In the second part, Cosmonaut, Jishu is still holding onto memories of Mingli, which made a lot of the audience feel relieved.
At least, it meant that Jishu hadn't fallen for someone else.
But this part of the story also started to worry the viewers.
There was a scene where Jishu sat alone, typing a message on his phone.
He would type out strange, unfinished messages, neither saving nor sending them—just writing and then deleting.
"When did I start writing these messages without a recipient?"
This scene showed that Jishu and Mingli hadn't been in contact for a long, long time.
A long-distance relationship was challenging in itself, but one with no contact? That was nearly impossible.
Although Cherry Blossom Extract had shown how deeply in love they were, as time passed, feelings could fade.
Would Mingli, who had once loved Jishu so dearly, still feel the same way?
The first chapter had taken an entire episode to show how much Mingli and Jishu valued each other. But here, in the second part, were they already drifting apart?
"Is 5 Centimeters per Second destined to end in heartbreak?" whispered Xiang Guangliang, staring at the darkened screen.
In his twenties and single, Guangliang had plenty of free time to spend in his beloved anime world.
His interest in 5 Centimeters per Second started with the one-minute teaser trailer, which captivated him with its exquisite, wallpaper-like images.
Watching the film in theaters today, he found it just as he had imagined, perfectly to his taste.
The combination of music and animation created a nostalgic feeling of young love.
It even reminded him a bit of his past.
Mingli and Jishu met in elementary school, developed a crush on each other, then during middle school, Jishu had braved a train journey through the snow to see her. That night, they had shared their feelings in the snow, yet a letter from Jishu was lost, and he never managed to give it to Mingli, nor she hers.
Their love was genuine and strong, but they drifted apart due to time, distance, and little twists of fate.
All this made Guangliang think of his own childhood friend.
When he had moved away, he and his childhood friend ended up separated.
She must be someone else's wife by now.
Reality… it was just too harsh.
As Guangliang thought about all this, the scene shifted on screen.
The animation showed Jishu typing code, glancing out the window at cherry blossoms floating down. Memories of his promise from when he was thirteen resurfaced, and he returned to the place where it all began.
Cherry blossoms drifted down like butterflies, the crossing lights started flashing, and Jishu walked along the tracks. At the same time, a woman in a dress crossed from the other side.
They passed each other in the middle of the tracks. In that instant, Jishu recognized her.
A train was approaching, so they didn't stop. The safety gates lowered.
"If I turn around now," Jishu thought, "I have a feeling she'll turn too."
He walked past the tracks and turned around.
"It's happening!"
At that moment, Guangliang remembered the protagonists in Your Name, who had also turned around just as they passed each other on a staircase. Or in Steins;Gate, where the leads recognized each other in a crowded street.
The same railway, the same place, the same two people, the same train.
They hadn't seen each other in years, yet here they were, at the familiar place, both turning around to look back.
"This has to be the Porter's classic 'look-back' moment!" Guangliang thought.
The theater held its breath, expecting the two to recognize each other and finally embrace.
But then the train thundered by, blocking their view.
"What's going on?"
"Yeah, did they see each other or not?!"
Some audience members began to complain.
But the scene continued, now showing Mingli saying goodbye to her parents.
In their conversation, Mingli mentioned,
"It's alright. I'll see you all at the wedding next month."
On her hand was a ring.
The hearts of everyone who had been soaring just a moment ago now plummeted to the ground.
The Porter was back to his heart-wrenching style, they realized.
A lingering hope and budding joy disappeared in an instant.
The scene continued, showing how Mingli and Jishu had lived separate lives all these years.
The third chapter carried an overall feeling of sadness, showing Jishu in his messy room, walking alone on empty streets, with haunting lines like:
"Jishu, what were your dreams as a kid?"
"I never really had any."
"Not even once?"
"No. Just getting through each day takes all my energy."
Watching this scene, Guangliang felt a pang of recognition.
Life was full of pressures—high housing costs, rising expenses—and he, too, had grown uncertain about the future, feeling both numb and pessimistic.
In Jishu, Guangliang saw his own reflection.
The screen flashed back to the railway crossing where Mingli and Jishu had passed each other.
They stopped on opposite sides of the tracks, turning to look back at the same time.
The train roared by.
Guangliang's sense of foreboding grew, and he stared intently at the screen.
The train seemed endless, stretching on and on.
"Hurry up and pass already!" many in the audience thought.
Finally, the train moved on.
Cherry blossoms drifted down, sunlight bathed the scene, and the road was clean and bright.
The shot was beautiful.
But it was missing something.
The other side of the tracks was empty.
All that remained were the falling cherry blossoms.
The girl Jishu had never forgotten… was gone.
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