Parents' Guide to

The Place Promised in Our Early Days

By Brian Costello, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 10+

Complex coming-of-age anime has some violence.

Movie NR 2004 90 minutes
The Place Promised In Our Early Days Movie Poster

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this movie.

  • The Place Promised In Our Early Days Movie: Scene One
  • The Place Promised In Our Early Days Movie: Scene Two
  • The Place Promised In Our Early Days Movie: Scene Three

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What's the Story?

In THE PLACE PROMISED IN OUR EARLY DAYS, Hiroki (Chris Patton) and Takuya (Kalob Martinez) are two child prodigies living on the American side of a Japan that has been split in two. On the Soviet side, called "the Union," there's a giant tower that inspires their curiosity. They become friends with a girl named Sayuri (Jessica Boone) while they are in ninth grade. During the summer, these three find a drone plane and decide that they want to rebuild it, with the help of gruff Mr. Okabe, who is the boss of a nearby factory. The kids promise that once the plane is completed, they will fly to the Union side of Japan to check out the tower, but before this dream can become a reality, Sayuri vanishes. In the months and years that follow, Takuya works as a physicist for an NSA facility that is researching the Tower. As they learn that the Tower creates alternate universes, they begin to see that the Tower started operating at the same time as Sayuri's disappearance. As they discover what happened to Sayuri, they must find out how Sayuri holds the answer to the mystery of the Tower.

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say: Not yet rated
Kids say: Not yet rated

This is a heady coming-of-age anime that imagines an alternate reality and alternate universes. The Place Promised in Our Early Days imagines a Japan split into two regions between the Soviet Union and United States after World War II as three teens come of age in the mid-'90s on the border between the two, fascinated by a tower high above them on the other side. It's not without the melodrama that typifies so much anime, but this alternate reality angle is what makes it so unique and enjoyable, provided you can keep up with the story's complexities.

It's a lot to digest, and younger viewers will be forgiven for not being able to follow along. Stories and movies commenting on geopolitics and theoretical physics are obviously not for everyone, and especially not for kids who like their entertainment silly. Therefore, one's enjoyment of this movie is dependent less on the emo melodrama of most coming-of-age anime and more on how interested tweens and teens are in more complex sci-fi. This was the debut film of director Makoto Shinkai, and the high quality of the animation and his strength in using vibrant imagery to convey story come alive in nearly every scene.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about anime like The Place Promised in Our Early Days. How is this similar to and different from other anime you've seen?

  • This movie imagines an alternate world in which Japan is split into two countries following World War II. How is this premise used to its fullest potential in the story? What are some other examples of movies that imagine alternate realities?

  • How is this a coming-of-age movie? How does this compare to other movies about growing up?

Movie Details

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