Miss Hokusai

Name: Miss Hokusai
Genre: Biography, Drama, History, Animation
Released: October 14, 2016
Duration: 93 min
Rating: 74
Cast: Anne Watanabe, Yutaka Matsushige

2016

METASCORE

Generally favorable reviews based on 16 Critic Reviews

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USER SCORE

Generally favorable reviews based on 7 Ratings

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7.9

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7.9	User Score Generally favorable reviews based on 7 Ratings

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Miss Hokusai

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Movie Details & Credits

GKIDS | Release Date: October 14, 2016 | Not Rated

Starring: Anne Watanabe, Yutaka Matsushige

Summary: As all of Edo flocks to see the work of the revered painter Hokusai, his daughter O-Ei toils diligently inside his studio. Her masterful portraits, dragons and erotic sketches – sold under the name of her father – are coveted by upper crust Lords and journeyman print makers alike. Shy and reserved in public, in the studio O-Ei is as brashAs all of Edo flocks to see the work of the revered painter Hokusai, his daughter O-Ei toils diligently inside his studio. Her masterful portraits, dragons and erotic sketches – sold under the name of her father – are coveted by upper crust Lords and journeyman print makers alike. Shy and reserved in public, in the studio O-Ei is as brash and uninhibited as her father, smoking a pipe while sketching drawings that would make contemporary Japanese ladies blush. But despite this fiercely independent spirit, O-Ei struggles under the domineering influence of her father and is ridiculed for lacking the life experience that she is attempting to portray in her art. Miss Hokusai‘s bustling Edo (present day Tokyo) is filled with yokai spirits, dragons, and conniving tradesmen, while O-Ei’s relationships with her demanding father and blind younger sister provide a powerful emotional underpinning to this sumptuously-animated coming-of-age tale. [GKids]… Expand

Director: Keiichi Hara and Michael Sinterniklaas and Stephanie Sheh

Genre(s): Biography, Drama, History, Animation

Rating: Not Rated

Runtime: 93 min

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Critic Reviews

Glenn Kenny

Oct 13, 2016

While it’s not entirely kid-friendly, this portrait of an artist is both enchanting and thought provoking. Read full review

Elise Nakhnikian

Oct 10, 2016

It condenses everyday interactions, memories, and dreams into a potent mix of all the major ingredients of a well-lived life. Read full review

Noel Murray

Oct 12, 2016

One of the ways this film feels fresh and revisionist is that it doesn’t succumb to “great man”-ism, positioning a famous artist’s genius as singular. Read full review

Peter Debruge

Aug 30, 2016

Animation proves the ideal medium for Miss Hokusai’s relatively tame story, allowing audiences to admire the family’s artwork within a world that they were partially responsible for creating. Read full review

The Film Stage Jonah Jeng

Oct 13, 2016

In its ruminations on artistic tradition, creation, and vision, Miss Hokusai is something close to a minor masterpiece. Its other ideas, though less inspired, also resonate in significant ways. Read full review

IndieWire David Ehrlich

Oct 14, 2016

The gentle, lushly visualized and exasperatingly diffuse Miss Hokusai is a missed opportunity in many respects, but it certainly does a magnificent job of validating its own existence. Read full review

RogerEbert.com Brian Tallerico

Oct 14, 2016

As much as I wanted to be transported to the world of Miss Hokusai, it felt more like an analytical examination of a period and one of its most artistic voices, and I could never quite engage with that aspect of it. Read full review

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User Reviews

Trailesque

May 10, 2018

I really enjoyed this a lot. An animated biopic, drawn from a comic book, focusing on the life of O-ei, the daughter of the famous artist Hokusai. Very nice artwork, an interesting story, and a superb setting that effectively draws you into the world of Japan circa 1820.

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alejandro970

Dec 2, 2016

A good proof that Studio Ghibli is not the only that shines in long features animes. Although sometimes a little slow, it appeal lies on a real fact story of living - beautiful art.

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DawdlingPoet

Nov 22, 2021

This is a nice anime film - its got one or two mildly risque images, hence the 12 rating. The plot I found a little confusing but I enjoyed it for the nice landscapes and charming music, which is mostly light, airy and playful, traditional instrumental type music, with a sense ofThis is a nice anime film - its got one or two mildly risque images, hence the 12 rating. The plot I found a little confusing but I enjoyed it for the nice landscapes and charming music, which is mostly light, airy and playful, traditional instrumental type music, with a sense of reminiscence I felt. I enjoyed the depictions of paintings - of course there's an irony, with such an animated film in itself depicting paintings within it. Most of the film features young children and indeed childhood innocence is a big part of the film. I thought some scenes were quite endearing, one example being seeing a young child playing with snow. I was a bit disappointed that it seemed the viewer wasn't shown too much time with the famous painter himself, Katsushika Hokusai. Of course the film is called Miss Hokusai and so it focusses on his daughter but I would have been interested to have seen a bit more of things from his perspective, although the story of the daughter, O-Ei, is interesting too. These people are, of course, real people, there was a famous painter called Hokusai etc. and so that appealed to me, as I love a good true story. I liked that at the end, there's more information given by way of text, which I assume to be accurate. I would recommend this to fans of anime who like a good 'based on a true story' film, although if your hoping for a thorough in depth film about Katsushika Hokusai's life then this may well disappoint you.… Expand

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NBFC

Jan 17, 2018

Loved the art direction and the Edo Japan setting. There are also some genuinely touching moments between Oei and her younger blind sister.

But....that's kinda it. The plot mostly boils down to an incoherent series of vignettes that never really build up to a story. I usually love it whenLoved the art direction and the Edo Japan setting. There are also some genuinely touching moments between Oei and her younger blind sister.

But....that's kinda it.

The plot mostly boils down to an incoherent series of vignettes that never really build up to a story. I usually love it when animation takes the slice-of-life approach (Ex. Only Yesterday), which is something the film appears to be aiming for but it constantly undermines itself by placing odd supernatural elements in way that felt completely random.

As a historical biopic, it's very shallow and not very insightful when it comes to the art or the historical figures in question. It also commits the immortal sin of having the ending be one long exposition dumb about what happened to everybody.

This movie also has one of the most scatter-brained soundtracks I've ever heard in a feature film. It opens with Rolling Stones-esque rock tune....okay. Now it's traditional Japanese oriental music....okay. Now it's acoustic guitar.....MAKE UP YOUR MIND ALREADY!!!!!

I don't mind the movie taking "A Knight's Tale" approach of placing modern rock music to a period piece setting (it actually would have been something kinda fresh and different). But if you are gonna take this approach, you better commit!

Instead, the choice of soundtrack feels just as random as the story. During one particular downbeat sequence they play a really out-of-place piece of loud high-squealing guitar music that completely undermines the emotion of the scene.

It's a shame because I was really looking forward to this one but outside of a few poignant moments, Miss Hokusai ended just being heartbreakingly lackluster.… Expand

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