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The Girl Who Leapt Through Time (A girl who runs through time)

by Yasutaka Tsutsui, David James Karashima (Translator)

3.36 of 5 stars 3.36 · rating details · 413 ratings · 86 reviews

The novel adaptation of the acclaimed anime film! The Girl Who Leapt Through Time tells the story of Kazuko Yoshiyama, a third-year middle school student who accidentally acquires the ability to time travel after an unfortunate accident in a school science lab.

Paperback, 170 pages

Published September 1st 2012 by Alma Books (first published January 31st 1967)

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Community Reviews

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Dec 31, 2012 Jeannette rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: anime, 2012-read, japan, science-fiction, ya, boone-library

This book contains two stories: The Girl Who Leapt Through Time and The Stuff That Nightmares Are Made Of. I picked this up for the title story, because I love the anime that was based on this story. Here, in the original form, the story is a bit more of a sci-fi tale. It comes in at 100 pages, so there is a lot less leaping, and a lot more "science" involved. It was good, but the anime adaptation is much better. The ending of the story gave me some insight into the ending of the anime, although...more

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Aug 13, 2012 ندى الحائك rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: seen-as-a-movie

i loved it ...sooo beautiful and i saw the movie twice ^_^ and i get alot of thing i did not get at the first time ..

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Nov 20, 2012 Phoebe Andamo rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Recommended to Phoebe by: Joy

Shelves: sci-fi, ebooks

Beware: spoilers will pop once in a while

I watched the anime film The Girl Who Leapt Through Time and found out that it was based on a book by Yasutaka Tsutsui. I looked everywhere to find this book but resulted to no avail. Fortunately, my friend Joy here in goodreads had an ebook and gave me a copy. Thank you :)

If you're an anime, manga or Japanese enthusiast, you would agree with me that the story is a typical one. It's one of the stories with magic/supernatural things occur plus the erasing...more

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May 13, 2013 Viktorija rated it 3 of 5 stars

The first story told in the book was, of course, The Girl Who Leapt Through Time. After watching the 2006 anime adaptation I expected to find a romantic and sentimental story but what I've got was a science fiction novel which I pretty much liked. As the story itself was convincing and making me want to read more and more, the translation lacked something which I could not translate into words. Of course, it is possible that the translation has nothing to do with that lack of spice to the novel,...more

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Mar 09, 2013 Elizabeth Solis rated it 3 of 5 stars

Es el segundo libro que leo de Yasutaka Tsutui, y este me ha gustado mucho más que el anterior.

Es de lectura ligera, muy rápida, con una historia un tanto cliché, pero mantiene el interés del autor al no permitir que se distraiga en detalles cotidianos.

Admito que leí ambos libros porque primero vi las versiones animadas, y las últimas me siguen gustando más que las versiones escritas. (Aunque la película de este libro es realidad una secuela).

El libro contiene 2 pequeñas (y digo pequeñas porque...more

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Sep 28, 2012 Paula rated it 3 of 5 stars

This is the first book I have read by Yasutaka Tsutsui and I enjoyed it, the story flowed nicely and the characters were well written. The first story ‘The Girl Who Leapt Through The Time’ tells the story of fifteen year old Kazuko who after an accident in her school laboratory discovers she can leapt back and forth in time, Kazuko is unnerved by this and is determined to find out what has happened to her, which leads to a discovery she does not expect. The second story ‘The Stuff That Nightmare...more

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Sep 26, 2012 Nesa Sivagnanam rated it 3 of 5 stars

Kazuko Yoshiyama, a third-year middle school student, is cleaning the school science lab with her classmates, Kazuo Fukamachi and Gorō Asakura, when she smells a lavender-like scent and faints. After three days, strange events transpire around Kazuko, including the burning of Gorō's house after an earthquake. The next morning, at the exact moment of a car accident, Kazuko is transported 24 hours into the past.

She relives the day and relates her strange experience to Kazuo and Gorō. They don't be...more

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Jun 16, 2012 Michael rated it 3 of 5 stars

Since it's a collection of two novellas, each only about 90 pages long, TGWLTT is a very fast read. I've not read Tsutsui before, so I wasn't sure what to expect when I started, but while I wasn't blown away I didn't feel the stories were a waste of time and I've picked up another collection of his short stories to read at a later date.

The first story in the collection is the titular story of the girl, in this case a high school student named Kazuko, who has remained after school one day with he...more Since it's a collection of two novellas, each only about 90 pages long, TGWLTT is a very fast read. I've not read Tsutsui before, so I wasn't sure what to expect when I started, but while I wasn't blown away I didn't feel the stories were a waste of time and I've picked up another collection of his short stories to read at a later date.

The first story in the collection is the titular story of the girl, in this case a high school student named Kazuko, who has remained after school one day with her classmates Kazuo and Goro to help with some cleaning. Hearing someone messing around in one of the science labs, she goes to investigate and surprises an intruder in the process of concocting something. The beaker falls to the floor, she inhales the fumes, and passes out. When her friends find her, she's groggy but unharmed. All trace of the intruder and the chemicals he was mixing are gone.

But Kazuko's encounter has changed something inside her head. Either she's receiving visions of the future, one in which she watches a fire break out near Goro's house in the aftermath of an earthquake, or she's actually traveling in time (the title pretty well gives away what's actually happening). Now she's got to learn to harness this power if she can, and possibly use it to confront the intruder in the science lab from a couple of days ago to see if she can undo everything. It's a nice idea for a story, but it's all wrapped up a little too cutely and the identity of the intruder as well as what he's doing at Kazuko's school isn't very compelling. The language is nice, the translation is fine, but the story itself is pedestrian, refusing to delve too far into the inner life of its protagonist aside from a few scattered musings on what this means for her as a person.

The second story in the collection is "The Stuff Nightmares Are Made Of" and I enjoyed it much more than "The Girl Who..." It reads more like an episode of Twilight Zone, with characters trying to deal with how phobias and fears can be spontaneously generated by a simple misunderstanding of words or phrases, repressed memories, and facing one's own fears to conquer them completely. Like the first story, it's a very fast read, but there's more substance here as we get deeper into the main character's mind and slowly learn about her past. "Nightmares" is stronger than its predecessor and was what convinced me to pick up another book by Tsutsui. This is one author certainly worth pursuing further.

As a side note, "The Girl Who Leapt Through Time" has been adapted for film and TV several times over the years in Japan, including both live-action and animated features. I've not seen any versions of it, but it could appeal to people who prefer their stories told in a more visual format.(less)

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Feb 09, 2012 Katya rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2012, japanese, so-so

Also appears here

When I was in high school, part of my French curriculum was learning the basics of translation. Now, you might think that it's easy, provided you can read in a foreign language and have a good dictionary at hand. But, as I learned, there are some rules to translation that definitely have to be kept, so that the translator doesn't get "creative" and alter the manuscript.

I say this because I understand perfectly how rigid the confines are when it comes to translation, and that so...more Also appears here

When I was in high school, part of my French curriculum was learning the basics of translation. Now, you might think that it's easy, provided you can read in a foreign language and have a good dictionary at hand. But, as I learned, there are some rules to translation that definitely have to be kept, so that the translator doesn't get "creative" and alter the manuscript.

I say this because I understand perfectly how rigid the confines are when it comes to translation, and that sometimes, if the two languages are different, the sentence structure and word choices can come off as weird and clunky. So I can't be too hard on this book because of how it's translated.

BUT... but, I'm also not unfamiliar with bad translations either. The Bulgarian edition of Sloppy Firsts still makes me throw a fit, as does, as I hear, the translation to Going Postal. Because, even if two languages are radically different, a seamless translation can happen if the person doing it knows the author and knows the more informal side of the language as well as the grammar. (Full disclosure: The translation of Sloppy Firsts messed up Heath's age on the first few pages. Just to tell you what level of stupid I dealt with. However, the Bulgarian translations of Shakespeare and Carter are superb.)

Anyway, I went on this tangent to point out that there are translations and translations and translations. There are the bad, the good, the excellent, the slapdash and the careful ones, the ones that are grammatically correct but still sound clunky at best. This book falls into the latter category.

I also know enough about translation to realize that this book's structural and storytelling problems can't be attributed to it. Everything is told, instead of shown. The action happens so fast you need to roll back and re-read, and even then it makes no sense. The pacing is absolutely horrible, and there's no tension in the underlying narrative. And the characters, while cute, are just not developed, mostly because of the above mentioned problems. They're just not given enough time to develop.

I think what this book reminds me of is not so much a novella as a picture-to-word adaptation of a manga. Or maybe a script for one. I can totally imagine the things described accompanied by pictures and images. But it's a bad adaptation, at best, and it just doesn't hold up to the new format.(less)

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Feb 02, 2012 Manni rated it 2 of 5 stars

I just started this book today. First it feels like the sentences are kind of awkward but I guess I just need to get used to it. The reading goes fast though. The cover story is 105 pages long and in less than half hour while ridding the bus (not very brigh light) I managed to read 53pages. I have watched the anime that was made after it and I really liked it.
In the middle of other stuff I managed to finish the first part of the book, "The girl who leapt through time".
I still haven't gotten us...more

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Dec 12, 2011 Caroline rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: fantasy, foreign-literature, japanese

The Girl Who Leapt Through Time is a collection of two short story by Yasutaka Tsutsui, who is one of the most famous science fiction writer in Japan. These two stories are some of those light novels: they are very short and, in the case of The Girl Who Leapt Through Time, have an animated film based on it.

The first short story, The Girl Who Leapt Through Time, tells the story of fifteen year old Yazuko who discovers by accident that she can leap through space and time.
After an accident in the...more The Girl Who Leapt Through Time is a collection of two short story by Yasutaka Tsutsui, who is one of the most famous science fiction writer in Japan. These two stories are some of those light novels: they are very short and, in the case of The Girl Who Leapt Through Time, have an animated film based on it.

The first short story, The Girl Who Leapt Through Time, tells the story of fifteen year old Yazuko who discovers by accident that she can leap through space and time.
After an accident in the biology lab, Yazuko inhales a product and faints. She doesn't think much about it but feels different ever since. Then when she is about to be crushed by a truck, and wakes up in her bed, she realises that she can leap through time. with the help of her friends Kazuo and Goro, she will try to understand her power.

I truly liked the story, especially after reading the end and how she came to have her power but I would have preferred reading an entire book rather than a novella! There's only so much you can fit in 50 pages so I thought there wasn't enough.

I felt that the dialogues were a bit off (which I didn't think in the second story) so I don't know whether it's the writing or the translation.

It is a sweet story and opens new perspective when you read the end.

As for the second story, The Stuff That Nightmares Are Made Of, it follows Masako, a high school student who has an irrational fear of heights and Prajna masks and who wants to get to the bottom of it with the help of her friend Bunishi. Masako also wants to help her little brother Yoshio with his night terrors.

I like this story better and I found really interesting how Masako would try to face her fears and help Yoshio face his. It is also interesting how both of them came to have those fears. It is quite fascinating how the mind works and through Masako and Yoshio we have two examples of why some things or ideas come into our mind and mold our behaviours.

I didn't notice the writing as much as in the first story, and I thought the writer could really build the tension through the various events in the book.

Those two stories are short and sweet and present interesting concepts: time-travel and the psychology of fear. Judging by the language and the action, I think these books are for younger readers. I am told the film of The Girl Who Leapt Through Time is better to watch than reading the book because it goes deeper in the character description etc.
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Jul 28, 2011 Sean O'Hara rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: j-lit, kidlit, science-fiction, time-travel

The Girl Who Leapt Through Time is an amazingly popular story in Japan -- there's been a manga, a theatrical anime, a TV movie, a TV series, and three live action film adaptations in the last thirty years. And yet the original story didn't get an English release until this year (and that's probably an attempt to cash in on the anime).

The story is about Kazuko, a Japanese school girl (I know, there's a shock) who's exposed to a chemical that allows her to -- ah, just look at the title. This is th...more

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Nov 20, 2012 Vanessa rated it 1 of 5 stars

This book is probably one of the worst books I have ever read. It was all like some really bad fan-fiction that managed to get published. The author** had an obsession with talking about how every single time a character was distressed, they "paled." The characters overreacted immensely, to the point where it seemed like the author was simply trying to stretch out the story because she wasn't creative enough to find a way to get the characters to react a certain way to move the plot along. Tsut...more

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Jan 13, 2013 Hud-c rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: ya, science-fiction, saw-the-movie-first, fantasy, time-travel, reviewed

2.5 stars

Let me reminisce a little. It was more than four years ago had passed since I watched the film entitled The Girl Who Leapt Through Time. Its a beautiful animated film about a girl who accidentally acquired the power to time travel. Its funny and heart-warming. To me, its an unforgettable movie. I knew then before (After researching it on the net) that the story in the movie was based from a novel with the same name. That time I was eager to read about it. But some circumstances shake me...more 2.5 stars

Let me reminisce a little. It was more than four years ago had passed since I watched the film entitled The Girl Who Leapt Through Time. Its a beautiful animated film about a girl who accidentally acquired the power to time travel. Its funny and heart-warming. To me, its an unforgettable movie. I knew then before (After researching it on the net) that the story in the movie was based from a novel with the same name. That time I was eager to read about it. But some circumstances shake me away. My interest fade in time for different reasons - thesis, organizational activities, college meetings, midterms, papers, graduation rites, etc. Its just now that I was able to read this.

So how does it feel like reading after waiting for almost five years?

Its more than okay but I'm not close to actually liking it. Let me clarify things first, the story isn't like what's been told in the movie. These book has different characters but there's a connection between the two. That is the character of Kazuko Yoshiyama (of the book) and Makoto Konno ( of the movie); the two are actually blood related. In the movie, it wasn't actually stated or revealed that Kazuko had actually time travel before but then she possess a considerable knowledge about time travel itself and explain it to Makoto in the movie. Okay, that's enough comparison.

The book contains two short stories by Yasutaka Tsutsui btw. The first, I mentioned it above. And the second one is entitled The Stuff that Nightmares Are Made Of. This one is very short and revolves around the subject matter of phobias, trauma and what constitute human fears. Its somewhat very informative. I like how the author wrote something dealing with psychological/behavioral theme.

Overall, it was okay. I do know that the book is not based on the 2006 anime film but I guess I'm looking for more. Or this was still too short for me to read. I wanted the first story to be melodramatic like in the movie but it wasn't. Nevertheless, the ending was still heart-warming. (less)

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Aug 21, 2012 3clair rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: author-japanese, drama, fiction, sci-fi, translation-english

It was the 2006 anime-film that made me know about this novel. Being impressed by the film, I always had some curiosity about the novel. And the novel was a good light reading.

There are two stories in this book: "The Girl who Leapt Through Time" and "The Stuff that Nightmares are Made of."

"The Girl who Leapt Through Time" was about a young girl that suddenly had the ability to travel through time. She was somewhat disturbed by this new power so that she determined to uncover the identity of the...more

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Sep 19, 2012 Jillanie rated it 3 of 5 stars

The Girl Who Leapt Through Time
Yasutaka Tsutsui

For me, being the original story means it should be the best. But I didn't like it as much as I liked the graphic novel. My purpose for reading the original story is to understand the graphic novel (and animated movie) better, but they're just too different.. to the point that I got disappointed because I was expecting more out of this one. Or maybe I just read it too late? I'm not too sure.

There are a lot of surprising revelations in this version,...more

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Mar 02, 2013 julie rated it 3 of 5 stars

I am an anime fan and although I've never seen the film, I was excited to read The Girl Who Leapt Through Time mainly because it was made into an anime movie. And of course, this was my first time reading Japanese literature so that added up to the excitement as well.

For starters, it was a short and quick read. I could've finished it in one day if I didn't have other things to do. The book also consists of two stories, although I didn't know it at first.

The first story, The Girl Who Leapt Throu...more I am an anime fan and although I've never seen the film, I was excited to read The Girl Who Leapt Through Time mainly because it was made into an anime movie. And of course, this was my first time reading Japanese literature so that added up to the excitement as well.

For starters, it was a short and quick read. I could've finished it in one day if I didn't have other things to do. The book also consists of two stories, although I didn't know it at first.

The first story, The Girl Who Leapt Through Time, is just your typical time travel story. It's about Kazuko, a third-year middle school student who accidentally acquired the ability to leap through time and space. Although other people would be delighted to discover they have such powers, Kazuko wasn't at all happy with it. She looked for the cause and wanted to get rid of these abilities because she did not want to be different. The plot is very simple and I think the only twist in the story is when Kazuko discovered where and from whom her ability to time travel came from, albeit indirectly. The pace is fast, not boring and I must say it's an okay read. I only wished the author did not make Kazuko and Kazuo's names sound so similar. It's a bit confusing sometimes.

The ending is a bit sad for me. I was looking for more. It was sad that Kazuko did not see that 'person from the future' again and that her memories of him were also erased. I would have wanted them to meet again, maybe when Kazuko's a bit older, you know, so they could be together. Although that's impossible, right? Because they live in different times. *sigh*

In the second story, The Stuff That Nightmares Are Made Of, is where my frustration started. I was like, "why did the story suddenly change?" I even thought that it's a continuation of Kazuko's story. But no, it was a totally different story. One I didn't really get. It's about Masako, a teenager who's afraid of heights and Prajna masks. She also has a younger brother who's a scaredy-cat, but Masako helped Yoshio conquer his fears so she thought she might as well conquer hers. There's not much conflict in this story. For a while I even thought it's horror. Until now I'm still not sure what it is, though. But I think what this story is trying to tell us is we all must at least try to face our fears. And that we should always be careful of the words we speak in front of children. We never know how they affect them.

I have some reservations about this book but I liked it still. If you're looking for a quick read that's still enjoyable, try this book. But if you want something a bit more complicated, this book is not for you.
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Nov 28, 2012 Savanna rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: science-fiction, literary-fiction, reviewed, favourites

This book wasn't what I expected, and it took some getting used to, but in the end I found I really liked it. Like many readers, I was drawn to it because I enjoyed the anime adaptation so much, and for others considering it for the same reason I have to say that it's very different. For one thing, the book is actually two novellas, and only the first is what was adapted in the film. (This isn't made very clear in the edition of the English translation I read or at least on the website where I b...more This book wasn't what I expected, and it took some getting used to, but in the end I found I really liked it. Like many readers, I was drawn to it because I enjoyed the anime adaptation so much, and for others considering it for the same reason I have to say that it's very different. For one thing, the book is actually two novellas, and only the first is what was adapted in the film. (This isn't made very clear in the edition of the English translation I read or at least on the website where I bought the epub).

The first novella I would give four stars on its own. The plot is significantly different from the film's, and it's hard for me to say if my preference for the anime negatively affected my opinion of the novella. Still, it's very unusual and intriguing, and also quite heartbreaking—which is impressive given its brevity. It has what I think is a masterfully subtle touch of sci-fi, fleshing out the sci-fi elements just enough to give them plausibility but keeping it mysterious and thought-provoking.

I found the second novella fantastic. It isn't science fiction at all, but is more literary with horror undertones. What stood out most to me here was Tsutsui's ability to manipulate my expectations and surprise me several times throughout the short novella without any cheap twists for shock value. The story had an unusual but appealing flow. I'm a bit embarrassed to admit that I found the horror parts pretty scary, but the way everything came together in the end was unexpected and beautifully orchestrated.

Throughout the book, I appreciated Tsutsui's blunt, straightforward style and his ability to richly depict the settings through such a minimalist approach. His characters were not intimately described, and I never came to feel as though I understood them. But I don't think this is a weakness; they're not one-dimensional or unrealistic—it's just that portraying them fully isn't within the scope of the novellas. From my limited understanding of Japanese (I studied it for four years in high school), I suspect that this translation was not the best, so I gave the somewhat clipped language some leeway. But The Girl Who Leapt Through Time was very different from anything I've read before as well as quite impressive, so I recommend it enthusiastically (plus it's a super short read!).(less)

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Jun 22, 2011 Vivienne Serendipity Reviews rated it 3 of 5 stars

This is really a novella rather than an novel and one that I found interesting. It tells the story of a fifteen year old Japanese girl called Kazuko who accidentally discovers that she can travel back and forth in time. She is desperate to work out who gave her this ability and believes it is the due to the mysterious person who was hovering in the science laboratory at school. Something had gone wrong and she had fainted at the same time. She knew she would have to travel back in time to work o...more This is really a novella rather than an novel and one that I found interesting. It tells the story of a fifteen year old Japanese girl called Kazuko who accidentally discovers that she can travel back and forth in time. She is desperate to work out who gave her this ability and believes it is the due to the mysterious person who was hovering in the science laboratory at school. Something had gone wrong and she had fainted at the same time. She knew she would have to travel back in time to work out who the person was.

It was an enchanting story and I was really enjoying it up until the last few pages,where unfortunately I found the story became difficult to believe. I know you are probably shaking your head at me and saying 'Its fiction, it isn't true anyway.' Well I know that, but majority of books you can lose yourself into the fantasy and believe every word of it and for most of this story, I fully believed that time travel was possible. However, the ending swayed a little into the too far fetched area for me and I found myself recalling an episode of Friends where Joey is desperately trying to be taken seriously as an actor in a play. The play looks like an intense and entertaining one until a ladder comes down from the sky to take him into space. You know the one I mean?

I can only hope that the ending got a little lost in translation as it seemed so disjointed to the rest of the story. I would have loved to have seen this story expanded allowing more character development and a more believable ending.

The book actually consists of two stories and out of the two I actually preferred 'The Stuff That Nightmares Are Made Of'' more. The main character of the story 'Masuko' is trying to discover the route to her fears and embarks on a journey to do so. I found it very enchanting and it had a lovely twist at the end of it.

Both of these stories were written in 1967 and I was pleased to discover that they still felt current and not at all dated. If you plan to read this book, I would possibly start with the second one before reading the first.
I would be interested in reading other works by this author as his stories must have seemed very fresh and original when they were written in the sixties, especially as they still stand out now.(less)

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Aug 14, 2012 Lauren rated it 3 of 5 stars

Also includes: The Stuff That Nightmares Are Made Of. Both were more like extended short stories than a full novel. Interesting, but weird. The writing style is sort of abrupt, with thin characters. I wonder if they just don't translate well? I have another book at home by a Japanese author and I noticed the same thing about the writing style; it's like both authors have this minimalist approach to telling a story. I'm picturing a spare, white house with a few pieces of expensive modern furnitur...more

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Dec 27, 2012 Giant Bolster rated it 2 of 5 stars

This is one of the rare times that I find the movie adaptation (or in this case, the 2006 anime film) better than the novel. Perhaps it was the bad translation - cheesy phrases like "Together they jumped for joy at Goro's lucky escape" abound. Or perhaps it was because the novel was too short - barely 70 pages long. There was actually sufficient material in the conceit of the story to extend it into a longer novel with fuller characterization and plot development. Instead, because there was so m...more

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Jan 04, 2012 Nikki rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: fantasy, children-s-and-ya, short-stories-novellas

Picked up in the Kindle sale, somewhat at random -- mostly because of the cover, which caught my attention. I knew something about this book being adapted into a manga or an anime or something, so I thought it might be fun. It turned out to actually be two quite short and unconnected stories. They're very simple, and the translation seems rather stilted -- it comes out sounding like a book written for children to read.

The first story is rather sweet, even if it is very simplistic and hand-wavey...more

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Apr 23, 2011 Kaisa rated it 2 of 5 stars

This... wasn't what I was expecting. I've heard so much about the MOVIE "The Girl Who Leapt Through Time", so I was assuming that this book would be awesome.
But it's like.. two short stories.. One of which doesn't make a lick of sense, and one that seemed utterly pointless.

I really hope the magic was lost in translation, otherwise I really will have to be a little bit mean to this author.

...It HAS to be the translation. Right?

Because the writing felt so stilted and similar to something you would...more

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May 10, 2011 SJH (A Dream of Books) rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: for-review, young-adult

This book was originally published in Tsutsui's native Japan and is his fifth work to be translated into English. This slim volume contains two stories, 'The Girl Who Leapt Through Time' and 'The Stuff That Nightmares Are Made Of'.

When I was initially offered this book to review I wasn't sure whether to accept as it didn't sound like the sort of thing I normally read. However, I love giving new authors a try and the very pretty cover did grab my interest, so I thought I'd give it a try. I have t...more This book was originally published in Tsutsui's native Japan and is his fifth work to be translated into English. This slim volume contains two stories, 'The Girl Who Leapt Through Time' and 'The Stuff That Nightmares Are Made Of'.

When I was initially offered this book to review I wasn't sure whether to accept as it didn't sound like the sort of thing I normally read. However, I love giving new authors a try and the very pretty cover did grab my interest, so I thought I'd give it a try. I have to say that on finishing it, I wasn't really sure what to make of the book. I'm not a big fan of short stories which this volume seemed to be, as I find them too brief and insubstantial. Plus often just as your interest is piqued they finish and you're left feeling wholly unsatisfied.

'The Girl That Leapt Through Time' is about a young girl called Kazuko who discovers that she can leap and teleport herself through time, following an accident in her school science lab. With her new-found abilities she is able to help her friends when they need it but is determined to find the shadowy figure who she believes is responsible for her time-travelling powers.

The premise of the story was interesting enough but on the whole I just didn't find that the story went anywhere. Not enough time was spent on developing the characters fully which meant that I couldn't engage completely with them and I didn't care enough about what was happening to them. At times I also found that the narrative was a little stilted but that may have been due to the language being transcribed from its original form and some of the nuances and meanings being lost.

There are some deeper issues underlining the very simple story, such as warnings about the future and the outcome of scientific advancements, however I found the general storyline puzzling and struggled to remain interested about what was actually happening throughout .

The second story in the book is called 'The Stuff That Nightmares Are Made Of' is about another young girl called Masako who tries to confront her fears, at the same time as helping her little brother who's scared of strange things he sees at night. Yet again I found this one a strange and although I liked the general message of overcoming your fear by facing it head on and therefore being able to overcome it, I would have liked the story to have been developed a bit further. Saying that, I did prefer it out of the two stories contained within this volume, so I'd even go so far as to say read this one first and give it a go.
(less)

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Jan 07, 2013 Glire rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Quería leer este libro desde el momento en el que vi la película, la cual me encantó, ya que tengo la firme convicción de que los libros siempre son mejores que su adaptación fílmica. Sin embargo, La Chica Que Que Saltaba A Traves del Tiempo resulto ser la excepción de la regla.

La película trata de Makoto, sobrina de Kazuko quien es la protagonista en la novela, quien adquiere también de manera similar el poder de saltar hacia atrás en el tiempo. La historia es contada de una manera hermosa, con...more

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Aug 25, 2011 Jeannette rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: manga-picks, anime, 2011-manga, books-i-own

The anime trumps the book. All the action is a bit squashed in this single volume. There was a bit more back story with the aunt, providing more ambiguous endings.

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Jan 12, 2013 John Caulfield rated it 4 of 5 stars

For what it is, two "long short stories" that are essentially light, teenage reads. The first is a little sci-fi adventure about a young Japanese girl who suddenly finds herelf with the ability to leap back a few days in time. The second is a light, psychological drama about a girl and her younger brother who have to confront a few frightening episodes in their past in order to understand their current, apparently irrational fears. Pleasant, easy reading for teenagers and adults who enjoys a sho...more

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Apr 21, 2012 Adrian rated it 2 of 5 stars

Whilst this was inoffensive enough, it wasn't clear what age-group these two short stories are aimed at. It's possible that something has been 'lost in translation' making it read like a children's story.

What I didn't like was the ease at which certain problems and situations could be solved or explained by (it seemed like) making stuff up. If you write science-fiction I don't think that it goes down well to be so far from science-fact that it just comes across as nonsense.

Also, I noticed a majo...more

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Jun 24, 2012 Siina rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: fiction, fantasy-scifi

I saw the movie based on this book and it was really cute! Thus I was excited to read this and it was worth it, even though it differs from the movie.

The book contains two stories and they are quite easy and light to read. Tsutsui's girl point of view is nice and the stories are very Japanese. For short stories they are really coherent and complete - nothing is lacking and they work nicely like that. They are not based in any time as such and thus we can create our own Japan for the stories.

Beca...more

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Aug 20, 2011 Tocotin rated it 1 of 5 stars

Shelves: borrowed-books, contemporary-literature, far-east

The language of this book is so bland and lifeless, the characters so one-dimensional, that I'm actually left wondering if there isn't something I should know... like, were both stories originally created as anime or manga? Or are they specially dumbed down for, I don't know, people who don't usually read books? Or is it simply the matter of bad translation? I know the author's name from somewhere. He seems to be pretty famous. What's the matter? Me very confused.
The cover looks great but doesn'...more

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About Yasutaka Tsutsui

Yasutaka Tsutsui (筒井康隆) is a Japanese novelist, science fiction author, and actor. Along with Shinichi Hoshi and Sakyo Komatsu, he is one of the most famous science fiction writers in Japan. His Yumenokizaka bunkiten won the Tanizaki Prize in 1987. He has also won the 1981 Izumi Kyoka award, the 1989 Kawabata Yasunari award, and the 1992 Nihon SF Taisho Award. In 1997, he was decorated as a Cheva...more Yasutaka Tsutsui (筒井康隆) is a Japanese novelist, science fiction author, and actor. Along with Shinichi Hoshi and Sakyo Komatsu, he is one of the most famous science fiction writers in Japan. His Yumenokizaka bunkiten won the Tanizaki Prize in 1987. He has also won the 1981 Izumi Kyoka award, the 1989 Kawabata Yasunari award, and the 1992 Nihon SF Taisho Award. In 1997, he was decorated as a Chevalier Ordre des Arts et des Lettres by the French government.
His work is known for its dark humour and satirical content. He has often satirized Japanese taboos such as disabilities and the Tenno system, and has been victim to much criticism as a result. From 1993 to 1996, he went on a writing-strike to protest the excessive, self-imposed restraint of Japanese publishers.
One of his first novels, Toki o Kakeru Shōjo (1967), has been adapted into numerous media including film, television and manga. Another novel, Paprika (1993), was adapted into an animated film by the director Satoshi Kon in 2006.

Yasutaka Tsutsui es novelista, autor teatral, crítico literario, actor y músico. Después de graduarse en la Universidad de Doshisha en arte y estética, fundó la revista de ciencia ficción NULL. Durante los años setenta comenzó a experimentar con diferentes formas literarias aunque logró un gran reconocimiento como autor de ciencia ficción. En el verano de 1993, Tsutsui anunció que dejaba de escribir como reacción al linchamiento que había sufrido en la prensa por una protesta hecha por la Asociación de Epilépticos de Japón debido a ciertas expresiones sobre la epilepsia que aparecían en uno de sus cuentos. En protesta por la falta de libertad de expresión se negó a publicar en su país, convirtiéndose en el primer ciberescritor de Japón al haber sido internet durante una larga temporada el único medio de poder leer sus historias.
Su prolífica obra ha obtenido numerosos e importantes galardones: en 1981, el premio Izumi Kyoka por «Kyojin-Tachi» (Gente imaginaria); en 1987, el premio Tanizaki por «Yumenokizaka-Bunkiten» (La intersección Yumenokizaka); en 1989, el premio Kawabata por «Yoppa-dani eno Koka» (El descenso al Valle Yoppa); y, en 1992, el premio de CF de Japón por «Asa no Gasuparu» (Gaspar de la Mañana). En 1997 fue nombrado por el Gobierno francés «Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres»(less)

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“She could see the name Fukamachi on a shiny name-plate by the door of the house, but it was a name that meant nothing to Kazuko. And at that moment, in her heart, she began to dream of meeting someone. Someone special who would one day walk into her life. Someone she would instantly feel she had known for years. Someone who would feel the same about her.” — 8 people liked it

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The Girl Who Leapt Through Time (A girl who runs through time)

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