After watching the brutal classic Jin Roh, I wanted to watch Okiura’s other other full length film.
It’s a good film, but not original. It follows the standard Ghibli template, especially My Neighbor Totoro. It has a strong girl protagonist, quirky world, idyllic Japanese country setting, and climaxes with a family emergency.
Even if formulaic, we had fun. The kids needed a moment in acclimating to the methodical pacing of anime, but they enjoyed it as well.
My only critique of the film is the rendering of Momo’s mother. She looked so young, it always felt like she was Momo’s older sister, which was distracting throughout the movie.
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If the kids ask for it, I’d watch it again. The backgrounds are gorgeously rendered and the ghosts are funny. It scratches the Ghibli itch without paying for to HBO Max. A Letter to Momo is more enjoyable than Ghibli’s recent offerings, but it doesn’t reach the perfection of their classics.