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AKA: ユンカース・カム・ヒア, Junkers Come Here: Memories of You
Genre: Slice-of-life drama
Length: Movie, 100 minutes
Distributor: Currently licensed by Bandai, also available streaming on Hulu.
Content Rating: PG (some mature themes)
Related Series: N/A
Also Recommended:
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Rating:

Junkers Come Here

Synopsis

Hiromi is an insecure 11-year old girl living through some tough family problems. Her father is always away from home and her mother is not doing a great job of tending to her emotions and feelings. They are on the verge of divorce and her crush, Keisuke, now has a fiancée.

Things get worse as Hiromi finds out that her mother is taking Hiromi to San Francisco with her because of her new job as hotel manager without even getting to understand Hiromi true feelings. On top of that, her crush is now having pre-marital issues with his fiancée.

In these situations, Hiromi relies on Junkers. Junkers is no ordinary dog. He uses the toilet when he has to go to the bathroom, gets angry when he misses his favorite show on TV, and speaks in complex, grammatically correct sentences. Oh yeah, he can also perform three miracles. How will Hiromi use these miracles, and will her family remain together?


Review

With this anime, Junichi Sato may have risen to the highest tier of directors of this generation (Mamoru Oshii, Katsuhiro Otomo, and yes even Hayao Miyazaki).

Junkers Come Here isn't an action-packed anime. It isn't gory or sex-laden. It isn't hilariously funny and it isn't an exaggerated harem show either. It's an anime that hits close to home. It's an anime that many young children, particularly girls, in this era can relate to.

Junkers Come Here tells the story of a crumbling family from the standpoint of the one person who is torn and hurt the most by these issues: Hiromi. Hiromi is so realistic that you would think that she was your big sister. Any girl who has been stuck in the middle of domestic disturbance can relate to her. She puts up a front of strength and maturity, but on the inside she is a girl who is hurting on the inside. She is facing not only the troubles of growing up, but the issues within her family that have shattered her heart as well. Keisuke and Chie have both been cheating on each other and her father and mother are never together, and are never able to truly take care of Hiromi. They never have an honest conversation and her parents are never able to reach their child's honest emotions. Her only relief is Junkers, her only true friend who like any other dog, remains with Hiromi until the end. She relies on his miracles and his compassion in an attempt to make her family come together.

Soon enough, Hiromi relies less on Junkers and speaks louder. She becomes heard more and more as the voices from deep within her heart become louder and louder as she grows and matures emotionally.

And those are the two themes that remain constant throughout the movie: growth and maturity. That's what the heart of this movie is. It is about the ability to overcome the problems that have been on the rise in the 21st century. It is about becoming stronger and being able to stand on your two feet.

But most of all, it is an absolutely perfect rendition of a broken home. Even the city is dead-on realistic. The beautifully drawn backgrounds, perfect lighting, and super-realistic animation create a mood that only makes the plot even more gripping.

Junkers Come Here is an anime that will make you cry, and then only minutes later create a nice wide smile. It will make you angry, and then calm you down soon after. It pulls and pushes at every emotion that exists within the human body at its own free will. It can make a grown man cry and make a young child smile ... both at the same time.

Most of all, it will suck you straight into anime fandom ... and never let go.

Robert Nelson

Recommended Audience: While there is no objectionable content in the movie, the underlying themes will not be understood by very young children. Acceptable for all but the youngest of children.



Version(s) Viewed: 35 mm theatrical print, Japanese dialogue with English subtitles
Review Status: Full (1/1)
Junkers Come Here © 1995 Naoto Kine / BANDAI VISUAL • Kadokawa Shoten
 
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