A Letter to Momo - A Summer Heartwarming Family Story

When I see through the list of my favorite, I found that some anime I liked are stories concerning Yokai (spirits in Japanese folklore) and humans, such as Natsume's Book of Friends, Inuyasha, and Spirited Away. Today I am going to introduce a warm summer animation: A Letter to Momo.

A Letter to Momo was written and directed by Hiroyuki Okiura, with the voice cast of Karen Miyama, Yuka, Yoshiyuki Nishida, Kouichi Yamadera, Shigeru Nagashima, and many more. The film premiered at the Toronto International Film on September 10, 2011 and was released on April 21, 2012 in Japan.

It is a film that shows the dark times after the loss of a loved one, how to cope with suffering, and how to compromise with the world.

The story begins after Momo's father dies in an accident. Momo and her mother leave Tokyo, which was full of memories, and return home by boat, intending to start a new life.

On the boat, Momo opened a letter from her father, which only contains only the words "Dear Momo". Before the day of the accident, Momo fought with her father. For not being able to say goodbye to her father, Momo felt guilty and she could not accept the fact that her father had left.

When Momo had not yet adapted to the local life and stayed home alone, three yokai Kawa, Mame and Iwa rushed to the house. Momo was frightened and tried to get rid of them by fleeing the house.

Momo was lost because of running away. She meets the boy, Yota, who was diving by the bridge before. Yota invited Momo to his home to see straw boats made by his grandfather, and invited her to go diving with him.

When she back home, she told her mother about the three yokai. But her mother couldn't see them, so she didn't think it is true. By the next day, Momo came to the bridge for the appointment with Yota, but she was afraid to jump into the water. She feel she was out of place with Yota's group and escaped.

Momo came to a place to take shelter from the rain. She heard the speaking voice and saw the three yokai's appearance by the light of thunder. Panic Momo ran back home in the rain.

(Starting from left to right, Momo, Kawa and Iwa)

The three yokai saw her and introduced themselves to Momo. Momo is so frightening that she ignored their explanation. The daredevil Kawa fell out the pass card and Momo take it. Momo tries to break the pass card and orders them to leave the house. The three yokai can only leave.

The interesting story of the four begins from here.

Gluttonous three yokai often go to the fields to steal farmers' food. The righteous Momo tries to stop them, and take them to the mountains to find food. Iwa and Kawa saw wild boar, but they carried away the boar piglets. They were chased by the wild boar and reached the top of the mountain. Momo saw the panoramic view of the island at the mountain, and gradually like there.

Momo was timid to dive before, and now attempted to have a try, but she has been afraid to jump. Iwa help her a few times, and Momo began to overcome it.

There are serval other interesting stories between them, but I will not mention them here. Ame is cute. Kawa has a sharp tongue. And Iwa is the boss of the three, with a little fierce appearance but a gentle inner.

(Starting from up to down, Iwa, Kawa, Ame and Momo)

The end of the anime is a bit sad. Kawa took away the mirror which was given to Momo's mother by Momo's father, but the mirror shattered in the fight between Kawa and Momo. Momo tries to explain to her mother that it is yokai's false. Since the mother could not see them,  she thought Momo lies to her. Misunderstanding between the two occurs. Momo ran away from home. When the mother was ready to go out to find her, she was sick again.

It happens to the rainstorm came. Momo rushed home in the rainstorm when she knew that her mother was sick. The doctor tries go to save her mother, but was hindered by the rainstorm. The three yokai summoned their friends to help the doctor come to their house. Luckily the doctor cured the mother's illness.

When the three yokai were ready to go back to heaven, Momo sent the letter she wrote for her father for them to take with it. Momo received a letter back from her father at the time of the festival. And Momo also joined in with Yota's group. She bravely jumped into the water.

This summer story ends at the moment of Momo jumping into the water. I think it signifies that Momo has untied a knot in her heart and accepted a new life. I hope you can enjoy this sad but also warm animation.