This uplifting anime by Makoto Shinkai follows a girl who finds herself through grief at losing loved ones.
Asuna is a schoolgirl who spends most of her time alone. Her mother works long shifts at a hospital and is rarely home, and her father has passed away. But the world is filled with amazing things, and Asuna is no longer afraid of loneliness. After school, she likes sitting on the hill and catching radio waves with a handmade receiver left by her father. One day, she meets a mysterious boy who calls himself Shun and to whom she feels strangely connected. He saves Asuna from a scary creature, but soon dies. The brave girl decides to go and look for him in the parallel world where people can encounter the dead.
Makoto Shinkai is often referred to as the «new Miyazaki, ” but the comparison between the two is only partially accurate. Shinkai is a self-taught artist whose career as a director developed separately from the main paths of Japanese animation. Despite certain similarities in their palettes and designs, the universes of Shinkai and Hayao Miyazaki are composed of different themes and motifs. But Children Who Chase Lost Voices is the closest to Miyazaki’s work in spirit. Exploring first love, loneliness, and loss, it is made with particular attention to locations and landscapes. The magical underground world of Agartha, where Asuna travels to, is a work of art in its own right.
The film will be screened in Japanese and English with Russian subtitles.
Children Who Chase Lost Voices
Director: Makoto Shinkai
Japan, 2011. 116 min.
18+
