You are my light - "Beyond the Clouds, the Promised Place"

Elsa 2022-03-21 09:03:01

You are my light
- "Beyond the Clouds, the Promised Place"
That is still the hot summer in my memory. It was like a dream, a painting. It's all so beautiful it's so unreal.
The world breathes quietly around us. all. People, things, landscapes, buildings, cats, dogs, grass, planes, and that, the agreed place.
The tower is soaring. Distant, tall, beautiful, longing. It's a dream. The dream of Shirakawa Takuya, Fujisawa Hiroki and Sawatari Sayuri. Everything they did was to be able to get to the tower together by taking the plane they built. This is an agreement. The three of them, when they didn't know the future, happily built the plane, sat together and laughed. This is a bygone time.
Always thought that was all. The other side is everything. I always thought the world was like that. Happiness is just that.
However, the world that surrounded them betrayed them many times in the future.

Their time was a time of war. There is a time of destruction, of death, of departure, of abandonment. So, they were inevitably separated.
Shirakawa Takuya went to the research institute. Hiroshi Fujisawa, went to high school in Tokyo. And that girl, Sawatari Sayuri, seemed to have forgotten the promise and left without making a sound. No more audio. How would they know that the girl is related to that tower, this world, and their agreement.
Perhaps, not knowing anything is a good thing. Knowing nothing, you can face everyone with ease, you can have a good laugh, you can live your own life. If you don't know anything, you can slowly wait for time to flow, you can gradually forget the past, and you can safely abandon the promise. Don't know anything, don't cry, don't betray, don't remember.
But, he knew. They all know. The girl who once had a promise is related to the tower and the life and death of the world. I also know that they can no longer fulfill their agreement to fly to the tower together.
The dream of the girl and the dream of the universe are intertwined. But there, a world where no one exists. No Takuya, no Haji, no, agreement. She was crying alone in her dream. She fell asleep expressionlessly in the real world.
Everyone knows that if she wakes up, the tower will collapse and the universe will fall apart. She could only fall asleep. As long as she doesn't wake up, the world can live quietly. Except for her, except for Sayuri, she doesn't know anything. All she knew was the promise she had made with the two boys. The agreement on the other side of the cloud.

During these many years, all people, all things, all memories, have changed.
And Haoji also knew that there was something to lose. He felt so. The people around him were not what he expected. In Tokyo, which has 30 million people, there is not a single person who can be regarded as a friend. He thought so, so he saw Takuya again.
They are best friends. They have a common dream, a common hope, a common agreement, and a common girl.
Sawatatsu Sayuri.
They quarreled for the agreement, for the world. or decide to fulfill the agreement. They also know what the consequences of letting Sayuri come. However, they willfully carried Sayuri out of the hospital.
In a dream, in a world without people, she met Haoji. I met Haoji who had been looking for her. Seeing Haoji, who he has been thinking about all the time. They are together, laughing as ever. All of this is so unreal.
So Hao Ji said to her, I will protect you. I will always be by your side to protect you.
All time is suspended. All birds stay away. All tall grass stops swaying. The world only has this clear sentence, a firm look.
a convention.
They connect their hearts in their dreams.

The plane took to the sky. Towards the other side of the cloud, to the appointed place, to the tower.
Takuya didn't get on the plane either. The plane can only carry two people. Takuya's arm was injured. Takuya also has a girl to protect. Takuya also knew that the most important person to Sayuri was Hiroshi. He watched Hiroshi and Sayuri ascend into the sky.
Haoji took the plane that belonged only to them, escaped the siege of the army planes, dodged the attack of artillery fire, and approached the tower step by step, approaching the agreement. He looked back at Sayuri, who was sleeping with his eyes closed, and touched her cheek distressedly.
Slowly, the dark world opened its door, and thousands of dazzling rays of light radiated from it. That was Sayuri's eyes. She woke up. She looked at Haoji. She cries sadly while holding Haoji's hand in both hands.
And there are things that have to be told to you. she says. Tears fell uncontrollably. Sayuri hugged Hiroki and finally burst into tears behind him.
She woke up. So the tower fell and the world began to fall apart. There is no place for appointment. But these are nothing compared to Sayuri waking up and still alive.
Takuya watched the tower that he once dreamed of collapsed, smiled and turned to leave.
Hiroshi and Sayuri crossed the sky together.
Even if there is no promised place, even if there are days to come to live, we must live. Live with gratitude and happiness.

It doesn't matter if this world is broken. In fact, it doesn't matter if you don't see this agreement again. It doesn't matter if you don't hear these words again.
Because you are still alive. Because you woke up. Because the most important thing is you. So, I don't care if I lose everything. As long as you are there.
Your eyes, your smile, your breath, your heartbeat, your dreams. How important to me. How happy we are to live. What a joy to have you.
So, no matter how sad, no matter how painful, no matter how lonely, it doesn't matter. We will each protect each other, live firmly, and live strong. It doesn't matter if there is no tomorrow.
Because you are my light.



Director/Supervisor: Makoto Shinkai
"Cloud no む こ う, the place of restraint"

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Extended Reading

The Place Promised in Our Early Days quotes

  • Hiroki Fujisawa: [about Sayuri] She always said she felt like she was losing something. At the time... I was in middle school, and couldn't understand what she meant. But... those words had a strange effect on me.

  • Hiroki Fujisawa: [Narrating] At the time, we were drawn by two things: One was our classmate, Sawatari Sayuri... The other was the giant tower across the Tsugaru Strait. I was always looking up at that tower, I felt that something very precious waited there, I yearned to go there... One day... One day... I will go there.