Sarusuberi: Miss Hokusai

The movie holds a deep connection to artistry not only in its themes and story, but in its visual techniques as well. "The Great Wave off Kanagawa" and other works of art depicted throughout are seamlessly woven into scenes here and there, making for welcome visual variation. Landscapes and backdrops, especially the Ryogoku Bridge at the centre of Edo, are beautifully drawn, and go a long way in immersing the viewer in O-Ei's world.

Animation is also high-quality from start to finish, which is understandable considering the movie budget involved. There are, of course, very few movement-heavy scenes to speak of in this type of movie, ... but any examples are handled with competence and are effectively directed and animated. Two examples that stand out are O-Ei's night with the male geisha, which drips with awkwardness, and the scene towards the end when she runs out of her house.

My only gripe with the visual style is that almost all of the male characters seem to have the exact same long, rectangular face. This isn't all bad though, as it ensures that our main heroine stands out and is easily distinguishable, both visually and personality-wise.

Miss Hokusai is very much a movie that handles its characters with grace and maturity. Pretty much every member of the cast is grounded in reality and, although the majority are artists, enough distinctions are laid out between them, both in terms of personality and attitude towards their art.

Hokusai is surprisingly depicted as a near-deplorable figure, seemingly concerned with not much else besides his art. He is difficult to deal with, sarcastic, and, frankly, not very interesting once you look past his genius shtick. In fact, he is probably the most one-dimensional of the main cast, characterized almost entirely by the eccentric prodigy archetype he falls under. Aside from his shortcomings as a character, he is also a terrible father, refusing to see his blind, ill daughter because he is "afraid" of the sick.

Left to fill the gaps her father has left in the family, while also struggling to emerge from his creative shadow, O-Ei stands as the thematic core of the story, as well as the most admirable and endearing character. Being not the genius, but rather the person chasing after them, she is flawed, complex, and human enough to make for a good protagonist. In a time when women took on more passive roles, O-Ei makes for a refreshing heroine, being stronger, and more mature and independent than any of the other artists she spends her days with, and especially more so than her sloppy, difficult father. Strong-willed and determined, we see O-Ei's world through her eyes and her struggle to balance the things her father is a failure at with the things he excels at is quite interesting to watch.

The way the story is structured is a bit problematic and would have been more effective had it been done a lot differently. Instead of a central narrative, the movie instead presents its story in a series of loosely connected happenings. While it is cool to see different snippets of life in Edo and immerse yourself in the period, this results in several narrative problems for Miss Hokusai. O-Ei's character development is quite weak as a result of this format, which is quite a shame because there is a lot of potential in her character. Instead, the movie provides the viewer with random circumstances surrounding O-Ei, each ending too soon to leave any sort of impact on either her as a person or those watching.

Miss Hokusai works quite well as a period piece, a great watch for anybody looking to experience daily life in 19th century Edo, and maybe learn a bit about Hokusai and his daughter. Any viewer looking to immerse themselves in the time and place these characters lived in will likely appreciate this movie by way of visuals and atmosphere alone.

The film unravels at a slower pace so those mainly accustomed to watching anime concentrated with intense moments or fight scenes will more than likely have a hard time sitting through this one. Considering the ending doesn't come with much in the way of payoff, it probably isn't worth dragging yourself all the way to the hour-and-a-half mark anyway.

Those looking for an anime of high dramatic caliber or character work would be better off watching something with a more focused narrative. One such example would be Hyouge Mono, which is also historical fiction with a biographical feel (though in an earlier period of Japanese history), and is much more effective at exploring and developing its characters.

Ultimately, Miss Hokusai is a film of great potential. An admirable heroine, O-Ei's story is of a unique nature, being the successor of a great rather than the great himself. Her struggle is profoundly human and multi-dimensional, and the viewer can't help but cheer her on in her endeavours. Unfortunately, these endeavours are few and far between, veiled by a jumbled mess of daily instances and anecdotes, making it difficult for the movie to tell the coherent, development-rich narrative I so badly wanted it to tell.

(Review originally from Letterboxd)

The animation is lovely and I really like the main character, but that's about all there is to Miss Hokusai. It's a story about some Tokugawa-period layabout artists going around Edo doing art stuff, kind of vague slice-of-life material and inspiration for real-life art done by these characters. It's a bit like the 1988 movie The Moderns in that way, though that movie mostly consisted of fictional characters. The plot has a lot of nice moments, mostly to do with O-Ei's interesting disposition, but...... ehhhhh to the rest of it.

The movie plays up a lot of stale dramatic moments you'll see coming ... a mile away and that have no relevancy to what you actually wanted to see, and the characters never really progress in any meaningful way. If this were a live-action film I would have hated it, I can be sure of that. So it's a pretty big disappointment for me.