Live-Action Film Director Yoshiyuki Okuyama on Adapting Makoto Shinkai’s Classic 5 Centimeters Per Second Anime

Makoto ShinkaiAnime classic 5 cm per second (2007) This year received a live adaptation, which premiered at the Busan International Film Festival this week. Directed by photographers and filmmakers Yoshiyuki Okuyama – Readers may be familiar with his music videos Kenshi Yonezu Track “Back Back” – This new feature film extends Shinkai’s piecemeal reflection project into a deeper work filled with melancholy and grey cravings. Ann was happy to talk to Okuyama for an hour to learn about his relationship with the original work and adaptation, and what can be done in past explorations of audiences and filmmakers.

You are a relatively young filmmaker – when Shinkai’s original film was released, you must have been there as a teenager. Did you first encounter this movie when it was initially released? How do you view it, it resonates with you?

Yoshiyuki Okuyama: I didn’t watch movies in the theater – my first movie was on DVD when I was in high school. The film goes deep into the most introverted part of the high-base character and depicts something that feels universal. I’m refreshing to see what microscopic and macros coexist. It’s also very refreshing to see animation depicting a place that exists in the real world – I always thought animation would attract a fictional world. It might be a given movie with a live-action movie that will eventually have a more realistic feel, but your approach here is more rooted and emotionally authentic than the original movie.

Did you realize that when you adapt to this work, you exuded Gaoji’s discomfort and the sadness that brought them?

Okuyama: When the original version was released, viewers felt the film’s ending was very sad. Compared to the animation, I think this live-action version ends the narrative with more positive emotions.

We lose the grip on our emotions when we are drowning in our work. In the original, this is a montage. So we add more details to parts that are not fully drawn yet.

I realized the importance of what can only be done in real people, that is, the real people adaptation. In the animation, you cannot move the character unless you draw the character movement. On the other hand, we can capture the unconscious movement of the actor and the subtleties of its expression. Regarding the feeling of realists, we keep in mind the way actors speak words and body language, even if the words are not written in the script.

Your actors really capture and embody their self-evident feeling. Creating chemistry between your actors is one thing – you manage to come up with the performance here so that we really see the head of the characters and feel like they don’t say loudly. How did you instruct the actors to achieve this?

Okuyama: I do believe that we can achieve something that adapts real people to engaging – conveying speechless things through expression and movement. Emphasizing this, we decided to lower the monologue compared to the original version. During shooting, we used a lot of long shots. Instead of cutting a new action for each word, we have to shoot carefully from the beginning to the end of each scene, so we can combine the unpredictability of the truth.

Just like a chemical reaction. In a performance, when there are multiple participants, the content expressed by one actor affects other behaviors, resulting in a chain reaction. We also want to make the crew on site small. We want the actors’ perspectives and the perspectives of the roles they play, so that actors can immerse themselves in their roles – so we don’t want them to be surrounded by many cameras and lighting staff.

This movie has an attractive movie cereal look. Shot on movies or numbers?

Okuyama: We shot it digitally, but we used film to record (shoot) and transferred it to 16mm film.

The original work has an occasional, dispersed style, and given your first feature it seems to suit you well On the benchwith a similar structure, you have experience in music video film production. That’s why you’re involved in this project’s history? Did you initiate the idea of ​​this adaptation, or did you bring it to you?

Okuyama: Producer 5 cm (2025), Tamai-san, meet me on this project On the bench.

This movie is twice as good as the original anime. How did you and the writer Suzuki-san expand it?

Okuyama: We have many meetings throughout the year – every four to five hours every two weeks. I always want to express things through facial expressions and movements where possible, rather than using monologues.

The original work is structured like a collection of short stories, but in a live adaptation we take Goquitono’s life as a continuous line and flow continuously. By presenting it continuously, we think it can also allow the audience’s emotions to flow continuously as well. Many of the new patterns and characters in this movie are not featured in the original version, such as Voyager’s Golden Record or the owner of Planetarium. We also covered more details on a character called Midori. During three stages of his life – childhood, high school, and adulthood – Gao Ji reconnects with his cherished words, scenes, and the era he shares with important people. These memories resonate with him like he met again, bringing him to notice what he might have overlooked. That’s what I think we’re expanding in this live version.

Has director Shinkai seen this movie? What does he think?

Okuyama: He has, and he tells us he is impressed. He said he was crying, but he didn’t understand that he was crying. When you watch this movie, the true emotions inside you will transcend any reason or logic. I’m glad we were able to make a movie that would arouse strong emotions from the audience. He also said that the character portrayal of the film is unavailable throughout the animation, and he felt strongly the importance of live-action adaptations.

This movie reminds me of Shinkai’s original work, and more works by filmmakers Shunji Iwai and Hideaki Anno. Have all these filmmakers influenced your approach?

Okuyama: Honestly, I haven’t seen many movies. I didn’t grow up watching Japanese movies, so I’m not familiar with the style of filmmaking in Iwai or Anno. Other filmmakers have had a greater impact on my approach. Especially in this movie, the angle and position of the characters are influenced by Celine Song Previous life. The way facial expressions are conveyed is influenced by Charlotte Wells laterand the feeling of Sofia Coppola somewhere Influenced film experience.

I actually thought of it Previous life It makes sense to hear this when watching this movie.

Okuyama: We can reflect whether they are thinking about the past or the future from the way we shoot the characters left and right, or the position of the characters (whether left or right when two people stand). That’s something that I deeply influenced Previous life. Celine Song himself also received Akira Blacksaw‘ High and low. So, I’m glad you’ve seen the inspiration.

Tell me about the actors. Your leader, Matsuko Kitanoalready has connections with Shinkai’s movies, because he is in Suzuki.

Matsumura is a Shinkai’s believer actor. When I first met him, I saw Gao Ji’s character. The way he communicates with others while thinking about it. The way he communicates with others, and also with himself. His personality involves hesitation and wavering. I found it interesting. This anxiety and impatientness are essentially human. Now, I strongly feel that he is the only one who can play Gaoji.

Romantic drama can be said to be a supersaturated genre in Japanese films. Are you aware of the different ways to bring to this genre?

Okuyama: Honestly, I didn’t grow up watching Japanese romantic drama movies, so I didn’t really realize the way it brought. In this film, the theme of romantic is only part of a broader narrative that portrays a person’s life. The purity of childhood, the intuition of youth, and the anxiety of becoming an adult. The film depicts something universal, and romantic emotions are part of it.

One thing we have is the relationship between Takasaki and Akari. The original version emphasizes their romantic relationship. But in this movie we portray them as soul mates who comfort each other, making the audience think it’s more than just a romantic relationship. If the producers offered me this project just to make a simple romantic drama, I don’t think I would be the right choice. But it seems he wanted to make a movie about life, too, so it worked.

What fascinates me is that with this movie and your Yonezu Kenshi’s “Kick Back” music video – you are experienced, you can bring the elements we associate with the anime and bring them closer to our real world with real action. Do you think we can be viewers and humans by bringing the anime world and narrative closer to our own reality?

Okuyama: When reality and novels coexist, I find it to be realistic. It comes from my childhood when I spent a lot of time imagining what was in my mind instead of talking to others. So what I see in real life and what I imagine in my mind brings the same weight and value to me. My view of the world surfaced only a few millimeters more than reality, and I think that’s why my project is seen as having an animation-like quality.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OOC1K8LIV08

What did the people who made this movie do to you? – Whether you are inside yourself or feeling something, making a movie, realizing consciousness.

Okuyama: When I received a quote for the project, I experienced a similar feeling to that of High Foundation. In my 30s it was unique – this feeling is not enough how I will live my future. I feel like I’m covered up by a layer of movies. However, through the production process, I felt as if the fog had risen and I could take a step forward. That’s because we made this movie as a team. I communicated with different people and interacted with different perspectives and ideas. We spend time pursuing the best solution, rather than falling into a spiral of self-reflection, which makes me even more positive.

What do you want your audience to take away from watching this movie?

Okuyama: Every audience will feel troubled and worried in their daily lives. Even when they watch movies, these troubles and concerns are spinning in their heads. I want the movie to put my hands on their backs and say, “It’s OK.” I think the city looks different after watching this movie.

Thanks to Yuki Fujiwara for the translation.

5 cm per second Opened in Japan on October 10, with other screenings planned in Vietnam, Thailand and Indonesia.