Year: 1995
Choosing my favorite Studio Ghibli work is hard. On one hand, there's Totoro and Majou no Takkyubin. On the other hand, there's Neko no Ongaeshi and this. I just watched Mimi wo Sumaseba
for the first time yesterday, and it has completely charmed me (despite
my first reaction when "Take Me Home, Country Roads" played at the
opening sequence).
Things
that hooked me: (1) the scenery. God, I miss that scenery. I've never
been to Tama New Town, where the story is set, but it's still a very
familiar sight.
(2) The romance. This has got to be my favorite romance next to You've Got Mail.
Shizuku, the heroine, is a voracious reader who keeps borrowing books
from the library. They still had library cards, so she could see the
names of the people who borrowed the books before her. One day she
notices that someone by the name of Amasawa Seiji has read most of the
books she borrowed. Obviously a kindred spirit, right. *sighs* As if
this could ever happen in real life. Of course, when she finally meets
Seiji, he isn't the person she imagined him to be, either.
(3)
This is a wonderful coming-of-age story. While this is also a love
story, it is at its heart a story about a young girl who is unsure of
who she wants to be. Shizuku lives without direction, but meeting Seiji,
who is passionate about violin making, makes her wonder about her
direction in life, and who she is as a person. Since she loves books and
has a talent for poetry, she tests herself by writing a fantasy novel. I
think that it is fitting that her greatest dilemma towards the end was
whether or not she has the talent to pursue writing, rather than whether
a long distance relationship between her and Seiji would work. Because
if there is one thing I can't stand, it's girls who discard parts of who
they are just to be with a guy. Shizuku realizes that Seiji has a great
goal to pursue, and instead of clinging to him or mindlessly pursuing
him, she realizes that she needs to have an ambition as strong so that
they would be on equal footing.
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p/s: This movie was based on a manga (also titled Mimi wo Sumaseba) by Hiiragi Aoi.
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