From Up on Poppy Hill: MIYAZAKI Goroo’s animated film is a sweet and nostalgic journey into 1960s Japan. It tells the story of a high-school girl who gets involved with a movement to preserve an old building on the school campus and, in the process, gets closer to one of the boys who spearheads it. The protagonist is a serious, hard-working girl, and undeniably lovable; her relationship with her family, friends, and the world around her is naturalistic and believable. Her new best friend is, likewise, a lovable character, idealistic and caring. Their voicework, by respectively NAGASAWA Masami and OKADA Jun’ichi, is very effective. Aesthetically, the film is beautiful: the character design is relatively simple, but the main characters are all distinctive. The environments are a marvel, a beautiful recreation of Yokohama and Tokyo, colourful and detailed; the design of the building central to the story is incredible. The jazzy musical score, by TAKEBE Satoshi, is quite incredible, and the songs used, both original and from the time period, are quite well-chosen and a great fit. A great proof, if one is needed, that animation can tell any kind of story, if well-made.

Read what I wrote before: From Up on Poppy Hill