I watched the movie yesterday (July 27). In short, I liked it.
Let me quickly jot down a few rough thoughts and first impressions before doing a more extensive review once I'm back in Singapore.
(1)
A ticket for adults at Shibuya Toho, where I watched the movie, cost a bloody 1,800 yen (US$23; S$28)! Considering that the most I'd ever paid for a movie ticket in Singapore is S$10, you can see why the Tokyo price was a shocker for me.
(2)
The audience comprised mostly adults, with only a handful of very young children. Many of the adults were middle-aged or older. They made up, I'd say, about 30% to 40% of the audience. The movie probably has stronger appeal for older people because of the nostalgia factor (more about this later).
Incidentally,
Kokuriku-zaka Kara was No. 3 in the Japanese box office in its opening week. A Pokemon movie was No. 1 in the same period, and I think a
Full Metal Alchemist movie at No. 7.
(3)
As mentioned already, the movie is set in 1963 Japan (I believe in Yokohama city, or possibly in Sakuragi-cho), just one year prior to the Tokyo Olympics. I have no idea why Japan seems suddenly nostalgic about that particular year, since we've also recently had
Showa Monogatari, set in the time period, appear on TV just recently.
The story follows the life of second-year high-school student Matsuzaki Umi ("Meiru" to her close friends), how she got to know her senior, Kazama Shun, and how she fell in love with him. Of course, the course of true love never does run smooth, and Meiru and Shun will have to deal with a particularly tricky problem that could otherwise doom their blossoming relationship (saying more would spoil the story).
The other major plotline follows the adventures of the students at Meiru and Shun's high school, as they try to prevent the school authorities from demolishing their humanities clubhouse. Incidentally, Shun is, I believe, the assistant editor of the school's newspaper, while Meiru, through a coincidental turn of events, also ends up helping at the newspaper (more a newsletter than an actual paper).
In the tradition of Ghibli
shoujo movies, Meiru is a strong, disciplined and well-mannered girl who is admired by most of her classmates. Being the eldest child in her family, she naturally plays the leading role in taking care of not just her younger sister and brother, but also two other long-term residents in the house on the hill where her grandmother lives. Meiru's mother is an assistant professor who is overseas, either to teach or for further studies. Meiru's father was, I believe, a naval officer who commanded a landing ship tank that got sunk during the war.
As for Shun, well, he's a nice guy, an intellectual and a budding activist like the school president (and editor of the newsletter). He's very cool, naturally, the kind of boy any girl would swoon over.
(4)
In terms of overall tone and atmosphere, the movie is closer to the lesser-known Ghibli movie
Ocean Waves than it is to
Whisper of the Heart.
And that is a surprise, given that Miyazaki Hayao co-wrote the storyboard. It feels more like a Isao Takahata film, say
Only Yesterday for example, than a Hayao movie.
Kokuriko-zaka Kara has none of the fantasy elements that the elder Miyazaki is known for, and is much more "shoujo" than all his previous movies.
Because it banks so heavily on nostalgia appeal, I really don't see this movie travelling very far outside of Japan and anime fandom. For this reason,
Kokuriko-zaka Kara is unlikely to become one of the top films in the Ghibli pantheon but, that said, it's a vast improvement over
Tales of Earthsea, so kudos to Miyazaki Goro.
The animation doesn't have that mesmerising quality of older Ghibli movies, but it's still top-notch. And the background art is, of course, amazing as usual.
Voice-acting overall was strong, especially for Meiru's character.
OK, that's about all for now. It's already longer than I planned. More details a day or two later if I have the time.