My Neighbors the Yamadas

My Neighbors the Yamadas, directed by Isahao Takahata, is a Studio Ghibli film most known for its unusual animation style, which actually distinguishes it from all the other pictures released by this renowned studio. Based on a famous Japanese cartoon Nono-chan, it presents random and miscellaneous stories from the daily lives of the Yamada family.

This is a great comedy with a twist for people of every age. It's packed with a huge amount of hilarious gags and situational jokes that will certainly make you laugh lots of times.

Apart from that, these are the two main arguments that should be convincing enough to make you see My Neighbors the Yamadas: the computer-generated animations and drawings made in comic strip style are excellent, giving this Ghibli movie an entirely different feel than all their other works; the whole picture is actually presented in an unconventional manner, as the familiar contiguous plot was replaced here by a series of, so-called, vignettes (short impressionistic stories that aren't necessarily connected to one another), each with its own title at the beginning and a smart philosophical proverb at the end.

In the film's first few minutes we meet all the members of this seemingly typical family: Takashi – the father, Matsuko – the mother, Shige – the grandmother, Noboru – the son, and Nonoko – the daughter. Every subsequent episode covers a different theme, some being hilariously funny and heartwarming, other touching and serious. Through all of the mostly humorous, yet truly realistic, sequences the viewer is able to observe the Yamadas as they cope with every day problems, misfortunes, rivalries, or just plainly ridiculous situations (like fighting over a TV remote, or deciding who will get the tea by playing 'rock-paper-scissors'). Through all of their adventures the viewer is able to get in touch with some of the Japanese traditions and customs.

Every person in the family has his or her special role, making the cartoon much more believable. For example, Shige is the word of wisdom, giving advice to others and judging their actions, and Noboru is mostly seen as a selfish and ignorant studying-addict (which in final evaluation doesn't give planned results).

If I will have to pick only one vignette, which made me laugh the hardest, I would have to go with 'Ginger Morning'. I think you will see why.

All in all, My Neighbors the Yamadas is a laughable, yet purposely clever, and lighthearted, yet sometimes deep, anime that will provide great entertainment for the whole family. I guess that by looking at the Yamadas' experiences we can all learn how to live in perfect harmony with our relatives, replacing minor flaws with passionate love.

Note: since the dubbed version is hard to find, I advise you to watch the Japanese version with English subtitles.

I do not think this is Studio Ghibli's best film, but I liked it because it was different and it still maintained their charm. I do think though out of the English dubs this is one of the weaker ones. Don't get me wrong the voice acting is fine, it's just that the script as has been said before has many references that some mayn't get. That said, it is a very funny and charming film. The animation is excellent, different in a sketchy sort of style but I liked that, and the music is cool. The story is engaging while working at being simple, and the characters are sheer delights, I can never get enough of the grandma. Overall, not their best but I still really liked it. 8/10 Bethany Cox

My Neighbors the Yamadas is a pleasant series of stories that are loosely connected. It's likeable, but it doesn't feel like one cohesive film. I presume this is much like reading the comic strip the movie came from. While I enjoyed the animation and laughed a few times, this probably would have been better suited for a television series.

The new Ghibli Studio production, Tonari no Yamadakun, is two years after "Mononoke" a new masterpiece of animation. The story... Well, there is no story. Just a superposition of sequences, each being more hilarating than the preceding. Director Takahata, using computers generated "hand-like" drawings, wanted the result to be as close as possible to the original newspapers comic, and he fully suceeded. In spite of the apparent graphic simplicity, the astounding quality of the animation makes the characters so lively that it seems sometimes more "real" than conventional cell animation.

The yamadas are a typical japanese family, living in the Kansai area (Osaka). They do not speak standard japanese, especially the Granma, so as almost all of the gags are not visual, so if you plan to see it in Japanese, you should have very strong basis of the language. This is one of the most inventive animation movies I've seen since a very long time...

This is a Studio Ghibli movie: The Totoro is displayed at the opening, and the animation is very well done. There end all similarities. The word to describe it is "different". Different graphics, different animation, different kind of story... Nothing my knowledge of previous Ghibli films could have prepared me to see. Especially coming from the director of such films as "Hotaru no Haka" (aka "Grave of the Fireflies")

When seeing the very first pictures, I wondered what these drawings were, so far from the characters I got used to see, and like... And then, the magic of its humor took me. The auditorium was fully filled (some people had to sit on the stairs), and everyone was laughing out loud, having no problem at all to follow the jokes (the movie was subtitled) even if we may have missed a few of them, due to a possible lack in cultural knowledge. Yet, I don't think I missed so much... This Yamada family is close enough to us, and their behavior seemed rather universal to me.

I spent a great time watching it... But I have perhaps only one regret: I'm afraid I won't find the same pleasure I always find to see a Ghibli film again and again. The graphics aren't the main interest in the film, and when you already know the jokes, well... Therefore, I would rate it differently for the first seeing, and the ones after. A high rating anyway, especially for having been able to make us laugh so much without ever using any "dumb" easy joke as we could now find so (too) often in nowadays films. But I will never watch it again and again as I could do with a "Kiki", a "Nausicaa", or (my favorite) a "Mimi o Sumaseba" (aka "Whispers of the Heart").

So, don't hesitate if you have the opportunity to go and see it. You should appreciate it at least once. Then you could wish to own it, most probably to be able to show it to some friends or family.