Film Review: The House of The Lost On The Cape

By J.D. Kelly

The House of the Lost on the Cape is a new anime film directed by Shinya Kawatsura, who directed Sakurada Reset and Kokoro Connect, and animated by David Production who also worked on a little anime you may have heard of called JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure. It had its U.S. premiere at Anime Expo and I managed to catch it. Sadly, if you’re expecting another anime of giant muscly men attacking each other with Stands, you won’t be getting what you’re looking for.

Based on a Japanese novel of the same name written by Sachiko Kashiwaba, the story centers around Yui, Hiyori and Kiwa as they come together after an earthquake wrecks their town leaving teenage Yui and young Hiyori with no adult support. Kiwa lies and says that they are her granddaughters and takes them to a house on the cape that is more than it seems. It is a mayoigo (“House of the Lost”) a house that lost travelers can come across and it will provide them with whatever they need like food and water.

The film I was most reminded of while watching this was Miyazaki’s classic My Neighbor Totoro. They are both slice of life stories centering around the bond between two girls with magical realism elements. The two girls bond over their shared trauma: Yui ran away from her abusive father, and Hiyori lost her parents in a car accident and then lost the relatives that were looking after her in the earthquake. The collection of traumas has caused Hiyroi to lose her voice and she spends the movie writing out what she can’t communicate through grunts by writing them in a notebook and showing that to others.

This is definitely one of the most supportive anime films I’ve ever seen. Everyone in town is supportive of Yui and Hiyori’s recovery giving Yui a job and a mode of transportation and letting Hiyori recover at her own pace. As Kiwa tells them, sometimes you’re hit with major bad luck but only small bursts of good luck. She teaches them to enjoy the little victories and these little victories help the movie reach the climax of its emotional journey and its plot close enough to make the conclusion very satisfying.  

This exploration of recovery from trauma grows to include the whole town as it recovers from the earthquake. The film itself was created as part of a fundraising initiative commemorating the 10th anniversary of the 2011 Touhoku earthquake and tsunami and it feels easy to see parallels between the events of the film and a community’s reaction to any mass trauma inducing event and how they and all of Japan can come together to help each other through the tough times that come afterward.

The voice acting for this film is excellent as well. Shinobu Otake, who voiced Nikuko in Fortune Favors Lady Nikuko, once again takes on the role of the motherly, or maybe in the case grandmotherly Kiwa and imbues it with all the warmth and care that comes with the role and towards the end, some of the agony that comes along with trying to help people through their grief while dealing with her own. Awano Sari also does a good job as Hiyori making her emotions apparent with only grunts.

The art is the only letdown for me and a small one at that. It’s serviceable but too plain for what I would have expected from a studio that gave such stylized work like JoJo. There are a few flashes of a great style when it shifts to a very rough silhouette style whine Kiwa tells legends of the local area. I also enjoy the cinematography and how it handles translations between 2D and 3D when it simulates a crane or drone shot to help show off the various features of the local landscape.  

All in all, while it is unlikely to go down in history as David Production’s best work, The House of the Lost on the Cape is a very good movie that you should see if you get the chance when it hits theaters this September. 

Overall Rating: B+