A Letter To Momo: Light Fare From The Man Who Gave Us Jin-Roh.

I like anime.  Now that we've cleared that hurdle, I have to clarify that I am not the type of person who just likes ALL anime.  I have taste.  I have a standard for the quality of the animation, the story, and the seiryu (voice acting).  I've been known to be harsh on quite a few shows and films that many of my peers deem excellent.  When I discovered that the theater I work at was going to be screening the first film of director Hiroyuki Okiura since Jin-Roh: The Wolf Brigade. I jumped at the opportunity to watch it.  It is called A Letter To Momo.

The film centers on Momo and her mother Ikuko who have returned to a small island town of Shio to live with Ikuko's parents following the death of Momo's father.  She caries a piece of paper with the words "Dear Momo" written on it, but the rest is blank.  Throughout the film we discover more about Momo and her father, but more specifically the film is about adapting to life after trauma.  That being said, this film is still a rather lighter take on such subject matter and plays well within the realm of magical realism that most people have become familiar with in Studio Ghibli films.

Momo is somewhat of a typical young girl.  City born and raised, she has a very closed off attitude to her new environment.  She's not dealing with her trauma at the beginning of the film, rather, she's holding it inside.  This is a key plot factor to much of the film as both she and her mother are very much alike in how they deal with their grief.  What makes Momo's situation unique, of course, is the presences of three goblins who follow her and her mother around.  The problem?  Only Momo can see them.

The animation is stellar, most of it is hand drawn with a few cg bits for background and special devices, but they are not distracting in the slightest.  This is only Okiura's second film as director, but his list of credits as a key animator, animation director, and storyboard artist range across some of the greatest Japanese Animated Features ever made, including Akira, Ghost In The Shell, Roujin Z, Coyboy Bebop: The Movie, and Paprika.  I'd also like to pay a special note of attention to the 5.1 Sound Mix which was incredibly good.  There are scenes where I felt like I was in the setting of summer with cicada's noisily singing all around me, enhancing the feeling of environmental realism.

While I liked the film, I have to admit that there are moments of the story that were definitely geared towards younger audiences than I would typically be found sitting among.  However, I think that Okiura was very brave to tackle issues of emotional isolation, grief and trauma in the lens of a children's film.  There are obvious comedic elements to keep the film light, as it's intended audience are family, but that doesn't prevent the film from having an impact on the way we see and deal with grief.  The film culminates to a climactic race against time and the elements teaching us that no matter what we must cherish and protect the one's we love.

Good for families, this film with be screening at The Aero Theater on Friday, April 26th, at 7:30 PM in Japanese with English Subtitles.

I chose this trailer because the TiFF trailer is utterly pathetic.  Comic Sans font?  Really??