17 years later, an acclaimed anime movie is finally getting a live-action adaptation

5 Centimeters per Second still — (Image credit: CoMix Wave Inc.)

Acclaimed anime movie 5 Centimeters per Second is being turned into a live-action movie, 17 years after the original debuted in 2007.

The original film was written and directed by Makoto Shinkai and is split into three parts, which tell the life story of main character Takaki Tōno. Hokuto Matsumura has been cast to play Takaki in the live-action film; he had a lead voice role in Suzume, another anime film written and directed by Shinkai.

"After transferring to the same elementary school, Takaki and Akari became best friends," reads the live-action movie's synopsis (H/T Crunchyroll). "However, their lives change when the families of both are forced to relocate. After a year of separation, Takaki is about to reunite with Akari. As he sits on the train from Tokyo, memories of the past rush through Takaki's head, his meeting time with Akari drawing ever closer. Takaki and Akari begin to wonder if they will ever be able to see each other again, and share their secret feelings. Join Takaki on a journey into three interconnected tales of love and lost innocence that span the minutes and months of their lives."

Yoshiyuki Okuyama is directing a screenplay from Ayako Suzuki. "I feel that it is an important coincidence that I, at the age of 33, am being asked to film a story that Makoto Shinkai-san was weaving when he was 33 years old at the time, even though it is just a number," Okuyama commented. "Every day I face 5 Centimeters per Second with the realization that there are things that can only be created now, and that there is a gaze that will eventually be forgotten."

Shinkai himself has also weighed in. "A live-action film adaptation of 5 Centimeters per Second has been announced," he wrote on Twitter. "I am truly grateful to director Okuyama, Hokuto-kun, and the rest of the young team for giving new life to this old and poor (but favorite in my own way) work. I am also so motivated that I must make an anime film that can live up to their enthusiasm and talent. I am very much looking forward to seeing the new 5 Centimeters per Second in a theater!"

While you wait for 5 Centimeters per Second, which will be released fall 2025, check out our guide to the best anime to watch now, or the most exciting upcoming anime, to fill out your watchlist.

I'm the Deputy Entertainment Editor here at GamesRadar+, covering all things film and TV for the site's Total Film and SFX sections. I previously worked on the Disney magazines team at Immediate Media, and also wrote on the CBeebies, MEGA!, and Star Wars Galaxy titles after graduating with a BA in English.