Audience reviews
15 · Sample from the first available page, separate from the total number of ratings.
dograzor
Of the movies made by ex-Ghibli staff after it went on production hiatus, this was heavily overshadowed by Ponoc's Mary and the Witches Flower the previous year, with likely only a fraction of the production and marketing budget of that movie - but despite these constraints Director Kitaro Kosaka and the Madhouse team delivered a real gem.
While the story premise is fairly straightforward, Director Kosaka and Scriptwriter Reiko Yoshida wring the most out of it - emotionally engaging, very endearing and quirky characters, remains relatively restrained on the fantasy aspects, explores the heavy topic of grief but very much holds off on the melodrama and it's tone stays warm.
For whatever reason, Kosaka has never directed at Ghibli and seems never set to, and it's a shame he's not directed…
Read at the sourceAnimetrack07
Story (9/10) :
It gives a very unique touch to children's feelings and emotions, to regulate the energy from loss and to keep moving with the bliss of ancestral guidance. I love the hospitality and cultural warmth of innkeeping from Japan perspective. This deals with many characters with today to day adventure.
Character (10/10) :
I really loved the character called glory, she's way more cool into the progression of this story. Okko being the innkeeper apprentice got a lot into wellbeing from her grandma, the friends characters she makes and those she gets into fight with, the soulful joy of ghost's, and especially the baby boy who came in the climax and The chef. Every character is perfectly thought out, like wishing them to be for real.
Art style (9/10) :
Madhouse studio productions…
Read at the sourcePolnareffer
I was on the couch looking for a movie because my ADHD didn't allow me to start a series. I wanted something to lift my mood up and make me feel better. I saw this and thought it would be a cute little story. I was mistaken. This movie portrays so many emotions very well. I only scored it lower just because of the fact that I cried. Maybe I am a whimp when it comes to sadness/trauma in shows like this but it really didn't hit the spot. It was saddening even when things were looking positive just because my heart went out to her. BUT, this is a very well made movie with good art and plot line. It keeps you in to see what happens and the 'ghosts' helping with childrens trauma is something I've never seen before.
Good representation about how kids deal with trauma and the emotions everyone c…
Read at the sourceOneFaintingRobin
This is an interesting on. I don't have a lot to say about it, but that's far from a bad thing. This is, in a lot of ways, a very simple film, in terms of how the plot plays out. It plays out pretty simply, and while there are a couple of solid twists in there, it doesn't feel like there's anything that shakes the core of the world. The characters are fairly simple and it's really only the protagonist, Okko, who gets much in the way of an arc, simply because that's all the story needs.
Because simplicity isn't a bad thing. When you strip your story back in those ways, you have space to just let your protagonist's journey, and the story's thematic core, breathe in a way that just lets it work.
In this case, it turns 'Okko's Inn' into a sharply-designed, emotional, and successful explorati…
Read at the sourcemeridiasbeacon
Wow, what can I say. what a work of art. I am certain i knew what to expect to a certain degree, but I was absolutely blown away regardless. I never saw the series or had any exposure to it before seeing it recommended to me on netflix one day, so I added to my queue and eventually made time to watch it. Heartwarming stories like this one are my bread and butter, I love nothing more than to watch anime like this. To be able to feel warmth, sorrow, laugh and cry. And boy do I mean cry. I can't really do it any justice by trying to put it into words. The best way to know what I am talking about is to give yourself an hour and a half, and watch it.
Read at the sourceCorsairFrosty
*Spoiler Warning!*
Story/Plot 8/10 - The plot was focused around Okko becoming a better Jr. Inn keeper while getting over her parents deaths, and meeting new friends along the way! The plot was full of happy and sad moments, and they balanced out pretty well. My favorite funny moment in the movie was probably when Miyo and Uribou were in the car and moved there arms really fast in a circle type motion, I have no idea why I found it so funny, but I did! The ending of the movie was very fitting, we saw Okko and Matsuki become friends, and we saw Miyo and Uribou be (Sort of) put to rest. It was a nice conclusion to a very entertaining movie!
Art 6/10 - The colors were very fitting, very bright and vibrant! And the animation was pretty smooth. But, I feel like the art was lacking. It wasn't…
Read at the sourceorangeskull
On paper, the story for Okko's Inn has potential: a young girl who just lost her parents goes to stay/work in her grandmother's inn while talking to ghosts. It sounds cute and slightly dramatic. In execution, it doesn't quite seem to know what to do with itself. It mostly tries to be a slice of life story about Okko trying to be a junior innkeeper, but it also awkwardly tacks on pieces here and there about how she is dealing (or not dealing) with the grief stemming from her parents' deaths. Instead of cute or moving, it mostly comes off as annoying.
The weakest part of this movie are the characters. We are very quickly introduced to Makoto, a ghost that lives in the inn and constantly picks his nose. It's as off-putting as it sounds. He starts by harassing Okko and then badgering h…
Read at the sourcegeorgia-junco
Okko's Inn is a film that celebrates what it means to be a consummate host: one who derives their life's meaning from placing the enjoyment and fulfillment of their ryokan guest above everything. EVERYTHING. Even if that guest hurt you very, very badly. Especially when that guest is sorry for hurting you very, very badly.
There is a lot of good about this film. It is breathtakingly beautiful. For Western audiences, it opens windows into Shinto practice, Japanese superstition, and--of course--the magic of the ryokan. But--and I do recognize that I am bringing my Western perspective to this--I found the film's cultural insistence on Okko's forgiveness fairly upsetting.
I've seen the film and its manga marketed as helping children cope with loss. I think it MAY be helpful for this purpose i…
Read at the sourceAnya990
I watched this with my little sister and I thought it was gonna be very kiddy but I almost cried at the end. Definitely, a movie for everyone. It teaches about grief and the stages. The ending is about acceptance and not feeling alone.
The animation is well done and scenery is beautiful.
I really wish Matsuki Akino had more development. That was the only disappointing thing about the movie. It could have shown how PTSD and grief is different from everyone but I'm glad they introduced GLORY. GLORY's story is displayed the different kinds of grief.
I feel like nothing could go wrong with this movie. It is wholesome and there is some tear jerker moments.
Read at the sourceVictoriaLoves
This movie is okay, but just okay.
I like the ghosts and even the demon (although he comes kind of out of nowhere for no discernible reason), but some elements of the film feel out of place or not very well integrated into the story.
First and foremost, the way our main character behaves the first half of the movie after being in an accident and losing her parents is very unbelievable. She's completely disengaged from what happened, and not in a this is just her way of coping with the intense trauma by ignoring it and pretending it isn't there, kind of way. Rather, she comes across as genuinely happy and well adjusted and honestly not all that chuffed about her parents being dead, which of course felt weird and unrealistic.
Then there's 'Frilly Pink' who felt completely out of place in…
Read at the sourceFirechick12012
It's strange: Movies used to be where you could really experiment and create what you want to create. That still happens, but for movies based on TV series, they tend to get too ambitious for their own good before crashing and burning, or are just recaps, or take too little risks out of fear of pissing off their fanbase. I say there need to be more movies that really go with their own ideas and visions, and they don't always have to be epic or complex in order to work. As you know, I knew nothing of Okko's Inn before reading info on the movie, and I watched the TV series, which I admit was cute, but rather generic and tended to meander. A lot. And it played things too safe. The trailer for the movie, which is an alternate retelling of the story, promised to be better and stronger, and I wa…
Read at the sourcechimychanga
Spoiler Free Review:
Okko's Inn is a story about healing, growth, and acceptance.
The premise of the film follows a girl named Okko, who recently suffered a very tragic loss. Despite her loss, she chooses to stay positive and make positive impacts on those around her. And through her journey of becoming the junior innkeeper, she makes few friends whose lives are touched by her, and in the end, those friends impact her's as well.
The film portrays her struggle from the tragedy she faced very well. Towards the end, there's a moment that hits the emotion in the most heartbreaking way. Even in the face of such hardship, Okko is able to display growth and acceptance.
Her growth and acceptance is very heartwarming, but also bittersweet.
The ending of this film is like that of a delicious…
Read at the sourceThe_Ruise
I watched and enjoyed the television series before watching the movie, which may or may not be rare. When I walked into the theatre, I was actually the only person there AND I was 5 or 6 minutes late, both of which are a real shame, until a small group of people walked in at least 25 minutes late. Anyway, the first half of the film was amazing, leaps and bounds over the television series which, in my opinion, was already good. I did enjoy how far the film went into Okko's depression and even serious PTSD over her parents' death, which the series kind of brushes over. Okko even has dreams/visions of her parents still being alive and with her, when we never got to see them in the TV show, as far as I remember. I LOVED the focus on Glory and how she was such a good adult gal pal to Okko, and…
Read at the sourceJTurner
OKKO'S INN, a disarmingly charming, instantly likable Japanese animated feature, is the sort of family-friendly movie rarely seen from a lot of western productions of this type nowadays. While most kiddie flicks I've seen these days tend to go for loud, noisy, in-your-face schtick and disgusting scatalogical humor for the heck of it, this one instead aims to be a more gentle, down-to-earth sort of tale. Whatever humor we get is thankfully brief and of the clean and clever kind. More importantly, it's a film with a lot of heart. It's only weakness may be that it may fall somewhat short of the standards often set by, say, Studio Ghibli, but director Kitaro Kosaka (himself, incidentally, a Ghibli veteran) still manages to make this a delight for kids and adults while emerging as a beautiful w…
Read at the sourceJaces_Sanctum
This film is a hidden gem.
Before seeing it, I wasn't all that interested in the film. I entered a giveaway for free tickets on social media just for the sake of it, so when I actually won, I decided to take my little sister with me to at least let her have a fun experience watching a kid's movie with me. I wasn't expecting anything special.
I was wrong.
12-year-old Oriko "Okko" Seki is visiting a festival in the countryside when she gets in an accident, and tragedy strikes. Now having recovered from her physical injuries, Okko must now go to live with her grandmother, who runs a traditional Japanese inn nearby. There she meets the spirit of a young boy, and together with others she meets along the way she works to learn all she can about caring for guests and resultantly bringing hers…
Read at the source