a quick summary of this movie: it's a sweet slice of life centered on the protagonist, 12 year old Kikuko. the movie is split into three arcs which cover three seasons. in the summer, Kikuko gets into her first Petty Middle School Drama at school when her only friend forces her to make a tough social decision. in the fall, Kikuko begins a friendship with a quiet, strange boy that goes to her school. in the winter, Kikuko falls ill. Through all of this, Kikuko lives her daily life on a houseboat with her fat and joyful single mother, Nikuko.
as a fat woman, i was really excited when the trailer for this movie came out, because i thought that it might take a look at the relationship dynamic between a daughter and a fat mother. media that looks upon fat people favorably is rare in general, and in the anime/manga scene it's practically nonexistant. that being the case, i knew that the representation wasn't going to be perfect. but i still had high hopes- a mother-daughter relationship provides an absolutely perfect environment to explore fatness, how fatphobia changes women's lives, and how living as a fat woman impacts your familial relationships. i was, unfortunately, very disappointed by what the movie had to offer on this front.
i was surprised at the backseat role that Nikuko plays in this movie, given the film is named after her. especially in the first two arcs, Nikuko is largely (hah) absent for most important scenes, and serves more as the backdrop of Kikuko's life. despite this movie's trailer framing the movie as a mother-daughter movie, Kikuko hardly has any meaningful interactions with Nikuko until the last arc of the movie. more on that in a bit.
let's talk about Nikuko's fatness for a second. Nikuko is drawn in a way that's really cute, and her life is joyous, and she's not ashamed of herself. that in itself is nice, it's nice to see fat characters existing and being happy without any "i'm sad because i'm fat" plotlines. Nikuko does have a very strong history of being manipulated by unscrupulous men, which i side-eyed a bit, as "fat woman is easy because she's insecure, gets totally played by asshole guy" is a plotline that irks me to no end. thankfully, the writers didn't take it all the way there, never revealing why it is she's so prone to manipulation. not so thankfully, this is because Nikuko never gets any meaningful character development or character exploration throughout the entire film. even more unfortunately, although the writers made the wise decision to not make Nikuko into a woobie and play into Fat Angst, it feels like it leans too much into the opposite direction. Nikuko's entire character can't be taken seriously at all. Even when serious things are happening to her daughter, Nikuko can't be serious about it, because then she wouldn't be the Funny Jolly Fat Lady anymore. no matter how hard you squint, Nikuko is hardly anything but a clown, even during her own slightly depressing backstory. she's there to make you smile and laugh by being fat.
i think it's possible to make a fat character funny WITHOUT making their fatness the butt of all their jokes, but the writers chose not to dig into that, presumably because it's not as easy as just saying "look, she eats a whole French toast in one bite, isn't that soooo funny?!"
so, the fat representation in this movie is kind of a miss. what about the wholesome mother-daughter relationship? well, that ends up being a bit of a miss too. through the whole thing, there's this awkward distance between the two, where neither seems to want to make the effort to become closer with each other, simply settling for daily life and surface-level conversations. Nikuko doesn't act very motherly, aside from providing Kikuko's basic needs, instead playing a role resembling a big sister or best friend. in fact, there are many scenes where it feels like Kikuko plays the role of mother, while Nikuko acts like a child, and the detrimental nature of this dynamic is never even casually mentioned, only being touched with a ten-foot pole once (when Kikuko says "who's the child here?!" as a throwaway joke). this was very frustrating at times, because it felt like there was a huge elephant in the room being ignored: that Nikuko kind of sucks as a mother and Kikuko is struggling in silence because their bond isn't deep enough for her to seek out Nikuko's guidance.
even when there are emotionally potent moments in the movie, they hardly ever involve Nikuko. this is an incredibly sad missed opportunity to me. Kikuko has emotional struggles that would be perfect as a pathway to introducing Nikuko's more motherly side, but instead of getting Nikuko involved in her personal life at all, Kikuko solves most of her problems on her own. the only time Kikuko has a meaningful conversation with her mom is at the very end of the movie, and even then it doesn't get any deeper than an "i love you." the sports festival scene is far and away THE shining moment for both of their characters as we get to see a glimpse of what the movie could be like if it actually cared about their family dynamic.
ALL THAT BEING SAID, this movie is still really nice! wholesome to the core, it emulates Ghibli in a way that doesn't feel contrived. gorgeous and lovingly-crafted scenery, beautiful character animation, good pacing (seriously, this movie and My Neighbors the Yamadas are the only slice of life movies that haven't bored me to tears), funny jokes (when they're not about Nikuko being fat), and a good balance between emotional ups and downs that never feels jarring. the emotional flow of the story is smooth like a wave, good at tempering sad moments with twinges of happiness.
i think i just wanted more from this movie than the writers were willing to give, which is fine. just because it isn't what i wanted it to be doesn't mean it's a bad movie.
that's my take on it, anyways.
anyone looking for something about fat people that actually explores the emotional nuances of being fat should read Pochamani. anyone looking for a cute family-centric slice of life should watch My Neighbors the Yamadas. anyone looking for gorgeous oceanside small town scenery should watch Ponyo. anyone looking for a powerful coming of age story should watch Anohana. if you've exhausted those other options, come watch this movie, it's cute.
6/10.
tl;dr: the movie is cute, gentle, and wholesome, but ultimately fails to deliver a strong mother-daughter bond AND positive representation for fat people. if you're not looking for either of those things, this is a pretty good movie. if anything, it's worth watching for its great scenery and fun character animation.
