25/44
She attends Tomoe Gakuen after failing to fit in at her original elementary school. She meets unique students and learns new things at school, even as Japan descends into war. Yes No Performed by Aimyon Lyrics and music by Aimyon Arranged by Yûsuke Tatsuzaki, Takashi Kondô and Yûsuke Tanaka Courtesy of unBORDE/Warner Music Japan. When Totto-chan is expelled from elementary school for being too distracting to her prudish, pious homeroom teacher, her mother nervously tries to enroll her in a school founded by a kind and progressive gentleman. And so begins a young girl’s journey to discover herself and the world around her as Japan’s involvement in World War II intensifies. The animated film stays close to the original book illustrations and shows in detail how Totto-chan changes from a confused seven-year-old who can’t cope in a strict society to a 10-year-old with friends, ambitions and an understanding of the world and its many joys, frustrations and tragedies. The film is beautiful to look at and transcends its own reality with some wonderfully imaginative sequences in which Totto-chan looks at the world around him and finds beauty in a quiet train compartment or on a rainy evening. The film’s music also works brilliantly, creating a world full of wonder and innocence that is crumbling under a totalitarian and dictatorial government. Fortunately, the film does not portray Japan as innocent in the war. Only through Totto-chan’s eyes and ears do we see Japan’s willingness to accept the conflict, the public impact and the devastating consequences. The opening scenes of children reciting propaganda songs at school give way in the US and UK to whispered conversations about dog muzzles. Later, Totto-chan’s beautiful bento boxes are transformed into rice and pickled plums, injured and disabled bodies in uniforms pass by Totto-chan at short intervals, and her omnipresent and intelligent father disappears noticeably in the final act. The effects of hunger and malnutrition are visible in her classmates: they become irritable, appear to suffer from stunted growth, and drop out of school. It’s truly horrific to watch, and it’s told through the eyes of an optimistic and loving child, compared to the beautiful journey of a young girl struggling to come to terms with herself. “Totto-chan: The Little Girl at the Window” is a lovingly crafted animated film that gives us a glimpse into a brief period of brutal change in a country that has recently become involved in modern world politics, and into the innocent generation that had to rebuild the country after the fires subsided. 9/10.
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