movie. I was being I was being dumb, guys. My bad.
Speaker 3: 57:41
Oh, so he didn't have the closure the way she did, the way she so intentionally closed that chapter for herself. Yeah.
Speaker 2: 57:49
He was not given the option to even Kanai had the option to be like, okay, like he doesn't love me anymore. I need to focus on me outside of who this person could be.
Speaker 4: 58:01
But all those years later, he finally got what he needed to move on.
Speaker 3: 58:07
Oh my god. I I that's fascinating the way you said it's like the different ways people respond to like these these events in their lives, the way some people cling and some people I mean, not like she didn't give him a second thought, Akari, but like clearly like it's a thing of the past. Wow.
Speaker 4: 58:27
Right? But and it's it's just so it's so heartbreaking to see that this obsession with the past just stops him from realizing the now.
Speaker 3: 58:39
Yeah.
Speaker 4: 58:40
Look at all of these like people that were ready to be his love, and he couldn't see that because he was so fixed on this one thing that he knew he couldn't have.
Speaker 3: 58:52
That's so real though. I mean, that is what stops us from living, like whether or not this is your situation, like the fixation on the past. Yeah.
Speaker 2: 59:01
And I think it like hurts more too because you see them since they were like tiny, tiny. Because it's just like even before they kiss, you see that they were growing up together when they're like, I don't know, like eight or nine. So it's just like, oh my god, this this poor man has had this like longing so long. Yeah. That that he could never really like put a bookend to until like I don't want to say until it was too late, but yeah. Uh you don't like to see a life wasted like that, you know.
Speaker 4: 59:34
That's why that's why I don't view it as like uh God, I can't believe it took this long. I'm just happy that it finally happened. Like, I think that's why that's small, and it's so subtle, it's so quick too. Like the last shot of Takaki's face as he's walking away from the stop where she's not there. It's just the subtlest smile, and it means so much because you can imagine, like, as frustrated as you are as an audience member, like watching him waste away, it's like, oh my god, we can finally be done. Yeah, you know, yeah. And I think he he realizes it in that moment, like it's over.
Speaker 2: 01:00:11
And and like credit to Shinkai and the other animators for like injecting that amount of subtlety to the smile as well.
Speaker 1: 01:00:20
Yeah.
Speaker 2: 01:00:20
Where it's just like, I feel like a lot of this movie could be like an animation student's like submission for like a final or something, where it's just like, okay, this is a bird, this is the different angles that it can fly at, and it's really cool, and you should hire me. Yeah, but then you see the like the smaller moments as well, where it's just like, oh my god, this is a drawing, but for me, I process that as a person that almost smiled and he looked back and he he stopped himself from looking back at it after a certain point after so many years.
Speaker 3: 01:00:49
It's just like, oh, that hurts, but I love the ending. Right? I love it.
Speaker 4: 01:00:58
And I think that it's
Speaker 4: 01:00:59
one of those endings that you are at first, you're like, oh, I don't like that, but then you sit with it and you go, No, that was gorgeous, that was brilliant. That was 500 days of summer. No, that's what I was thinking. That's what I was thinking. I kind of love when couples don't end up together. Yeah.
Speaker 2: 01:01:15
I mean, I think there's also just this kind of pop culture understanding that the only happy ending has to end with a couple. Exactly. I was actually thinking about this the other day where it's just like, I feel like friends has ruined sitcom couples forever. Because before friends, the kind of power couple that people talked about on TV show sitcoms, at least in America, was um Cheers.
Speaker 1: 01:01:42
Okay.
Speaker 2: 01:01:43
And that couple doesn't get together at the end. And because Cheers did so well, the the spin-off Fraser came out, and you kind of get to see the dynamic explored even more. So it's just like literal like decades of American TV is just them kind of picking apart the idea of like you don't need to be a couple to have your happy ending. Right. There are other options that you can pick and choose. And then here comes friends, like thinking it's the most badass shit in the world, just because it's got five handsome white people. Six.
Speaker 4: 01:02:21
Well, one of them's kind of homely. One of them's got a homely face. We'll let you decide who we're talking about. No, but I feel you. I feel you.
Speaker 2: 01:02:33
Right, where it's just like, oh my god, like what other times do we see the couple not end up together?
Speaker 4: 01:02:38
Like, it's like it's so rare that I remember 500 days of summer. Exactly. Like that's why I was so impactful because of how it changed the way that I realized movies could end.
Speaker 3: 01:02:48
And the more I watched it, the more I watched the ending, the more I loved it. Right, exactly. This was the same exact.
Speaker 1: 01:02:55
Ooh.
Speaker 4: 01:02:56
Thank you for that. That was beautiful. Thank you, Gabe, for recommending it to me. It would never have crossed.
Speaker 2: 01:03:01
Thank you for changing my mind on it. It I was absolutely ready to just have to film an apology video, like YouTube style, just like I made a mistake, everyone.
Speaker 4: 01:03:13
No, I thought it was really great.
Speaker 2: 01:03:15
I'm glad. I'm so glad.
Speaker 4: 01:03:17
I think it it really is one of those things that you have to really sit with. Yeah.
Speaker 2: 01:03:20
Yes.
Speaker 4: 01:03:21
You can't just watch it one time and be like, yeah, I didn't get it.
Speaker 2: 01:03:24
You know. You have to like and and I think that that's also kind of the thing that Shinkai has mastered over the years, where I don't want to say his movies have gotten shorter. If if anything, I'm pretty sure they've gotten longer. But he has also dabbled in doing commercial work.
Speaker 1: 01:03:39
Yeah.
Speaker 2: 01:03:40
It'll be like one minute or two minutes. And they even though they're like advertising something, you're essentially watching like a two-minute equivalent of five centimeters per second. And and that's actually what I wanted you guys to watch just now. Oh the the thing I texted, uh a mystery link.
Speaker 3: 01:04:00
A mystery link, okay. A commercial?
Speaker 2: 01:04:04
It's a commercial. What? It's a commercial for like cram schools. Oh my god.
Speaker 3: 01:04:08
Oh my god. What? Oh my god, that was so like dramatic.
Speaker 2: 01:04:15
Right? So so what I just convinced both of the Cry gals to watch just now was a a glorified commercial for Z Kai. A from the looks of it, it's like a cram school that you can take from home.
Speaker 3: 01:04:30
Okay, got it.
Speaker 2: 01:04:31
But it's basically a two-minute commercial for this service, and the entire animation is again done and written by Shinkai himself, the master of pitting two people that you think will never meet, having them meet, and having you question whether or not they'll get together, even though you know that he has a horrible track record of having them get together.
Speaker 3: 01:04:56
Wow.
Speaker 2: 01:04:57
Well, I wanted to ask you is that you having seen five centimeters per second, do you think his works have matured at all when comparing to the two-minute commercial?
Speaker 4: 01:05:11
Wait, was that two-minute commercial afternoon?
Speaker 2: 01:05:14
Yeah, it came out like very, very recently. Oh, like within the last five years, I want to say.
Speaker 4: 01:05:37
Like when you say maturity, that makes me think that there needs to be some sort of growth. But I don't know if that necessarily makes you a bad or good storyteller. Because I think I think that was a trick.
Speaker 1: 01:05:54
No.
Speaker 4: 01:05:55
I think that no matter when or Where you watch this kind of story, it will always be a universal experience of like something not working out and feeling some sort of way about it. And I don't necessarily think that for an artist to feel drawn to tell stories about the same thing makes you like a hack.
Speaker 2: 01:06:22
Yeah, it makes you because that is kind of the take that people keep kind of poking fun at Shane High. I see, I see.
Speaker 4: 01:06:33
But I yeah, I don't know. I mean, I think from an audience perspective, I can get why that is a critique because it's like, oh, I know how this is gonna end. But I think from a feelings and meaning perspective, I think that's fine. Everything boils down to love anyway. So it doesn't really matter. That's what this podcast is all about. You know, good answer, good answer. I think I think I will let him be. If that's what he feels compelled to let him go care, please. Let him felt that's what I would say.
Speaker 2: 01:07:05
That is a good answer. I wasn't expecting such once again. I am here being being mistaken. Fucking dumb as hell.
Speaker 4: 01:07:14
So let's just prove him wrong over and over again.
Speaker 2: 01:07:18
Time and time again.
Speaker 4: 01:07:25
You guys, we just talked for like literally, we've been here for two plus hours now, and we've only covered one story.
Speaker 2: 01:07:31
It's a tragedy.
Speaker 4: 01:07:32
So, with that said, we have made the executive decision to actually break up this collab into two episodes. Lucky you. Lucky you. So we're gonna end it here for today, and we'll be back very, very soon with Arns' coverage of her anime. We're gonna keep the suspense. We won't tell you what it is yet, but before we wrap it up for today, Gabe, thank you so much for joining us.
Speaker 2: 01:08:01
Thank you for accepting my self-invitation to be here. Showing up here. See you in two weeks. Okay.
Speaker 4: 01:08:10
See you in two weeks. See you in two. Yep. Um, in the meantime, if people are curious about your page, where can people find you?
Speaker 2: 01:08:18
Oh my gosh. You can find me on uh I'm the weirdo that doesn't have Twitter, guys. I'm sorry. It was fun for a little bit until it wasn't. Um I'm on Blue Sky now at uh at Demon Core, D-A-E-M-O-N-C-O-R-P-S. Alternatively, I'm on I'm on the gram. I'm also on a handful of other places, YouTube, um, I think a few more, but you're not allowed to look at those. If you find me elsewhere, no, you didn't.
Speaker 4: 01:08:47
What? I like that. And keep the intrigue. Who is this guy? Who is he? But anyway, I think that's it for today. I think so. Thank you again for tuning in. We hope that you enjoyed today's episode and are looking forward to part two very, very soon. Very, very soon. But uh, that's what we got. So we will see you next time.
Speaker 2: 01:09:13
But until then, BRB crying.
Until next time…brb crying :’)