43/46
Tomoe attended school in Gakuen after failing to attend the original elementary school. He meets special students and learns new things at school, even as Japan goes to war. Music: Aimyon Directed by: Yûsuke Tatsuzaki, Takashi Kondô & Yûsuke Tanaka Courtesy of unBORDE/Warner Music Japan. When Totto-chan is pushed out of elementary school for being too distracting to the prudish, pious homeroom teacher, her mother nervously tries to enroll her in a school founded by a loving and progressive gentleman. Thus begins a young girl’s journey to discover herself and the world around her, even as Japan’s role in World War II goes from bad to worse. The animation stays close to the original book’s illustrations, detailing how Totto-chan develops from a confused 7-year-old struggling to 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. It’s a beautiful sight, one that transcends its own reality with some wonderfully imaginative sequences that find Totto-chan reflecting on the world around him, finding beauty in a stationary train compartment or on a rainy evening. The film’s score also does a great job of creating a world of wonder and innocence that ends up under totalitarian and dictatorial rule. Thankfully, the film does not make Japan innocent of the war. It is only through Totto-chan’s eyes and ears that we see Japan’s willingness to embrace the conflict, its public impact, and its devastating consequences. Early scenes of children reciting propaganda songs at school give way to whispered conversations about dog muzzles in the US and UK. Later, Totto-chan’s beautiful bento boxes are reduced to rice and pickled plums, injured and disabled bodies pass Totto-chan in uniform, and his omnipresent and intelligent father conspicuously disappears in the final act. The effects of hunger and malnutrition are visible on their classmates as they become irritable, seem to suffer from stunted growth, and fail to show up for school. It’s truly chilling to watch it all, clearly told from the point of view of an optimistic and loving child, and contrasted with the beautiful journey of a young girl coming to terms with herself. “Totto-chan: The Little Girl in the Window” is a lovingly crafted animation that immerses us in a brief period of brutal change in a country that had only recently entered modern world politics, and the innocent generation that had to rebuild the country after the fires receded. 9/10.