is a 2011 Japanese
anime
is Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside of Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, in Japan and in Japane ...
drama film produced by
Production I.G
is a Japanese animation studio and production enterprise, founded on December 15, 1987, by Mitsuhisa Ishikawa and headquartered in Musashino, Tokyo, Japan. The letters I and G derive from the names of the company founders: producer Mitsuhisa Ish ...
and distributed by
Kadokawa Pictures
Kadokawa Daiei Studio, formerly is the film division of the Japanese company the Kadokawa Corporation. It is one of the four members of the Motion Picture Producers Association of Japan (MPPAJ), and is therefore one of Japan's Big Four film stud ...
. The film was written and directed by
Hiroyuki Okiura
is a Japanese animation director and animator working for Production I.G.
Career
Okiura left high school at the age of 16 and entered the animation industry as a member of the studio Anime R, where he studied under Moriyasu Taniguchi and which T ...
and stars an
ensemble cast
In a dramatic production, an ensemble cast is one that is composed of multiple principal actors and performers who are typically assigned roughly equal amounts of screen time.Random House: ensemble acting Linked 2013-07-17
Structure
In contrast to ...
featuring
Karen Miyama
is a Japanese actress and voice actress. She used to be part of the Gekidan Tohai talent agency, and is now part of Horipro talent agency. She portrayed the young Ann Uekusa in the live-action drama ''Sand Chronicles''. In anime, she provided ...
,
Yuka Yuka may refer to:
*Yuka (music), an Afro-Cuban style of music
*Yuka (mammoth), mammoth specimen found in Yakutia, Russia
*Manshu Yuka Kogyo K.K. Ssuningkai, a Japanese-German pre-WWII industrial co-operation
People
*Yuka (name), a Japanese perso ...
,
Toshiyuki Nishida
is a Japanese actor. He has won two Japanese Academy Awards for best actor, for ''The Silk Road'' (1988) and ''Tsuribaka Nisshi 6'' (1993). He has also won the Blue Ribbon Award for Best Actor for '' Get Up!'' and '' Tsuribaka Nisshi 14'' (2003) ...
,
Chō
is a Japanese actor and narrator from Kōnosu, Saitama. His former stage name was . He is a graduate of the Nishogakusha University Department of Literature and received training at Bungakuza's research establishment and the Seinenza Theater ...
and
Kōichi Yamadera
is a Japanese actor, voice actor, narrator and singer from Shiogama, Miyagi Prefecture. He graduated from Tohoku Gakuin University's economics school and is currently affiliated with Across Entertainment. Before that, he was affiliated with th ...
. In ''A Letter to Momo'', 11-year-old Momo Miyaura moves with her mother to a small island town after her father dies. When she arrives, she encounters three goblins that others cannot see who help her to cope with the loss of her father and the changes in her life.
''A Letter to Momo'' premiered at the
2011 Toronto International Film Festival
The 36th annual Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) was held in Toronto, Ontario, Canada between September 8 and September 18, 2011.
Buenos Aires, Argentina was selected to be showcased for the 2011 City to City programme. The opening film ...
in Toronto, Canada on September 10, 2011 and was released on April 21, 2012 in Japan.
Plot
Following the death of her father Kazuo, Momo Miyaura and her mother Ikuko travel from Tokyo to the
Seto Inland Sea
The , sometimes shortened to the Inland Sea, is the body of water separating Honshū, Shikoku, and Kyūshū, three of the four main islands of Japan. It serves as a waterway connecting the Pacific Ocean to the Sea of Japan. It connects to Osaka ...
. Momo carries Kazuo's unfinished letter, which contains only the words "Dear Momo". At her mother's estate in , they meet their relatives Sachio and Sae Sadahama, and Koichi, a postman and an old friend of Ikuko, who has always had a crush on her. Momo is devastated and misses Tokyo. In the attic, she opens a present containing a rare picture book about goblins and
Yōkai
are a class of supernatural entities and spirits in Japanese folklore. The word is composed of the kanji for "attractive; calamity" and "apparition; mystery; suspicious." are also referred to as , or . Despite often being translated as suc ...
, collected by Sachio's father. Three droplets from the sky enter Ikuko's estate and transform into yokai consisting of Kawa, Mame, and Iwa, the group's leader.
When Ikuko begins to take nursing classes, Momo reads the book and begins to hear some strange sounds from the house. She is chased out of the estate by the yokai, only to encounter a young boy named Yota. Oblivious to the house's strange noises, Ikuko and Yota assume that it is safe. The next morning, she meets Yota and his sister Umi. The three meet up with his friends and swim under the bridge, but Momo decides not to and runs to a shelter during a thunderstorm. Iwa, Mame and Kawa reveal themselves, having stolen some fruit from around the island. Frightened, Momo runs back to Ikuko's estate and discovers that Sachio's orchard was ransacked. Sachio then tells Momo that the yokai were originally gods, but they were transformed as a punishment for breaking the divine laws.
Momo attempts to prevent the yokai from stealing the local vegetables, only for Kawa to break Ikuko's mirror. Later, she and Ikuko argue, and Momo leaves. Later, while searching for Momo, Ikuko suffers a near-fatal asthma attack. After realizing her mistake, Momo asks the yokai to help look for a doctor on the other side of the island. However, the yokai decline and Momo leaves the house. Koichi and Yota pursue Momo, but she reveals her previous argument with Kazuo before his death and asks Koichi to help find the doctor. Meanwhile, the yokai realize they can escape punishment by allowing Momo and Koichi to cross over the newly completed bridge and find the doctor on the other side.
The next morning, Momo writes a letter to her father thanking him as Ikuko recovers. Having completed their mission to protect Momo, Iwa, Mame and Kawa transform back into the droplets and return to the sky. That night, Momo and Ikuko reconcile during the
tōrō nagashi
The Floating Lamp is a type of lamp that floats on the surface of the water. It is also known as a river lamp or lake lamp etc., depending on the water body in which the water lamp is floated. The water lamp originated in India and later spread t ...
and the two realize that Kazuo wrote that he was proud of her. She begins her new life with Yota and the other children by swimming under the bridge.
Voice cast
Production
Development
Distributor
Kadokawa Pictures
Kadokawa Daiei Studio, formerly is the film division of the Japanese company the Kadokawa Corporation. It is one of the four members of the Motion Picture Producers Association of Japan (MPPAJ), and is therefore one of Japan's Big Four film stud ...
announced this film in its lineup of 2011 and 2012 films on 15 February 2011.
More details of the film were announced on 11 July 2011.
It was announced that the director
Hiroyuki Okiura
is a Japanese animation director and animator working for Production I.G.
Career
Okiura left high school at the age of 16 and entered the animation industry as a member of the studio Anime R, where he studied under Moriyasu Taniguchi and which T ...
will be in charge of this film. His previous work as a director includes the 2000 film ''
Jin-Roh: The Wolf Brigade''.
The film ''A Letter to Momo'' is Hiroyuki's first film in 11 years after ''Jin-Roh''. He had spent 7 years coming up with the script, directing the film and creating the storyboard for this film.
Casting
The main voice cast members of ''A Letter to Momo'' was first announced on 17 November 2011.
It was announced that actress
Karen Miyama
is a Japanese actress and voice actress. She used to be part of the Gekidan Tohai talent agency, and is now part of Horipro talent agency. She portrayed the young Ann Uekusa in the live-action drama ''Sand Chronicles''. In anime, she provided ...
voiced the 11 year old lead character Momo, while singer
Yuka Yuka may refer to:
*Yuka (music), an Afro-Cuban style of music
*Yuka (mammoth), mammoth specimen found in Yakutia, Russia
*Manshu Yuka Kogyo K.K. Ssuningkai, a Japanese-German pre-WWII industrial co-operation
People
*Yuka (name), a Japanese perso ...
is voicing Momo's mother.
In addition, actor
Toshiyuki Nishida
is a Japanese actor. He has won two Japanese Academy Awards for best actor, for ''The Silk Road'' (1988) and ''Tsuribaka Nisshi 6'' (1993). He has also won the Blue Ribbon Award for Best Actor for '' Get Up!'' and '' Tsuribaka Nisshi 14'' (2003) ...
voices Iwa in the film.
Theme song
In an announcement made on 11 July 2011, it was revealed that the theme song for the film ''A Letter to Momo'' is the song by Japanese singer
Yuko Hara
Yuko Hara (原 由子 ''Hara Yūko'', born December 11, 1956 in Yokohama, Japan, nicknamed "Harabo") is the keyboardist for Southern All Stars. She is also a vocalist and writes many of her own songs.
She is married to Keisuke Kuwata, the mult ...
.
This song is an acoustic piece, and it creates an image of the rich natural scenery of the
Seto Inland Sea
The , sometimes shortened to the Inland Sea, is the body of water separating Honshū, Shikoku, and Kyūshū, three of the four main islands of Japan. It serves as a waterway connecting the Pacific Ocean to the Sea of Japan. It connects to Osaka ...
.
The "美しき場所" in the song title is the old way of describing "a beautiful place to live".
Hara wrote the song's lyrics and composed the music, with Junichi Soga as the editor of the song.
Yuko Hara, who is the keyboardist for the Japanese band
Southern All Stars
, also known by the abbreviations and SAS, are a Japanese rock band that first formed in 1974.
The band is composed of Keisuke Kuwata (lead vocals and guitars), Yuko Hara (vocals and keyboards), Kazuyuki Sekiguchi (bass), Hiroshi Matsuda (dru ...
, reportedly spent 5 years working on this piece of music.
She said that "I loved animation from a very young age, so being able to contribute the theme song for this film makes me happy and honored.".
Release
Film festivals
''A Letter to Momo'' made its international debut at the
2011 Toronto International Film Festival
The 36th annual Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) was held in Toronto, Ontario, Canada between September 8 and September 18, 2011.
Buenos Aires, Argentina was selected to be showcased for the 2011 City to City programme. The opening film ...
that took place from 8 to 18 September 2011.
It was screened at the festival under its "Kids" programming.
Later, it was announced that the film will be shown at the 44th
Sitges International Fantastic Film Festival
The Sitges Film Festival ( ca, Festival Internacional de Cinema Fantàstic de Catalunya, links=no) is an annual film festival held in Sitges, Spain, specialized in fantasy and horror films, of which it is considered one of the world's foremost in ...
that ran from 6th to 16 October 2011 and at the 16th
Busan International Film Festival
The Busan International Film Festival (BIFF, previously Pusan International Film Festival, PIFF), held annually in Haeundae-gu, Busan (''also'' Pusan), South Korea, is one of the most significant film festivals in Asia. The first festi ...
, which took place on 6th to 14 October.
It will be shown in Busan as part of the festival's "Wide Angle" program.
Additionally, ''A Letter to Momo'' was screened at the 27th
Warsaw International Film Festival
Warsaw Film Festival ( pl, Warszawski Festiwal Filmowy, abbreviated as WFF) is an annual film festival held every October in Warsaw, Poland which previews new films of all genres, including documentaries from all around the world. The festival ha ...
.
This is the first Japanese
anime
is Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside of Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, in Japan and in Japane ...
film to be showcased at the Warsaw International Film Festival and it competed at the festival under its International Competition section.
Also, it was announced that this film will be competing for the Halekulani Golden Orchid Award at the 31st
Hawaii International Film Festival
The Hawai'i International Film Festival (HIFF) is an annual film festival held in the United States state of Hawaii.
HIFF has a focus on Asian-Pacific cinema, education, and the work of new and emerging filmmakers. HIFF’s primary festival is h ...
, which took place from 6 October to 16 October 2011.
''A Letter to Momo'' made its US continental premiere at the
New York International Children's Film Festival New York International Children's Film Festival (NYICFF) Established in 1997, NYICFF’s mission is rooted in the belief of film as a path for young people to understand themselves and others. All programs are designed to celebrate the beauty and po ...
that took place March 2 to 25, 2012.
It was featured in the Boston International Children's Film Festival, which ran from August 18 to September 1, 2013 at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.
GKIDS
GKIDS is an American film distributor based in New York with, according to the ''Los Angeles Times'', a focus on "sophisticated, indie" animation. GKIDS releases critically acclaimed, mostly hand-drawn, international films—such as the works o ...
distributor
New Video
New Video (stylized as NEWVIDEO) is an American entertainment distributor and collector of independent digital content. The company works with independent producers, filmmakers and television networks to curate content for many types of distrib ...
/
Cinedigm
Cinedigm Corp. is an American entertainment company headquartered in Los Angeles, California. Cinedigm's businesses encompass digital cinema, streaming channels, content marketing, and distribution.
History Early years
Cinedigm Corp was founded ...
released ''A Letter to Momo'' on bilingual DVD and Blu-ray in the U.S. on October 21, 2014.
Theatrical release
''A Letter to Momo'' was released in Japanese cinemas on April 21, 2012,
debuting in over 300 theater screens on its opening weekend.
Reception
Box office
The film grossed $4,969,070 in Japan, $1,700,694 in South Korea, $6,409 in Hong Kong, $1,003 in Belgium,
and $71,712 in the United States, for a total of $6,748,712 worldwide.
Critical response
The
review aggregator
A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews of products and services (such as films, books, video games, software, hardware, and cars). This system stores the reviews and uses them for purposes such as supporting a website where users ...
website
Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...
reported an 80% approval rating with an average rating of 6.7/10, based on 30 reviews. The website's consensus reads, "Sweet, sad, and visually striking, ''A Letter to Momo'' is a hand-drawn experience for animation fans to savor." On
Metacritic
Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...
, the film achieved an average score of 65 out of 100, based on 11 reviews, signifying "generally favorable reviews."
Mark Schilling of ''
The Japan Times
''The Japan Times'' is Japan's largest and oldest English-language daily newspaper. It is published by , a subsidiary of News2u Holdings, Inc.. It is headquartered in the in Kioicho, Chiyoda, Tokyo.
History
''The Japan Times'' was launched by ...
'' said that Okiura "manages
he film's
He or HE may refer to:
Language
* He (pronoun), an English pronoun
* He (kana), the romanization of the Japanese kana へ
* He (letter), the fifth letter of many Semitic alphabets
* He (Cyrillic), a letter of the Cyrillic script called ''He'' in ...
transition from light to serious with the craft and assurance of a true storyteller, while firmly grounding his human and nonhuman characters in their Seto Inland Sea setting, from the narrow portside streets to the gloriously expansive view from the island’s highest point," and also praised the film's hand-drawn animation.
Jeannette Catsoulis of ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'' also praised the film's look and said, "As Momo conquers her fears, averts a tragedy and finally sees the beauty of her surroundings, the movie grabs your heart with the softest of hands."
Accolades
Merchandise
Manga
''A Letter to Momo'' was adapted into a film
manga
Manga (Japanese: 漫画 ) are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long prehistory in earlier Japanese art. The term ''manga'' is u ...
and was serialized in the
Monthly Asuka
, formerly , is a bimonthly Japanese manga magazine published by Kadokawa Shoten, aimed at teenage girls. The magazine was established in 1985. It is released on the 24th of every odd-numbered month as of May 2021. Much like its sibling public ...
magazine, published by
Kadokawa Shoten
, formerly , is a Japanese publisher and division of Kadokawa Future Publishing based in Tokyo, Japan. It became an internal division of Kadokawa Corporation on October 1, 2013. Kadokawa publishes manga, light novels, manga anthology magazines su ...
.
This manga is written by
Akiko Kitami, and the first chapter of the manga was published in the November 2011 issue of the magazine.
Kitami's previous works have also previously been serialized in the ''Monthly Asuka''.
References
External links
*
*
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Letter To Momo
2011 anime films
2011 films
Best Animated Feature Film Asia Pacific Screen Award winners
Films directed by Hiroyuki Okiura
Films set in Japan
Japanese animated films
2010s Japanese-language films
Production I.G
Yōkai in anime and manga