I've said it time and time again: I am a big fan of Studio Ghibli animations. I love everything this studio produce. The stories are always heartfelt and the animations are not too exagerrated. Some may not appreciate the illustration because it's not in the current round-faced, sparkling big-eyed style. But I love the distinct animation style of Studio Ghibli.

Anyway, for today's post, it will be all about one of the Studio Ghibli movies I watched. The movie is called From Up on Poppy Hill. It is a is a 2011 Japanese animated drama film directed by Gorō Miyazaki, scripted by Hayao Miyazaki and Keiko Niwa. It is based on the 1980 serialized manga of the same name illustrated by Chizuru Takahashi and written by Tetsurō Sayama. The story is set in 1963 Japan and follows the story of Umi Matsuzaki and Shun Kazama.

The story started out as your typical coming-of-age, slice of life story. Umi and Shun attend the same highschool and they met by chance. Umi lives and runs a boarding house which overlooks the Port of Yokohama. Shun's father runs a tugboat that occasionally pass by where Umi's house is. Umi raises flags every morning using the boarding house's flagpole. She sends messages using flags and Shun happens to see them. One day, Umi chanced upon a poem about flags in the school paper. The poem was written by Shun. That was how it all started. From then on, the main story shifted to the preservation of the school's Latin Quarter, an old house that the boys use to hold their club activities. It was supposed to be demolished but the efforts of the students, led by Umi and Shun, saved it.

Of course, no coming-of-age movie will be complete without a little romance. The budding romance between Umi and Shun was really interesting. And the unexpected twist near the end was really something. But I was really glad they had a happy ending, well sort of. Just like any Studio Ghibli film, the ending is open ended. You're free to imagine what happens next.

So my thoughts....

I really liked the story, not because I'm biased towards Studio Ghibli. It was a very light watch and you don't have to think too much. It's the kind of thing you should watch when you don't want something heavy. The story was just right. It wasn't too broad or too deep. It stuck to a few significant event and the entire movie revolved there. So there wan't any feeling of it being rushed. The events that happened were believable and relatable. They were not out of this world events. There were no unanswered questions either. The ending did it justice with enough room for viewers to imagine what's next. But it doesn't leave you hanging.

I recommend this movie to anyone who wants to go for some light watching, and to anime fans in general. You won't go wrong with Studio Ghibli.

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