Hôhokekyo tonari no Yamada-kun (1999)

User Rating:

7.5/10   

Director:

Isao Takahata

Writers:

Hisaichi Ishii (comic)
Isao Takahata (writer)

Release Date:

17 July 1999 (Japan)

Genre:

Animation | Comedy | Family

Tagline:

Kanai anzen wa sekai no negai.

Plot:

The life and misadventures of a family in contemporary Japan.

Plot Keywords:

Japanese Family | Japan | Middle Class | Anime | Episodic Structure

Cast

Toru Masuoka	...	Takashi (voice: Japanese Version)
Yukiji Asaoka	...	Matsuko (voice: Japanese Version)
Masako Araki	...	Shige (voice: Japanese Version)
Naomi Uno	...	Nonoko (voice: Japanese Version)
Akiko Yano	...	Fujiwara (Nonoko's teacher) (voice: Japanese Version)
Chocho Miyako	...	Kikuchibaba (voice: Japanese Version)
Tamao Nakamura	...	Woman wearing glasses (voice: Japanese Version)
Yasuko Tomita	...	Information clerk of department store (voice: Japanese Version)
Arata Furuta	...	(voice: Japanese Version)
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
James Belushi	...	Takashi (voice: English version)
Jeff Bennett	...	Additional Voices (voice: English version)
Alex Buck	...	Additional Voices (voice: English version)
A.J. Buckley	...	Additional Voices (voice: English version)
Dixie Carter	...	Additional Voices (voice: English version)
Erin Chambers	...	Department Store Clerk (voice: English version)
Maree Cheatham	...	Additional Voices (voice: English version)
Jordan Del Spina	...	Additional Voices (voice: English version) (as Jordan Orr)
Flo Di Re	...	Additional Voices (voice: English version)
Melissa Disney	...	Additional Voices (voice: English version)
Suguru Egawa	...	(voice: Japanese version)
Amber Hood	...	Additional Voices (voice: English version)
Tress MacNeille	...	Shige (voice: English version)
Edie McClurg	...	Additional Voices (voice: English version)
Jim Meskimen	...	Additional Voices (voice: English version)
Jon Miller	...	Additional Voices (voice: English version)
Liliana Mumy	...	Nonoko (voice: English version)
Trenton Rogers	...	Toshio / Additional Voices (voice: English version)
Ashley Rose	...	Additional Voices (voice) (as Ashley Rose Orr)
Daryl Sabara	...	Noboru (voice: English version)
Jeremy Shada	...	Additional Voices (voice: English version)
Molly Shannon	...	Matsuko (voice: English version)
David Ogden Stiers	...	Narrator (voice: English version)
Matthew Underwood	...	Additional Voices (voice: English version)
Billy West	...	Additional Voices (voice: English version)

Also Known As:

My Neighbors the Yamadas (USA) (literal English title)

MPAA:

Rated PG for mild thematic elements.

Runtime:

104 min

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital | DTS

Certification:

Australia:M | UK:PG | Australia:G (original rating) | Australia:PG (TV rating) | Ireland:PG | South Korea:All | Japan:G | France:U | USA:PG

Company:

Buena Vista International

Trivia:

This is the first 100 percent digital movie created by Studio Ghibli. No traditional "cels" were used for this film.

Movie Connections:

Spoofs "Gekkô kamen" (1958)

Soundtrack:

Que Será, Será

Universally funny. Still this is "Grave of the Fireflies" director's work !

This is a Studio Ghibli movie: The Totoro is displayed at the opening, and the animation is very well done. There end all similarities. The word to describe it is "different". Different graphics, different animation, different kind of story... Nothing my knowledge of previous Ghibli films could have prepared me to see. Especially coming from the director of such films as "Hotaru no Haka" (aka "Grave of the Fireflies")

When seeing the very first pictures, I wondered what these drawings were, so far from the characters I got used to see, and like... And then, the magic of its humor took me. The auditorium was fully filled (some people had to sit on the stairs), and everyone was laughing out loud, having no problem at all to follow the jokes (the movie was subtitled) even if we may have missed a few of them, due to a possible lack in cultural knowledge. Yet, I don't think I missed so much... This Yamada family is close enough to us, and their behavior seemed rather universal to me.

I spent a great time watching it... But I have perhaps only one regret: I'm afraid I won't find the same pleasure I always find to see a Ghibli film again and again. The graphics aren't the main interest in the film, and when you already know the jokes, well... Therefore, I would rate it differently for the first seeing, and the ones after. A high rating anyway, especially for having been able to make us laugh so much without ever using any "dumb" easy joke as we could now find so (too) often in nowadays films. But I will never watch it again and again as I could do with a "Kiki", a "Nausicaa", or (my favorite) a "Mimi o Sumaseba" (aka "Whispers of the Heart").

So, don't hesitate if you have the opportunity to go and see it. You should appreciate it at least once. Then you could wish to own it, most probably to be able to show it to some friends or family.