Audience reviews
20 · Sample from the first available page, separate from the total number of ratings.
jay_quelin
Ehh, I'll give it a 7/10 for the music. It's a decent movie by Gorou Miyazaki but the plot isn't anything profound. The setting takes place in 1960s Yokohama at a small manor atop Poppy Hill. Umi lost her Dad during the Korean War. So while her Mom is abroad, Umi needs to cook, clean, and manage the house for her siblings and her grandmother. That, and the boarders they're renting it out to. Meanwhile, the boys at her school are facing a serious dilemma. As it turns out, the school board plans to demolish this old building called "The Latin House," which the students use for their school clubs. After meeting Shun from the Literature Club, Umi decides to help everyone restore the building, and to convince the board to stop the demolition. Aside from the demolition issue, the main conflict i…
Read at the sourcemaya_kotori
This has been getting compared to that recently released drama everywhere, so of course I had to watch it too. And honestly? Once again, I have absolutely nothing to criticize. I feel like I’m repeating myself at this point, but Ghibli just doesn’t miss. It’s a beautifully crafted film about young love, quiet emotions, and the kind of gentle storytelling that sneaks up on you. The atmosphere is warm and nostalgic, the animation is stunning, and the whole movie feels like a soft breeze from the past. And yes… it will move you. Extremely. Especially if you’re a crybaby like me XD. There are moments that hit right in the heart, not because they’re dramatic, but because they’re so human and sincere. Overall, it’s another Ghibli masterpiece, simple, emotional, and beautifully made. A film that…
Read at the sourceelumizu
From Up on Poppy Hill is a quiet coming-of-age story that unfolds against the backdrop of 1960s Japan, a time when the country stood between memory and rapid modernization. Instead of dramatic conflicts or grand adventures, the film focuses on small, meaningful moments that gradually reveal the emotional lives of its characters. The story follows Umi Matsuzaki, a responsible high school girl who manages her household while her mother works abroad. Every morning, Umi raises signal flags overlooking the harbor, a routine rooted in memory and hope connected to her father, who was lost at sea during the war. The flags symbolize longing, remembrance, and a desire to keep connections alive even when the past feels distant. Umi’s daily life changes after meeting Shun Kazama, a passionate and outs…
Read at the sourceSahil_K_Chandio
From Up On Poppy Hill is one of the two Ghibli films I never watched, Ponyo being the other. There is no specific reason as to why, I just never got around to it but recently, I finally decided to watch it. To my surprise, I thoroughly enjoyed nearly every minute. As someone who sorely dislikes every film directed by Goro Miyazaki, I feel compelled to write a proper review for a movie of his that has truly earned every bit of my praise.
At its core, this story is a period piece, set in 1963, in Japan. The country is still recovering from the recent wars and trying to overcome its regretful past. It is a tale that encourages us to embrace our past, both its virtues and flaws, regardless of their severity. If you are overly adamant about erasing all of your past and pretending nothing happe…
Read at the sourceFrogfrog_
Since it's a Studio Ghibli film, my expectations were high, but when it was over, I didn't really know what I thought of the film. I thought a lot about what the moral of the story would be and ended up remembering another film that's similar; "Dead Poets Society". The soundtrack surprised me a little and, like all of the studio's films, the animation is perfect.
Original -
Por ser um filme do Studio Ghibli, minha expectativa subiu bastante, mas quando acabou, não soube muito bem oq eu de fato achei do filme. Pensei bastante em qual seria a moral da história e acabei lembrando de outro filme que se parece; "Sociedade dos Poetas Mortos". A trilha sonora me surpreendeu um pouco, e como todos os filmes do estúdio, a animação é perfeita.
Read at the sourceMartinezchris
This movie was cute and kept me interested throughout the whole screening. I was trying to find a cute romance anime movie and stumbled across this one. Even though the plot was not super complex, I would say I still enjoyed watching and felt I stayed engaged throughout. I enjoyed both MC’s and how they were portrayed. I was not expecting anything crazy for the romance in this movie because the characters are kids but its nice to see the cute little romance spark up between the characters. With that said, this movie was like walking through a park on a spring day and then randomly being hit by a biker and you are like Where the Hell did that come from?! When I tell you this PLOT TWIST came out of left field and through me for a whirlwind, it did. After this, it made it hard for me to root…
Read at the sourceBadGuyBoog
This may be my Ghibli bias coming out. This should be an 8/10 movie, but the Ghibli charm is enough to bump this and any other movie up some.
There is so much love put into the animation. Every setting is so meticulously detailed and beautifully drawn that every frame looks like a painting. And there are not mystical elements whatsoever in this movie. All of this beauty comes from the love of the mundane and the ordinary. They make the common street and the average house feel so magical to be in because of the love they put into drawing it. All of the animators pack as much detail into every facet of the screen making you realize the beauty in daily life. This is the power of Ghibli.
The music is whimsical and fun. My goodness did I love the score. It really encapsulated the energy of yout…
Read at the sourceArasm
This is the best Ghibli Studio movie.
A bold statement, considering that Spirited Away is the clear fan favorite, having received an Oscar and the highest rating on MAL.
But I genuinely believe that this is Ghibli's Magnum Opus. Implementing all their typical elements and honing them to perfection, that is From Up On Poppy Hill.
A lot of their works invoke warmth and youthfulness; but this film reigns supreme on an emotional level.
So much love was put into this. Highly contagious juvenile spirit. An omnipresent beauty flowing within.
Though not a tragedy, it almost brought me to tears with how the strong and passionate characters shone.
I do not remember how many times I exclaimed "beautiful" in admiration and awe.
This movie is light. It is power, strength, hope.
It is not soul food…
Read at the sourceCyanCheetah
From up on poppy hill is another studio ghibli movie.
*spoiler Free*
But I never consider any studio ghibli movie just "another" studio ghibli movie. Each and every one of the until this era was a piece of art. And
just like the poppy hill coming downhill eventually, so does studio ghibli. They released banger after banger. They got the Spirited Away, they got the my Neighbor Totoro
they got the Princess Mononoke, they got many bangers. Then they released Tales of the Earthsea. Maybe that was a one off. They released Earwig and the Witch during
corona-virus. It really is a sad tale. This one? This one is a banger. the music, the story, the animation. All top notch. Although Hayao Miyazaki did not direct this one, it was written by him and I see Hayao
written all over this one. Still very…
Read at the sourcexBBBLUE
It may not have been the best of the best, but I enjoyed watching this movie. It was completely predictable for me also in terms of the plot twist that the creator wanted to introduce into the characters' relationship. In fact, this movie didn't make me very emotional, but it wasn't too long so it kept me interested until the end.
I feel that the purpose of this film was very specific. Everything was interconnected - the students wanted to save the clubhouse, which led to a stronger relationship between the main characters, and this revealed the stories of both families. It was quite a simple yet interesting storyline. And even though it wasn't very emotional, I have really warm feelings about this story.
Read at the sourcetcandy19
Though many people don’t like this movie, I have to say I loved it. Theres a really refreshing summer vibe and almost a sense of melancholy portrayed in the film. Years after watching, I still love the soundtrack and listen to it often. The scenes of them on his bike going through the seaside town are so beautiful. Its a really sweet portrayal of school life, especially with their club and their first meeting. I think some of the faults begin to show in the second half of the movie. The main conflict is a bit dumb and poorly handled. Regardless, I still enjoyed and would recommend this movie. The criticism its been dealt is too harsh in my opinion.
Read at the sourceUutama
Romance is a subject that can only be felt, so the words escape me when trying to describe it. If I were to, however, show you an example of what romance can be, there are a lot of great examples that have been churned out throughout all of media. This is unfortunately not one of those examples.
Umi is a simple girl who raises signal flags to the sea each and every morning. Shun is a boy who writes for the school newspaper. That's about it, honestly. Shun does what boys do best and does something incredibly stupid in order to prove a point. He decides to jump from the roof into a pool of water in declaration that the school clubhouse is worth keeping around. Naturally, Umi sees this and thinks it's the most absurd thing ever, all the while forming a crush on him. From here, things become…
Read at the sourcelamaraptor
Poppy Hill is a straight up slice of life romance with no fantasy elements at all, except perhaps the fantasy that a Japanese high school student finding out the girl he likes is his blood-related sister would somehow turn him off from pursuing a romantic relationship with her. Have they never seen anime before? If anything it'd make him more willing to go after her, the pervert.
Okay so perhaps I've watched one too many modern light novel adaptations where brother x sister romance is treated less like an obstacle and more like the main goal, and perhaps Miyazaki was right that anime was a mistake (he never really said that, but something pretty close.) I think it would have been more dramatic to have to see these two learn to deal with the fact that they're siblings than the cop-out endi…
Read at the sourceminiii_
1 word to describe this Movie, Youth.
From Up on Poppy Hill is a heart warming story and lovely characters as well as a wonderful display of complications within families & friends post-World War.
-spoiler-
The story focuses on a young girl who has grown to be independant due to the absence of her parents. While living with not just her main family there are other members living under the same roof, which she has taken up the responsibility of helping out with daily house chores. A very typical high school MC whose independant and hardworking.
A faithful encouter with a bold ML whose trying to fight for their high school clubhouse in order to prevent it from being demolished. The 2 then began their journey of self-discovery despite the complications of both their families, the demolisi…
Read at the sourceamandont
From Up On Poppy Hill actually has a really simple story, an ancient building at school is going to be demolished and a student movement rallies against it, following a boy-meets-girl trope, the story ensues to be a light melodrama and overall cute and sweet romance-- with a sudden twist !
This film was not that great, it lacked the magic and the nostalgic aspects that are usually present in Ghibli Animation movies. It felt very flat and the colors were also very dull. The really simple and short story is not carried out very well because you probably won't care very much about the rickety, gross building the students are fighting for. It's just very bland and lackluster.
But, a saving element in this story that makes it quite unique are probably the main characters. Umi and Shun are one…
Read at the sourceElusiveEllie
From Up on Poppy Hill was a very good movie, with modern Ghibli style and typical attention to detail. The characters were fairly charming, the music and art were lovely, and the story was enjoyable. There was very little of the whimsical side of Ghibli works that I like to see, but that didn't really take away from my enjoyment. As my partner and I move up through the movies, we're starting to see much more expressiveness in the character animations, which makes me very excited to continue watching the Ghibli filmography even more. If this movie is in the studio's lowest-rated third, that speaks immeasurable volumes about how phenomenal Ghibli is overall.
Story: 6/10. The story is fairly uninteresting, to be honest. It's a romance that follows the heroine and her love interest through a…
Read at the sourceAngelo_McGee
The naivety and development of the main couple is good. The scenery is beautiful and the club building is interesting. Even all dirty and filthy, the way in which students work in harmony and are interested in different things is really cool. They enjoy studying and value the culture. And speaking of culture, the story is also about the consequences of the world war, in addition to portraying the navy (although these are not the focus).
The soundtrack is beautiful and we can count on "Sukiyaki", wonderful song made by Kyu Sakamoto, who sadly died in a plane crash. There are many small details that go unnoticed. The secondary characters may not have much potential, but they do have the ideal screen time. I've seen a lot of movies where there seem to be only the main characters, and this on…
Read at the sourcexraaki
This review contains *SPOILERS*.
Watched in Sub/Dub: Sub
Story: 7/10
From Up On Poppy Hill follows Umi, a high school girl who’s still grieving her late father and simultaneously doing housework for her sisters and grandmother as her mother is away studying in the United States. At the high school, the boys at the school are deeply upset that their clubhouse is to be demolished in order to make way for a new building. In a grand demonstration, Shun jumps off the roof of the high school into a small pool. Shun subsequently meets Umi and catches the attention of all the girls at school. Umi and her sister visit Shun at the clubhouse, only to find that the beloved building is in dire need of a cleanup/makeover. Determined to help her new friend, Umi gathers up the girls at school to help the…
Read at the sourceEDOSHINRATENSEI
Goro Miyazaki returned with his second Ghibli film, which was written by his dad. Instead of doing another fantasy like Earthsea, which didn’t work, he directed a slice of life romance and drama about a high school girl in the 60s. She then met a high school boy who was fighting to restore the school’s clubhouse and fell in love. However, a shocking discovery made the relationship complicated.
Even though the story was down to earth, I was interested in it because when the twist hits, the story became almost like a mystery. The plot was definitely unique and made me curious about the relationship between the two main characters.
Amidst the main story was the plot about saving the clubhouse. I also like this aspect because it showed the students working together, hoping that their effor…
Read at the sourcelilmartini
This movie to me is just so charming. It's really cute and that's about all there is to it. It's a fluff-filled romance, not much drama, and not much action. It's the type of movie you'd watch in bed at night to wash away stress. The story, as well as the characters, are simple, making for a rather short and simple but still cute movie.
The art was great and was overall very colorful and pleasant on the eyes. There was one setting in particular, the culture club, that I found very enjoyable. There was so much to look at, similar to the way Howls room from HMC or the bathhouse from Spirited Away were designed. Studio Ghibli once again pulls through with the art.
As for how enjoyable it was, I remember the first time I saw this movie, I watched it twice in one night and then twice again t…
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