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The Place Promised in Our Early Days [DVD]

Hidetaka Yoshioka (Actor), Masato Hagiwara (Actor), Makoto Shinkai (Director, Writer) Rated:
PG
Format: DVD
4.6 4.6 out of 5 stars 236 ratings
IMDb6.9/10.0
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July 12, 2005 		—
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Genre Kids & Family
Format Color, NTSC, Animated, DVD, Dolby
Contributor Steven Foster, Eiji Takemoto, Kazuhiko Inoue, Masami Iwasaki, Risa Mizuno, Rie Nakagawa, Takahiro Hirano, Takeshi Maeda, Masato Hagiwara, Yuka Nanri, Makoto Shinkai, Hidenobu Kiuchi, Hidetaka Yoshioka, Unsh Ishizuka See more
Language English, Japanese
Runtime 1 hour and 31 minutes
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Product Description

Product Description

In 1996, an enormous tower is constructed on the southern shore of Hokkaido, it's purpose-unknown. Curious, three school children make a vow to discover the mysterious tower's secrets. Will this promise have to be left unfulfilled when one of the three falls into a coma?

Amazon.com

Makoto Shinkai made an impressive debut as a writer-director in Voices of a Distant Star (OVA, 2002); The Place Promised in Our Early Days (OVA, 2004) is his first studio work. In this alternate world, Japan was divided after World War II: Hokkaido, renamed "Ezo," belongs to "the Union;" the rest of archipelago is an American dependency. Ezo is dominated by the Union Tower, a seemingly topless needle. Middle school students Hiroki and Takuya dream of visiting the Tower, and start building an airplane. They're joined by Sayuri, who nurtures a crush on Hiroki. As the characters move into high school, Sayuri falls into a coma. Hiroki and Takuya learn that her dreams are linked to the Tower and to experiments in contacting parallel universes. Shinkai fills the screen with sun-drenched landscapes that recall the films of Hayao Miyazaki, but the story rambles and falters. Although his understated style is often effective, Shinkai needs to learn to pace a longer work. The narrative often feels choppy, and the ending weak. Serious anime fans will want to watch the progress of this talented young director. (Unrated, suitable for ages 13 and older: alcohol and tobacco use, minor violence) --Charles Solomon

Product details

  • Aspect Ratio ‏ : ‎ 1.78:1
  • Is Discontinued By Manufacturer ‏ : ‎ No
  • MPAA rating ‏ : ‎ PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
  • Product Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 7.75 x 5.75 x 0.53 inches; 2.88 ounces
  • Director ‏ : ‎ Makoto Shinkai
  • Media Format ‏ : ‎ Color, NTSC, Animated, DVD, Dolby
  • Run time ‏ : ‎ 1 hour and 31 minutes
  • Release date ‏ : ‎ July 12, 2005
  • Actors ‏ : ‎ Hidetaka Yoshioka, Masato Hagiwara, Yuka Nanri, Unsh Ishizuka, Kazuhiko Inoue
  • Studio ‏ : ‎ Section 23
  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B0009PLMAS
  • Writers ‏ : ‎ Makoto Shinkai, Steven Foster
  • Number of discs ‏ : ‎ 1
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.6 4.6 out of 5 stars 236 ratings

Customer reviews

4.6 out of 5 stars
4.6 out of 5
236 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Strategos
5.0 out of 5 stars Beyond the Clouds
Reviewed in the United States on December 23, 2007
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Motoko Shinkai has been hailed as the greatest animation genius to come out of Japan since Miyazaki himself. He made his first widely hailed success on his iMac and did the voice-acting himself. It was called Voices of a Distant Star, at less than an hour in length, it was the greatest story of light-speed time-delay since Gunbuster, a Mecha sci-fi that focused on two (literally) star-crossed lovers and their battle against time and for the salvation of the human race, when all they really wanted was to be together. Every since that film, people have been clamoring for more of that magic. Well the day has come, complete with orchestral music, and a full motion-picture budget. Was the first feature-length vision of the great Shinkai worth waiting for? Yes indeed!

Voices of a Distant Star was an epic in miniature, a tale of love between the stars expressed through time and space on a cell phone (literally!). It struck a chord with myriads of fans across the globe by making the epic extremely personal, making us wonder if the love between two teenagers in the end might be more important than a war across the universe. No Shinkai again creates a deeply personal epic, but of a slightly different nature. Both films create an enormous feeling of lonliness as star-crossed loves drift apart and a quiet desperation sinks in, Voices was highly tragic, while the feeling this film conveys is more one of triumph and salvation, through the belief that there is still time to fulfill life's promises, and there is always the chance to start again.

At its outset the film introduces us to a world where Japan is divided much the way German once was, with the two sides locked in a cold war. On one side are two friends working to build their own aircraft (and the girl who fascinates them both). On the other side lies an immense tower that they want to reach with the plane they are building. It's a peaceful, beautiful, tranquil world, but flashes of future events fill one with a sense or foreboding, just before we fast-forward to a time of impending destruction...

The friends grow up and drift apart. One enters into research and the other goes to the city to study at a university. Here the differences in their personalities which were at first subtle now seem like night and day, as the more stoic and studious one is getting involved in the razer-edge political climate and the daydreamer finds himself in danger of completely losing his grip on reality. And that's where the real drama kicks in.

You see that mysterious tower is a weapon of mass destruction, capable of rewriting the world with an alternate one...one where there are no people. And somehow that tower is connected to the girl, who has fallen into a deep sleep. But like in Voices of a Distant Star, the real story is one of the connection between two people across time and space, and dimensions. Not long before I saw this film I had an idea. What if our dreams were really a portal to other dimensions? While the two friends are pursuing their destinies, the idealistic one starts to hear her calling to him from far far away, from the dimension where her mind is trapped while her body sleeps. She is all alone and desperately searching for him to save her. And the thought that speaks to me most, is one I see again and again in Japanese stories. Often those who seem weakest are really the strongest. This girl who is so mild, soft-spoken, sweet, and fragile. And the only thing between the world and total annihilation is her will holding back the tower...

As she starts to wake up, and the nations head toward all-out war, the friends must reunite, and decide the ultimate fate of the world, as one tries to save the girl he loves, and the other tries to save the world.

This film is one of the most beautiful I have ever seen in my life. Voices of a Distant Star was gorgeous, with orange and purple hues over everything making it a world of perpetual sunset. But that short film was made by one man on his iMac. This film was made by a team of animators with a real feature film budget. And it certainly shows. The animation is much higher quality, with less sill shots and more natural-looking characters. Each and every frame is a work of art, with everything bathed in a perpetual sunrise pallet of colors. On a good TV, particularly if you have a progressive-scan dvd player. The music too is quite beautiful, with the main violin theme being perhaps as memorable as the piano them from Voices. Even with the greatly upgraded visuals, you can still very clearly see the director's tradmark style. Often you see objects in close view or tremendous vitas, and the characters are part of the world rather than standing out from it.
There are shots where you seem to focus on some small detail such as reflections on a ceiling or glittering lights, the passing of shadows. It gives everything a very dreamlike storybook quality, and I have often thought that Shinkai has to be trying tell the story completely with the visuals, as if we should still understand the feelings, thoughts, and emotions of the characters even without words.

Some people might be turned down by some of the more hard sci-fi aspects, such as the talk about alternate dimensions, and the technobabble about building the plane. And doubtless some will grow bored with the slow pace of the film. But the narrative power of Shinkai's creations is hard to ignore, and the visual splendor presented is unsurpassed. This film is nothing short of a masterpiece. I can't wait for Shinkai's next film.
12 people found this helpful
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Larry W. Stearns
5.0 out of 5 stars Makoto Shinkai has heart for his characters
Reviewed in the United States on September 9, 2005
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"The Place Promised in Our Early Days" is set in a fictional version of modern Japan. After World War II, Japan was split in two, like Korea. The southern section was occupied by the United States and the northern section by a force called simply "Union." Union builds a huge tower on the island of Hokkaido. Its purpose is a mystery, but it can be seen as far away as Tokyo. Tensions build, and war between north and south seems inevitable.

Two middle school students, Hiroki and Takuya, have found an abandoned drone aircraft and have plans to repair it and fly it to the mysterious Tower. On a summer's day, they make a promise to their schoolmate Sayuri that they will take her to the Tower with them in the aircraft that they call "Bela Ĉielo." Then, the girl suddenly leaves the town without saying goodbye, and Hiroki and Takuya end up going to high school in different cities. Three years pass. The aircraft and the promise are all but forgotten. Takuya, as a high school senior, works for a government research lab that is trying to crack the secret of the Tower. Hiroki becomes a loner, attending high school in Tokyo but remaining separate from everyone else. He is haunted by a recurring dream: Sayuri is in a place alone, literally in pain from loneliness, and he is looking for her but cannot find her.

The one flaw I found is that the science-fiction background story has some plot holes that cannot survive close examination. However, that one flaw certainly did not hurt my enjoyment of the relationship between Hiroki, Takuya, and Sayuri. I found their characters complex and their interactions compelling.

The great strength of this movie is that Shinkai has a heart for his characters. He knows just how to communicate his love for them to the audience. When Hiroki and Sayuri tell of each other's loneliness, you can feel that loneliness as if it were your own.

Shinkai`s artwork is cutting edge and his backgrounds provide realistic stages for his characters. Before I watched this, I had read that he does amazings things with light and I find that to be true. The movie also highlights Tenmon's music that adds to the poetry of each scene. The closing theme song, "Kimi no Koe (Your Voice)" is among the prettiest songs I have ever heard.
5 people found this helpful
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Lesley Aeschliman
5.0 out of 5 stars Beautiful and lush animation combined with superb storytelling
Reviewed in the United States on December 5, 2007
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Makoto Shinkai's The Place Promised in Our Early Days takes place in the late 1990s in Japan in an alternate timeline. The story follows two boys (Hiroki and Takuya) who both like the same girl (Sayuri). At the beginning of the film, they areall 8th grade students. The boys find the remains of a drone plane, which they have named the Bella Ciela. They take part-time jobs at a factory, where their boss helps them scrounge for spare parts to rebuild the drone plane. The boys promise Sayuri that after the plane is rebuilt, they will take her to visit the mysterious tower on Hokkaido. However, before this happens, Sayuri mysteriously disappears.

It's three years later, and the boys have stopped working on the plane. One of them is now a student in Tokyo, while the other is working as a physicist. Meanwhile, Sayuri has been hospitalized due to an extreme form of narcolepsy. It is believed her condition has something to do with the tower on Hokkaido. Both of the boys learn what has happened to Sayuri, but have very different ideas what needs to be done. They need to decide whether it's more important to save Sayuri or save the world.

The animation in the film is lush and very realistic-looking. And the music perfectly portrays what happens in the film. This is a very touch and moving coming-of-age story. I recommend this film to anyone who enjoys character-driven anime drama.
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Pascal
4.0 out of 5 stars Good movie, fun to watch
Reviewed in Canada on January 16, 2019
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This was a good and fun anime movie to watch, although it may be slow for some.
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pfeife8605
5.0 out of 5 stars DAS Anime-Meisterwerk der letzten Jahre
Reviewed in Germany on October 26, 2011
Verified Purchase
Endlich kam auch mal einer der (vielen) Anime nach Deutschland, die nicht auf Action, Magie, Sex oder Gewalt setzen, sondern auf Philosophie und (nicht sehr komplexe aber schön runde und verknüpfte) Metaphorik. Die Bilder aus dem verträumten Sommer der Drei könnten allesamt eingerahmt werden,
da sie nicht umsonst übertrieben malerisch wirken sollen.

Ich besitze sowohl die DVD-Fassung von damals als auch die Blu-Ray und muss sagen, dass bei beiden die Qualität gut gelungen ist,
wobei auf der Blu-Ray wirklich mehr sprachen enthalten sein sollten,
somit sind die Vorzüge der Blu-Ray gegenüber der DVD außer bei Full-HD Beamern zu vernachlässigen.
----------------------
Achtung Spoiler!:

Der Film stellt in mehreren Facetten "Träume" dar, umschreibt diese und stellt primär entsprechende Problematiken in diesem Bezug auf.
Das gemeinsame Versprechen ist ja mehr ein Traum der sie alle drei verbindet, während deren immerwährende Freundschaft nur ein zweipoliger ist, genauso wie der unbewusste Liebestraum der beiden anderen und alle samt scheitern sie an der Realität weshalb einer seine Träume aufgibt, der andere in ewige Melancholie verfällt und ihrer gedenkt (deshalb auch die E-Geige in seinem kleinen Studentenappartement) und sich die Dame komplett in ihren Träumen verliert und nicht mehr aus ihrer Welt, welche ständig das Echo dieser schönen gemeinsame Zeit, welche die Basis für all die Träume war, sowie das Ende ihrer aller Träume (Turm=*boom*) darstellt, entfliehen kann, bis sie zum Schluss alle durch die Erfüllung des gemeinsamen wieder zusammengeführt werden.
Angetrieben natürlich vom Melancholiker, der versucht alles irgendwie hinzubiegen, da er das Bindeglied zwischen allen darstellt.
Dazwischen gibt es auch noch Anspielungen auf den Umgang der anderen Personen mit dem Thema und insgesamt finde ich das auf emotionaler Ebene schön realistisch und detailliert, wobei bei japanischen Filmen eben immer sehr viel ungesagt bleibt.
So schwer ist das nun eigentlich nicht zu verstehen, wenn man sich mal auf das Wesentliche Konzentriert.

Der Einleitungssatz:
>>>"Ich habe immer das Gefühl Irgendetwas zu verlieren" hat sie mal gesagt.<<<

"Etwas" nicht greifbares. In dem Fall ihre Träume, an die sie sich ja offenbar am verbissendsten klammert, da sie für sie lebensnotwendig sind,
auch wieder typisch für das Symbol der Weiblichkeit.

Es spielen dann noch die Träume ihrer Mitmenschen mit hinein, wodurch immer wieder deutlich gemacht wird, was das "Menschsein" im Grunde bedeutet und wo der Antrieb der Menschen liegt. Gedanken und Logik allein können einen zwar vorranbringen, einem aber keinen inneren Antrieb geben um überhaupt zu Handeln und sich dabei zu entwickeln, da ohne die Träume (ob bewusst oder unbewusst) alles bedeutungslos wird.

Ich finde es bezeichnend, dass sogar erstaunlich viele intelligente Menschen den Film kein Bisschen verstehen, womöglich da er eben besonders Gedanken zum Leben an sich vorraussetzt, die sich viele überhaupt nicht zu machen scheinen.
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Sylvus
5.0 out of 5 stars Avis sur "La Tour au-delà des Nuages"
Reviewed in France on September 3, 2009
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Bien qu'il ne val pas le sublime "Byôsoku" (5 Centimeter" ou "Cinq centimètres par seconde"), "Beyond the could" ("La tour au-delà des nuages" ou "Kumo no mukou, Yakusoku no basho" pour les puristes) reste un superbe film d'animation signé par le grand maître japonais Makoto Shinkai, et qui plus est, la première et la seule oeuvre de ce réalisateur de génie qui soit sortie en France à ce jour (et oui, c'est bien triste à dire tout ça! Espérons que la suite ne va pas trop tarder...).
Que dire de plus, à part résumer les qualités et spécificités de l'œuvre de Shinkai : très poétique, très subtile, très profond, et surtout, TRES BEAU! Car ce que l'on remarque tout de suite chez l'auteur, c'est avant tout cette époustouflante qualité des graphismes, surtout dans tout ce qui est des paysages, et en terme de couleurs et de jeux de lumière... Shinkai sublime notre environnement quotidien par son extraordinaire "pâte graphique" et nous plonge dans une ambiance d'exception, elle-même renforcé par les superbes musiques de Tenmon.
Bref, comme vous l'auriez sûrement senti, il s'agit là d'un auteur que je recommande fortement!
Quelques petites mise en garde tout de même, c'est avant tout un film qu'on pourrait qualifier de contemplatif, alors ne vous attendez pas a beaucoup d'action, de combat et de "boum-boum"! (Vous seriez un peu déçu!...). D'autre part, cette oeuvre étant assez dense, je ne l'ai appréciée pleinement qu'au deuxième visionnage. Mais même si je vous ai dit que "La tour au-delà des nuages" est certes légèrement moins bien que "Byôsoku" (surtout pour cette question de "densité"), elle reste une très bonne réalisation. Si vous voulez une note, elle mérite bien son 9/10... Alors n'hésitez pas si vous voulez vous émerveiller!
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coz
5.0 out of 5 stars A true masterpiece.
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 10, 2006
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To start with the animation. Visually this anime is one of the most detailed i have ever seen, from the backgrounds to the characters, even to the most insignificant little details you wouldn't notice unless you look for them, it is beautiful and smooth in every way.
As far as sound goes, the music used throughout fits perfectly with the setting at all times, and whilst I don't personally consider it quite as emotionally moving as "Hoshi no Koe" (Shinkai Makoto's other extremely renowned anime) it nevertheless draws you right in to the moment and feeling he is creating. The voice actors (Japanese soundtrack) are suberb also, and fit the characters perfectly throughout.
If you are someone who preferes to watch English dubs, then you would be pleased to know (from what I have been told, and what little I checked just to see for myself) that the English soundtrack and voice talent is very good too.
As far as the story goes, it depends on the frame of mind you are in when you watch it. If you are someone who likes to analyse every detail of the world depicted, then some unexplained aspects might annoy you. However, if you are content to accept what you are seeing for what it is, and simply react/enjoy it as it is then the story, authough seemingly suttle in some ways, is very moving. It is hard to explain without spoiling, but at times, it is almost as if Shinkai Makoto has managed to capture moments such as the time between when you are asleep and when you wake up; the fleeting reality that is there halfway between worlds for just a few moments - in this film there are moments like that.
The characters have well defined personalities, and develop extremely well over the course of the film. Sayuri is a very lovable character, kind and generous, often with her head in the clouds.
Suffice to say, I found this a highly enjoyable anime and if you are a fan of Shinkai Makoto then definately take a look at this film. Also, if you have not seen "Hoshi no Koe" (which he made all by himself, a truly remarkable feat) then watch that first !
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gilles bernadette
5.0 out of 5 stars Remarquable
Reviewed in France on April 7, 2015
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J'ai enfin pris et surtout trouvé le temps de visionner ce dvd.
Et je l'ai trouvé absolument envoûtant -tout comme j'avais trouvé envoûtant 5 cm per second- : Graphismes magnifiques, musiques qui vous emportent, l'histoire m'a beaucoup plus.
Et pourtant, n'ayant pas tilté tout de suite sur comment le visionner en français - :) -, je l'ai regardé en VO sous-titré.
Et bien, c'est peut être encore mieux ainsi !
Je le recommande.
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