It has been revealed that the animated feature film "5 Centimeters per Second," directed by Makoto Shinkai, known for "Your Name" and "Sparrow's Door Lock," will be adapted into a live-action film and released in the fall of 2025. This is the first time that one of Shinkai's anime will be adapted into a live-action film. It was also announced that Matsumura Hokuto of the popular group "SixTONES," who also appeared as a voice actor in "Sparrow's Door Lock," will play the lead role. This is the first time that Matsumura will play the lead role in a film.
"5 Centimeters per Second" was released in 2007 as Shinkai's third commercial work, following "Voices of a Distant Star" in 2002 and "The Place Promised in Our Early Days" in 2004. The film is a series of three short stories that depicts the lives of a boy and a girl who are separated after graduating from elementary school, as they grow into adults. The theme song "One more time, One more chance" by Masayoshi Yamazaki also became a hot topic.
The live-action film will be a feature-length film of about two hours, based on a script written after exchanging opinions with Director Shinkai. Director Okuyama Yoshiyuki will be directing, and Suzuki Fumiko will be writing the script. The film depicts the protagonist Tono Takaki's 18-year journey through life, from the fresh days when he met transfer student Shinohara Akari when he was in elementary school and bonded with her, to his high school life in Tanegashima after he was separated from Akari when he graduated from elementary school, to his youth as he turned 30 and worked as a systems engineer in Tokyo with a vague sense of stagnation and frustration.
◇Comment from Director Shinkai Makoto
The animated film "5 Centimeters per Second," which I directed nearly 20 years ago, was a very immature and unfinished work. However, it is also a work that has been loved for a long time even now because of its incompleteness. I would never be able to make or recreate a film like that, which was simply filled with my initial impulse - my longing and fear for the unknown. So I'm very excited that Director Okuyama and his young and enthusiastic team are once again facing "5 Centimeters per Second". I also feel the wonder of life when I have my most trusted actor, Hokuto Matsumura, take on the lead role. Please make this a movie that you can only make now. I'm looking forward to its completion more than anyone else and I'm rooting for you.
◇Comment from Hokuto Matsumura
I feel a heavy responsibility every day because it's a work that I've watched over and over again. This original work has had a profound impact on the lives of many people. Fans have their own interpretations and worlds, and I am one of them. I was hesitant to take a step forward because I, who am still inexperienced, would participate in the live-action adaptation of such a work. However, Director Okuyama and the production team's admiration and love for the original work. And the words of Shinkai, "I'd like to see it with Hokuto-kun," gave me a reason to take on the challenge with this team. This work is made by a team of people who have been influenced and admired "5 Centimeters per Second". I will take on the challenge with respect for the original team and the fans in my heart.
◇Comment from Director Yoshiyuki Okuyama
Although it is just a number, I feel that it is an important fate that I, now 33 years old, am now getting to film the story that Makoto Shinkai spun when he was 33 years old. Every day I face "5 Centimeters per Second" while realizing that there are things that can only be created now, and that there are eyes that will eventually forget. I would like to carefully, sincerely, and sincerely shoot every scene, every second, with the team that I trust wholeheartedly, as if placing a warm hand on Takaki's back, who is carrying a vague sense of loss and anxiety. I will put all the "sentimental" that remains in me into this work, so please look forward to it.
◇Comment from Fumiko Suzuki
I first saw Director Makoto Shinkai's "5 Centimeters per Second" when I was in my 20s. Many of the team members saw it when they were in junior high or high school, and they faced the profound original work, which has a different poignancy depending on when they encountered the work, with joy and tension. It's about the coincidences that bring people closer and apart. I had many conversations with the very sincere Director Okuyama, the trustworthy staff, and the sincere cast, and put all of that time into the script. I hope that it will reach many people's "now".
◇ Comment from Producer Hiromasa Tamai
I would like to express my gratitude to Makoto Shinkai and everyone at CoMix Wave Films, who not only accepted the reckless challenge of making a live-action version of an immortal masterpiece loved all over the world, but also supported this project with their heartfelt advice. Director Yoshiyuki Okuyama, who is a front-runner as a film director and photographer, Hokuto Matsumura, and his co-stars, as well as people with extraordinary talent and skills in their respective fields of expertise, such as scriptwriting, video, sound, and design, as well as refined sensibilities and aesthetic sense, have come together. I hope you will look forward to further updates until the release.
