24/14
She attends Tomoe Gakuen School, after failing elementary school. She meets unique students and learns new things at school, even as Japan is plunged into war. Ano ne Performed by Aimyon Words and music by Aimyon Arrangement by Yûsuke Tatsuzaki, Takashi Kondô and Yûsuke Tanaka Courtesy of unBORDE/Warner Music Japan. When Totto-chan is forced to leave her elementary school for being too much of a nuisance to her prudent and pious teacher, her mother nervously tries to enroll her in a school founded by a caring and progressive gentleman. Thus begins the young girl’s journey of discovering herself and the world around her, even as Japan’s involvement in World War II deepens. The animation closely follows the illustrations of the original book, detailing Totto-chan’s journey from a confused 7-year-old girl who can’t fit in with strict society to a 10-year-old girl with friends, ambition and an understanding of the world and its many joys, frustrations and tragedies. Beautiful to watch, the film transcends its own reality with wonderfully imaginative sequences in which Totto-chan observes the world around him, finding beauty in a still train compartment or a rainy evening. The music also works brilliantly to create a world of wonder and innocence, which is crumbling under a totalitarian, dictatorial regime. Fortunately, the film does not make Japan look innocent at war. Through Totto-chan’s eyes and ears, we see Japan’s willingness to accept the conflict, the effects it has on the public, and the devastating consequences. Early scenes of children reciting propaganda songs at school give way to whispered conversations about American and British dog muzzles. Later, Totto-chan’s beautiful bento boxes are reduced to rice and pickled plums, wounded and disabled bodies in uniforms pass Totto-chan fleetingly, and his ever-present and intelligent father conspicuously disappears in the final act. The effects of starvation and malnutrition are evident in his classmates becoming irritable, stunted, and absent from school. It’s a truly harrowing experience to witness, told vividly through the eyes of an optimistic, loving child, and set against the beautiful journey of a young girl coming to terms with herself. «Totto-chan: The Girl in the Window» is a lovingly crafted animation that allows us to glimpse a brief period of brutal change in a country that has only recently become involved in modern global politics, and the innocent generation that had to rebuild the country after the fires were over. 9/10.