Karigurashi no Arrietty (The Secret World of Arrietty)

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Alternative Titles

English: The Secret World of Arrietty

Synonyms: Karigurashi no Arrietti, The Borrower Arrietty

Japanese: 借りぐらしのアリエッティ

Information

Type: Movie

Episodes: 1

Status: Finished Airing

Aired: Jul 17, 2010

Producers: None found, add some

Licensors: Walt Disney Studios

Studios: Studio Ghibli

Source: Novel

Genres: Fantasy

Duration: 1 hr. 34 min.

Rating: G - All Ages

Statistics

Score: 8.04¹ (scored by 93,631 users)

¹ indicates a weighted score. Please note that 'Not yet aired' titles are excluded.

Ranked: #512²

² based on the top anime page. Please note that 'Not yet aired' and 'R18+' titles are excluded.

Popularity: #628

Members: 151,570

Favorites: 450

8.04

Ranked #512Popularity #628Members 151,570

MovieStudio Ghibli

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Synopsis

The world can be a very scary place when you’re small. For Arrietty, though, the only real fear in life is in missing out on a big adventure. 14-year-old Arrietty and her parents live in the small spaces of a human garden. They are what some might call “borrowers”; they take items from the human world to eke out a living amidst the shadows.

Their existence goes mostly undiscovered until the arrival of 12-year-old Shou. When Shou begins to notice small things going missing, he becomes suspicious. He soon meets Arrietty and strikes up a friendship that neither of them could have seen coming. However, this is a friendship fraught with danger due to the obvious risk of Arrietty and her family’s discovery, something that could send the borrowers right into the hands of those that would do them harm. In Karigurashi no Arrietty, Studio Ghibli presents audiences with a beautiful look at the human world... from a much smaller perspective.

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Background

Karigurashi no Arrietty is Studio Ghibli’s re-imagining of Mary Norton’s 1952 novel, “The Borrowers.” The film won 5 Tokyo Anime Awards in 2011 for the following categories: Animation of the Year, Best Art Direction, Best Director, Best Music, and Notable Entry.

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Characters & Voice Actors

Arrietty

Main

Shida, Mirai
Japanese

Shou

Main

Kamiki, Ryunosuke
Japanese

Spiller

Supporting

Fujiwara, Tatsuya
Japanese

Haru

Supporting

Kiki, Kirin
Japanese

Homily

Supporting

Ootake, Shinobu
Japanese

Pod

Supporting

Miura, Tomokazu
Japanese

Sadako

Supporting

Takeshita, Keiko
Japanese

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Staff

Suzuki, Toshio

Producer

Yonebayashi, Hiromasa

Director, Storyboard, In-Between Animation, Key Animation

Kimura, Eriko

Sound Director

Kasamatsu, Kouji

Sound Director

Edit Opening Theme

"The Neglected Garden" by Cécile Corbel

Edit Ending Theme

"Arrietty's song" by Cécile Corbel

More reviewsReviews

Jun 19, 2011

1 of 1 episodes seen

Overall Rating: 9

Kuro4735 (All reviews)

127 people found this review helpful

Studio Ghibli is quite renowned for it’s rather large portfolio of acclaimed family movies, and you could definitely add Karigurashi no Arrietty to that list. Ghibli usually makes two types of movies, either fantasy movies that focus on themes that are rather critical of problems in society (Miyazaki’s Princess Mononoke and Nausicca come to mind), whereas in more recent times we’ve seen more slice-of-life fantasy adventure movies. Arrietty fits more into the latter, with it’s setting being modern day society with a small little twist; there are tiny, tiny people living under the house, and they borrow from humans to survive. Tiny as in maybe read more

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Feb 21, 2012

1 of 1 episodes seen

Overall Rating: 7

P3t3rP4n (All reviews)

28 people found this review helpful

This movie started very similar to Spirited Away by Studio Ghibli 2001. Driving in a car to somewhere introducing us to the 'main' character. AUDI in Spirited Away, Mercedes in Arrietty. With a similar opening theme 11 years later they must have found it effective. Hayao Miyazaki writer and Director of Spirited Away, Howl's Moving Castle(2004), and planning and Screenplay for The Secret World of Arrietty. The storyline is based on 'The Borrowers' by Mary Norton and the music, which incorporated many celtic themes especially enhanced by the harp, was by Cécile Corbel.

The story could have been so much more thrilling. I enjoyed the character development and appreciated the situation of Arrietty and her family however, it took too long to grip my interest. I was expecting an adventure to occur as the family is trudging through the woods right at the end of the movie. From 14 year old Arrietty figuring out how she fits in with her family, what her role is and who she is, to 'borrowing' her first item(a pin) from the humans, Arrietty is curious. She decides to talk to the human Sho, who is physically sick but had heard from his mother that there were small people in the house. He sees Arrietty and desires friendship and so tries to help them out by replacing first the dropped sugar, then kitchen from a dolls house to 'help' Arrietty's family.
This brings about unwanted interest from Haru the house maid and brings what little humour there is to light when she captures Arrietty's mom and calls the Exterminators/'Capturers' to deal with the small people. Arrietty's family decide to move because they were seen, Arrietty feels responsible for this because she was seen, and so they leave to find a new house. Sho feels his connection with Arrietty weakening and for some reason follows the house cat and finds Arrietty and says farewell. I needed something more. The elements were there but were not taken advantage of to capture the interest of it's viewers hence the '6'.

The animation was fantastic looking and transitioned very smoothly from scene to scene. There were minor CG sections that enhanced the overall calming effect I received. There were a few scenes of Sho standing infront of the house where he looked quite static however.

The music was brilliant. I thoroughly enjoyed the celtic twist and jig rhythms that were interspersed throughout the film. The harp at the beginning of the movie was simple yet magical with clear ringing tones that unexpectedly melded with theme of the movie. (Interestingly Morestsu Uchuu Kaizoku (2012) emotes this theme as well) One thing I noticed was when Arrietty 'sheathed' her pin through her dress a metal-on-metal sound was played that was not for any affect I could relate to.

Arrietty's character was developed the most in the film, which is to be expected as the main character however I felt her qualities and traits only scratched the surface. This movie wasn't about her character as much as the progression of her over the journey. There was not much reflection until the very end where she apologised to her parents and then cried at bidding farewell to Sho. The show focused more on her world than her and if that was what was desired then they did a good job.

I enjoyed the film as I did not know what to expect but my expectations were apparently too high as I left feeling like there could have been much more conflict for Arriettys character. I would have loved to have followed the family down the river to where a new adventure may await. That is where the story could have taken hold for me.
Story: 6
Art: 8
Sound:10
Character: 6
Enjoyment: 6
Overall: 7

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Sep 5, 2011

1 of 1 episodes seen

Overall Rating: 8

zozobra (All reviews)

23 people found this review helpful

Studio Ghibli has a massive reputation in the world of animation, deservedly sitting at the zenith alongside the equally excellent Pixar. Cars 2 might have been a lull in the otherwise excellent back catalogue; unfortunately it’s been a long time since I could happily call myself a fan of Ghibli. Since the Oscar-winning Spirited Away, the studio has been stuck in a state of ever diminishing returns with the frankly over-rated Howl’s Moving Castle, Ponyo and the low point in Tales of the Earthsea. Ghibli is back in 2011 with the Borrower Arrietty, the immediate question that strikes me as a fan is whether this is a return to form or is the rot continuing to eat away at their exemplary reputation?

Even before this film had seen the light of day it was victim to scoffs aplenty thanks to this being a remake of the already well-travelled literary classic The Borrowers by Mary Morton. In case you haven’t encountered this tale before, both it and Arrietty tell the tale of a young sickly boy who discovers that there is a family of incredibly small people living under his house. These small creatures are the Borrowers they get their name from borrowing small items and foodstuffs that won’t be missed. The daughter of the family, the titular Arrietty, has a run in with the sickly Sho and they both end up changing each other’s lives for the better. There might be a lack of conflict but you are smothered with the warmth of it all that you really don’t have the time to stop and take stock.

Arrietty is a simple tale told well. It is also the most straight-faced film from a studio known for all things fantastical. Despite the screenplay being written by Miyizaki this has none of the flights of fancy or ecological themes that he is known for nor does it have the social commentary of an Isao Takahata film. Diehard Ghibli fans might call shenanigans on such a straight film being housed under the iconic banner, others, me included, see this as a simple film free from the complexity of some of its most famous cousins. Additionally this is a perfect entry point into what is something hard to access for the casual and mainstream viewer. As popular as both anime and Ghibli is there are very few occasions where you can say that something which fits under those groups can be watched by anyone, Arrietty is such a film. The only other film which is both a piece of Japanese animation and accessible to a mainstream audience is Porco Rosso, Miyizaki’s Casablanca stylised story of a man turned into a pig for cowardice during the first world war.

It might be the most straight adaptation of a famously concept heavy studio, yet that’s not to say this doesn’t have anything in common with its older cousins. Making such a sweeping statement would mean you have missed many little touches and homage’s. The way in which the film places such value on the everyday and the natural world make it the perfect companion piece to My Neighbour Totoro. In fact these two films would make the loveliest double bill imaginable. Sho is a recycled character model of Pazu, the male lead in Laputa and there is a warrior boy who appears midway through the film, called Spiller, who is remarkably similar to Ashitaka from Princess Mononoke even down to the garb that he wears being the same.

The most prescient thing you will notice when watching Arrietty is the sheer unadulterated beauty conjured up by the skilled hands of the animation team. In this age where near enough all animated films released in the West are computer generated it is so refreshing to see something with the personality of hand drawn animation. There might not be the scope of vision of a traditional Ghibli film but that hasn’t stopped the artists on board with this film from representing the everyday whether it is a simple garden, or the even more mundanely the rooms of a house, with such care and affection. There might not be a great amount happening on-screen and there might not be a great deal of conflict save for the final third of the film but it’s one of those films where the visuals and cinematography is so inch perfect that it becomes a visual spectacle. The only negative I can really think of is the sung soundtrack, instrumentally it fits perfectly. With lyrics like “I am 14 years old, I am pretty”, it really made some songs a bitter pill to swallow.

The Borrower Arrietty, Arrietty or whatever you want to call it might feel more like homage to one of the most beloved film studios in the world and I, for one, do not construe that as a negative. This is a beautiful animated and affectionately told story with a cast of well-rounded characters that pays off in all the right ways. This film by director Hiromasa Yonebayashi is a perfect entry point to anime and all things Ghibli. Give it a watch if you get the chance but make sure it’s either in the original Japanese or the English dub. The cast of the American dub is enough to cause nightmares.

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Dec 27, 2014

1 of 1 episodes seen

Overall Rating: 8

MugenDreamu (All reviews)

17 people found this review helpful

I think this anime is kind of unique, with mini sized human live as theme, makes me very interested to watch it and leave a deep feeling of it. The shades of fantasy is so strong but not exaggerate.

Story: It a simple one, with fine pace, without any boring scene. Ending is almost perfect.

Art & Sound are so-so, I like the background art of it, I don't really have any comment except that.

Characters: the design was fine, either with their personality, seiyu voice are suited well.

Enjoyment: I think Karigurashi no Arrietty will be enjoyable by anyone, although they're not an anime fan. As I mentioned read more

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	Poll: Karigurashi no Arrietty Episode 1 Discussion ( 1 2 3 ) rctgamer3 - Mar 9, 2011	130 replies	by BenRyan »» Jan 14, 12:30 PM
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Karigurashi no Arrietty

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