The movie is impressive for its even mix of snarky humor and sincere sentiment, and even more impressive when one considers that director Isao Takahata made his name with the harrowing antiwar drama Grave of the Fireflies (1988).
Mr. Takahata’s broad, cartoony family comedy whose smeary watercolor washes and Peanuts-like line drawings don’t follow Ghibli’s house style. The family’s misadventures are standard stuff, but the art is continuously inventive.
75
The A.V. ClubTasha Robinson
The A.V. ClubTasha Robinson
The domestic humor is often too culture-specific to play for a non-Japanese audience, but Yamadas does have its accessible moments, particularly in the sweet extended opening flight of fantasy.
70
Los Angeles Times
Los Angeles Times
Rendered in Japanese ink wash, it is a surreal look at nuclear family dynamics. [21 Oct 2014, p.D5]