My Neighbors the Yamadas

Alternate Titles:Houhokekyo Tonari no Yamada-kun (ホーホケキョとなりの山田くん)

Original Japanese Release Date: 1999

Episode Length/Run-time: 104 minutes

Summary:

The movie tells the story of the real life interactions of the Yamada family in short arcs throughout the film.  They are real life situations from a wife not knowing what to cook for dinner, to children having problems with how “boring” their parents are.  A slice of life with morals and a character-driven story.

Review:

When this film originally opened in Japan it opened on 245 screens and had a production budget of ¥2,360,000,000.  The film was produced by Takahata, co-founder of Studio Ghibli based of the yonkoma manga Nono-chan by Hisaichi Ishii.  It is the only Studio Ghibli film not presented in the traditional Ghibli style but a delicate and storybook-like animation of watercolor and ink.  The animation was the first completely-digital productions from Studio Ghibli and remains a prime example of what digital animation can do for the hand-drawn charm and feel.

The music in this series is delicate and appropriate, getting boisterous and energetic during peak scenes such as forgetting your child in a mall and rushing back.  It flows like the animation and complements the storytelling perfectly.

The storytelling is beautiful, if there was ever a perfect slice of life, this was it.  The family is funny and real, a little bit of every person’s family life in each of the members.  The message is as simplistic and beautiful as the style.  Love your family and treasure them, because in this day in age it’s all too easy to fall apart.

I don’t want to ruin any of this movie because it’s so beautiful that I hope everyone can watch it.  If you’re unsure watch the first 30, no just 12 minutes and you will see everything I mean and more.

[starrater]