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The Girl Who Leapt Through Time

Directed By Nobuhiko Obayashi

Year: 1983

Runtime: 104 min

Country: Japan

Synopsis

Adapting sci-fi author Yasutaka Tsutsui’s famous 1967 novel, The Girl Who Leapt Through Time cast Tomoyo Harada in her feature film debut, launching the Kadokawa pop idol into superstardom. After suffering a fainting spell in her school’s laboratory, 16-year-old Kazuko Yoshiyama (Harada) begins to experience a strange phenomenon throughout her daily life—temporal leaps backward and forward in time—disorienting her as she relives moments time and time again, as days past return to the present. Lost in a sea of time, Kazuko’s desperate plea to exist in the present is answered, amidst the swell of FX wizardry, musical overtures, and, most of all, the anchor of young love. Lyrical, romantic, and longing, Obayashi’s film is a genuine expression of the filmmaker’s reflections on the poetic transcendence of love, cast across the stars for a young girl who lives in tomorrow.

Dir. Nobuhiko Obayashi, 1983, 104 min., color, in Japanese with English subtitles. With Tomoyo Harada, Ryoichi Takayanagi, Toshinori Omi.

REVIEW QUOTES:

“The Girl Who Leapt Through Time” is a great adaption of the source material, highlighting its notions of innocence, purity and growth. Nobuhiko Obayashi uses the language of cinema to talk about some of the themes which have accompanied him throughout his career, resulting in a very sweet tale about a young person’s towards fairy tales and what they promise. - Asianmoviepulse

NEW 4K TRANSFER - CULT EPICS

Cult Epics release THE GIRL WHO LEAPT THROUGH TIME will be available on 4K UHD & Blu-ray & DVD in January 2026 in North America. This is the Fourth release of Four Nobuhiko Obayashi (House) on Blu-ray & DVD. Web Exclusives at www.cultepics.com