Makoto Shinkai

"Mitsuha, a high school girl living in a rural town deep in the mountains, has a dream that she is a boy living an unfamiliar life in Tokyo. Taki, a high school boy living in Tokyo, dreams that he is a girl living in the mountains. As they realize they are changing places, their encounter sets the cogs of fate into motion."--Back cover.

A collection of four interrelated, stream-of-consciousness short stories follows women and their cat companions as they explore the frailty of life, the pain of isolation, and the limits of communication.

Takaki Tohno quickly befriends Akari Shinohara when she transfers to his school, but when she must move again at the end of the school year, they decide to keep their close bond by writing letters to one another.

Life hasn't been easy for Asuna since the death of her father. With her mother forced to work long hours to make ends meet, Asuna spends most of her time alone, listening to the crystal radio her father left behind. It's a curious thing, requiring neither electricity nor an amplifier, but the strange music that plays over it is an even greater mystery. Where does it come from? And what does it mean?

"The summer of his high school freshman year, Hodaka runs away from his remote island home to Tokyo, and quickly finds himself pushed to his financial and personal limits. The weather is unusually gloomy and rainy every day, as if to suggest his future. He lives his days in isolation, but finally finds work as a writer for a mysterious occult magazine. Then one day, Hodaka meets Hina on a busy street corner. This bright and strong-willed girl possesses...

Witness the story of Takaki, a young man on a journey from Tokyo to reunite with his childhood best friend, Akari. Feel his emotions superimposed on the gorgeous, heavily researched and impressively animated backdrops of Japan, as he travels by train to see her. Join Takaki on a voyage into three interconnected tales of love and lost innocence that span the minutes and months of their lives.

Mitsuha and Taki are two total strangers living completely different lives. But when Mitsuha makes a wish to leave her mountain town for the bustling city of Tokyo, they become connected in a bizarre way. She dreams she is a boy living in Tokyo while Taki dreams he is a girl from a rural town he's never been to. What does their newfound connection mean? And how will it bring them together?