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5cm/s employs various types of symbolism:
The birds representing freedom (duh)
The winter and snow respectively representing death and things coming to a halt
The paper airplane made by Kanae for her carefree attitude regarding her future
The cherry blossom petals for their love, as well as the "dead" cherry blossom tree foreshadowing the loss of their love
The bird at the beginning, seen flying towards the moon (the moon represents femininity, the bird freedom) but no matter how far the bird flies, it will never be able to reach the moon
The trains representing distance as well as the journey the protagonists must embark on. Both trains passing between Takaki and Akari in the third act serve the same purpose in a more creative way
Takaki practicing archery, symbolizing one's attention being focused on a single point, attaining a single objective (a theme already employed in "The Place Promised in our early days"), as well as Kanae practicing surf, simply going on with her life as she goes with the flow of things
The only symbol that evades my understanding is the rocket launch - it could be to either symbolize the world moving on without them, or a missed opportunity by Kanae in order to make the events of that night appear anti-climactic (everything is ready for Kanae to express her love, but she misses that opportunity. The rocket launch would represent her inability to retake such initiative)
