Toki o Kakeru Shōjo

The Girl Who Leapt Through Time
1967 Japanese edition novel cover
Author(s)	Yasutaka Tsutsui
Original title	Toki o Kakeru Shōjo
Country	Japan
Language	Japanese
Genre(s)	Drama, romantic love, science fiction novel
Publisher	Kadokawa Shoten Alma Books (English)
Publication date	1967
Media type	Print (magazine andpaperback)
ISBN	ISBN 4-04-130510-1
OCLC Number	55101281

          The Girl Who Leapt Through Time (時をかける少女 Toki o Kakeru Shōjo, more literally "The Girl Who Dashes Through Time")                           is a soft science fiction novel by Japanese writer and actor Yasutaka Tsutsui which tells the story of Kazuko Yoshiyama, a schoolgirl                                                                                           who accidentally acquires the ability to time travel. Originally serialised in seven instalments in two of Gakken's secondary school                                                                       student-aimed magazines, beginning in Chūgaku Sannen Course in November 1965 and ending in Taka Ichi Course in May 1966, and                                                             first published as a book in 1967 by Kadokawa Shoten, it has gone on to become one of Tsutsui's most popular works and be                                                                          reinterpreted in other media many times, the most famous internationally being a 1983 live action film directed by Nobuhiko Ōbayashi                                                                     and a 2006traditional animation film directed by Mamoru Hosoda. The original novel was first published in English translation by the                                                  British publisher Alma Books on May 26, 2011, in a translation by David James Karashima.

The title is also that of a song, written by Yumi Matsutōya to be performed by Tomoyo Harada for the 1983 film, which has enjoyed                                   considerable fame of its own.

Kazuko Yoshiyama, a third-year middle school student, is cleaning the school science lab with her classmates, Kazuo Fukamachi and Gorō Asakura, when she smells a lavender-like scent and faints. After three days, strange events transpire around Kazuko, including the burning of Gorō's house after an earthquake. The next morning, at the exact moment of a car accident, Kazuko is transported 24 hours into the past.

Plot

She relives the day and relates her strange experience to Kazuo and Gorō. They don't believe her at first, but they are                                                                 convinced when she accurately predicts the earthquake and ensuing fire. Fukushima, their science teacher, explains                                                Kazuko's new ability to be called "teleportation" and "time-leap", and to solve the riddle of her power she must leap back 4                                                 days.

Finally, Kazuko's determination enables her to make the leap. Back in the science room she meets a mysterious man who                                                     has assumed her friend Kazuo's identity. He is really "Ken Sogoru", a time-traveler from AD 2660. His intersection with the                                                        girl's life is the accidental effect of a "time-leaping" drug. Ken remains for a month and Kazuko falls in love with him. When                                                     he leaves, he erases all memories of himself from everyone he has met, including Kazuko. As the book ends Kazuko has                                                                                 the faint memory of somebody promising to meet her again every time she smells lavender.

Publication history

The novel was first serialized in the Japanese youth magazines Chu-3 Course and Kō-1 Course, from November 1965 to                                                         May 1966, and has been regularly re-edited in Japan ever since, notably in 1967 (ISBN 4-04-130510-1), in 1997 for the release                                                                                                                                                                   of the second film (ISBN 4-89-456306-1), and in a new version in 2006 for the release of the animated film, including two more                                                                                                                                                    stories: Akumu no shinsô and Hateshinaki tagen uchû (ISBN 4-04-130521-7). The novel is also published in foreign countries,                                                                                                               like France (La Traversée du temps, 1983).

Adaptations

1983 film

The 1983 live-action film is a direct adaptation of the novel, released on July 16, 1983 in Japan by Tōei, directed by                                                                                                                                         Nobuhiko Ōbayashi, with a screenplay by Wataru Kenmotsu, and starring idol Tomoyo Harada in her first film. It's been                                                                                                                                                                                   since released internationally on DVD, with English sub-titles, under several unofficial English titles (The Little Girl Who                                                                                                                                                                Conquered Time, Girl of Time, The Girl Who Cut Time, among others).

1994 drama

The Girl Who Leapt Through Time
VHS Cover

The drama adaptation of The Girl Who Leapt Through Time is a five-episode Japanese television live-action TV series                                                    broadcast on Fuji Television between February 19 and March 19, 1994, directed by Masayuki Ochiai and Yûichi Satô, with                                  screenplay by Ryôichi Kimizuka and music by Joe Hisaishi. It stars the then-rookie idol Yuki Uchida in the main role, and                                       also features the writer of the original book, Yasutaka Tsutsui, and the then-unknown idols Miho Kanno (the first Tomie),                                                           Ranran Suzuki and her then-rabbit-cosplayed-partner in the children TV show Ponkikies: future J-pop star Namie Amuro.                                                          The series' theme song is "Mermaid" (人魚 Ningyo) by Nokko.

Cast                                                                   

• Yuki Uchida as Kazuko Yoshiyama                  Created By      : Yasutaka Tsutsui
• Yoshihiko Hakamada as Kazuo Fukamachi       Writted By       : Ryoichi Kimozuka
• Gamon Kaai as Gorō Asakura                          Directed By     : Masayuki Ochiai                         
• Ranran Suzuki as Mariko Kanda                                                 Yuichi Sato
• Miho Kanno                                                    Composer(s)     : Joe Hisaishi
• Leo Morimoto                                                 No. Of Episode : 5
• Namie Amuro                                                  
• Yasutaka Tsutsui                                            
• Kyoko Yoshizawa                                           BROADCAST :
• B-saku Sato                                                   Original Channel : Fuji Television
• Yoko Moriguchi                                               Original Run        : February 19, 1994 – March 19, 1994

1997 film

Toki o Kakeru Shōjo
DVD cover

The second live-action film adaptation of The Girl Who Leapt Through Time was released in Japan on November 8, 1997, directed by Haruki Kadokawa, with a screenplay by Ryōji Itō, Chiho Katsura and Haruki Kadokawa, starring beginner Nana Nakamoto in the main role. The film is narrated by the previous 1983 film's lead-actress Tomoyo Harada, and is set in 1965, when the novel was published for the first time. The film poster was used as the new cover for the 1997 edition of the novel.

Cast                                                                      Theme Songs:

• Nana Nakamoto as Kazuko Yoshiyama                "Yume no Naka de ~We are not alone, forever~" , "Toki no Canzone"
• Shunsuke Nakamura as Kazuo Fukamachi           a remake of the 1983 film's theme song, written and sung by Yumi
• Mitsuko Baisho                                                   Matsutoya.
• Takaaki Enoki
• Mariko Hamatani                                               Directed By      : Haruki Kadokawa           Release Date(s) : November 8, 
• Yu Hayami                                                        Screenplay By : Ryoji Ito                                                              1997
• Masatô Ibu                                                                                  Chiho Katsura                  Language             : Japanese
• Yoshiko Kuga                                                                              Haruki Kadokawa
• Hironobu Nomura                                               Narrated By     : Tomoyo Harada
• Tsunehiko Watase                                             Starring           : Nana Nakamoto
• Itsumi Yamamura                                                                        Shunsuke Nakamura

2002 TV film

The novel was adapted into one third of the Shinshun! Love Stories anthology film starring members of the all-girl J-pop                                                                                                                                                                           group Morning Musume. The segment was written byToshio Terada, starring Abe Natsumi and directed by Kazuhiro                                                                                                                                                                                                   Onohara.

2006 animated film

The Girl Who Leapt Through Time was produced by the animation studio Madhouse and distributed through Kadokawa                                                                                                                                                              Herald Pictures, first released in theaters in Japan on July 15, 2006. The film was later released on DVD on April 20, 2007                                                                                                                           in Japan in regular and limited editions. A German RC2 DVD (with German and Japanese dub and German and Polish                                                                                                                                              subtitles) was released on September 24, 2007 by Anime Virtual/AV Visionen. The protagonist of the novel is the aunt of the                                                                                                                                               film's protagonist.

2010 film

A third Japanese live-action film adaptation of Toki o Kakeru Shōjo (時をかける少女) was announced in Yahoo Japan and                                                                                                                                       released on March 13, 2010. The theme song of the film was performed by Ikimono-gakari. The movie features Riisa Naka,                                                                                                                                                              who previously voiced the protagonist Makoto Konno in the 2006 animated film, as the lead character, Akari Yoshiyama, the                                                                                                                                                           daughter of Kazuko Yoshiyama.

Plot

In 2010, Kazuko Yoshiyama (Narumi Yasuda) works as a pharmaceutical researcher secretly developing a formula for time                                                                                                                                        travel. When she is left comatose after a car accident, her daughter Akari learns of her mother's first love, Kazuo Fukamachi                                                                                                (Kanji Ishimaru), from Kazuko's friend Goro Asakura (Masanobu Katsumura). Believing that finding Kazuo will allow her                                                                                                                                            mother to regain consciousness, Akari uses Kazuko's formula to leap back in time to the 1970s in hopes of finding a                                                                                                                                                                       younger Kazuo. Instead, she meets and befriends Ryota Mizorogi (Nakao Akiyoshi). Together, they attempt to search for                                                                                                                                                      Kazuo, but love begins to blossom between Akari and Ryota, despite the fact that Akari must eventually return to the future.

Manga

The novel was adapted in 2004 into a two-volume manga called The Girl Who Runs Through Time (時をかける少女 Toki o                                                                                                                                                                                                                Kakeru Shōjo), illustrated by Gaku Tsugano, and story by Yasutaka Tsutsui (ISBN 4-04-713620-4 & ISBN 4-04-713640-9). The                                                                                                                     manga was released in English on October 2008 by CMX Manga. A manga set as a prelude to the 2006 film was serialized                                                                                                   in Kadokawa Shoten's Shōnen Ace manga magazine between April 26 and June 26, 2006, illustrated by Ranmaru Kotone;                                                                                                   the chapters were later collected into a single bound volume which went on sale on July 26, 2006. Another manga set as                                                                                                                                              prelude to the 2010 film was serialized in Young Ace magazine.