Not all art styles are the same. That said, there are certain ones that have their own unique charm. It goes without saying that Crayon Shin-chan fits that category, but so does this next one. Called My Neighbors The Yamadas, it was not only the first purely digital film by Studio Ghibli, but as of now, the only one did in comic book style, which breaks the norm of consistent traditional anime styles seen in their other works.
The movie runs through the ups and down of life, captured in a series of vignettes (like Colorful!), titled before the actual animation. The people in question are the titular family, the Yamadas. On down, we have Shige Yamano (the grandmother of the family) Takashi (the father), Yasuko (Shige's daughter and the family mother), Noboru (the eldest son), Nonoko (the younger daughter), and the family dog Pochi. Since it is a family comedy, such real life issues have a bit of humor into them, making it friendly for all ages.
The movie runs for 111 minutes time, and it's both in Japanese and English language. Released in 1999, it gained the Excellence Award for animation at the Japan Media Arts Festival the same year. US saw a release of the film in 2005, alongside another movie Pom Poko, both of which directed by Isao Takahata. Sometime later, script tweaks and re-dubbing were done under Walt Disney Studios, with Rick Dempsey directing it.
While the comic book style took me by surprise (the only one to do this prior to this one was the animates Baby Blues cartoon), it was indeed worth the watch. My Neighbors The Yamadas gain a worthy 8.6 of 10. Well executed as a family comedy in my book, for sure.
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