What a wonderful flick. No loud car chases, no big robots, no weird fantasy characters, no adolescent sight gags. This is storytelling in its purest form; only that the feature also happens to be animated. This is one movie that could have just as easily have been live action, and would have been almost as effective. 'Almost', because of some visual techniques that Studio Ghibli used throughout... but more on that later.

The story is pretty simple in itself. When Okajima Taeko takes her vacation, she doesn't visit her own relatives (of which she has very few) but those of an her sister's husband. Taeko is emotionally lost, though she doesn't know it yet. Though a series of flashbacks, aspects of her personal life are revealed, much like peeling away layers of an onion. And just like real life, these 'layers' can sometimes bring tears. The slow realisation how Taeko's life has been shaped by outside forces, and that she was now a product of this lifestyle does not come easily. Yet, the child that dares to dream still lives within, and as her vacation amongst the benibana harvesters progresses, we see a type of healing process begin to occur.

Some of the storytelling techniques used in this movie are nothing less than magical -- and at times, wonderfully sublime. When Taeko first arrives at the town, note that there are very few people about. But slowly, as the story progresses, it seems that you see more and more of the residents, as if the community itself was beginning to accept her as one of its own. All the flashbacks are done in a beautiful watercolour-like wash, the fringes faded to white like so many memories. But my favourite technique of all is saved for the end, when Taeko herself listens to the child within, and dares to break out of her day-to-day living. Her parting words to Toshio at the train station was, 'Next time, I won't bring my 5th grade self along.' The sight of little 5th grade Taeko leading her by the hand on to her new life with Toshio is magically heartwarming, and is nothing less than brilliant film-making. This movie will leave with you a message of hope and optimism that is so lacking in today's industry. Unfortunately, the movie is only available in its original Japanese format, and I was unable to find any other resources for it on the web. It's a more difficult story to understand than your typical action adventure, since it's all story-driven. But don't let that turn you off; I simply can't recommend this one enough!
- AN, 98.01.12