Review for Junkers Come Here

Introduction

This is another one of those anime titles that everyone was talking about, once upon a time, and one which I missed out on as it was never licensed for UK release. And by the time I had wandered into the realms of importing, it was becoming more and more scarce. Besides, a movie about a girl and her dog didn’t quite appeal to my younger sensibilities, more attuned to the sensationalist side of the medium. It was that Madman Entertainment clearance sale last year that afforded me the opportunity to finally see the film whose name kept cropping up on anime forums ten or so years ago. Incidentally Junkers Come Here was initially released by Bandai Entertainment in the US, before Madman localised the disc, and with the title deleted on both sides of the Pacific, and with Bandai defunct, second hand will be your best option if this film interests.


Hiromi Nozawa’s home life is a little unconventional. Daughter of two very successful parents, she spends most of her time at home with the housekeeper Fumie, and her live-in tutor Keisuke. Her mother is usually late home from work, if at all, while her father is usually overseas. Fortunately she has her best friend, Junkers, a dog that is her constant companion. Despite her odd home life, Hiromi is a well adjusted girl with the usual problems of school, boys, and nursing an adolescent crush on Keisuke. But then the world falls in when her parents announce that they are divorcing. She has no-one to turn to but Junkers for support. It’s a good thing that Junkers can talk...

Picture

Junkers Come Here gets a 1.78:1 anamorphic transfer, although with the thin black bars on either side of the frame, it’s closer to 1.70:1. This disc dates from 2005, so you won’t be surprised at the NTSC-PAL standards conversion, with the softness and ghosting that implies. It doesn’t harm the viewing experience egregiously though, and the film is consistently watchable throughout. The film itself was made in 1995, so it’s most likely an old fashioned cel and paint affair, although reading around it, it seems that Junkers Come Here didn’t get a native theatrical release, and was produced instead as an OVA. That might explain the quality of the animation. The character animation is top-notch, detailed and fluid, with a lot of effort put into bringing out the doggy qualities of Junkers, but there is a comparative lack of detail in the backgrounds. The character designs are appealing, while the film’s soft colour palette very much puts it in Ghibli territory.

Sound

You have the choice between DD 2.0 English and Japanese stereo with translated subtitles and a signs only track. The dialogue is clear throughout, and the whimsical music really suits the story well. The volume level is quite low though; easily remedied. The subtitles are accurately timed, and I only noticed one typo, a missing ‘a’. I sampled the dub and it seems pretty strong.

Extras

The disc comes in an Amaray with some appealing artwork, and from 2005, a very small and discreet Australian ratings logo. The inside of the sleeve offers more artwork and a personal message from the author of Junkers Come Here, and musician Naoto Kine.

On the disc, you’ll find the theatrical trailer and a 3:13 Pilot Film for Junkers Come Here.

There are Madman trailers for the Studio Ghibli Collection, Fat Albert, and Astroboy.

The back of the sleeve also promises Interviews and an Art Gallery, but alas it seems that these were limited to the US release alone.

Conclusion

You get an idea of the tone of Junkers Come Here, when it begins with a scene of the titular dog, going for a walk, feeling the need to spend a penny, and then popping into a gent’s urinal and flushing after he’s done. He turns out to be even more human with his ability to communicate, although Hiromi has to remind him to be circumspect, lest he wind up as an attraction somewhere. Junkers Come Here is a light, charming, and sweetly funny film, especially when it comes to Hiromi’s relationship with Junkers, and the way that it handles the typical growing pains of a girl on the verge of adolescence.


She’s at the age when she’s having more adult thoughts, while boys her own age are typically still pulling pranks and being ‘idiots’. She and her friends are more prone to talk about relationships, and are beginning to contemplate the idea of being in love. It’s a typical coming of age story, where the inevitable encroach of adulthood conflicts with the lingering ties of childhood, and for Hiromi, who has two, usually absent and hard-working parents, she assumes that she has to be adult and responsible with how she faces life.


Of course that assumed maturity is challenged when her parents announce that they are to separate. She continues to think that she should do the right thing, but that caused her more and more strain. It’s through Junker’s support that she figures out how to navigate her feelings and communicate what she really wants to her parents.


A cynic might suggest that this is one of those films that are the equivalent of the ‘very special episodes’ of US sitcoms that we used to get in the eighties, more edutainment than entertainment, and there’s no denying that for a child in a similar situation, Junkers Come Here might prove a useful aid in trying to face these issues. But it is entertaining, funny, magical and heart-warming too, and it can tug on the heartstrings, elicit a few tears as well. It’s a story that is very well told, Ghibli-esque in all the right ways, and certainly there are parallels between Kiki and Jiji’s relationship in Kiki’s Delivery Service, and Hiromi and Junkers’ relationship here. Junkers Come Here is a film well worth seeking out.