Hôhokekyo tonari no Yamada-kun (1999)

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 | Singapore: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

Takahata once again draws from his bottomless well of creativity.

While Miyazaki is the best known (and most successful) of the non-demon-fixated/violent-porn anime directors, his sometime producing partner and fellow Studio Ghibli alumni easily equals him in breadth of vision, commitment to art and passionate filmmaking. And although it's Miyazaki who alone seems to possess the Midas touch of his uniquely innocent, melancholic, optimistic, whimsical sensibility, Takahata has arguably pushed the envelope further back in terms of Japan's commercial animation vocabulary. Witness the neo-realism of Grave Of The Fireflies, fearless indictment of globalisation in Pon Poko, and now this utterly charming adaptation of the popular manga, My Neighbours The Yamadas, rendered in a style new to Anime features, but utterly faithful to the original text.

A series of vignettes rather than one overall plot, it is nevertheless easy to find the running time flying past you as you take in the idiosyncratic characters, semi-bizarre situations (although a moment's thought reveals that your family was probably just like this), and beautiful performances (from animators and voice artists alike), finishing with a sense of the family's strength as a unit through a love for each other that's expressed more through their tolerance of each other's peculiarities than in open declarations of affection. And like Grave Of The Fireflies and Whisper Of The Heart, a popular western song that no one of my generation (20s) would ever dream of listening to seriously is made poignant, rousing and brimming with emotion.

Ten out of ten: films this good are rare.