There are more adventures we are having with a 4-year-old boy struggling to cope with the arrival of a small sister in the family. Perhaps it may be magical in that family where the mysterious garden in the backyard of the boy's house becomes a gate that allows the child to return whenever he wants. Perhaps this boy may experience many experiences where he confronts his mother as a young girl and his great grandfather as a young man trying to achieve everything new in his life full of adventures.
Like Hayao Miyazaki, whose mantle Hosoda is often considered to be on an unofficial short list to pick up, Hosoda tells this child's story at a child's eye level, and the diversions feel part and parcel of that point of view.
Merits comparison to works of similar relevance and poetic ambitions, like Shoplifters and Roma, masterworks that share its inquiries about familial ties, parental insecurities, and the inescapable pull of the past.
A gentle family comedy of manners, which really takes off at the film's final reels. Without being groundbreaking, it still provides a wormhole to look further away than your own courtyard.
The latest gem from Japanese anime master Mamoru Hosoda concerns a little boy's conflict with his baby sister. It may be the animator's smallest film, but it stands tall. You'll be enchanted.
Beautiful [animation] work that stands out on its own, and worthy of an Oscar nomination. When surrounded by everything else, however, it becomes an exception to an otherwise disappointing whole.