Su Qingxiao felt a little uncomfortable inside.
But as her sister kept turning pages and the second chapter, Cosmonaut, moved toward its end—the scene where Kanae was about to confess to Takaki—her own eyes were starting to turn red.
[Please… don't be so kind to me anymore…]
Facing the boy's concern, the girl finally broke down in tears, yet in her heart, that one line was all she could think.
On the day before graduation, when Kanae finally learned how to surf and her confidence was at its highest… she made up her mind to confess.
But in the very moment she was about to speak, she saw the look in his eyes.
His gaze was on her…
But his heart wasn't.
The words of confession never left her lips. They dissolved into the tears of a girl experiencing heartbreak for the first time.
By this point, the grip of Su Mingxi's fingers on the manuscript pages was far tighter than at the start.
Strictly speaking, 5 Centimeters per Second was a seinen-style romance. The way Su Qingxiao felt reading it could never be as deep as what her older sister felt, having already lived through a full campus life.
Su Qingxiao was still hung up on how the main couple losing contact because of distance and time felt like a contrived plot flaw—still believing that "true love conquers all."
But after watching so many of her college roommates go through messy breakups right after graduation, all Su Mingxi could do was sigh inwardly…
Is this really a romance manga drawn by a first-year high schooler?
A story that leaves you this sad, this helpless, this heavy after finishing—could a high school student really create something like that?
The second chapter, Cosmonaut, ended quickly.
Then came the third chapter: 5 Centimeters per Second.
The timeline jumped to after Takaki's college graduation.
The now-adult Takaki breaks up with the girlfriend he'd been dating for several years. In the last text she sends him, she writes:
Even if we send each other a thousand messages, the distance between our hearts can only close by one centimeter.
Su Mingxi went silent.
So did Su Qingxiao.
Combined with the title—5 Centimeters per Second…
If cherry blossoms fall at five centimeters per second, then at what speed do hearts draw closer?
If two people spend years together, have their hearts moved even one centimeter closer than when they started?
Truly excellent works don't spell everything out. They use a limited number of pages to push the reader into thinking for themselves, to arrive at their own answer.
And the moment both sisters, Su Qingxiao and Su Mingxi, found these thoughts rising in their hearts—
They were already hooked.
Just like Xia Jing in his previous life, and the countless Makoto Shinkai fans back then.
Drawn in by the story of Takaki and Akari.
Very soon, the manuscript answered the question they were both holding.
The grown-up Akari also came to Shanghai. Sitting on the train, she recalled herself at thirteen and the boy from back then.
She remembered the feelings she'd long since buried…
"So that's how it is…" Su Mingxi finally understood.
No wonder the earlier plot had arranged for Takaki's relationships with Kanae and with his later girlfriend to all end in nothing.
For Takaki, the person he truly loved was Akari.
Even after more than ten years—after losing all contact, after almost forgetting each other's faces—
As long as they met again, those once-intense and sincere feelings would surely surge back up.
True, burning love does not fade with time or distance. It settles, sinks to the bottom, sprouts again, and quietly grows stronger without you realizing it.
Xia Jing, is this what you wanted to say with this work?
A flicker of approval flashed through Su Mingxi's eyes.
Now the theme had been elevated.
Impressive…
Su Qingxiao slowly figured it out too, and the way she looked at Xia Jing changed.
At first, she'd thought he was just a normal manga fan with decent art skills—and that his determination to keep drawing on the scorching rooftop in thirty-plus degrees had earned her respect. That was why she wanted to help.
Honestly, she hadn't really believed he could produce anything that amazing.
But this manga completely overturned her impression of him.
In such a short story, he'd managed to tug at her emotions again and again, bringing her to the verge of tears multiple times.
Art, story, theme—none of it felt like the work of a beginner.
Su Mingxi's pace picked up. Now that she had expectations, she wanted to rush to the part where Akari and Takaki reunite after more than a decade.
What would they say to each other after all those years?
Finally, she and Su Qingxiao reached the scene in the manuscript: the sloping road under the cherry trees, the railroad tracks, the ringing of the crossing signal—
And the two of them, walking toward each other from opposite sides of the tracks. In the instant they passed each other, they seemed to… sense something, to recognize each other.
But with the city train about to roar across the tracks between them, neither of them slowed down. They just kept walking toward the other side.
[Right now, if I turn around, I have a strong feeling that she'll turn around too, Takaki thinks.]
In the manga, he turns back, and you can vaguely see that the woman on the other side of the tracks seems about to turn around as well.
Su Qingxiao's eyes flew wide.
In the anime, the next shot is that long, drawn-out sequence of the train rushing past.
In the manga, Xia Jing chose this moment to insert several dialogue-free pages showing how Takaki and Akari had gradually lost touch during high school—how they drifted apart.
At last, when Su Mingxi turned to the second-to-last page, the panel in front of her showed this:
[It'd be so nice if we could watch the cherry blossoms together again next year.]
The promise the two of them made by the tracks more than ten years ago had finally found a chance to be fulfilled.
Same cherry blossom season. Same railway crossing. Just like when they were kids, the two of them stood on either side of the tracks.
But when the train passed and a swirl of petals scattered through the gusts of wind, Takaki looked across the tracks—
And saw only cherry blossoms drifting down through empty air.
The other side of the tracks was deserted.
Just like the emptiness in the hearts of the two sisters reading it.
A huge wave of emotion crashed into them.
It felt like something had been dug straight out of their chests with a shovel—leaving nothing but hollow space.
Su Mingxi realized her hands were shaking.
It hurt. It hurt so much. She couldn't stop herself from glancing at Xia Jing, sitting idly on the sofa.
Then she turned to the very last page of 5 Centimeters per Second.
After seeing that no one was there, Takaki's eyes went blank for a moment, shocked.
But then, slowly, a faint smile appeared at the corner of his lips. Without hesitation, with an expression of quiet acceptance, he turned and walked away.
And then came the final words:
[5 Centimeters per Second – The End.]
"How could it end like this…" Su Qingxiao's voice trembled.
"Xia Jing…"
"How could it end like this?"
"This is the ending. This is the story of Akari and Takaki the way it is in my heart," Xia Jing said, glancing at the time. Over an hour had passed since they'd started from the first page.
"Editor Su, you've finished the manga," he said, taking a deep breath.
"Does this work meet your standards for acceptance?"