Momo e no Tegami

After the unexpected death of her father, 11-year-old Momo Miyaura leaves Tokyo with her mother and moves to an old remote island in Seto Inland Sea. The only memento she has from her father is an unfinished letter with only two words inside: "Dear Momo"—along with her heart's unrest from it.

In the new and unfamiliar small town, Momo reluctantly tries to adjust to the outmoded wooden buildings, silent crop fields, and mysterious isolated shrines. One day, while exploring the attic of her new home, she finds a worn out picture book about youkai. Following this discovery, strange things begin to happen around town, and Momo is greeted by the arrival of three troublesome youkai.

Momo e no Tegami tells the story of a young girl as she struggles to adapt to her bizarre new life and ultimately come to terms with her father's mysterious letter.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Mame Main

Cho Japanese

Iwa Main

Nishida, Toshiyuki Japanese

Miyaura, Momo Main

Miyama, Karen Japanese

Kawa Main

Yamadera, Kouichi Japanese

Miyaura, Ikuko Supporting

Yuuka Japanese

Kouichi Supporting

Ogawa, Gouki Japanese

Granduncle Supporting

Sakaguchi, Yoshisada Japanese

Miyaura, Kazuo Supporting

Arakawa, Daizaburou Japanese

Umi Supporting

Hashimoto, Kazuki Japanese

Youta Supporting

Fujii, Kouta Japanese

Matsushita, Keiko Producer, Production Manager

Mukaichi, Motoki Producer

Okiura, Hiroyuki Director, Script, Storyboard, Character Design, Original Creator

Wakabayashi, Kazuhiro Sound Director

Reviews

Sep 18, 2011

8thSin

Recommended

"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. I was fortunate enough to watch this latest masterpiece at the 2011 TIFF screening.

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 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, I think 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.

Possibly the best all-ages anime movie since "Spirited Away" (2001).

Reviewer’s Rating: 10

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Dec 25, 2018

TammyS29

Mixed Feelings

Story 6/10: The story was okay. It dragged in bits and sometimes felt rushed, especially at the scene were Momo is trying to save her mom. Did they explain how the Dad die? I think I missed that part. A few tear-jerking moments and funny bits.

Art 7/10: The animation was nice. It looked realistic and the facial movements were so life like.

Sound 6/10: I liked the ending theme.

Character 6/10: Momo was THE blandest character every. I know she was coming to terms with her Dad's death, but she had no likable qualities, maybe up until the end. She just went along her day with ... mostly a monotonous posture. Her development happened at the very end when she finally found her peace. Not much is known about the other characters. I did like the three Goblins, especially the forgetful on. He was very cute. They didn't really dwell on their backgrounds and how they become to be. Just that they were guardians to come to protect the loved ones of those who had died.

Enjoyment 4/10: I didn't really like it as much. But it did come with a nice underlying message about over coming heartbreak and finding forgiveness.

Overall 6/10: It's a good time waster if you want background noise. Some funny moments, some sad moments and some sweet ones. I guess it's a nice film to watch with the family, just wasn't up to my speed.

Reviewer’s Rating: 6

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Feb 21, 2021

cici_LPS

Not Recommended

This film has all the pomp of Ghibli but none of the substance.

My biggest complaint personally was the three goblins. They were pretty much your run-of-the-mill Disney-style comic-relief caricatures, and I honestly just found them annoying to no end. Even aside from that they were kind of just bland and unfunny.

There's also the climax. It's rather shoe-horned in, and comes mostly out of nowhere. It also is essentially just one massive plot-hole. Without giving to much away, it's immediately immediately clear to anyone with half brain cell that the plan the characters are attempting, has a huge flaw. I was interested to see how they ... would overcome this flaw, and well basically they just sweep it under the rug. Half way through the climax, the screen fades to black, and the film cuts to the next day, and everything is resolved somehow.

Other than than that, the film is honestly just kind of bland and unremarkable. The beginning and the end and a few moments here and there feel a little heartfelt, but even they are pretty cliche and unmoving. The shinto stuff was also kind of cool, but you can find that anywhere. I probably could have gotten over my first two complaints if there was really anything to like about the film, but there isn't. It's just a mediocre film, with a few flaws that gently push it down into "bad" territory.

Honestly, you're better off just rewatching your favorite Ghibli film.

Reviewer’s Rating: 3

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