Okko's Inn

Hospitality isn't one of the core values of American cinema. The customer is always right – sure – that's capitalism at its core. But the customer is always vaguely resented for being so. Our heroes are rebels, innovators and pioneers, not people who learn to become docile and please others.

In Japan however, that seems not to be the case. A wildly popular novel series, manga, television series and now animated film features a little girl who pushes aside her own feelings in order to serve others.

The anime film "Okko's Inn" started out as a series of children's novels called "The Young Innkeeper is a Grade Schooler!" and deals with a girl, Okko (Madigan Kacmar), who loses her parents in a car accident and is forced to go live with her grandmother. Her grandmother owns an inn at a mineral hot spring where she services a clientele with health related problems and anxieties. But Okko finds something far more interesting at her grandmother's inn, a variety of ghosts and demons. None of these are sinister or threatening, and they all help Okko to overcome her loss and grow as a person.

This concept of an inn that "rejects no one" and welcomes all – an idea that spanned volumes and episode of children's fiction – has been condensed into a tight 94 minutes. But in this processes it has gained much more than brevity.

The story has developed a concise nuance that is graceful, ethereal and deeply moving. In Okko's journey, she learns to accept the responsibility of being a junior innkeeper, she overcomes her personal loss, and she becomes a more compassionate human being – all values that are desperately absent in the American cinema.

This iteration is perfectly suited for Blu-ray and DVD, because the animation, the subtlety of facial expressions and the unique story are something that adults and children will want to view again and again.

These discs also include a number of special features – an interview with the director, an interview with the Japanese actress who plays Okko, a Q&A at the Japanese premiere and a series of trailers.

"Okko's Inn"
Blu-ray Combo Pack $19.97
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