Who's Left Behind? (Japanese Animation; WWII)

Normal 0 false false false EN-US JA X-NONE /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0cm; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:Cambria; mso-ascii-font-family:Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family:Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-language:EN-US;} “Who’s Left Behind?” is a Japanese animation movie I would recommend everyone to watch. The story is based on a little girl Kayoko’s life before World War II and during World War II. The first half of the movie demonstrates a typical Japanese family’s daily life, very cute and sweet. Kayoko has three older brothers. She was youngest, so she was always kind of a crybaby, and enjoyed playing with her brothers. When Kayoko’s mom got pregnant again, she was very looking forward to be a big sister. Other people in the family and neighborhood started holding expectation of a Japanese woman on her. The family sent her to learn traditional Japanese musical instrument. This part of movie shows the gender role in Japanese society. When the war started, most Japanese believed that there was nothing Japan would not conquer. However, as everyone else, Kayoko’s parents were worried the war would eventually impact their life. Later, every family donated their steel, iron, and others to support the military. Kayoko was separated with her family and sent to her aunt’s place during evacuation. Kayoko kept writing letter to her family until the American bombers appeared in the sky. When the family eventually reunion, the whole family was changed. The movie was named “who’s left behind?” which is really making people think who was left behind in the war. It is a great movie to use in high school social study class to compare the perspective from a Japanese family and American people, and how the war impact people on different side of the war.