Our two main characters are 15 year old student Takao Akizuki (voiced by Miyu Irino) who is very focussed on his dream of becoming a shoe-maker, and a 27 year old woman (voiced by Kana Hanazawa) he meets on rainy mornings in a shelter in a beautiful public park. They talk, he sketches, she reads, they enjoy the park. Things get a little weird when she returns to work - but overall, almost nothing happens except talking and gloriously beautiful scenes (directory Makoto Shinkai has already proven he can make commuter trains beautiful). It's just as well that the run-time is a remarkably short 50 minutes.

I think the thing that stuck with me most from the movie wasn't actually in the movie, but in the commentary on the DVD: "loneliness isn't a thing that needs to be fixed." That was Makoto Shinkai. Not that he's encouraging loneliness, connections and family are, as he says, important: but good things can come from being alone.

A very contemplative movie, and another good one from Shinkai.