5 Centimeters Per Second (2007) is one of the most iconic recent anime films.
Some of the best 5 Centimeters Per Second quotes touch on the movie’s heartfelt themes and relationships.
1. “They say it’s five centimeters per second […] The speed at which the cherry blossoms fall. It’s five centimeters per second.”
Akari Shinohara (voiced by Yoshimi Kondou in the “Cherry Blossoms” section of the original Japanese dub) says this line to Takaki Tono (voiced by Kenji Mizuhashi in the original Japanese dub) when they are observing the cherry trees at the very beginning of the movie.
The line is so important that it even inspired the title.
Cherry blossom season is important for Akari and Takaki’s relationship because, as children, they promised to meet to watch the cherry blossoms together. Although this meeting never materializes, it represents their hope for the future.
The beautiful – yet quickly fading – nature of cherry blossoms also represents how people drift apart as quickly as petals float to the ground but can still leave a lasting impression.
2. “At what speed must I live…to be able to see you again?”
Nobody does longing quite like Takaki Tono (voiced by Kenji Mizuhashi). Even years after parting ways with Akari, he still longs for her as a teenager and later as an adult.
In this scene, he reflects on how life speeds by quickly but not quickly enough to bring him closer to his love.
3. “And bit by bit, you’ll keep changing.”
This is another quote from Takaki addressing his absent love, Akari. Years after they parted ways, Takaki still thinks about his childhood love and wonders what she’s like.
He realizes that change is inevitable and that she’s probably very different from the person he knew because everybody changes with time. However, this is not necessarily a bad thing because as we change, we go through necessary growth.
4. “Reality is brimming over with beautiful things, scintillating feelings. How many of them have I been missing?”
Takaki says this quote towards the movie’s end when he and Akari miss each other in their old hometown. He realizes that he spent years of his life chasing the girl he loved, who by now was just an idealized version, not her real self, and ignoring the real people and opportunities right in front of him.
Instead of holding onto his sad feelings, Takaki vows to start living in the present.
Many fans were shocked at the ambiguous and sad ending, which had the lovers missing each other. However, letting go of each other is important for both characters’ growth. They must start appreciating their realities instead of embracing an idealized past.
Takaki finally learns this lesson and begins seeing the beauty of the world around him for what it is.
5. “What are you thinking of in a place I’ve never been? Are we just a memory now?”
Takaki is not the only person nostalgic for the past. Akari (voiced by Anaka Onoue in the third segment of the movie) says this line while reminiscing about Takaki when she finds a box of their old letters.
Even though Akari is about to marry another man, she still wonders about Takaki and where he’s been. For years, their love and letters felt like the most real, vibrant part of their lives, but with time, the love faded with prominence.
There are no new letters or meetings to keep the love affair alive, so they are just alive in each other’s memories.
6. “I hope we meet again, in some new way, as new people, and that something new starts.”
Risa Mizuno (voiced by Risa Mizuno) is Takaki’s long-suffering girlfriend who breaks up with him in the third act of the film after his longing for Akari interferes with his ability to be a good boyfriend in the present.
However, Risa still has feelings for Takaki, as shown by this quote. Risa hopes there is a possibility for her and Takaki if they cross paths again. With time, they can change and become the people they need to be for each other, but right now, they are not right.
The quote speaks to the hopefulness that lurks beneath the heartbreak of a relationship’s end. Sometimes, it’s just a matter of bad timing.
7. “He’s always looking past me, at something far off in the distance. And he’ll never look at me. Not ever.”
Takaki and Akari are not the only ones who are heartbroken in this film. Poor Kanae Sumida (voiced by Satomi Hanamura) is a schoolgirl who has had a crush on Takaki ever since they were in junior high.
However, Takaki does not seem to understand her feelings and spends his time staring into the distance, writing to someone unknown. The audience knows he longs after Akari, but poor Kanae does not, at least not yet.
Kanae’s words are familiar to anyone who’s ever had an unrequited crush and felt as if the object of their affection would like them if they just took the time to see them. It also gives us a glimpse into how Takaki’s obsession looks to the people around him.
8. “Having people tiptoe around me is just kind of painful.”
Poor Kanae is one of the most relatable characters in the movie. She decides to win over Takaki by telling him about her feelings, but after a misunderstanding, she realizes that he will never return those feelings.
She is heartbroken, and others pick up on her heartbreak, but she resents how they treat her.
This line is so popular because anyone who’s gone through a breakup or heartbreak can relate to feeling as if people started acting strange.
It’s often less painful to directly address the source of your sadness than to have people avoid mentioning it as an exaggerated attempt at being sensitive.
9. “Just looking at him made my heart pound and hearing his voice made it soar.”
Kanae Sumida once again has the words to express how crushes feel. She says this line to express her intense feelings for Takaki, a crush from junior high to the third year of high school.
The line is a great summary of young love: the intense physical reactions, strong emotions, and active imaginations over something as small and insignificant as a look or a voice.
Although Kanae’s love for Takaki ends unhappily for her, she still has the delicious experience of her intense feelings for him.
10. “What I want is to be a person who won’t disappoint you if we happen to meet somewhere, someday a long time from now.”
Takaki says this line to Akari when they are children about to part ways. Takaki and Akira have long, intense conversations about anything and everything, including their thoughts about growing up.
Growing up is foreign and terrifying to the children, although Takaki knows he wants to be a cosmonaut. All he knows is that he wants to turn into a person who will still be worthy of Akari.
This quote is a sweet look at how deep Takaki’s love for Akari runs, even though they’re both young because he only thinks about her opinion of him when he envisions his future.
It also speaks to the uncertainty of growing up. We all know that we will change and maybe drift apart from the people we love as we age, but hopefully, we will still be people worthy of respect.
11. “The happy moments come often, but so do the painful ones.”
Kanae Sumida says this line when reflecting on her unrequited feelings for Takaki. Although her crush was full of intense emotional pain, her close friendship with Takaki was also packed with good moments. Kanae sees this as symbolic of life as a whole.
We feel intense happiness but sadness as well. The bad moments are necessary to make the good ones stand out.
12. “To hold on to that feeling even if we’d be far apart, and that became my compass in life.”
Takaki says this line when reflecting on the durability of his feelings for Akari.
His love for her gave him direction in life. However, sometimes, this led him astray when he started ignoring what was around him in the present day.
5 Centimeters Per Second is full of relatable characters and quotes about love, but these are some of the best.
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