All about My Neighbor Totoro
My Neighbor Totoro is an anime produced by Ghibli in 1988, written and directed by Japan’s “animation king” Miyazaki Hayao. My Neighbor Totoro can be considered as one of Hayao Miyazaki’s first major animated films, this work is playful, pure, suitable for all ages and backgrounds.
The Kusakabe family moved to the countryside. The new house they are going to live in is rumored to be haunted by the villagers. But that did not shake the curiosity and hyperactivity of the two Kusakabe sisters: Satsuki and Mei. At their new home, Satsuki and Mei befriend a kind neighbor named Nanny and a boy named Kanta, the same age as Satsuki. During a run into the forest near her house, her 4-year-old sister Mei happened to meet a giant beast, the lord of the forest. Mei is not only fearless, but also climbs on its big belly and is naughty. The little girl named this strange animal Totoro, after the animal in her picture book. Then, due to fatigue, Mei gradually fell asleep, and when she woke up, Totoro had disappeared. When Mei told about the strange animal, her older sister Satsuki also wanted to meet Totoro once. The film is the joyful, innocent story of two sisters Kusakabe and Totoro.
Satsuki and Mei’s mother couldn’t go home as scheduled because the hospital reported that their mother’s illness was getting worse. Mei cried when she heard the news that made her sister Satsuki angry. So the two children argued with each other all day. In the end, Mei decided to go to the hospital alone to visit her mother, as a result, she lost her way. Satsuki, after running around looking for her for a while, rushed to Totoro’s place, asking for his help. Totoro smiled and lent Satsuki his cat bus. Thanks to the magic car, Satsuki finds Mei and they go to the hospital to keep an eye on her mother. On the branch of the tree, the two sisters were very happy because their mother was healthy and soon could be home. Mei gently put the corn that the neighbor gave her on the window sill of her mother’s room, on the shell of the corn was engraved the word “For Mom”.
Character Tatsuo Kusakabe:
In the beginning of My Neighbor Totoro, Tatsuo Kusakabe, Mei Kusakabe, and Satsuki Kusakabe are seen in a truck moving to a new home. When Mei and Satsuki believe the house is haunted, he tells the sisters that he has always wanted to live in a haunted house. Later, when Mei decides to go on an expedition and claims to have seen Totoro, he believes her, saying that it is probably a spirit of the forest. That night, on a windy evening, the family of three was afraid of the spirits in the house. Tatsuo and the two girls laughed a lot to make the spirits leave. Towards the end of the film, he visits his wife, Yasuko Kusakabe. He says that he is worried about Satsuki, who is trying very hard to become an adult and become responsible for her sister. After hearing his wife say she was getting better, they found a corn with the word “For Mom” written on it.
The two sisters’ corn for their mother
Tatsuo Kusakabe is a kind-hearted father because of the choice he made when he decided to put things on hold to move the family closer to where his wife was hospitalized. Just that much shows that he loves deeply and wants to prioritize taking care of his whole family.
The whole family on the way to visit mom
Every father wants to keep their children happy and Tatsuo Kusakabe is the perfect example of this. He is a great father through the way he listens to his children, takes care of his ailing wife, and still maintains his job. While most parents would often laugh at their children saying silly things, he nurtured children’s curiosity and stimulated their imaginations, specifically about Totoro. Tatsuo Kusakabe may have never seen Totoro and didn’t need to meet Totoro, but he also never doubted his two children, as he knew well what kind of children they were. Mei and Satsuki are therefore also willing to share everything with their father. The three of them always had a strong bond of trust in each other.
Despite being busy, Tatsuo still worked hard
Only a father who is willing to give all his attention to his children can be trusted and loved by them.
