Yet another enjoyable magical realist anime, this time dealing with themes of bereavement and mental health. Despite veering dangerously close to becoming overly saccharine in places and pushing the "ganbaru" aspect of Japanese society a bit far, I did enjoy the film. I hated the subtitles though - small white subtitles on brightly coloured images really don't work - hence only two stars overall. I'm not a fan of watching foreign language films dubbed into English, but I really hate the whiny nasal American dubs most anime receive. I wish more effort would be put into creating legible subtitles so more people can enjoy films in their original language!
What I spotted this on my list I thought perhaps this is another cash in on the “Spirited Away” bandwagon. However this is 1,000,000 miles away from the Miyazaki classic, a stand-alone delight that faces up to some of the toughest moments in a young child’s life yet never forgets the positives that come from them. Watching this there are plenty of tears, a few bizarre moments but ultimately you’ll left beaming with joy. Definitely one for parents & young children to enjoy together especially if they have faced some grief in their lives. I know that for me the ending with especially cathartic.