Voices of a Distant Star (2003)

What VoaDS lacks in length it more than makes up for in content, specifically emotional content. It squeezes more lyrical beauty into its 25 minute running time than many full-length features can manage.
It's the story of Japanese high-school students Mikako and Noboru, distanced from each other but never far from one another's thoughts. Unfortunately, the gulf between them isn't just geographical, it's also temporal.
The character designs aren't as good as Dir. Makoto Shinkai's subsequent works, but the achingly beautiful backgrounds that he's known for are firmly in place, and the heartfelt simplicity that underpins everything else is as strong in its infancy as it ever became in later years. It's exquisite.

5 long-distance texts out of 5