Despite being an animated film, "Miss Hosukai" is not a film for children nor was it ever intended to be. Instead, it's a very melancholy portrait of the life of the famed Japanese artist Hosukai and his daughter, O-Ei and it's seen through his eyes. But it's not a normal biography, as you only see bits an pieces of one period of Hosukai's life. If you want to learn a lot about the guy, you're better off reading a biography. The story itself is VERY meandering and this lack of direction to the film made it difficult viewing for me. You see how flawed a man Hosukai was and MOST of the information about him and O-Ei is learned at the very end through a very brief prologue. Beautifully animated but otherwise the film left me very cold and left me wanting to know more.

We meet O-Ei, grown daughter of the famous Japanese painter Hokusai. She has a younger sister, O-Nao, who is blind. (O-Ei's name was actually Katsushka Ōi, but it also appears as "O-Ei".) Hokusai is depicted as a gruff, single-minded man, living in his studio, apart from his wife and children. The blind young sister is invented - as is most of the rest of the story. But she plays a very important part.There are great moments here. One incredibly beautiful moment occurs near the end of the film. And of course, there's a delightful scene involving his most famous print, "The Great Wave off Kanagawa".The animation is beautifully done, in typical Japanese fashion. Not as beautifully as Miyazaki, but still, good.The story covers a lot of ground, including the Japanese form of erotic art (shunga). Part of that thread involves an important plot element.The musical score is very Western and modern, which could be a little off-putting. As the credits went by, I saw one of the song titles given in Spanish!.It's a movie that keeps you involved, and doesn't let you nod off.PS: Keep your eyes on the little dog that shows up at the beginning.

While lacking in plot and character development--generally what most people look for in a film--Miss Hokusai is a lovely and wistful look into life in Edo, which was Tokyo before the Meiji Restoration of 1867. The film centers on the painter Hokusai, whose Great Wave off Kanagawa is probably the most well-known Japanese artwork, and his real-life daughter O-Ei, of whom little factual data remains. They live together in a squalid flat and are completely devoted to producing art, while Hokusai's wife and blind younger daughter live elsewhere. The film unfolds as a series of vignettes featuring well-known works by the artist, some of which the film posits may have been painted by his daughter. There is a visit to a brothel in Yoshiwara to see a geisha who has out-of-body experiences at night, dealing with a haunting caused by one of O-Ei's paintings, a ride on a boat where the great wave is reenacted, and various other scenes. Two subplots round out the film, one involving O-Ei's unrequited love for her father's disciple, and the other the younger daughter's worsening health and eventual death. The short film is capped with O-Ei telling how her life played out after the events and a text crawl at the end relating her own death. With the exception of the younger daughter's death no single plot line in the film is fully played out, which leaves something of a sour taste in the mouth. But the film is nonetheless enjoyable for its visual beauty and the window it grants into life in Edo. The scene where O-Ei follows the alarm to a fire was especially fascinating, the firefighting companies holding their standards, getting doused with water and tearing down the surrounding structure to prevent the fire from spreading. The character designs are somewhat simplistic, maybe even a bit crude, but they're deftly animated and with the exquisite backgrounds the team at Production I.G. have created another masterpiece visually. Worth watching, and if you're intrigued plan a visit to the Edo Tokyo museum in Tokyo for a more in-depth look at life in this fascinating time.

Miss Hokusai is a "slice of life" animation, it portrays the characters' at their daily lives in briskly light mood. It may set in one of the most romanticized eras, yet it's mostly a few short stories about artists, especially the heroine Oei, woven together. This is a tribute to Japanese classic painting ukiyo-e, the tumultuous time told in different light and appreciation of the artists themselves.Oei is the daughter of talented painter Hokusai, who has a knack for painting herself. She can be crude at times, but she gives of warm subtle kindness, especially with her drawings. There's no great dilemma or adventure, although it presents a few strange mysteries. The animation is more of a method to appreciate the art as it changes constantly when the characters do narrative or monologue.It uses classic touches on the tales, which can seem supernatural yet bizarrely fitting for that particular era. The setting is made with great care, details like the street corner or dimmed room with faint light of candles provide fine atmosphere for these characters to play in. Occasionally, they would talk in vague words, it's not a drama where people yell at each other frequently, there's a restrained on their mannerisms.Miss Hokusai is a nice homage to early art works, celebrated by modern Japanese animation, it's quaint, unimposing and warmly colorful.