The Place Promised In Our Early Days - Blu-ray Review

[Michael Scott]

The Place Promised In Our Early Days



Movie:
Video:
Audio:
Extras:
Final Score:


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Movie
To round out this review week of Makoto Shinkai we get the one film of his that has NEVER had a Blu-ray release domestically. Not only that, it’s probably the only film of his that I have never actually seen as a result. As such, I was more than a bit eager to dig into this one and see how it compares to his subsequent works, and was met with another fantastic fantasy drama.

The Place Promised in Our Early Days takes place in an alternative universe where post WWII had Japan split in half by the allies, with The Soviet Union (simply called “The Union”) controlling Hookkaido in the North, and the USA controlling the rest of the nation to the south. The union has built a gigantic spire to the stars with a bit of a mystery surrounding it, and young schoolmates Hioki and Takuya are both obsessed with visiting the tower some day. Their dream is to build a plane and fly it out to the tower and see what’s actually inside, and their young femaled friend Sayuri cheers them on. However, Sayuri has dreams of the tower daily, dreams which as they progress becomes obvious are linked TO the tower itself for some strange reason.

As the years go by and the friends go their own ways they find themselves connected to the tower once more. Sayuri’s dreams become more and more prevalent as she slips deeper and deeper into a dreamworld in which she can’t wake up, while Takuya goes to work for the government itself as they figure out a way to cross dimensions using the tower, and everyone steels themselves for war as both the USA and the Union’s saber rattling comes to a head.

Just like 5 Centimeters Per Second and The Voices of a Distant Star, The Place Promised in our Early Days lives in a world that is largely unexplained, and one that jumps through time, playing with the same thematic elements that Shinkai would explore in 5 Centimeters Per Second. The world itself, as fascinating and post apocalyptic as it is, is really a backdrop to the relationship between Sayur, Takuya and Hioki. A story that unfolds with bittersweet tears and a happy smile on the face by the time the credit rolls. The elements of sci-fi and universe hopping are a good buildup, but they still play second fiddle to the relationship to our three protagonists.

Shinkai deals with fate and how it can push people apart, bring them together again, and once more push them apart. All the while slowly coming closer and closer together with each swing back and forth. As I mentioned above, you can see how Shinkai perfects his habit of jumping back and forth in time in his later films, as the jumps are a bit more raw and jarring than in say 5 Centimeters Per Second, and the use of a train ride once more becomes a central focus (the man really has something for trains). One thing that seems to be a central theme throughout this and many of his other films, is the notion that nothing in life is certain, and happy endings being one of the most uncertain elements.

The best way to describe this film is that it’s a WHOLE LIFE drama vs. being a slice of life piece. Shinkai’s penchant for time leaps has it cross most of the young and adult lives of our protagonists, and allows the viewer to slide up and down the time line watching their story unfold. It’s sweet, heart wrenching, and genuinely beautiful to behold, even if it does take a bit of time for the viewer to adjust to the shifting time periods.




Rating:

Not Rated by the MPAA




Video:

Animated digitally at 2K back in 2004 (and no word of a remaster), the film looks quite fetching at it’s native 1.78:1 framing. The film employs a watercolor look combined with more traditional 90s/2000s transitional animation styles, with soft blues and greens, with more muted shades of gray and white as well. The detail level for the digital animation is quite stunning at times, though the artwork style isn’t always conducive to tons of minute details. The only thing that I could find as a negative is that there is some background banding in both daylight and nighttime skies. Nothing huge, but noticeable if you’re looking for it.







Audio:

As usual, we get both an English and Japanese 5.1 DTS-HD MA track, and I will still say the Japanese is my preference. The English dub isn’t BAD, but it’s not great either (at least to my ears). Sonically they’re the same, but the dub isn’t to my liking. Anywhoo, this is another great track, albeit a bit more constrained and front heavy than say Children Who Chase Lost Voices. There is a ton of dialog centric bits, but times when we splice the two universes together, or the plane ride at the end, things start to spice up a bit more adequate LFE and surround usage.












Extras:

• Original Japanese and English lossless audio
• Interview With Director Makoto Shinkai
• Interviews With Japanese Voice Cast
• Trailer Collection

Final Score: ​

The Place Promised In our Early Years is a thoughtful and slow paced film despite only being 91 minutes long. It’s not the very best of Makoto Shinkai, but it’s still very good and certainly shows you how he took some of his later thematic material and expanded upon it. The Blu-ray looks and sounds fantastic, and while the extras are a little slimmer than the previous two Blu-rays we’ve reviewed of his this week, they’re still more than adequate. Well worth checking out.


Technical Specifications:

Starring: Hidetaka Yoshioka, Masato Hagiwara, Yuka Nanri, Kazuhiko Inoue
Directed by: Makoto Shinkai, Yoshio Suzuki
Written by: Matoko Shinkai, Steven Foster (English Adaptation)
Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1 AVC
Audio: English: DTS-HD MA 5.1, Japanese DTS-HD MA 5.1
Subtitles: English SDH, English, Spanish
Studio: Shout Factory
Rated: NR
Runtime: 91 minutes
Blu-Ray Release Date: June 7th, 2022

Recommendation: For the Fans

 

[tripplej]

Thanks for the review. I will check it out since I am fan of Makoto Shinkai .. Can't beat "Your Name" which he made. Excellent.

 

[Michael Scott]

Thanks for the review. I will check it out since I am fan of Makoto Shinkai .. Can't beat "Your Name" which he made. Excellent.

Your Name and Weathering with You are incredible. This being his first feature full length film has a few pacing issues, but otherwise it's really really good.