From Up on Poppy Hill Review: Anime That’ll Make You Cry

With the emotional capacity and charm of a John Hughes teen flick and the drama of an Ang Lee feature, Hayao Miyazaki’s “From Up on Poppy Hill” immediately resonates. It has so much heart that even those who despise anime will find out what admirers of the art form have known for years.

Excellent anime, like any non-animated feature film, can make you feel.

The story of Umi (Sarah Bolger) and Shun (Anton Yelchin) takes place in 1963 Japan. After two destructive wars, the nation is in a transitional period. The old guard is vanishing, replaced by those who wish to start fresh. This feeling isn’t one that represents the entire population however. Ironically, a group of eccentric and rambunctious High School students find the need to remember the past and their loved ones an important one. That desire to establish your own history is an idea that guides the film. Anyone who’s ever felt the need to know his or her lineage or roots will forget that this is an anime very quickly and become absorbed by the story.

Umi and Shun’s budding romance also plays its role in pinning your eyes to the screen. When Umi and Shun eventually cross paths, you can feel the magic. Their relationship is a special one. It’s so pure and honest. That feeling in your gut when these two characters lock eyes is hard to ignore. It was the same way you felt when you read “Romeo and Juliet” for the first time or even, to a far lesser extent for more tender-eyed pop culture enthusiasts, the way you smirked the first time you saw Heath Ledger and Julia Stiles together in “10 Things I Hate About You.” Umi and Shun’s love, even in an anime, is as real as anything you’ll ever see on the big screen.

From this moment these two characters share the screen, the film changes drastically. The film goes from aimless, yet beautiful, to dealing with the emotional fallout of the Korean War and World War II and actively discusses how the fighting tore apart families. In the case of Umi and Shun, it may affect their chances to ever truly love.

Ultimately, their unique microcosm is proof of how war changes the lives of people. Through Miyazaki’s penchant for warm storytelling, we get this in a way that’ll water up your eyes. The wonderful animation, scene-setting music and excellent voice acting help in this endeavor even more so.

The talent in the voice acting cast is proof of the story’s importance. Ron Howard, Chris Noth, Christina Hendricks, Jamie Lee Curtis and Beau Bridges all line the supporting cast. While their roles aren’t as important as you’d expect, they all lend a hand in making the English audio far from passable.

In a beautifully-produced animated film such as this, the attention to the story is of the most importance. With the depth in the voice acting, the story is never a joke. Between the plethora of twist-turns, the wonderful climax, “From Up on Poppy Hill” never disappoints.

Although it’s a film that many will never expect to love, the heart-warming story and wonderful characters ensure it’s ultimately something you’ll remember for quite some time.

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About Patrick Hickey Jr. 14267 Articles
Patrick Hickey Jr. is a full-time Assistant Professor of Communication & Performing Arts and Director of the Journalism program at Kingsborough Community College and is the chairman of the City University of New York Journalism Council. He is the Founder and Editor-In-Chief of ReviewFix.com. He's also a former News Editor at NBC Local Integrated Media and National Video Games Writer at Examiner.com where his work was mentioned in National Ad campaigns by Disney, Nintendo and EA Sports. Hickey was also the Editor-In-Chief of two College Newspapers before he received his BA in Journalism from Brooklyn College. Hickey's work has been published in The New York Daily News, The New York Times, Complex, The Hockey Writers, Yahoo!, Broadway World, Examiner, NYSportScene Magazine, ProHockeyNews.com, GothamBaseball.com, The Syracuse Post-Standard, Scout.com and the official sites of the Brooklyn Aces and New York Islanders. His first book, The Minds Behind the Games: Interviews With Cult And Classic Video Game Developers was released in April 2018 and is chock full of interviews with legendary developers. His second book in the series, The Minds Behind Adventures Games, was released in December 2019. His third book, The Minds Behind Sports Games, was released in September 2020. His fourth book, The Minds Behind Shooter Games, was released in March 2021. The Minds Behind Sega Genesis Games and The Minds Behind PlayStation Games were released in 2022 and The Minds Behind PlayStation 2 was published in January 2023. Hickey is also a contracted comic book writer, currently penning his original series, "Condrey," as well as "The Job," "Brooklyn Bleeds" "Dem Gulls" and "KROOM" for Legacy Comix, where he serves as founder, owner and Editor-in-Chief. Hickey Jr. is also a voice actor, having starred in the 2018 indie hit and 2019 Switch, PS4 and Xbox One release, The Padre (also serving as English language Story Editor), from Shotgun With Glitters. The sequel, The Padre: One Shell Straight to Hell was released in February 2021- Hickey also served as a Story Editor and Lead Voiceover performer. He has also done narration and trailers for several other titles including The Kaiju Offensive, Relentless Rex and Roniu’s Tale. Hickey is also the lead voiceover performer on Mega Cat Studios’ upcoming title WrestleQuest, responsible for nearly 90 characters in the game, as well as Skybound's Renfield: Bring Your Own Blood, where he voices both Dracula and Renfield, as well as several other characters. He also stars in Ziggurat Interactive’s World Championship Boxing Manager 2, where he performs the VO of nearly every male character in the game. He also worked on the Atari VCS’s BPM Boy.

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