Anime Eiga Review: From Up on Poppy Hill

Film Synopsis

The year is 1963, Tokyo is set to host the 1964 Olympic Games, and Japan is trying to move forward into the future. In a small boarding house overlooking the Port of Yokohama lives 16 year old Umi Matsuzaki (voiced by Masami Nagasawa). Every morning she wakes up extra early and raises a set of signal flags; a ritual she has done without fail for many years.

The life of this high school girl has always been a hectic one, but she takes it all in stride. Having to juggle house and academic work day in and day is exhausting, so a nice distraction is always welcomed. Such a opportunity comes in the form of a student protest over the fate of the old clubhouse building. One of the boys leading the fight is Shun Kazama (voiced by Junichi Okada).

Umi’s experience running her boarding house allows her to become a central figure in Shun’s cause and the two start to develop strong feelings for one another.

Then one day, as Umi shows off picture of her late father, Shun makes a devastating realization. One that wouldn't just put their relationship in jeopardy, it would make it impossible. Umi and Shun’s dad may be the same person.

If this turns out to be true, Umi and Shun must give up before they were ever given a chance.

Film Positives

Goro Miyazaki gave us Tales from Earthsea. Is round two any better? Yes, considerably. From Up on Poppy Hill is a great film and a lot of fun; making it easy to push aside memories of the past.

Umi Matsuzaki

Before moving on, if I don’t talk about this, people are going to be too weirded out to give this movie a shot. If you want to give From Up on Poppy Hill a fair try yourself, stop reading here and go ahead and check out the film. It’s well worth your time and then please come back.

There is no incest in this film and that's not a sentence I thought I was going to say this month.

Two Stories

Shun Kazama

The plot of From Up on Poppy Hill jumps between two stories. One focuses on the effort to save the clubhouse and the other is about Umi and Shun’s relationship.

Considering this movie isn’t long at all, it was a surprise to see both of these stories get fully played out and remain interesting. Going back and forth between the two wasn't a chore and one never became more important than the other.

The clubhouse over the years has become quite awesome. Oh it’s a dump, don’t get me wrong, but it has an atmosphere overflowing with history. This is a giant community rather than a location to do club activities.

A crude, cluttered, but complex system keeps the entire machine running. Everyone is piled on top of one another. Some clubs are literally overflowing with excess materials and junk. There might even be the occasional explosion (thank you for that chemistry club). The house is always lively, friendly, and welcoming.

Since this is a place that needs saving, the film needed the effort's to be worth caring about. From Up on Poppy Hill manages to do  this the instant we step inside. It's obvious the students love and care for this place very much. Anyone who spends time here will quickly feel the same.

That’s why after all the hard work everyone put into fixing up the place, its gets very concerning when all the effort might turn out to be in vain. The school board votes to demolish the building despite the overwhelming support to save it. It’s unfair because one, you know no one on the board even bothered to come down and see the work that had been done and two, to lose such an amazing place would be a great tragedy.

While this is going on, Umi and Shun have to come terms with them potentially being related. When this became a possibility, it was a pretty big shock. They made a good pair, made a good couple, so to have all that amount to nothing would have been a hard blow.

Of all the Ghibli couples this month, Umi and Shun are one of the most believable and one of the ones I found myself getting the most invested in. Did this movie have me convinced it would make the two of them siblings and have them not become a thing; a little bit yes.

Therefore, when there was even the slightest chance of it not being true, I grasped onto it.

I’m bummed that out of obligation I gave away the happy ending of the film. So having gone that far already, let’s talk about the scene where Umi’s mother (voiced by Jun Fubuki) reveals the story of where Shun is from.

Shun’s real parents were killed in a car crash when he was an infant. Umi’s father was on the scene and in order to ensure his friend’s kid wouldn’t end up in an orphanage, he took the child home. While a selfless gesture, Umi’s young parents were not in the best position to raise a second child since Umi's mother was currently pregnant with her. Therefore, Shun was brought to his current parents who were still grieving over the loss of their own child. Wow, having just written all that out, that’s sad as s@#$.

Although a lot of tragic things took place in the past, everything ended up turning out alright. But it was Umi’s relief from hearing she could freely love the person she cares most about made the scene amazing. It was the only time Umi cried during the movie and she totally earned it.

Series Negatives

It wasn't until writing the Film Positives that I noticed it. Umi's father and Shun's adoptive father were good friends, right? Handing someone a child to take care is a pretty out of no where thing to do no matter the time period, you following me? Even if we consider what Umi's father did as an everyday occurrence, I imagine most people, willing or not, would have a few questions.

Then why did Shun's father never tell the full story to his son? I find it hard to believe Shun's parents didn't know the truth and it wasn't as if they couldn't just ask Umi's mother any time they wanted.

I'm willing to accept the possibility the film did cover this and I simply missed it. Or it's possible I'm completely ignorant of life in Japan following the end of World War II. However if neither are the case, it means the kids went through a lot of unnecessary worry.

Two Movies

I've gone over how well the movie manages to tell two compelling stories at the same time. So what I'm about to say might be a contradiction.

Saving the clubhouse and the relationship between our leads are completely separate things. The actions and events of one in no way affect the other. The only time both storylines synced up was when Umi and Shun met. After that nothing.

Both plot lines exist as their own thing. This begs the question, why not just have two movies? There's enough material here for two feature length films and at no point would they have to reference each other.

It’s strange to me these two stories were told together since they didn’t form a bigger tale.

Final Thoughts

After Tales from Earthsea I was nervous. However, From Up on Poppy Hills is strong enough to make you forget that other film ever happened.

Despite having no strong connection to each other, the two stories of the movie are wonderfully told and a lot of fun to watch. The fight for the clubhouse is triumphant and the relationship between Umi and Shun is tense. You're hit on all sides and this is one that's worth looking at.

Ghibli Month will continue tomorrow with 2013’s The Wind Rises.

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