Title: My Neighbors the Yamadas/Tonari no Yamadakun
Category: Movie
Total Episodes: *it's a movie*
Genres: Family
Year Published: 1999
Studio: Ghilbi
US Distribution: *Available on Fansub
Animation: 8
Sound: 7
Story: 7
Character: 8
Value: 8
Enjoyment: 9
Average: 7.83
Description:
Based on Hisaichi ISHII's comic strip Tonari no Yamada-kun, this film is about the daily lives of the Yamada family: Takashi and Matsuko (the father and mother), Shige (Matsuko's mother), Noboru (the son), Nonoko (the daughter), and Pochi (the family dog). The comic is currently serialized in the Asahi Shinbun (see a sample of the comic), though it has been renamed Nono-chan.
Takahata wanted Yamada-kun to have the art style of watercolor pictures (see above) rather than cel pictures. To achieve that, the traditional paint-on-cel techniques were replaced with digital technology, making Yamada-kun the first Ghibli movie to be painted and animated entirely on computers.
One Liner: You HAVE to watch it if you're Asian; well, non-Asians welcome too, but they might not get all the jokes.
Animation: At first glance, My Neighbors the Yamadas look like total crap. It basically sketches, with a bit of water color. They don't even do a good job with the background (because there isn't any) and each shot is a simple as possible.
Then why is it so good? Because it just is. Even though the animation in My Neighbors the Yamadas don't even compare to the animation in say... Hoshi no Koe, it doesn't mean the artists didn't know how to draw. On the contrary, the animators can draw very well. My Neighbors the Yamadas has this distinct unparalleled fluidity that blows you away. I personally think that the animation was done on purpose for several reasons - to maintain the comic strip look (like how they did Lilo & Stitch) and to place emphasis on the triviality of everyday life. Then how would I know the animation is good? At some parts the sketching is amazingly detailed, and it's... really really good (for lack of better words). Eventually as the film progresses, you stop caring that the animation doesn't compare to other full-length animated flicks, and learn to appreciate it because it makes the movie really cute.
Sound: Don't remember much in terms of a soundtrack, besides the horrible singing of "Que Sera Sera" in the end. But don't let that spoil the movie - that reflects one of the themes, which will be discussed in the story section. Sound effects, on the other hand, are amazingly good. Crisp and clear... yea, crisp and clear which possesses a certain reality that contrasts with the unrealistic animation. Yet somehow, it blends wonderfully - you'd have to see, er.. hear for yourself.
Story: My Neighbors the Yamadas is about a dysfunctional Asian family. There you go. That's the story. But you don't have the American family film crap celebrating the role of the family when Billy lost the dog he abused and ends the movie with a cheesy smile. Please... shoot me (with a nerf dart). Thank goodness My Neighbors the Yamadas isn't like that. The movie portrays a real family, meaning there are real problems, real issues, real reactions. This is why My Neighbors the Yamadas is good - they do not attempt to cover up the facade of the perfect family, but instead show how a family works together to live under the same roof without tearing each other apart. Well, anyway, back to the story. The thing is, there isn't any. Much like real life and unlike the scripted movies, My Neighbors the Yamadas is comprised of little snippets and episodes. While in normal conditions this would not work, for some reason, My Neighbors the Yamadas overcomes this roughness and manages to flow, in similar aspects to its animation.
Character: Can you really say that you hate your family members? Can YOU? Even after you accepted their strengths and weaknesses, their funny moments and embarassing failures, how sometimes they are so ridiculous that you want to hide in a corner and other times how they make you so proud that you want to tell the whole world you're related to them? Well, maybe you can. But that's besides the point. My Neighbors the Yamadas is as real as character gets, with each person possessing a certain reality to their being. Even w/o a story, somehow the characters managed to be fully developed, to the extent you could easily see how that person is an actual person, and relate what the characters do to a real acquaintence, or friend, or relative, whatever. I found the characters to real, so touching, that it almost felt like I was part of the family. Doesn't get much more powerful than that.
Value: Personally, My Neighbors the Yamadas is very valuable to me, but not necessarily for everybody else. I think it is so simply because I can relate, since I'm part of an Asian family. While watching what's going on, I'd just sit there and nod, going... "haha stupid! wait! we do that too!" It is because of these where I appreciate life, and I felt it would be a shame to overlook such moments. Believing the importance of family, My Neighbors the Yamadas reaffirms such believes and touched me to the heart.
Enjoyment: So enjoyable... can't find the words.
Bottom Line: An excellent movie on family, reality, life, and the trivialities on all three aspects; cute, but touching to the core, giving the viewers a profound appreciation of their own household and families. Must watch if Asian.
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