This was a neat film that had me chuckling to myself at several points throughout. Although I haven't read the novel this movie was based on, I heard that it clarified a few things that were not made explicit in the movie. I'll list the big ones here (spoilers): [spoiler]First off, the "Aunt" in the movie is actually the main protagonist . That's why she knows so much about time leaps and talks about her senior high crush.[/spoiler] [spoiler]The painting is so important to Chiaki because it contains the formula for time travel or is essential to the ultimate discovery of time travel.[/spoiler] [spoiler]The career path that Makato planned to take was either art restoration, so she could preserve and protect the painting, or maybe she went into the sciences to discover the secret to time travel herself.[/spoiler] [spoiler]The second idea seems more likely as the film tried to differentiate her from the Aunt. Instead of sitting around waiting, she would "come running."[/spoiler] Anyways, I thoroughly enjoyed the story but I still think it could have tried to be slightly more explicit in the revelations they were trying to get the audience to perceive. The film was unfortunately designed in a way that makes things more difficult to understand if you were not already aware of the 1967 novel that started the many eventual adaptations. It's worth a look and if you're confused by the end of it, come take a look back here and you might appreciate some of the details of the film a little better.

Cute and entertaining, but has nothing special and adds nothing to the genre

I thoroughly enjoyed this as I'm into any movie with time-traveling. Great story about how valuable time is.

This a strange little story. Although it was following a coming of age plot, it seemed to go about it in many fragmented directions. And, because of that, it felt overly long getting to its end. The artwork was skillful, though, filled with the subtle nuance of human motion. I give this film a 6 (fair) out of 10. [Anime Coming of Age Story]

Nice little movie. It's got your basic annoying Japanese school angst that treats teen flings like the most serious things in the world, but once you let that aside and accept it, it's a heartwarming tale. Is not made explicit in the film but I thought it was implied that [spoiler]the "aunt" is actually the main protagonist that decided to study art to restore the painting so it wouldn't be lost in the future. That's how she knows about the time leaping and why she talks about her girlhood crush[/spoiler].