I love the idea of a straightforward, down to earth Studio Ghibli film. Now they flirt with this all the time; Rather it's, Kiki's Delivery Service or Porco Rosso. But none of them ever just do a real life story.
No mythical beings, Supernatural Magic, strange abnormal events. Just an everyday story of a young woman travelling to the countryside to get a taste of country life, while reminiscing about her childhood.
And wow, what a lackluster mediocre slightly sad, yet relatively okay childhood she has.
She was a troubled kid when it came to her studie. She had her young Ambitions crush a few times by subpar parents.
The mother is confident but disinterested and the father is distant, if not a little abusive from time to time.
Not abusive in the bad movie sense of beating a child relentlessly or being a horrible scumbag human being.
More of a lack of understanding and lack of empathy towards a young child kind of approach.
Then you throw on top of that some very light-hearted child crushes and the onset of puberty. And you have a perfect recipe for a stressful but relatable story.
Then there's the other half of the movie. Taeko at the age of 27 trying to make her way in the world and discover where she wants to be. She is something of a conflict between City Life and Country Life.
She has a (kind of) Romance with a guy she meets in the country, tho the set up with him is quite minor.
In fact it's the only part of the movie where I get a little iffy on the plot as towards the very end when she decides to go back to the country to try and possibly hook up with the guy. It's the only part that felt a little cliche to me.
But it's not bad by any means and it does give you that happy ending.
Overall it's a well-put-together. It's not as quick paced as many of the other Studio Ghibli films and it could feel its length at times.
But it's still a really interesting story all the same.
It's nice to see that Studio Ghibli can actually do a wholesome realistic story without the use of overly flashy Supernatural elements, or violent war time battles and the lake.
The animations really well put together too.
There's so much emphasis on small often overlooked items. Rather it be a Sony Walkman (spelled with a u) or just a pineapple.
It's incredibly well drawn.
And the flashback moments are nicely put together too.
They have this kind of Misty Cloud effect over them to really emphasize that you're looking at a memory.
It adds a nice artistic Flair to the film.
Although it is a bit of a pain to watch if you're in a darkly lit room and could be a little hard on the eyes.
And God help you if you're reading this movie with subtitles.
White text on a white background is a real pain.
However that's not the fault of the film that editing after the fact.
It's a definite recommendation. If you're a fan of Studio Ghibli and or just like well put-together simple stories about character grow and Nostalgia, then this will be right up your alley.
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