Lorna Irvine reviews 'a crowd-pleaser'.
Goro Miyazaki’s charming family film from Studio Ghibli is set in 1964, prior to the Olympics.
Umi is a typical Japanese teenager, forced into an atypical situation as housekeeper to her grandmother and sister Sora when her father, a captain, is killed in the Korean War, and her mother has to travel out of the country to find work.
Her whole life is turgid routine, until the rebellious schoolboy Shun tumbles literally headfirst into her life and she becomes involved in a plan to save her school’s Latin Quarter.
Although the storyline of teen romance and dutiful daughter are a little formulaic, there are touches which elevate it above standard animated genre piece. First of all, the humour is brilliant—very knowing, with gags involving maths club geeks, adolescent hormones and Nietzsche.
Characterisation is excellent throughout. The uptight philosopher, face purest puce with pomposity, is fantastic. Umi’s character itself, the catalyst for change in her school, is a feminist icon, hugely aspirational for any little girl. The vocal work by leads Masami Nagasawa and Junichi Okada is never too cloying.
Above all, it has a self-aware, cheeky little script: when Shun and Umi unearth a secret which threatens to destroy their relationship before it has even begun, Shun quips, ‘This is just like a cheap melodrama!’
The stunning animation by Atashu Ohi finds pleasure in the details: teardrops, neon signs and the iridescent shimmer of the sea- it looks beautifully life-affirming.
All in all, a crowd-pleaser with something for anime nerd to family member alike- a great highlight for the GYFF.
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