The Movie Diorama Japanese animation commonly use World War II as a backdrop for their characters enriched with traditionalisms and virtuous optimism, Ghibli are renowned for it with 'Grave of the Fireflies' and 'The Wind Rises'. Katabuchi manages to encapsulate a coming-of-age drama with historical significance resulting in a hauntingly resonating experience, albeit occasionally stumbling with its own sporadically structured narrative. A young woman is forced into marriage and moves from her rural family village to the bustling city of Kure where she must learn to overcome adulthood amidst the chaos of war. Admirably, what sets this apart from similar dramas is the nuanced undertone of diligence. Chronicling a large portion of one female's life, thrusted into an unadjusted foreign environment, we see this character develop from an innocent girl who loves drawing landscapes to a hardworking woman who tackles ordinary chores. Suzu becomes a commendable personality, a microcosm representing the civilians of Japan and their enduring communal spirit. The animation is gorgeous. Ranging from hand drawn characters expressively showing their emotions to water coloured landscapes depicting the natural beauty of Japan. Various animation changes are injected throughout, particularly during a pivotal scene involving the tragic loss of a child. It is moving in parts, especially the third act, where key events during the war take place such as the Hiroshima bomb explosion. The excess violence is substituted for a more gentle approach, however there are specific frames that illustrate the brutal effects of war. Unfortunately, Katabuchi's narrative structure seems haphazard, as if he is purposefully attempting to convey Suzu's absent mind. Many scenes do not naturally flow and the constant time shifts made the pacing incredibly inconsistent. It just felt unnecessarily frantic. In saying that though, the majestic art style and thematic story certainly negate these detriments.

tenshi_ippikiookami "In This Corner of the World" is one of the most beautiful anime I have ever seen. It is a story that will touch the heart of the viewer, a story that tells what seems a simple story, but that has layers and more layers in it, and that will stay with you for a long time after the end credits roll.The story centers on Suzu, a young girl from Hiroshima, before, during and after the Second World War. She has a brother and a sister, she loves to paint and draw (and is a real artist), she enjoys simple things and has an easy smile, she just wants to be happy and help the ones that surround her.However, life is never so simple and here, the war comes into play. And "In This Corner of the World" does a great job in balancing the small (Suzu) with the big (Hiroshima, the war and its consequences...). Even if Suzu is almost always there, on the screen, many little details, small conversations, and the interaction between characters depict a world of violence, of hate, of power and unresolved conflict. It is sad, it is touching and it shouldn't be a surprise if it makes you cry.The animation is amazing. It is all very cute and smily, which makes the hard moments hit harder, the sad moments be sadder, and the angry moments make you angrier. The color palette, and the character's expressions help to bring the story to life and to make all of them feel real and close and their needs and desires truthful.It is a great movie and totally worth viewing. Highly recommended.

catplusplus-74763 Giving the highest rating, because this movie touches on difficult and seldom discussed topics in disarmingly charming tone. Life of Japanese civilians during the war is only the first one of this topics, you will see. This movie is about a serious story and does not attempt to amuse audience with superficial plot twists. Do not expect a children's cartoon, though it's subdued enough to not offend a younger audience.

James Campbell (jp-campbell) Reviewers want this exquisite and heartbreaking film to be a tightly focused wartime narrative but that it is not. We follow Suzu through several of life's terrifying (and often involuntary) leaps of faith. We leave home with her, just a girl, and to marry a boy she never recalls having met. We live with her in a marital house that is at times welcoming and at others rank with hostility. We see her reforge her attachments to family and become part of a new one; we see this house become her home, her place of work and something she will fight furiously to defend. There is the numbness and then bottomless acceleration of grief; the desensitisation to loss; a distance, a cold strength by the time more former intimates are gone. An honesty to the development of her marriage, the elements of loving warmth and explosions of tension. The imperfections of characters brought into proximity and friction. A nuanced portrayal of a perceived love-triangle and the way it is both uncharacteristic of stereotypes about this era but also entirely plausible in light of how wartime fatalism shapes emotional experience. Suzu is completely charming in her tirelessly hardworking and yet creatively daydreaming tendencies. Though her life is brutal at times, her perspective on her lot, and on the natural and human beauty which surrounds her, makes the idea of a now forgotten life of domesticity in prewar Japan almost seem appealing! To look back on her, the world that she sketched and painted in her mind's eye, the characters with whom she was co- dependent, feels like looking back with tearful nostalgia toward real friends now lost in time - the same emotions felt at the close of any great film, and in particular, most of the grown-up output of Studio Ghibli (apologies for the predictable reference). Really priceless.