From Up on Poppy Hill

From Up on Poppy Hill a Studio Ghibli film that was released in Japan on July 16, 2011. It was directed by Goro Miyazaki, the son of Hayao Miyazaki and the director of the 2006 film Tales from Earthsea.

Plot
→ See also full story

The Story is set in 1963 in Yokohama. Kokuriko Manor sits on a hill overlooking the harbour. A 16 year-old girl, Umi, lives in that house. Every morning she raises a signal flag facing the sea. The flag means "I pray for safe voyages".

A 17 year-old boy, Shun, always sees this flag from the sea as he rides a tugboat to school. In preparation for next year's Tokyo Olympics, people are destroying the old and believing only in the magnificence of the new.

In that time, at a high school in Yokohama, a small struggle occurred. The building of the Culture Club, nicknamed Latin Quatier, old but full of history and memories. People were questioning if it should be deserted or preserved. In the middle of this, Umi and Shun meet. Shun appeals to the students who want to protect the building. Umi suggests a big clean up of the building to show its good parts.

Gradually the pair are drawn to each other but they are faced with a sudden trial: they might be brother-and-sister. Even so, they keep going without running from reality. In the end, it's revealed that Umi and Shun aren't related in any way (so they're free to be together) and learn the full true story of how their parents met, loved and lived.

Voice cast
→ See also English cast

Japanese Cast:

Production
→

Easter Eggs
Shun asks his father about his biological father. At that moment a ship, named Kogenai Line, drives past Akio's boat. Line means maru in Japanese. Kogenai Maru is the ship in the film Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea. On Yoshio Onodera's ship Koyo Maru Yokohama, there is a cabine "Ghibli" is written on it.

Goofs
At the first minutes of the film, Shun drives to school and he stops at crossroads. Across from him there is a store with the Coke sign on it. Although the movie takes place in the early 1960s, the "Coke" sign over the store has a swoosh. That didn't become part of the Coca-Cola logo until 1969.

Blu-Ray Release
The Blu-ray+ DVD combo and DVD releases of FROM UP ON POPPY HILL contain over three hours of bonus materials and include: original Japanese language and English language versions with subtitles and dubtitles; feature-length storyboards; celebrity cast recording featurette with behind-the-scenes footage and interviews; an interview with Goro Miyazaki; original Japanese trailer and TV spots; the music video for the theme song by Aoi Teshima; and a featurette about Yokohama, exploring the history of the sea-side setting where the film takes place. Bonuses exclusive to the Blu-ray edition include a staff speech and press conference by Hayao Miyazaki days after the Fukushima earthquake; and a 20-page booklet containing the original project proposal by Hayao Miyazaki and a letter from Goro Miyazaki.

Release

 * 16 July 2011 - Movie theater on Japan
 * 2 January 2012 - DVD release on Japan
 * 2012 - English dub