The Girl Who Lept Through Time, and thoughts.

I'll try to keep spoilers to a minimal.  
 
The basic plot of the movie revolves around a highschool girl, Makoto, gaining the ability to time travel into the past, and using it for silly and frivolous purposes in an attempt to help herself and others.  The movie is charming to say the least, however one big flaw prevents me from liking as much as I did Summer Wars, another movie done by the same director, Mamoru Hosada.  That would be the pacing.
 
The majority of the film revolves around the adventures of Makoto time leaping, unintentionally causing trouble, mischief, and sometimes a little good.  As I personally rather enjoy the slice of life/school romance drama genres, making such an ability (time travel) feel so ordinary and normal was very enjoyable.  However, the plot shifts gears within the final 1/4th of the show and delves into where she gained her ability from, and the true nature of a character.  Not only does this part, the "major plot point", feel rushed in its introduction and wrap up, it is somewhat atmospherically jarring from the rest of the film.  More screen time should have been given to it, allowing it's setup to feel less like a sudden random plot twist for the sake of concluding the movie.  After all, you can't end a film with slice of life all that effectively.
 
There are also a few minor issues.  The characters don't feel developed well enough, especially considering there are essentially only 3 major characters.  Considering Summer Wars whose cast of major roles were much larger and yet still managed to develop motivations personality for them effectively in short periods of screen time, this was somewhat disappointing.  Then there's the two plot holes, how exactly does Makoto's aunt know about the concept of a time leap and the importance of that painting.  However these two points are rather minor compared to everything else.
 
It sounds somewhat odd to say at the end of this string of criticisms that I still enjoyed the movie.  The genres that comprised the majority of the film are genres of anime that I enjoy immensely.  (Honey and Clover is one of the best anime of the previous decade and if you disagree you are wrong.)  Makoto and her friends are all very likable, full of personality and humor in both facial expression and speech.
 
Considering this was Hosada's first film, and Summer Wars was his second, its safe to say I am very interested in what his third will be.