Whenever i finish watching a Japanese animated movie, im left sitting there in a state of peaceful happiness, yet feeling strangely melancholic. Its seems that the endings of Japanese animated movies are never quite satisfying. They always leave me with a bittersweet sensation and a yearning for something more, whether it be the ability to be transported into that magical dimension, or simply for the main characters to live happily ever after. Upon finishing "The Girl Who Leapt Through Time", i am left scouring the internet forums for some sort of closure once again.
The movie addresses the age old issue of time travel, of humanities desire to master the fourth dimension in order to undo past mistakes, to relive a happy memory, or to simply prolong our stay in the material world. It is a concept that each and every one of us have thought about at some point in time. This is because every one of us have felt the pangs of regret at some point in our lives, whether it be just before an examination, or right after a break up. We have all felt regret, if not remorse. This stems from our imperfection, and our subsequent and unavoidable capacity for making mistakes. As a result, we wish for the chance to undo our mistakes, to take a different course of action. And the only way we feel we can achieve this is to travel back in time.
What "The Girl Who Leapt Through Time" teaches us is not the joys and wonders of the ability to travel back in time, but rather the consequences of manipulating time. Ironically, the protagonist ends up in a worse situation than before she gained the ability to skip through our time stream, and as a result tries to undo all her mistakes by traveling to the time frame at the beginning of the movie. Yet despite this, the damage had been done, and she inadvertently lost the boy that she loved.
But life goes on. Time can be unforgiving, but it can also be kind. Over time and with the help of those around her, her wounds will heal. She will continue to live normally, and one day she will meet another boy, and she will fall in love again. Such is the virtue of time.
What this movie has taught me is, even if we had mastery over time travel, we cannot find true happiness by altering the past. No one should be given the power to manipulate time, it would completely disrupt the fragile balance of this world, not to mention fuck with my mind. Yet at the same time, we are all truly masters of time. We have complete control over what we do with our own time. And although we cannot undo the past, we can learn from it so that we can better our future, and if we're lucky, we just might be able to find true happiness one day.
There's really no point wallowing in the misery of regret. The milk has already been spilt. Instead, harness that regret and forge it into action - action that will change the outcome of our future. So if you really think about it, we are all time travellers. We can delve into the past through our memories, analyse the situation, and change the future accordingly. I guess what im trying to say is, there really is no single right way to live your life. Whats important is that you follow your hearts desire, and take actions that will produce outcomes with the greatest amounts of happiness.
I shall conclude this post with a quote from the movie:
"Time waits for no one."
So, what are you waiting for?
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