Totto-Chan: The Little Girl at the Window (film)

Totto-Chan: The Little Girl at the Window (窓ぎわのトットちゃん) is a 2023 Japanese animated biographical film written and directed by Shinnouske Yakuwa with Yōsuke Suzuki as a co-writer; the film is based on an autobiographical novel of the same title by Tetsuko Kuroyanagi. Produced by Shin-Ei Animation and distributed by Toho, it tells Kuroyanagi's story as a child (nicknamed Totto) of going to Tomoe Gakuen, and learning new things as Japan descends into war. The film stars Liliana Ohno as the voice of Totto, alongside Koji Yakusho, Shun Oguri, Anne Watanabe, and Karen Takizawa. It was released in Japan on December 8, 2023.

Synopsis
Totto-chan attends Tomoe Gakuen at a young age, and learns new things as Japan descends into war.

Production
In March 2023, it was announced that an anime film adaptation of Tetsuko Kuroyanagi's autobiographical novel Totto-Chan: The Little Girl at the Window was in development, with Shinnouske Yakuwa writing and directing the film at Shin-Ei Animation, Yōsuke Suzuki co-writing the screenplay with Yakuwa, and Shizue Kaneko designing the characters. In July of that year, it was announced that Liliana Ohno was to voice Totto-chan. In September of that year, it was announced that Koji Yakusho, Shun Oguri, Anne Watanabe, and Karen Takizawa were cast for the film. The theme song for the film is "You Know What" (あのね) by Aimyon.

Release
The film was released in theaters in Japan on December 8, 2023.

Box office
The film debuted at number 6 out of top 10 in the Japanese box office in its opening weekend, and later dropped to number 8 in its second week.

Critical reception
Richard Eisenbeis of Anime News Network gave the film "A" rating, and stated "It's got fantastic characters, a powerful message about childhood education, and a unique exploration of the consequences of war through a child's eyes".

Accolades
The film was nominated for the 47th Japan Academy Film Prize for "Best Animation Film" category.