コクリコ坂から (From Up on Poppy Hill) {Wk 2}

"From Up on Poppy Hill" is the first ever Studio Ghibli movie I have ever watched, and I've got to say that it was very heartwarming and entertaining to say the least. The story follows Umi Matsuzaki as she takes care of Coquelicot Manor and her family who reside within it while juggling classes too. She is a family-driven daughter who had lost her father, a sailor, due to a sea mine and whose mother was currently in America. While at school, an old building known as the Latin Quarter is being picked to be torn down for the upcoming Olympic Games. The story follows Umi as she meets Shun Kazuma and tries to figure out her life and who she is. I really enjoyed watching this adorable shoujo movie with a bit of romance and slice of life. Studio Ghibli has such a distinct art style for both its scenery and characters that even from afar you can tell it was made by them! I definitely recommend watching this movie and others done by them like Howl's Moving Castle if you haven't heard of them (but most of you probably have xD)!

A lot of the buildings in the movie are very similar to the buildings and market places that I have seen in other animes and photos of Japan. Furthermore, the ships and mannerisms of the students was very similar to non-animated movies I've watched about or related to Japan. Furthermore, the kanji and katakana in the movies had similar structures or formats to words I knew or were words that I knew. Overall, this movie has shown off the most culturally accurate depiction of Japanese life specifically on one of the islands being Yokohama. Besides understanding language and culture, from a movie analyst perspective, the plot of the movie is very typical where the lover finds a love interest but is blocked by some outside force or some unsuspecting twist that either they push past or overcome together. The character's dialogue represent Japan's desire and most other prideful countries to preserve their history in some shape or form which was displayed by the students who protested and fought to protect their old school building.