The Girl Who Leapt Through Time Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.5
Audio		4.5
Extras		2.0
Overall		3.5

The Girl Who Leapt Through Time Blu-ray Movie Review

Try, try again.

Reviewed by Randy Miller III May 12, 2026

Scripted by Satoko Okudera and intended as a sequel to the 1967 sci-fi novel by Yasutaka Tsutsui (which had already been adapted multiple times, including as a 1983 live-action drama), Mamoru Hosoda's The Girl Who Leapt Through Time is a lightweight animated fantasy film with strong slice-of-life elements, taking quite awhile to fully hook viewers into its familiar Groundhog Day-like premise. Maybe too long, even: while this 99-minute production ultimately unfolds into a bittersweet and decently moving story, there's a lot of stop-and-start drama to wade through first.

For a synopsis and critique of The Girl Who Leapt Through Time, please see my separate review of Shout Factory's 4K/Blu-ray Steelbook Combo pack; it's also available as this stand-alone Blu-ray, and both releases attempt to replace several earlier out-of-print versions including Bandai Entertainment's 2011 Blu-ray and FUNimation's 2022 Blu-ray. Both recent Shout Factory editions are reportedly sourced from a brand-new 4K "restoration" (not necessarily verbiage that should apply to a 20 year-old film, but I digress) and, for several reasons detailed in my linked 4K review, this stand-alone Blu-ray may get the job done for most fans looking to own a more affordable copy.

The Girl Who Leapt Through Time Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

As reported in my recent review of Shout Factory's 4K/Blu-ray Steelbook Combo pack, The Girl Who Leapt Through Time's intentionally soft appearance, generally muted color palette, and limited foreground details don't necessarily make it a must-own on 4K. Indeed, this 1080p/SDR transfer gets us most of the way there, offering a clean port of the new "restoration" (there's that word again) that looks exceedingly clean and smooth while still remaining a very modest amount of grain. Colors, fine detail, and even contrast levels are dangerously close to the 4K disc's HDR with the added note -- and in some cases, benefit that they're not as dim in direct comparison, which in my opinion often produces a more visually interesting picture during certain sequences. The only mild trade off is that this Blu-ray obviously runs at a much lower bit rate than its UHD counterpart... but even when running at numbers one-half or even one-third of the 4K, this is a solidly encoding disc that, again perhaps due to the film's particular style, doesn't suffer from any obvious amounts of banding, macro blocking, or other compression artifacts. In short, the simple character designs (especially from a distance, as such characters are often drawn without faces) look mighty good in the film's native 2K, and even the painterly and comparatively more detailed background hold up with no obvious problems to report.

Owners of Bandai Entertainment's 2011 Blu-ray or similar editions wondering how this "restoration" fares next to the older one, a cursory back-and-forth comparison between Casey's screenshots and my own suggest that this Blu-ray's picture is a shade or two brighter and shows slightly crisper image detail with no obvious changes to the color palette or overall visual aesthetic. Though slightly better if I were forced to choose a winner, it's far from a night-and-day difference from any perspective... not that I'd expect massive improvements to a film barely 20 years old.

The Girl Who Leapt Through Time Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

For my thoughts on the included DTS-HD 5.1 Master Audio tracks (the original Japanese as well as an English dub), please see my review of the 4K/Blu-ray Steelbook Combo pack which also points back to an earlier disc.

While I'm not sure about the subtitle options found on those earlier releases, both the 4K and Blu-ray included here offer separate English subtitle options for the dub and Japanese track, which is very much appreciated.

The Girl Who Leapt Through Time Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

This one-disc release ships in a keepcase with attractive cover artwork and a matching slipcover, if you're lucky enough to get one by now. As for the extras listed below (and detailed in my review of the 4K/Blu-ray Steelbook Combo pack), they're ported over from Bandai's 2011 Blu-ray but several key items are sadly missing.

• Feature Commentary with Director and Voice Cast

• Feature with Storyboards

• Teasers and Trailers (2 clips, 2:21 total)

The Girl Who Leapt Through Time Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Mamoru Hosoda's The Girl Who Leapt Through Time is often described as director Mamoru Hosoda's breakthrough feature, and overall this is an enjoyable sci-fi/fantasy drama with more than a few memorable moments. But most of its most effective ideas and concepts are tied to the source material, which has been adapted many times over in live-action movies, TV shows, and even manga, so in my opinion it doesn't quite achieve true "four-star" status in my book. Though also available as a 4K/Blu-ray Steelbook Combo pack, this separate Blu-ray edition gives you plenty of bang for your buck: given some of the inherent (and perhaps unavoidable) limitations of the UHD presentation, only those with larger setups will see much of a tangible difference. At its current price point, this one's firmly Recommended.