This is one of the less well known Studio Ghibli films which is a shame as it is delightful and rather funny. Unlike most films their is no real plot, in fact there is no story arc at all, just a series vignettes showing incidents in the lives of the eponymous Yamada family. Some of these like the one where they leave Nonoko, the young daughter, at the shopping mall go on for several minutes and others such as the very funny part where son Noboru has what his parents think is his first glass of sake are under a minute long.
As with Isao Takahata's other Ghibli films this will probably appeal to adults far more than children; while it doesn't contain anything unsuitable for youngsters I suspect they might find the subject matter boring. The animation style is totally different from any other Ghibli film or indeed any other animation I can think of. The computer animation looks like a water-coloured comic strip, with fair less detail than usual; this might make it sound inferior but it actually works surprisingly well for the subject matter.
While the episodes are humorous they are almost all the sort of things that could happen in any family, the only ones that aren't are fantasies such as the father imagining himself to be a masked super hero or illustrative such as the charming opening where we see the family taking a fairly fantastical journey. I certainly recommend this for any older Ghibli fans.
These comments are based on watching the film in Japanese with English subtitles.
As with Isao Takahata's other Ghibli films this will probably appeal to adults far more than children; while it doesn't contain anything unsuitable for youngsters I suspect they might find the subject matter boring. The animation style is totally different from any other Ghibli film or indeed any other animation I can think of. The computer animation looks like a water-coloured comic strip, with fair less detail than usual; this might make it sound inferior but it actually works surprisingly well for the subject matter.
While the episodes are humorous they are almost all the sort of things that could happen in any family, the only ones that aren't are fantasies such as the father imagining himself to be a masked super hero or illustrative such as the charming opening where we see the family taking a fairly fantastical journey. I certainly recommend this for any older Ghibli fans.
These comments are based on watching the film in Japanese with English subtitles.