To Every You I’ve Loved Before and To Me, The One Who Loved You are two perfectly intertwined films that tell a touching story of love and friendship.
Have you ever wondered why you misplaced an item only to have it reappear in a spot you know you looked before? Or why you get a feeling of knowing someone you have never met before? Or why things feel slightly off before returning to normal? That is the feeling the sister films, To Every You I’ve Loved Before and To Me, The One Who Loved You, strives to put reason to.
Riko Sakaguchi, who wrote both films, tackles the multiverse by calling it “Parallel Worlds.” These different worlds represent those in which you made different choices. It could be as simple as what you have for breakfast, or as complicated as which parent you move in with after their divorce. Only your consciousness shifts, into the body of another you. Often you don’t even realize it is happening because your worlds are so similar.
Imaginary Science is the study of these worlds. Scientists have created a technology that people wear on their wrists, like a watch, which will reveal what parallel world they are in. If they are in theirs, it reveals a 0. Others have a wide range of numbers, the higher the number, the more different this world is from yours.
The two movies follow the different paths of a young boy, Koyomi Takasaki, after his parents divorce. In To Every You I’ve Loved Before he decides to live with his mother and in To Me, The One Who Loved You he chooses his father. It is surprising how many things work out differently in his life based off of what seems like a smaller decision.
But yet at the same time, there are a lot of similarities — especially when it comes to those who mean something to him in his life.
The animation style is absolutely stunning, making both movies a visual feast for the eyes. The score perfectly follows the emotions that Koyomi Takasaki is going through. Each film takes viewers on a powerful journey through love, loss, and friendship.
As the films move forward in time, technology advances allowing forced parallel shifts, where someone with the knowledge can push themselves to change places with another them, in another world. This is a brilliant way to cause crossover between both movies, but is also why you must watch both to understand the full story.
At the same time, this is where the multiverse, time travel elements get messy. It can be a bit hard to understand, especially after just watching one of the movies. It doesn’t all completely fall into place until you watch them both.
Overall Thoughts
To Every You I’ve Loved Before and To Me, The One Who Loved You are emotional movies. It is impossible not to root for the main characters. There is a lot of humor buried in the heavy topics, making audiences both laugh and cry. While they are both great watches, one without the other doesn’t make complete sense.
It’s nearly impossible to separate the two. These movies go together like peanut butter and jelly. They tell powerful and touching stories about love, choice, and friendship. You simply cannot watch one and not the other. Doing so will leave the story incomplete. Trust me when I say that it all comes together perfectly after watching both movies.
Don’t get me wrong, they are still beautiful stories individually, however something will feel off until you have seen both films. As soon as you start to watch the one you choose to view second, everything will start to click in your head.
To Every You I’ve Loved Before and To Me, The One Who Loved You come to Crunchyroll on April 20th. While both films are interwoven together to tell stories across parallel worlds and perspectives, the viewing experience is up to you as there is no official watch order.
Rating: 4.5 out of 5
NEXT: Suzume Review: A Magical and Emotional Journey
About To Every You I’ve Loved Before
While struggling to make friends after his parents’ divorce, Koyomi Takasaki meets Kazune Takigawa, but apparently, they already have. Kazune reveals that she’s from World Line 85, an alternate universe in which she and Koyomi are lovers. But in a reality where moving between dimensions is natural, could Koyomi be the one from another world?
About To Me, The One Who Loved You
Koyomi Hidaka and Shiori Sato meet at his father’s research center and begin to fall in love, but so do their parents, who eventually marry. To avoid becoming stepsiblings, they decide to run away to a parallel universe. Traveling between dimensions is common in their world, but not without repercussions. Does a universe exist for the young couple, and what will it cost them to find it?
Tessa Smith is a Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer-approved Film and TV Critic. She is also a Freelance Writer. Tessa has been in the Entertainment writing business for ten years and is a member of several Critics Associations including the Critics Choice Association and the Greater Western New York Film Critics Association.