Anime Lectio: 5 Centimeters Per Second

                                                             1. Why do Anime Lectio? 

Anime Lectio is a time for us to stop and take a breath. Between work, activities, family life, and social media, our minds are always moving. We rarely take time to contemplate and ask, why am I watching this anime? What’s the point of all this? And, how is this making me feel? 

2. Put away all distractions 

(phones, work, etc.)

We are so enslaved to things that stimulate our minds. Let this be a moment for us to free our minds, look inside of ourselves, and be at peace.

3. Deep Breathing

Take several deep breaths. Let your mind relax. If you’ve had any questions, desires, or struggles that you’ve been hiding or stuffing away, let them rise up to the surface. 

4. Open yourself to God’s Presence

Remember God places all our thoughts and desires inside of us, and He uses them to draw us closer to Himself. God gives us a community to help us understand who we are and what He is calling us to do. The faces of other people you know and don't know are like signs of God’s presence.  

5. Think About What’s on Your Mind in Relation to the Anime

Think about what’s been on your mind in relation to the anime.  The following is an example of such thoughts written by me. 

How long does something last? It depends on what this something is, as well as other things, like how you feel about this something. How you feel about this something can also change over time due to your thinking about this something. An example of this can be seen in the anime movie 5 Centimeters Per Second.

6. Brief and written explanation of the anime

Pay attention to how the brief and written explanation of the anime seen on this blog, or seeing the anime for yourself since that's better than any explanation, might “speak” to you or shed light on the things that have been on your minds.

In a realistic depiction of young love, this movie starts with a boy's efforts to preserve his long-distance relationship with a girl he likes due to the time they spent together when they were younger, which can be seen in flashbacks.  It continues with the boy spending time with another girl who likes him and goes to the same school as he does now, even though the boy still likes the girl he was trying to see in the first part of the movie.  In the third part, however, rather than continue their long-distance relationship as adults when they happen to pass each other where they had promised to watch the cherry blossoms together when they were younger, they simply pass each other without saying anything in order to move on with their lives instead of living in the past.

7.  Reflect on the anime

Has this brief and written explanation of the anime shed any light on what's been on your minds?  The following is an example of a reflection on the anime from me.

The title of the movie 5 Centimeters Per Second refers to the speed that falling cherry blossom petals collapse to the ground, or a metaphorical reference to the transient nature of youth (from the book Anime Impact - more about this anime there in the chapter about it). Something like youth, as well as what starts in youth like young love, can last depending on how you feel about it. When you start something isn't always the same as when you continue, or try to continue, it due to things changing over time, like getting older and thinking differently about it, which can be seen in this movie and it can also be seen in our lives by taking time to think about it, like in prayer.

8. Final Prayer

Please voice any prayer intentions for friends, family, or people around the world that relate to this anime.  The following is an example written by me.

Let us pray that we can think about the 'somethings' in our lives over time based on how we feel about them as we get older.