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Kokurikozaka Kara ~ コクリコ坂から
Jun. 25th, 2012 10:58 pm
Finally I get to watch this Ghibli animation. I was in Tokyo when this movie was released and was curious about this as all the trailer suggested that it's a rather sad movie. Listen to the OST and you'll get the impression of a sad movie. Which is why I'm curious, Ghibli with sad ending? Hmmm... it doesn't gel. But wait, what's the real reason for watching? You bet! It's Okada's voice LOL LOL... That alone is enough motivation for me to watch. But how does it fare?
I find that this movie is rather different than the regular Ghibli anime which most of the time are full of fantasies and imaginary characters (eg. Tottoro, Ponyo etc). Kokuriko Zaka Kara is more of a drama, taking the setting of Yokohama in the 1960s. It's still beautiful. No Ghibli is not beautiful anime. The story itself is focused on Umi, the girl who lived in the house on top of the hill and raised the signal flags every morning. One day the school newspaper posted a poem related to the girl who raised the signal flags that he saw from the seas. Who could it be? Then the scene moved to the club house which was under threat to be demolished due to it's being old and well, OLD. The students were divided between the Yes and No decision. And the work to so called restore the building began with Umi's idea that even old building can look new if you clean it. And where's the romance part? Off course when we're talking about a story about youth, there got to be a romance plot in it. In here, Umi developed feelings for Shun, the president of the newspaper club that she took interest in. She met him when Shun made a jump from the clubhouse's roof top to the pond next to it (for more detail, watch the movie). There's a slight complication in the romance department which become the other half part of the whole story. What's the complication? Watch the movie as I don't want to spoil it :).
Overall, the plot is simple and all the chain of events are simple as well, but that's the part that I like about it and what Ghibli succeeds in it as usual. With the simple plots, Ghibli adds the element of imagination and have fun in developing the plots that it become a package of an enjoyable movie. For example, Umi and Shun's love story. It's simple, a girl starting to like a boy and it's mutual. But the movie adds on chain of events to develop each of the characters' feelings and you can feel the innocence of youth while watching it because it's simple. Off course, when we're talking about Ghibli, we're talking about detailed animation. Take example of the clubhouse, the inside looks very complicated and even it's in the filthy condition (prior to the cleaning session), the building actually looks beautiful. Off course, it looks even nicer after it's cleaned and polished, but you can't help but to admire the detailed of it when it's dirty.
Lastly, rest assured that it's a happy ending, despite how the OST suggests. What the OST does at the end of the movie is to give a nostalgic feelings as the story is in the 1960s. The OST works as if it asks you to look back and mesmerize of your own past's innocence youth. And did I need to mention it again? It's beautiful!!!!
I find that this movie is rather different than the regular Ghibli anime which most of the time are full of fantasies and imaginary characters (eg. Tottoro, Ponyo etc). Kokuriko Zaka Kara is more of a drama, taking the setting of Yokohama in the 1960s. It's still beautiful. No Ghibli is not beautiful anime. The story itself is focused on Umi, the girl who lived in the house on top of the hill and raised the signal flags every morning. One day the school newspaper posted a poem related to the girl who raised the signal flags that he saw from the seas. Who could it be? Then the scene moved to the club house which was under threat to be demolished due to it's being old and well, OLD. The students were divided between the Yes and No decision. And the work to so called restore the building began with Umi's idea that even old building can look new if you clean it. And where's the romance part? Off course when we're talking about a story about youth, there got to be a romance plot in it. In here, Umi developed feelings for Shun, the president of the newspaper club that she took interest in. She met him when Shun made a jump from the clubhouse's roof top to the pond next to it (for more detail, watch the movie). There's a slight complication in the romance department which become the other half part of the whole story. What's the complication? Watch the movie as I don't want to spoil it :).
Overall, the plot is simple and all the chain of events are simple as well, but that's the part that I like about it and what Ghibli succeeds in it as usual. With the simple plots, Ghibli adds the element of imagination and have fun in developing the plots that it become a package of an enjoyable movie. For example, Umi and Shun's love story. It's simple, a girl starting to like a boy and it's mutual. But the movie adds on chain of events to develop each of the characters' feelings and you can feel the innocence of youth while watching it because it's simple. Off course, when we're talking about Ghibli, we're talking about detailed animation. Take example of the clubhouse, the inside looks very complicated and even it's in the filthy condition (prior to the cleaning session), the building actually looks beautiful. Off course, it looks even nicer after it's cleaned and polished, but you can't help but to admire the detailed of it when it's dirty.
Lastly, rest assured that it's a happy ending, despite how the OST suggests. What the OST does at the end of the movie is to give a nostalgic feelings as the story is in the 1960s. The OST works as if it asks you to look back and mesmerize of your own past's innocence youth. And did I need to mention it again? It's beautiful!!!!
