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What starts as a simple interview of a legendary actress becomes a journey through the history of Japan. But this is no ordinary lesson; from the perspective of this actress, we learn of the beauty and sadness of love, the pain and regret and joy of the Japanese people and their film, through this film: Millennium Actress.
Although today Tono Takaki and Shinohara Akari live far apart due to a family move shortly after elementary school, they were once two shy young students brought together by their shared differences from their peers. It is because of this that the two built a bond of closeness between them that still survives through their continued correspondence, even over such a distance. Secretly they both fear the loss of this bond over time, and for this reason they arrange a meeting between just the two of them. The journeys both of them take in their minds and in their lives create an atmosphere of intense emotional upheaval, but also a sense of peace. It is a twist of fate and a series of decisions that put the two in place to carry what they choose of their pasts into the future they will create for themselves.
I found Millennium Actress and 5 CM to be very similar. Each is about the pursuit of love - the characters "love to love" a unique person, ignoring even time as it passes by. Both main characters refuse to give the present a chance, and ignore all of the options that life and love offer to them because they are stuck in the past.
In both of these series, while there is a romance going on, neither of the couples come into contact for much of the film. The romances are the centers of the films, and in the end, they conclude smiliarly. Their artwork is not to be overlooked, and are amazing pleasures to view. Enjoy!
In Millenium Actress we have our protagonist, Chiyoko Fujiwara, chasing after a vision of a man she met once. In 5 CM we have Shinohara Akari chasing his memory of a promise that may or may not have been made with a childhood sweetheart. The chase, the dream, the vision ... the ending. Both bittersweet and both unrequited. I think you'll greatly appreciate the stretches of reality both protagonists put upon themselves in each film.
"Where you lead, I will follow" - whether it means long train journey, waitng for years, or chasing after throughout the country... These two series show how strong love can be and how many problems it can overcome with its power, so in this matter they are much alike.
Both series are about "love that could have been". They talk about how life goes on in spite of all of the loved ones we may have lost. The animation styles in both Millenium Actress and 5cm per Second are equally stunning.
Both Millennium Actress and 5 Centimeters tell the story of the pursuit of an unobtainable love. They both do so in a style unique to their director (Kon and Shinkai, two masters in their genre) and thus present their story in a different way. At their core though, they are about the same thing. If you loved one of these movies, make sure to check out the other as well.
Did you ever see that movie Serendipity with John Cusack? I seriously think the writers watched these two shows and decided Hollywood needed a movie that followed the same basic plot. Both 5cm/sec and Millennium Actress are FANTASTIC, and though a bit slow-paced are sure to hold your attention till the end, where you finally get the conclusion you've been waiting for.
On a chilly December evening, Hana, a transvestite, Misaki, a teenage runaway, and Gin, a retired bike racer, found little Kiyoko in the trash. For three homeless people, finding an abandoned baby might not have been the best of luck, but with good intentions and two cents to chip in, the trio set out to find the parents of the child. But locating the mother will not be an easy task, and all they have to go on is a small key...
This film is done by the same director and has a great story just like this one. I recomend this one and Tokyo Godfathers to anyone I know who are weary of watching any anime because I know they will love this movies.
Tokyo Godfathers and Millennim Actress are both made by MADHOUSE studio. Though not very similar in story line, both are poignant stories with lots of human emotion, breathtaking visuals, and a few scenes to make you cry.
These two films, by the same Satoshi Kon, are very alike in that a lot of the time you find yourself asking, "...Wait, what?" They're intriguing and wonderful, and you can easily get lost in the storyline.
Do you like anime that are a) realistic b) beautiful c) a little humoristic and d) made by Satoshi Kon? In that case Millennium Actress and Tokyo Godfathers are the right choise for you. They are both masterpieces from one of the greatest anime-directors, and worth their reputation.
Most of Satoshi Kon's works are really screwed up and psychological, but Tokyo Godfathers and Millenium Actress are actually really heartwarming and sweet, with a bit of humor thrown in, and some really wonderfully-realized characters. Truely excellent.
Visuaaly beautiful, amazing sound, extremely realstic, great characters, heartwarming, and directed by Satoshi Kon these are all things that these two movies have in common. Both series are absolute masterpieces that any viewer should have on their watched list. Completely captivating stories that will draw you in and have you actually care about the characters and what happens next.
While Satoshi Kon is well known for his surreal mindbending fare - where reality being peeled away at the surface is a major part of the plot - it is interesting to compare these two obstensibly non-surreal, Kon anime set in the real world... because the surreal influences he is known for seep in in less obvious ways. In Millennium Actress, his penchant for blending realities is used to suggest memory and recollection - as an actress looks back on her life, with the added layer of the 'real' in her life often matching, contrasing or being melded with the fictions she played as an actress - while Tokyo Godfathers expresses the idea more subtly: While the story never leaves its 'real' trappings, it piles on implausible event after implausible event in a never-ending combination of climaxes. Both titles are heartwarming, though Tokyo Godfathers is hilarious to boot.
In Japan, a team of scientists have created a medical breakthrough: a device that allows the wearer to enter the dreams of a patient, for the purpose of healing. The talented Paprika is a master at her profession, but complications have now appeared in the form of a “dream terrorist” – an unknown foe who inserts nightmares into the minds of those who use the device. The victims are swept up in a ghoulish parade of dolls, kitchen appliances, and musical animals, and are reduced to a vegetable state – or worse. Now, Paprika and the team of scientists must delve into the minds of those affected to figure out the source of the tampering before more people, including themselves, are damaged beyond repair.
Besides the rather obvious correlation that these anime are the work of genius Satoshi Kon, there is a more fundamental similarity, in that they both deal with an unreliable reality. In Paprika, the world of dreams intrudes itself forcibly on the world of the waking; whereas, in Millennium Actress, there is a gradual melding of the fictional world of film with the documentary reality of the actual world. This overarching theme of Kon's is also present in other works of his, such as Paranoia Agent.
Although it might be because both movies are from the same director (Satoshi Kon) Millennium Actress and Paprika, while having totally different themes, create a very similar atmosphere when you watch them.
As both movies progress though their respective stories it becomes more and more difficult to distinguish the different layers of reality and fiction (Millennium Actress) or the psyche of the characters (Paprika).
Both movies are festivals of colors and imagination and succeed in engulfing the viewer in true fantasy cinema.
Millennium Actress and Paprika share the same thematic core: blurring the borders between fictional projections and reality as we see it. MA blends cinematography with real life events while Paprika unleashes the world of dreams unto our own. Both are imbued with Satoshi Kon's unique flair for the bizarre and take anime as a medium to a whole different level; the stunning visuals fuse perfectly with non-linear plots that immerse the convoluted yet appealing narrative into the fabric of imagery itself.
These two films, by the same Satoshi Kon, are very alike in that a lot of the time you find yourself asking, "...Wait, what?" They're intriguing and wonderful, and you can easily get lost in the storyline.
Both series do wonderous work in blurring the line between reality and illusions. In Millennium Actress it happens steadily as the movies the actress has been in slowly melds with documentary that is being filmed and in Paprika the world of dreams comes into the real world making it hard to distinguish between reality and fantasy. Amazing visuals, sound, and storytelling all do wonders in drawing the viewer into either film as expected of any work done by Satoshi Kon.
Taeko Okajima lives a nondescript life in Tokyo performing office duties in the day and then coming home in the evening to listen to her mother’s remarks on the phone about her unmarried status. In a bid to escape the monotony, Taeko decides to visit the countryside she once loved as a child and spend time on a safflower farm run by relations of hers. But her journey awakens memories she thought she had long abandoned, and Taeko must once again decide the kind of person she truly wants to be.
Both Only Yesterday and Millennium Actress are nostalgic in their tone. They are about women looking back into their past, something neither have considered in a long time. The women are able to see the past with new eyes and rekindle something inside of them.
Both use interesting flashbacks that come into present day. However Millennium Actress is far more abstract as most of Chiyoko's story is told through the roles she played blurring the lines between reality and fiction. This actually adds to the sense of time has past and how the memories come into Chiyoko's mind.
Both of these anime are contemplative pieces about women looking back in events in their lives - in Only Yesterday's case, a woman's childhood, in the case of Millennium Actress, an entire life - and both films manage to be subtly affecting. One can't find better examples of mature anime in the best sense of the term.
When popular pop idol Mima decided to retire from her group, Cham, and become an actress, she had no idea that one person's obsession would soon spiral out of control. With death threats, letter bombs and a forged website which details her every move, Mima finds herself slowly becoming trapped in a nightmare she can't seem to escape. With murders piling up and her mental state slowly degrading, can she discover who the culprit is, before she becomes the next victim?
Both Perfect Blue and Millennium Actress are directed by Satoshi Kon, fit into similar anime realism genres which are rich in Satoshi Kon's social commentaries, and have intellectually stimulating themes.
