From Up on Poppy Hill

Overview

The story is set in Yokohama during 1963. The film follows a 16-year-old high-school student, Umi Komatsuzaki who looks after her grandmother, younger brother and sister. Each morning she raises her 'Safe Voyage' flag and heads off to school. After witnessing a stunt by the school's 'Culture Club', Umi meets fellow students Shu and Shirou. Both are heavily involved with the running of the club, Shirou happens to be the President of the Student Council and Shu is his right hand man. However, Shu and Umi begin to form a friendship which develops into a charming romance. The two soon begin to realise that their backgrounds intertwine and that they are much closer than friends. Meanwhile, the school is threatening to demolish the dilapidated building and crude manner of the 'Culture Club'. A battle ensues as the students want the preservation of traditional values, ideologies and cultures. In comparison, the 'adult's have been engulfed in an atmosphere of Post-War modernisation and industrialisation as the Olympic Games in Tokyo approaches. It is up to the students to clean their 'act' up and show the grandeur and beauty of tradition and memories.