Miporin no Ekubo (Japan 2010)

Oh boy, movies likes Miporin no Ekubo (みぽりんのえくぼ ) are a bit difficult to review, so I guess I'll use a strange analogy to try and describe it. When you see the rundown of a movie like this, it's a bit like a can of Coke; you know exactly what you're getting. That Coke is gonna taste like a Coke every time and these types of movie are always going to unapologetically go straight for your heartsrings. Based on a true story...oh boy indeed.

Miho aka Miporin (Manatsu Kimura), is a 13 year old who is going to die. Boom! Right off the bat we're told she's going to die by none other than Miporin herself. This young girl hasn't had the easiest life. When she was two years old she was diagnosed with leukemia but she fought her way through it like the little trooper she is. She's just starting junior high, things are looking good and we can see that her mother (Ryoko Hirosue), father (Tomoya Nagase), and older sister Minami (Mayuko Fukuda), make up a tight-knit, loving family. On Miporin's first day of junior high school, she's in the midst of new-class orientation when suddenly her vision gets blurred and a sharp pain runs through her head, causing her to pass out. She's taken to the hospital to be examined and the doctor's conclude that Miporin had simply succumb to the pressures of starting school. Whew, close call right? Well Miporin is back to school the next day, in the gym with her friends shooting some hoops, when suddenly the same thing happens; blurred vision, sharp head pain and out she goes. Something is definitely not right here. Her parents rush to the hospital to be by her side and the doctor's decide to do some more extensive testing. After an MRI scan, the doctors sadly inform Mom and Dad that Miporin has a brain tumor. The parents agree to let the doctors go forward with a treatment, which isn't a guaranteed cure, but they're desperate.

Since she's stuck in the hospital, Dad picks up some art-letters at the local hobby shop to try and help lift Miporin's spirits. These art-letters are basically letter sized cards that you can paint on to tell a story or simply to create a picture. Mom and Dad figured it would be a nice, creative way for Miporin to express herself during her stay in the hospital. Miporin really takes to the idea and soon finds herself drawing a new picture everyday. The doctors and other patients are really impressed with her pictures and love gathering around to see what she'll draw next. After the initial treatments are finished, the doctors have more bad news for the family and inform the parents that the tumor has come back and that their initial treatment had failed. All this attention that Miporin's getting has also taken it's toll on her older sister, who isn't aware of how serious young Miho's disease is. Minami begins feeling jealous and starts acting nasty to everyone. She's a teenager. What do you expect? Yes, I'm generalizing. A couple of surgeries later, the doctors tell the parents that they've done all they can for Miporin and that she doesn't have much time left before she passes. That being said, the family feels it's best, and the doctors agree, to let Miporin spend the small amount of time she hast left, at home with her family. At this point, Mom has no choice but to tell Minami how serious Miporin's condition is. The time you knew was coming eventually comes and Miporin passes on, leaving behind 359 artistic letters documenting her journey in the hospital and through her illness. Her family knows how important the pictures were to them, to Miporin and to others that saw them, so they make a decision to ensure that people can continue to see them.

Okay, so that's probably the first time I've told almost every bit of a movie in a review before, but I promise I kept it spoiler-free. So before you yell at me, remember that the main character tells you right away that she's going to die when she narrates! Now, Miporin no Ekubo (Miporin's Dimples), was a made-for-TV movie, or as they say here in Japan, a "television special", which has it's heart in the right place; telling a story of a terminally ill young girl who touches the lives of others through her letters. Even though it's based on a true-story, the melodrama in this film just oozes out of every second of it's one hour and forty-one minute running time. Now I don't know about you, but for me, that can get real old, real fast. The acting wasn't particularly impressive, aside from Ryoko Hirosue as Miporin's mother because, let's face it, she's a pro at this point. The story, again while based on real events, felt as by-the-numbers as you can get. Girl is happy. Girl gets sick. Girls get treated and we're given a ray of hope. Hope gets dashed. Girl dies. You've seen that before and probably many times. When Miporin finally does see the light at the end of the film, her final scene is really over-the-top and young Manatsu Kimura puts on a "dying" voice that is cringe worthy.

Don't get me wrong, I didn't have an abundant supply of "Haterade" before watching Miporin no Ekubo. I like the fact that the real Miporin's letters touched peoples hearts and affected their lives for the better, but I guess her story didn't translate well to the screen for me. Sometimes movies can be just too cliche for their own good. (Lee)

Grade: D

(I don't have a trailer, so enjoy the first 15 minutes!)

Usagi Drop (Anime 2011)

Like most anime, at least that I'm aware of, Usagi Drop (うさぎドロップ) is an adaptation of the manga of the same name, which got it's start in print back in 2005. I've never read the manga, but this is an incredibly cute and charming anime series that showcases the importance of love and bonding in the family unit.

Daikichi Kawachi (Hiroshi Tsuchida), is a single, thirty-something, blue-collar worker who lives a relatively mundane life. On one of these relatively mundane days, he receives a phone call informing him that his grandfather has passed away. It's been awhile since Daikichi made his way back home, but few things can bring family back together like the passing of a loved one. At his family's home, he makes small talk with the members of his family but takes notice of a peculiar little girl that he hasn't seen before. She follows him around the house, staying hidden; clearly shy towards people. Eventually Daikichi strikes up a conversation with her and she tells him her name is Rin (Ayu Matsura), and that her father is Daikichi's grandfather. Say what!? It turns out that Daikichi's grandfather had an illegitimate child with his housekeeper, a young lady by the name of Masako (Maya Sakamoto). As you can imagine, this news has the Kawachi family in a bit of a tailspin and no one seems to know what to do with Rin. There's talk of sending her to a foster home but Daikichi, clearly being of a higher moral standing, feels that Rin is a part of the family and can't be discarded so easily. After a bit of thought, Daikichi informs the family that he'll be taking Rin home with him and will take care of her until he can figure out matters with Rin's mother. The family is in a bit of shock but Daikichi is determined to look after Rin and Rin is happy to go with someone that seems to genuinely care for her well-being. Daikichi's life as a lonely, single man has suddenly changed drastically, as has life for young Rin. Can Daikichi handle his life being completely turned upside down by the daily stresses of being a single father?

Throughout the series, Daikichi and Rin find themselves facing a number of challenges. First of all, they have to get used to just being around each other. Daikichi has to figure out how to enroll Rin in school, arranging his work schedule with her school schedule, buying her clothes and other supplies, dealing with Rin's birth mother, Rin getting sick, Rin making friends with a rowdy little boy named Koki, helping her cope with the concept of death (she tries to understand what happened to her father), and all the other challenges one would face when suddenly having a child thrust upon them without any prior preparation. I can't even imagine! I always enjoy these slice-of-life anime and Usagi Drop does a great job showing the difficult transitions that Daikichi and Rin face with what is essentially their new day-to-day lives. Daikichi is a guy who had a very ordinary life before his grandfather's death but he makes incredible sacrifices in order to accommodate this young girl that he really doesn't know. He's not always convinced he's done the right thing and even questions his ability to watch over Rin. However, he does know that she's family and deserves to be treated as such. Therein lies the really special, heartfelt message of Usagi Drop. Add to that the fact that it's all presented with a wonderfully eye-pleasing art style that is simple and clean, yet still shows attention to detail. Each episode begins with the art done in a painted, watercolor style then transitioning into a traditional, penciled art-style and this series just furthers showing it's character. You can imagine that from the show's content that there is a lot of heart in the storyline and Usagi Drop has no shortage of touching moments. I feel that Rin is an adorable character that you just find yourself rooting for and together with Daikichi, their relationship is really cute to watch. 

If you're a fan of "realistic" anime that focuses more on the human element and our relationships with one another, than Usagi Drop is a sweet series that you're sure to find heartwarming. It feels like an incredibly short 11 episodes and whenever a series feels like it's over too soon, that's always a good indicator of how enjoyable it is. (Lee)

Grade: A 

K-On! (Japan 2011)

The much-beloved manga-turned-anime, K-On! (けいおん!), finally gets the big-screen adaptation fans have been clamoring for. We all know that series' do not always translate well when turned into a feature-length film, however, as a rabid K-On! fan myself, I'm pleased to say this animated movie does not disappoint.

For those that don't know, K-On! is about a group of high school girls that join the music club at school and form a band. They call themselves Houkago Tea Time, or HTT for short. The series focuses mainly on their friendships and the moments they share in school and in the music club. The movie finds the girls, Yui (Aki Toyosaki), Mio (Yoko Hikasa), Ritsu (Satomi Sato), Tsumugi (Minako Kotobuki), on the cusp of graduating high school, and while they have big plans to attend university together, they worry about leaving their underclass bandmate, Azusa aka Azu-nyan (Ayana Taketatsu), behind. They're also planning a big graduation trip, because that's just what you do apparently, and after some assistance from the club pet turtle Ton, they pack up and head to London! Yui, Mio, Ritsu and Mugi decide that there's no better way to say thank you and to show their appreciation for Azusa than by writing a song just for her. They plan to write the song while on their trip, looking for a little London inspiration. Azusa begins to grow suspicious as the others do their best to keep their song-writing plans a secret. As you can imagine, while in England, the girls find themselves in a few wacky, unexpected situations while taking in the sights, but that's all a part of the adventure. When an opportunity to perform for the people of London on the gang's last day of vacation presents itself, time suddenly becomes a major issue when you have a plane to catch! Can the girl's put on a memorable show and still make it to the airport in time to catch their flight? And will Azusa catch on to what the others are up to and ruin the surprise?

Having K-On! made into a full-blown movie, not straight-to-dvd, was an exciting announcement. I'm a big fan of the series and I'll admit that it's even become a mini-obsession of mine. I just find the characters to be incredibly endearing and I think the art style is great. I also really like the attention to detail given to the instruments the girls play, which adds a nice level of realism to the music of the show. As a side note, for those who don't know by now, Ritsu, the drummer, is my favorite. I previously mentioned that a TV series, regardless of being animated or not, rarely translates into a successful big-screen movie, but K-On! fans, fear not, this is a movie that will not disappoint. It picks up right where the second series left off, the art is more detailed and the animation has clearly been given an extra layer of polish. It appears that all involved with the film took the extra time (thanks to a nice budget I'm sure) to add a bit more TLC to everything. All of the characters, memorable characters that is, from the series are in the film, even if only for a few minutes (Yui's sister Ui, Jun, Nadako and, Sawako-sensei for example). Most importantly, the movie version of K-On! actually feels like they're doing something big with these characters. It's not just an hour and forty-five minutes of them sitting in their clubroom, talking and having sweets. Sure, there's some of that, because that's what these girls do, but they pack their bags and head out on a big adventure. It's really a lot of fun to see them in a foreign environment (literally and figuratively speaking), because it's something you haven't seen in the series. Also, there are some original songs written for the movie and if you enjoy the music the K-On! girls put out, then these songs will be right up your alley. You'll be sure to hear some of their "classics" in the film as well. Is a near two-hour animated film too long? Perhaps for some, most likely those who didn't read the manga or watch the anime, but for a fan, it's a great running-time and you almost don't want it to end. The only downside for the movie that I could think of is that it's not really accessible for those unfamiliar with the series. Sure you can still watch it, but will you care as much about the characters? The series spent 41 episodes and countless smaller specials, developing the relationship between these characters and getting you, the viewer, invested in it.

All-in-all, I found K-On! the movie to be a great success and I'm the not the only one. It had a huge opening here in Japan, beating out Steven Spielberg's Tin-Tin at the box office when it was released and where I'm from, that's saying something. The people have spoken. Who knows what the future holds for this series, but I can only hope that there's more K-On! somewhere down the line. It would be a shame to say goodbye to these characters, but if I'm forced to, the movie was a satisfying way to do it. (Lee)

Grade: A