Makoto Shinkai English Fan Forum and Site

gleowine · Posted: Sat Apr 19, 2008 10:20 pm Post subject:

Just another theory on the opening scene.

Could this simply be an alternate future, one in which Hiroki and Takuya never finish the plane, the terrorists use the unmanned drone to deliver the missile that destroys the tower, and Sayuri never wakes up??

Then, the anime starts, and we're shown the events as they occurred, culminating in the seizure of the opportunity to fulfill the promise, with the catalyst coming from both boys reaching the same conclusion after their respective dreams and memories of Sayuri. Finally, we see the corrected version of the future in the very last scene after the credits, now with the bella ciela returning from the promised place (compare this last scene with the first).

Laz · Laz Joined: 09 Jan 2008 Posts: 1073

WOW ... you guys are sharp! I hadn't thought of that either ... since the whole thing with the tower and research that Takuya was doing was related to alternate realities, perhaps this was an alternate ending.

Good call.

Laz
_________________
You're a woman, I'm a calf ... you're a window, I'm a knife ... we come together making chance into starlight ... - Jeff Buckley

ここにいるよ. - Voices of a Distant Star

Laz · Laz Joined: 09 Jan 2008 Posts: 1073

Hiroki says, in the beginning, "On that day, long ago ... beyond those clouds, lies the place of our promise."

The only thing I can say with any certainty is that the beginning of the movie does come after the end of the movie. I don't think there is anything that would lead me to one conclusion (Sayuri is dead, etc.) or another. It does appear that Hiroki isn't "happy". So far we have a few options ..

1. Sayuri dies at some point after the destruction of the EZO Tower.
2. Sayuri and Hiroki maybe don't wind up together at the end/just friends, since she lost all of her memories from when she was sleeping
3. It's an alternate reality view of post EXO Tower destruction
4. It's just a guy reminiscing about his past.

Which is the mot logical ? Which is the most fitting? Which one do you prefer? Isn't that what make Forums and Discussions so fun, we all have opinions Smile

Laz
_________________
You're a woman, I'm a calf ... you're a window, I'm a knife ... we come together making chance into starlight ... - Jeff Buckley

ここにいるよ. - Voices of a Distant Star

ribbon · Tracer Joined: 20 Apr 2008 Posts: 9

Not sure if you all remember the trailer that was basically all we had for close to two years, but after such a long wait, I was kind of disappointed with the movie. Not that it wasn't spectacularly animated, I just felt most of the interesting plot points were already in that very old trailer.

On a related note, if anyone still has that trailer subbed by Triad, send me a note please.

AT · Posted: Fri Apr 25, 2008 8:14 am Post subject:

gleowine · Posted: Fri Apr 25, 2008 5:45 pm Post subject:

I guess my main impetus was to find a more positive scenario than Sayuri's death, since I was uncomfortable with that one. One thing that got me to thinking was the fact that Hiroki was returning there in summer, while the events at the end of the story occurred in winter. Also, as everyone has noted, the tower is missing, meaning that somehow it had been destroyed. I think the clincher for me was that final scene after the credits, since it showed the Bella Ciela returning in the background to the same summer scenery as in the opening, indicating that something had changed.

Of course this opens up a whole new can of worms by prompting the question, "how could it be returning in summer, when the story clearly ended in winter?"

Something else that came to mind. Hiroki was still puzzling over Sayuri's words in the opening, about her having a premonition of losing something. But as she was coming out of the coma, she realized what it was that she was losing, perhaps later revealing this to Hiroki.

kasan · Tracer Joined: 28 Jul 2008 Posts: 10

My English is very poor so I don't know how to say ,and about this film,actually is my favourate film, compare to Makoto's other works .Ican feel worm eventhough they separate at last .

Laz · Laz Joined: 09 Jan 2008 Posts: 1073

No worries Kasan ... your English is better than my Chinese (and probably my English too ) Smile

Laz

_________________
You're a woman, I'm a calf ... you're a window, I'm a knife ... we come together making chance into starlight ... - Jeff Buckley

ここにいるよ. - Voices of a Distant Star