Watch A Letter to Momo For Free

Sadly Over-hyped

ridiculous rating

if their story seems completely bonkers, almost like a feverish work of fiction, you ain't heard nothing yet.

It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

Anyone who has watched any anime features knows that they are able to serve a very different function from live action films. What films like Spirited Away, Wolf Children or Colorful are able to do that traditional live-action can't do quite as well, is find a way of integrating folklore and fantasy elements into the lives of its young protagonists in a way that helps them describe their distinct view of the world and the problems they face growing up in it.In A Letter To Momo, a young girl Momo and her mother have sold up their apartment in Tokyo and gone to live near some relatives on Shio Island. Momo's father has just died in a boating accident, and an unfinished letter that opens only with 'Dear Momo...' doesn't bring about the kind of closure the young girl needs. Three drops of rain from the sky however accompany Momo to the island, where they take the form of ghostly goblins from an old picture-book.Even though the creatures can only be seen by Momo, the trick with anime films of this kind is that the viewer needs to be drawn into Momo's view of the world, not seeing the line between fantasy and reality, letting the message that lies behind it weave a magic spell without being overstated. That of course if the cinematic art of illusion and A Letter To Momo does this particularly well, creating good interaction between the characters, exploring the opportunities for visual effects, and building it all up to towards an epic conclusion that gets message across sensitively, without preaching or speaking down to a younger audience.

While every culture is unique -- which is implicit in the very word -- Japan moreso than others has left us with a type of anime that is unmatched anywhere else.This is Japanese anime so pure and yet so subtle that, if you watch for the entire two hours, it will slowly but inevitably overwhelm you.Hiroyuki Okiura has lovingly and painstakingly done hand-drawn images which are deceivingly simple. You only have to pause the film and look closely at that you are seeing to appreciate the detail. Even the rice cooker in the kitchen is an exact match for an actual rice cooker.The intent clearly was not to move into the more action-packed stories (space, time travel, wars) but to stick with the tried and true tale of a young girl connecting with nature spirits of a sort that are, again, unique to the culture. Very similar to My Friend Totoro, with more of an emotional step-laddering Personally, I loved it Give it a chance and you may be crying by the end.That goes for the ladies too

Almost like the movie spirited away. Except in this case, it's not a girl who wanders with her parents into a Yokai domain, but the Yokai busting into the human world. This was a good film about a girl who moved with her mother to Shio from Tokyo. Both have strained themselves to keep the memories of their Husband/father alive so they can move on with their lives. But instead, Momo lingers on with an unfinished letter from her father who wanted to apologize for going on an excursion on the night of a family date. Seeing as this clearly upset Momo, she practically cursed her father out of spite, and lost him in a horrible accident. Since the move however, her grandmother introduces her to a small room, called the sky (Attic) where memories are kept intact in forms of statues or books. With a curious eye, Momo reads one in particular about a group of Yokai who watched over her family for generations. Seeing as this presented no problems, she begins to hear and see the real thing which questions her sanity. Since nobody else can see them except for a smaller girl, Momo decides to allow them to stay inside her house on the condition they stay in the sky room. But as will all Yokai, they cannot keep still for one moment, which then leads Momo on a remarkable trip of self discovery. This was a fresh approach to how kids dealing with pain in the most minute details. For Momo, not being able to say goodbye properly to her father after his death gives her a new resolve. More so, because on a particular night, a typhoon ripped through Shio while Momo was exposed to the elements. Her mother of course who suffered from asthma starts to fall ill to her condition because she couldn't find her. Momo and her new friends struggle to help save her mother from certain death to go out into the typhoon, and reach the hospital as soon as possible with the help of a neighbourly mail man. Soon all the Yokai help her to attain that clearance to let her reach her goal. And with their help, saved her mother in time. The story was well done, as well as the music. I found this film rather slow at first, but when it picked up later the laughs, tears started to roll like clock work. I think all ages will enjoy this film for its humour, its back story lines, as well as seeing the tragedies become less impactive to those who were closest to it. Momo struggled hard, but with her Yokai friends life was more bearable to endure seeing as demons of ghosts know a lot more about death than humans. Memories are made, and memories fade, with Momo her memories of her father became clearer, and with the help of her demon buddies, got a message at last from her father who simply said,..... Well you got to see the movie for that. Highly recommended to all.

"A Letter to Momo" had reportedly taken the director Okiura Hiroyuki 7 years to produce. Allow me to be the first to say, the time and effort spent on perfecting this film have not gone to waste.The art/animation in this movie is top-notch. Production I.G. with assistance from P.A. Works, Studio Pierrot, and CG by Dandelion resulted in stunning visual quality down to the tiniest details. What I especially liked, was the amount of attention paid to body language and gestures. There's so much information to be gleaned from subtleties of the visuals alone, and that's what I find most interesting about Japanese films. There was also this action sequence near the end that just blew me away. I don't want to spoil, but I have not seen such breathtaking hand-drawn animation since watching "Tonari no Totoro" in the late '80s.The story begins with the protagonist, Momo, moving to a small fictional island named Shiojima with her mother. Their new house appears to be haunted, and she feels absolutely miserable about moving out of Tokyo. Being a city girl that she is, Momo struggles to adjust to the country life. Instead of playing with the local kids, she eventually befriends three Youkai in her house - Iwa, Kawa, and Mame. Momo begins to appreciate the life on the island, and come to realize the meaning of his late father's unfinished letter to her.The character development in this movie is absolutely phenomenal. It begins with a light comedy, but through numerous adventures and mishaps on the island, we slowly learn about her past. The transition from comedy to drama is seamless, and it really makes you to care about the protagonist by the end... This film has what I call magic, something Ghibli films of late desperately lack. Although the local kids were severely underused in this movie, the three Youkai were the true supporting cast. Their chemistry with the protagonist was excellent, and the humor just comes naturally. Mame's character was especially funny in a quirky way. One can easily tell how much thought and planning has been put into this film just by watching the impeccable timing at which Mame's character was used as comedic relief every single time.Every piece of music appears to be fully orchestrated, especially the violins stood out to build tension in action scenes. Momo's voice acting by child actress and seiyuu Miyama Karen was a perfect fit, as well as the three Youkai."A Letter to Momo" is almost like a homage to Studio Ghibli's kids movies - "My Neighbor Totoro", "Spirited Away", and "Ponyo". It sticks to the tried and tested formula of supernatural spirits that only interacts with kids, and somewhat predictable plot development. However, the producers have managed to merge various elements from all those films into an exciting original story. "A Letter to Momo" is a magical crowd-pleaser with great pacing and a heartwarming story. It's a solid movie that anime and movie fans should not miss.