In this Corner of the World (Kono sekai no katasumi ni)

Directed by Sunao Katabuchi (Mai Mai Miracle)

Based on the manga by Fumiyo Kono

Voice acting by Rena Nounen, Yoshimasa Hosoya, Natsuki Inaba

Review by Jordan

“With white rabbits and heron in the sky”

The world needs people like Suzu Urano, to endure it, and to offer a genuine, infectious appreciation for its moments of happiness. Films too, need characters such as this, to portray the beauty discoverable in those with every incentive to shy away from a gladness only barely visible.

Like Grave of the Fireflies, Sunao Katabuchi‘s In this Corner of the World takes us to a Japan in the midst of a cruel war, with the herons unaware of the threat the sirens announce and the citizens of the seaside Kure and nearby Hiroshima longing for that obliviousness. As was Isao Takahata’s approach also, Katabuchi finds an…