Anne no Nikki

It's sad to see such a well made movie have absolutely no attention given to it. Obviously the subject matter has been covered many times over but this movie covers it in a delicate studio ghibli type of way that is aesthetically enjoyable.

The animation in this movie is done very well. Every moment is savored, the color pallet is pleasant to look at and all movement is fluid.

The soundtrack is good, nothing amazing but just enough to help better portray pivotal moments in the story.

Characters were done well, Anne was portrayed as well as she could've been with the information we have about ... her actual life.

I insist you check this movie out. Its easy to find, right now there is a free version up on youtube.

On June 12th, 1929, about ten-years before the start of World War II, Annelies Marie Frank was born to parents Otto and Edith Frank in Frankfurt, Germany. Rendered stateless by the Nazis in 1941, and without any means to flee the country, Anne and her family were forced into confinement for two-years in a cramped attic to avoid persecution. While staying there, Anne documented her life in a now famous diary, which has since been adapted into movies, plays, and even an anime.

It was surprising to learn that an anime of Anne Frank’s diary had been made—by Madhouse, no less, one of my favorite studios. ... I’d known about Anne’s story for a while, but I avoided it because I feared that it might be too depressing for me to handle. Regardless, my curiosity for this especially unique adaptation eventually got the best of me, and I relented.

As expected, this story was difficult to watch. Even seemingly peaceful moments are underpinned by anxiety and melancholy that keeps you from ever feeling at ease. The presence of the Nazis encroaching the lives of Anne and her family are always felt even when they’re not seen. And Anne and her family weren’t the only victims of this time. There were countless other families and individuals across central-Europe who were made to endure similar struggles. It all ultimately begs the questions: Why did this have to happen? How could such paranoid hatred develop?

A lot of care was put into the production of Anne no Nikki. The character designs matched their real-life counterparts, and the animation was often inbetweened on twos, resulting in a lifelike fluidity atypical of anime animation. The soundtrack was minimalist, lightly enhancing the atmosphere of particular moments without being a distraction.

Furthermore, I appreciated the subtlety of the directing. People are portrayed as historical figures rather than as characters. A naturalistic approach is taken that resists the temptation to exaggerate for the sake of dramatic effect. The sedate pacing might be trying for less patient viewers, but a more energetic portrayal wouldn’t have rung true to the actual events that this adaptation drew from.

If I had to dig deep for a flaw, I’d say that there was an occasional tinge of sentimentality, which, considering the strong emotions that were already present, didn’t feel necessary. Despite this, the heart and salient moral lesson that Anne no Nikki paints more than compensates for any apparent flaws.

Hello, before I start this I want to say, I'm Jewish and I'm very happy this movie was made. However, when I was Anne's age and bullied for being Jewish I related to her a lot and tried to learn everything I could about her. So with that, I will start this review.

Okay, first off the story! Wow! So much is wrong! And a lot of things are downplayed way too much. Like Anne's and Petter's romance, Anne's friends, Anne's problems with her mother, the friction between the van Daan's and the Franks, also that they all knew each other before coming! The helpers are ... also really downplayed, that really bothered me. They only showed Meip doing things for them, even when Meip comes over she came with Bep. I feel like I'm really disliking this for how much I know, but it's a problem, there's just so much that's wrong and it's really hard to get into to boot! I'm going to give the story a soiled three.

The art... it was better with the pictures on the wall than on the characters. The best was with the Franks, but even with them, I kept getting confused who was who when they weren't talking. The van Daan's could've been better, Mr. van Daan was a bit too fat, and Mrs. van Daan was too skinny, she's a bit of a plump woman. Petter is alright though, I guess. Mr. Dussel, okay side track moment! Fun fact, Dussel in German means Nincompoop! Okay, back to the review! He was way too fat and looked nothing like his real-life counterpart. With Meip, she looked a bit too much like the Franks, only thing different is basically the hair color. The art was very underwhelming, considering I've seen movies that are older than this one with better art. I'm giving this a 2.

Sound, there isn't much to say I guess. I felt like the voice actors were really lacking though. Also, the ost isn't anything I would listen too, it's really meh and forgettable. Although it wasn't horrible so I'll give this a 4.

Character... I wasn't impressed, especially with the Anne Frank. She was a normal girl! She loved movies, she loved to travel, she loved ice skating, and she loved the outdoors. She was very hot-headed and very sweet, she loved romance! And she came out as a very bland character, which is really disappointing to me. Margot, they didn't do much about her, even going to hiding was really downplayed with how much in danger she was in. Everyone else is basically just there. At least they did attempt to show how close Anne and Otto were. I'm giving this a 1.

My enjoyment... well it took me two days to finish this movie, that's pretty bad. It was really hard for me to get into, and I wish I could like this, but I just can't. I'm giving it a 3 and an overall 3.

With all this said, I am happy this was made, as it shows that they tried to do something. It's very rare to see Jews in anime at all, which kinda makes me sad. Cause I like to be included, I'm not religious I am Jewish by blood. So I hope that Japan tries to bring in more things like this I guess. Thank you for reading, I hope this helps and have a wonderful day.