Anime Review~My Neighbor Totoro: The Quiet Magic of Childhood Wonder

I started watching My Neighbor Totoro and thought it would be a straightforward children’s story. However, as soon as I did that, I felt like entering another universe in which even the most innocent sounds or noises suggested some kind of event about to happen far away from me.

Ever since the noisy bus passed slowly in the village, I felt that there was a special thing behind those rice fields. A pair of little siblings come to a fresh countryside residence; they are very curious and have lots of expectations about it. They experience their initial meeting with a strange fat character called Totoro in silence and without pomp: some rustling sounds rather odd, then there was a little noise and all at once a huge kind creature appeared out of the bushes. The unsaid hello communicated one thing very clearly: not all wonders declare themselves boldly-it’s usually those eerie quiet ones!

The film is fun and also a bit sad as we see more about why they are scared. As for now, when the two girls got to know that their mum is still in the sick bed at a very short distance from them, the cuteness in Totoro’s world become much deeper. It really pained me to see them do that because I could tell that they wanted to have some fun with her but they couldn’t because she was so near yet so far away. In every fun part, there was something happy but also something to worry about hence making it bitter-sweet and reminding me that curiosity goes with desire most times.

A scene that nobody watching the movie will forget is when everything changed suddenly during heavy rain. On this occasion, the girls are seen at a closed bus station; they are wet and do not know what to do. Suddenly Totoro reappears. The moment he is there he beckons with positivity causing a glowing little creature that flies away on the Catbus which itself leaves after a loud purring sound. While boarding the smiling cat-like vehicle after her sibling, my racing heart reminded me of that time. It was a scene of relief mixed with wonder because it showed how even in very difficult times people may be good to each other.

In My Neighbor Totoro, magic is blended with several things we see or do each day. The disagreement between the brothers and sisters about who gets to have the acorn, the manner in which the rays of the sun shine on or pass through the rice plants as well as the crack of the floor on the tatami of the aged building are all very small and they seem to appeal to our senses for nothing but to bewitch us when taken altogether. These common occurrences made me see that we shouldn’t miss chances for amazement; for example, a little rain before a summer storm or a flower blooming by the road side and so on.

The way the movie moves slowly is intended. It asks us to relax and watch carefully without any hurry. Every puzzle need not be neatly resolved and tied up fast; instead we pay attention at Totoro’s gentle snore, or at Mei moving obstinately in search of a missing figurine cat. From those breaks I realized that still waiting calmly could make one relate well with people as well as everything outside of humanity.

I shut my eyes and breathed out gently with a smile of satisfaction on seeing that part of the film where Totoro is there to relieve the burden and everything seems fine. The movie doesn’t end with an ultimate fight scene or an astonishing discovery; rather it ends with a basic pledge that as long as people believe in something they cannot see, magic and hope will always exist.

Finally, My Neighbor Totoro shows us how we can appreciate all things irrespective of any difficult or doubtful moments. It is a movie that will comfort and motivate people who think that they do not count for anything due to being lost in the crowd or lacking compassion when it is needed the most. Whenever I go back there and see those bright meadows with shadows under trees as well as the same old bus stations again; I remember one thing – quiet contains some strongest spells at times.

All The Screenshots are From IMDb