My Neighbors the Yamadas

I'm writing the review as I'm viewing the movie. The artwork is the same (I've been told) as the artwork in the cartoon panel strip from which this is made. This means the artwork is minimalistic, without any of the wonderful colors or richness in other Ghibli animated features.

The Grandmother

Nonoko and her mother

Her father and older brother

In the first part we learn that in this family there is the grandmother, the mother, Nonoko (the young girl), her father and older brother, Noboru. The first part deals with the marriage of the parents and various advice they were given on how to get along in life.

The second part is entitled "A Family Crisis." The family is driving along in their car when they realize that Nonoko is not in the car. Nonoko, meanwhile, has found a little boy who is lost and helps him try to find his mother. By the time the family gets to the place where they left her, Nonoko has gone off with someone else.

They get home but she's not there. The phone rings, and it's someone else where Nonoko is staying so they go to pick her up.

The next part is entitled "Home Economics Wizard".

The mother is getting forgetful. There's also several other short stories relating to life around the house.

The third part is entitled "Marriage Yamada Style." It's various shorts about things going on in their married life with the funniest being when the father wants to watch baseball on the TV and the mother wants to watch a movie; she gets the remote, but he blocks it with a newspaper over and over.

The next part is entitled "Male Bonding." As you can guess, this is a series of stories about the father and Noboru catching ball, etc.

The next part is entitled "Paternal Supremacy Restored." Very short and nothing memorable.

The next part is "Father as Role Model."

"Yamada Family Chronicles" is next. It is News Years and they have New Years Cards. There's one nice section on when he forgets his umbrella at the station and it's raining.

"The Perfect Combo" is the next part. This part is about the mother and the grandmother.

"Breakfast of Champions" is next. By this time I've noted 48 minutes is gone of the 1 hour and 43 minutes total. There are some good parts here and there, but in general I'm beginning to wonder what word applies once you've gone beyond bored. Can I make it to the end of the feature?

"Ginger Morning" is next. This part is about people forgetting their purses, shoes, proper clothes, etc.

"Regret" is the next part. The word "regret" seems to have nothing whatsover to do with what (little) actually happens.

"Art is Brief, Life is Long" is the next section. The grandmother is wondering how much longer she will live.

"Easily Than Wisdom" [sic] is the next section title. 57 minutes have now passed, but my dedication to my pages is strong. I shall finish this feature and write a review. This part concerns Noboru's studying habits (or lack of them, more precisely) and is somewhat funny.

"Adolescence" is the next section. Noboru gets some chocolates on Valentine's Day. (In Japan, girls give guys chocolates on Valentine's Day, and a short time later guys give girls chocolates on a day candy-makers decided would be fun to invent and good for business.) Noboru later goes to a bookstore to buy a "dirty" book and a girl he knows comes up and he quickly picks out a different book. He gets a phone call from a girl and the mother and the grandmother both listen in.

"Yamada Family Chronicles" is next. Only 37 minutes left. The father comes home late at night from work and his wife gives him a banana. Don't ask me to explain it. A banana.

Time to regroup. Sit back. Rest. Feed my Tamagotchi. Read some of the second volume of Cheeky Angel. Live.

The haiku is good, though.

"Going My Way" is next. This is basically about throwing out trash and cleaning up a park.

Next up is "The Fight for Justice." Concerns a motocycle gang and a daydream about being a masked rider that fights injustice.

"Section Chief Yamada!" is next. He gives a speech at a wedding and he and his wife sing karaoke.

Finally. Finished. I was told that this is based on a four-panel series and that it's very hard converting a four-panel cartoon series to an anime film. (Azumanga Daioh is one of the few that has managed to do this with great success and quality). I'm sorry, but this was just not that funny. Here and there, somewhat funny. Overall, boring.