From Up On Poppy Hill (2011)

(Kokuriko-zaka kara)

Directed by: Goro Miyazaki

Umi divides her time between preparing food for her extended family and guests at the boarding house where she lives, and school, where she falls for Shun, a boy a few years older. Together, they fight a campaign to prevent the school’s Club building from being demolished as part of the preparations for the 1964 Tokyo Olympics.  Entwined with this struggle is their own growing affection, imperilled by the possibility that they may, in fact, be brother and sister.

There’s a theme in From Up On Poppy Hill about learning and accepting the past, while reaching an accommodation with modernity.  Fortunately, director Miyazaki does not allow this to overwhelm what is essentially a sweet story aimed at – well, there’s the problem, at least for western audiences, I suspect.

The visual style and pace of the movie is a long way off something that will please a teenage audience (as anime goes, it’s quite unadventurous, particularly in comparison to the work of the director’s father, which includes 2001’s Spirited Away) and the story is too sophisticated and serious for small kids.