In This Corner of the World Review

Slice of Life anime set in World War 2 Japan has us in tears and laughter. Here’s our In This Corner of the World review. Now showing.

The film is based on the manga by Fumio Kono and focuses on the lead character Suzu, a young woman from Hiroshima who is suddenly married off to a navy man from nearby town of Kure.

Here she learns more about life amidst the chaos and stress as Japan enters the second World War.

As I mentioned, its slice of life anime. So expect In This Corner of the World to have a  ton of laughs and a few touching moments here and there and a huge BANG of emotional pain.

Suzu isn’t hard to love. She’s naive yet sweet at the start but just like real life, she matures towards the end giving us some form of closure. And acceptance.

I know its so far from the comparison, but there is a certain Game of Thrones element to this animated feature directed by Sunao Katabuchi. We start to like a certain character and then we’re not so sure whether he or she lives or dies. Such is life in times of war.

The film lets viewers examine life during war. How it affects all of us whether we fight in the frontlines or doing our part in the community. Makes you want to think how WE would function if another World War hits us. How do we survive. Can we even survive? Should we just lay down and cower or move past the pain?

I loved the movie because it doesnt shy away from topics like mortality and coping. About lost loves and unrequited ones. At one point in the film, Suzu gets a visitor from her past life and in short expositions we witness Suzu make a choice for herself.

Oh and death here is a big deal. We are touching on Hiroshima after all. And while I can safely not-a-spoiler say that theh survive, every character’s life is drastically changed forever.

I guess that’s what the film and this In This Corner of the World review is telling you dear readers. Life is fleeting and its never just all watermelons and parfaits. Its fish and broken windows and air raids and misery too. How we deal with it, how we carry ourselves and how we push past is what makes us us.

Another great element to this is how animated Suzu sees her world and how the animators relayed that to the audience. I liked how theh incorporated painting techniques and chalk animation to show Suzu’s POV. The beautiful cel shading is definitely worth the ticket price. And I’m happy to announce that this flick has an actual happy ending despite all the misery and despair that surrounds them, there’s a certain “feel good” vibe to the movie.

If you want quality anime I definitely recommend catching In This Corner of the World.

Also this In This Corner of the World review wouldn’t be possible without the help of Rafaella Films.

10/10 – will watch again this weekend.