Jarinko Chie

One of the two anime films that Takahata directed between his long stint directing anime television series and the creation of Studio Ghibli (the other was the, also splendid, "Gauche the Cellist"). The movie is based on a famous manga series and was a success that led to the creation of an anime television series this same year, that was also directed by Takahata. It has the easily recognisable sensibility of Takahata to deal with everyday life problems and down-to-earth people and is comprised of a series of vignettes of Japanese traditional life, with very well-developed characters and an excellent (and at times surrealistic) sense of humour.