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| Overall | Art | Animation | Character Design | Music | Series Story | Episode Story | Reviewer | |
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| Rent | 9 | 8 | 8 | 7 | 8 |
 Ggultra2764
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[series:2664#1552] | |
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Ever since seeing Spirited Away, Ghibli's charm from their older works seemed to slowly wither away for me as major issues with the plotting, pacing and/ or premise to a title turned me off quite a bit to the studio's works from the 2000s. From Up on Poppy Hill managed to restore my interest in a Ghibli work since I seen My Neighbors the Yamadas two years ago, though the film certainly won't be for everyone. This historical romantic drama focuses around two major plot developments for the entirety of the film's run set in 1963 Japan: the efforts of the students to prevent the demolition of an old clubhouse and the romantic feelings developing between Umi and Shun despite a possible shocking secret involving the two. The movie mostly has a feel of slice-of-life focused around the activities of Umi, Shun and the students at the school with the only drama coming from the developments in the relationship between the two lead characters. Umi and Shun get reasonable fleshing out of their characters, especially considering the dramatic element added in for their relationship development throughout the movie. The mood for the anime is quite reserved and mundane, having little in the way of conflict or coming-of-age dilemmas being faced by anyone within Poppy Hill. The only moments of excitement within the work come from the unusual setup of the clubhouse and the efforts by the students in stopping the demolition. If you are expecting any conflict or grand setting as many of Ghibli's earlier films are known for setting up, you might be turned off by From Up to Poppy Hill. On the visual end, Poppy Hill sports beautiful and detailed scenery shots with Ghibli's trademark drawing style for character designs having decent details and simple facial designs. While animation isn't the highlight of the film and certainly not on par with Ghibli's more grandly animated works, characters, vehicles and objects still moved about smoothly and I didn't take notice of any animation shortcuts or errors within the film. From Up on Poppy Hill was a solid historical romance title focused on the everyday developments of Shun and Umi within 1963 Japan. While the reserved mood and minimum conflict will turn off some folks, the film is still solid in exploring the efforts of Shun and Umi with love and the clubhouse efforts. I give the film a strong Rent recommendation. Last updated Monday, January 07 2013. Created Sunday, January 06 2013. | ||||||||
Other Sites
| Name | URL |
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| Official Japanese Film Web Site | http://www.kokurikozaka.jp/ |
