From Up On Poppy Hill (コクリコ坂から) : Why animate?
Since Studio Ghibli's "From Up On Poppy Hill" will be released in a few days, I thought it would be good to finally get around to soapboxing my impression of the film. "From Up on Poppy Hill" (known as Kokuriko Zaka Kara here in Japan) is an absolutely brilliant film. It was directed by Hayao Miyazaki's son, Goro and based on a 1980's manga series. Without giving too much away, it tells a nostalgic (well, nostalgic for Japanese people anyway) story about a group of ambitious high school students in the rapidly developing Showa Period of Japan, post-World War II. This 1960's period in Japan had a resurgence of development industry-wise as well as an accelerating "We Can Do It" spirit amongst Japan's youth. These kids would be the ones who eventually would be the leaders of Japan's economic boom period. This was one of the better animated films I have seen in a long time. Not so much for technical reasons but for it's...