FUNimation Entertainment has announced that they have acquired the rights to release Mamoru Hosoda’s The Girl Who Leapt Through Time in North America. Funimation plans to release a “special home video edition” of the film later this year. The special edition is to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the film’s initial release in Japanese theaters.
A synopsis of the film is provided by Funimation:
After waking up late, flunking her pop quiz, embarrassing herself on numerous occasions, and starting a fire in her home economics class, high school student Makoto Konno figures she’s just having one of those days. And just when she thinks she’s made it through, the brakes on her bike malfunction putting her on a collision course with a speeding train. The life-ending accident would have been the perfect end to the worst day ever, but the strangest thing happens—she leaps backwards in time.
After unlocking her new ability, Makoto does what any teenager would do. She re-takes tests, corrects embarrassing situations, and sleeps in as late as she wants, never thinking that her carefree time travelling could have a negative effect on the people she cares about. By the time she realizes the damage she’s done, she only has a few leaps left to make things right.
The Girl Who Leapt Through Time was produced by Madhouse and directed by Mamoru Hosoda. The film was written by Satoko Okudera. The film first released in Japan in 2006. It was first licensed for release in North America by Bandai Entertainment in 2008. Bandai Entertainment released the film on Blu-ray and DVD until 2012 when they closed their North American distribution.
The Girl Who Leapt Through Time has received numerous awards including the Japan Academy Prize for Animation of the Year. The film is based on Yasutaka Tsutsui’s 1967 novel of the same name. The 1967 novel is published in English by Alma Books.
Additional news and details about the pre-orders for The Girl Who Leapt Through Time will be revealed at a later date.
