Today's Screenshots - Jarinko Chie

Today's Screenshots (I guess that would technically mean Wednesday, since I tried to post this in the morning) come from Takahata's 1981 film Jarinko Chie. It's based upon a manga series, and became successful enough to spawn a hit television series. Yasuo Otsuka and Yoichi Kotabe were the animation directors on the film.

This first shot is in the beginning of the picture, and is the introduction of Chie. The second shot is a little later, with a hilarious slapstick routine and some gratituitous violence. The third shot is the very final shot in the movie, during the closing credits.

Jarinko Chie (otherwise known as Chie the Brat in the West, and Kie, la Petite Peste in France) is another Takahata triumph, a masterful blending of ribald comedy, family drama, and the heavy regional flavor of Japan's western Kansai region. It's actually very similar, in many ways, to My Neighbors the Yamadas; the two are close cousins.

I hope that grabs your interest. I've got a surprise coming up that you're gonna love. Stay tuned.