* SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic: The entire soundtrack is gorgeous. Notable songs include:
** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uxyOeyjggPI Through the years and far away]]
** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CsCShSgUNhE Ame no boss tei]]
* BigLippedAlligatorMoment: Mikako seeing a Tarsian in front of her and it [[MindScrew possibly]] communicating with her physically.
* DancingBear: While well-liked for its own merits, it's probably more famous for its unusual production, having been done almost entirely by one man.
* HarsherInHindsight: ''Words of Love/Across the Stars'' has Mikako have a vision of a train cross her field of view and cause a VehicleVanish. This particular adaptation first came out in the original Japanese in 2006. The next year, the also-Shinkai-directed ''Anime/FiveCentimetersPerSecond'' would come out, and with it a much more famous and tragic train-induced VehicleVanish.
* {{Narm}}: Through the Years and Far Away to some, thanks to the GratuitousEnglish.
* SpiritualSuccessor: This is perhaps one of the best adaptation of Joe Halderman's ''Literature/TheForeverWar'' in existence, although some differences (e.g. the genders are flipped) exist. Even the aliens are called Tarsians.
* StoicWoobie: Noboru narrates with subdued unhappiness that he worries about "becoming someone who only waits for Mikako's mail." When he receives the message telling him that she's now eight lightyears away, he resolves himself to close off his heart and move on - but as we see at the end of the film, he doesn't succeed in doing so.
* SuspiciouslySimilarSong: The {{Recurring Riff}}s call to mind [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nip7k0m08PM Starman Leaves]] from ''Film/{{Starman}}''.
* {{Wangst}}: Noboru falls into a depression when he feels that he's been idle for too long, but near the film's end, it's revealed he's also joined the armed forces to both be actively engaged in defending their planet, in addition to the prospect of reuniting with Mikako.
* TheWoobie: Mikako, who does her best to keep up a positive attitude about her increasing distance from Noboru only to finally break down sobbing on Agartha.