Wakaokami wa Shougakusei! Movie (Okko's Inn)

After reluctantly being dragged to a festival at her parents' rural hometown, Oriko "Okko" Seki must face her sudden harsh reality: the death of both of her parents in a car accident shortly after they arrive. Now, Okko must live at her grandmother's traditional hot springs inn, which she is surprised to find is occupied by the ghost of a barefoot child. He encourages Okko to follow in her grandmother's footsteps and prepare to inherit the inn.

Initially, Okko struggles to keep up with the responsibilities of the inn and the accommodation of guests. However, her parents told her that an inn is welcoming for everyone, and she strives to honor their memory. After discovering a few other spirits around the village, Okko learns that even though her parents are gone, she does not have to be lonely.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

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Background

Wakaokami wa Shougakusei! Movie made its world premiere at the 2018 Annecy International Animated Film Festival before opening in theaters in France a few months later on September 12, one week before the Japanese theatrical release. In 2019, the film was nominated for Best Indie Feature at the 47th Annual Annie Awards. In the same year, it won the Excellence Award at the 22nd Japan Media Arts Festival.

The movie was released on Blu-ray and DVD by Shout! Factory on July 2, 2019.

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Alternative version:

Wakaokami wa Shougakusei!

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Characters & Voice Actors

Seki, Oriko

Main

Kobayashi, Seiran
Japanese

Tateuri, Makoto

Main

Matsuda, Satsumi
Japanese

Akino, Miyo

Main

Endou, Rina
Japanese

Akino, Matsuki

Main

Mizuki, Nana
Japanese

Suzuki

Main

Kozakura, Etsuko
Japanese

Suiryou, Seiko

Supporting

Horan, Chiaki
Japanese

Minoda, Kounosuke

Supporting

Terasoma, Masaki
Japanese

Seki, Mineko

Supporting

Ichiryuusai, Harumi
Japanese

Kise, Bunta

Supporting

Yamadera, Kouichi
Japanese

Kise, Torako

Supporting

Orikasa, Fumiko
Japanese

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Staff

Iizuka, Aya

Producer

Ishiguro, Tatsuya

Producer

Yoshida, Yuuki

Assistant Producer

Kousaka, Kitarou

Director, Episode Director, Storyboard, Character Design

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Opening Theme

No opening themes have been added to this title. Help improve our database by adding an opening theme here.

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Ending Theme

"Mata Ashita (また明日)" by Sakura Fujiwara

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Reviews

Apr 22, 2019

Jaces_Sanctum

Recommended

This film is a hidden gem.

Before seeing it, I wasn't all that interested in the film. I entered a giveaway for free tickets on social media just for the sake of it, so when I actually won, I decided to take my little sister with me to at least let her have a fun experience watching a kid's movie with me. I wasn't expecting anything special.

I was wrong.

12-year-old Oriko "Okko" Seki is visiting a festival in the countryside when she gets in an accident, and tragedy strikes. Now having recovered from her physical injuries, Okko must now go to live with her grandmother, who ...

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Apr 23, 2019

JTurner

Recommended

OKKO'S INN, a disarmingly charming, instantly likable Japanese animated feature, is the sort of family-friendly movie rarely seen from a lot of western productions of this type nowadays. While most kiddie flicks I've seen these days tend to go for loud, noisy, in-your-face schtick and disgusting scatalogical humor for the heck of it, this one instead aims to be a more gentle, down-to-earth sort of tale. Whatever humor we get is thankfully brief and of the clean and clever kind. More importantly, it's a film with a lot of heart. It's only weakness may be that it may fall somewhat short of the standards often ... set by, say, Studio Ghibli, but director Kitaro Kosaka (himself, incidentally, a Ghibli veteran) still manages to make this a delight for kids and adults while emerging as a beautiful work in its own right.

The main character of this tale is Oriko Seki (aka Okko), a 12-year-old girl who is tragically orphaned within the first five minutes when her parents' car crashes into a derailed truck while traveling home from a performance. Miraculously surviving this incident, Okko is subsequently sent to stay with her grandmother, who happens to be the proprietor of an inn in the countryside. The inn in question, which doubles as a hot springs house, goes by the name of Harunoya, with a philosophy that all are welcome.

Naturally, it does take Okko some time to get settled into this new establishment. She is befriended by three ghosts -- two of which are children who passed away years ago: the spunky but friendly Uribo, and the sassy, mischievous Miyo -- and a pesky "demon" known as Suzuki. With encouragement from these three (invisible to all but the little girl), Okko aspires to be a "junior innkeeper". Predictably, she starts off on the clumsy side and makes some poor calls of judgment, but gradually gets better, learning lessons about selflessness and valuing life. Over the course of Okko's coming of age journey, we meet a variety of other characters, among them a sullen teenage boy, a friendly fortune teller called Glory Suriyo (who takes her on a memorable shopping trip), and a bratty rival junior innkeeper named Matsuki, who treats Okko contemptuously at every opportunity. Of course, at the major core of the story is Okko coming to terms with the fact that her mother and father are no longer with her.

A lot of this movie's subject feels strikingly similar to Hiroyuki Okra's A LETTER TO MOMO, as well as numerous other animated tearjerkers such as MY NEIGHBOR TOTORO, COCO, and KUBO AND THE TWO STRINGS, but OKKO'S INN manages to carve out its own niche thanks primarily to its plucky cast of characters. Okko is an easily relatable protagonist, and her similarly likable ghost buddies provide moments of gentle humor without treading into "annoying" territory. Only Matsuki comes across as downright unsympathetic -- at least for a good majority of the film -- until we find out that she, too, has troubles of her own. (As you might expect, the ending is a bit of a tearjerker, but not so much that it makes the movie downright depressing.)

In lesser hands, this tale could potentially tread into draggy territory. Thankfully, Kosaka keeps an energetic pace throughout all 96 minutes, making even the more quieter, slower moments flow without draining interest. That said, there are a couple of moments when the development of some moments feels a bit hasty, notably in the handling of Matsuki's character. Some additional scenes where we get to see her being nicer would have been welcomed, but that's honestly my only complaint.

Despite being directed by a Ghibli veteran, OKKO'S INN was animated at Madhouse Studios, whose output has ranged from gritty productions like NINJA SCROLL and PERFECT BLUE, to somber, friendlier stuff such as THE GIRL WHO LEAPT THROUGH TIME. If you're not familiar with this studio, these works you may have been fortunate to see. OKKO'S INN, naturally, being among the more softer offerings of this studio, has a predictably sunny, beautiful look to it. There is a digital sort of look to the animation, but it still offers the sort of warmth that hand-drawn craft is usually known for. On occasion there are uses of computer images, but thankfully they don't stand out in all the wrong ways.

I went to see the dubbed version, provided by NYAV Post. It's yet another quality effort, with terrific performances by all involved. Madigan Kacmar does an outstanding job as Okko, providing the character with just the right amount of warmth, spunk, and heart. She has terrific chemistry with K.J. Aikens' somewhat smart-alecky but lovable Uribo as well as her other co-stars. Carly Williams' Matsuki is as snarky and prissy as you'd expect, while Tessa Frascogna's Miyo and Colleen O'Shaughnessy's Suzuki complete the trio of ghost companions for Okko. Glynis Eliis is also great as Okko's grandmother. NYAV Post has turned out excellent work lately, notably in the form of of big hitters such as A SILENT VOICE, MIRAI, and even the flawed, forgettable FIREWORKS. It's gratifying to see them continue to live up to their standards here.

There have been a lot of great contenders for emotionally resonant animated features from Japan lately. OKKO'S INN may be among the lesser known of them, but it certainly deserves a following. If you ever decide to check out this charmer, I highly would recommend doing so.

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Apr 24, 2019

The_Ruise

Recommended

I watched and enjoyed the television series before watching the movie, which may or may not be rare. When I walked into the theatre, I was actually the only person there AND I was 5 or 6 minutes late, both of which are a real shame, until a small group of people walked in at least 25 minutes late. Anyway, the first half of the film was amazing, leaps and bounds over the television series which, in my opinion, was already good. I did enjoy how far the film went into Okko's depression and even serious PTSD over her parents' death, which the series kind ...

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Poll: Wakaokami wa Shougakusei! Movie Episode 1 Discussion MrAwesome2018 - Sep 29, 2018	38 replies	by SlammyHammy »» Jan 6, 7:16 PM
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