Totto-chan, the Little Girl at the Window

I read this book for the first time in the 7th standard, from my school library. Don't even remember why I picked it up, honestly, maybe the cover, maybe someone recommended it. But I finished it in 2-3 days, which for a 12 year old kid was quite fast for me back then. Even after 2 decades i still remember the chapter about Yasuaki-chan's funeral so clearly, how it made me feel that day. I was sitting in my room and I just felt so heavy, like something in my chest. That's the kind of book it is, small moments that stay with you for years. So when I heard they made a movie out of it in 2023, I was excited but also scared a little. How do you even turn a book like this into a movie? The book isn't one story, it's more like dozens of tiny little episodes about Totto-chan's school days at Tomoe Gakuen. There's no big plot, no villain, nothing. Just childhood, as it is. But honestly, they did such a beautiful job. Such a simple, lovely book and honestly just as lovely a movie. They elaborated Yasuaki-chan's character so much more in the film, gave him more scenes, more heart, made him feel like a real proper character and not just a side mention like in some chapters of the book. And getting Tetsuko Kuroyanagi herself to do the voice over? That gave me chills honestly. Like the real Totto-chan is narrating her own story to us, all these decades later. It added something the book obviously couldn't give me. The movie manages to cover pretty much all the important chapters from the book, which, for a story this loosely structured, is really not an easy thing to pull off. Whoever wrote the screenplay clearly loved this book as much as I did, you can just tell. They also added a dream/imagination sequence that wasn't even there in the original book, and I actually loved that touch. It wasn't necessary, but it added something nice and showed Totto's inner world a little more. One thing, though, and this bothered me a bit, they really should've shown Totto breaking down after finding out about Rocky's death. That scene needed to be there, honestly. It's such a gut punch in the book, and skipping it felt like a missed emotional beat. I kept waiting for it, and it just never came. The music, though, that's the real MVP of this film. So gentle and so full of feeling, it plays such a big part in how emotional this movie feels. And that whole message about how one teacher's belief in you can shape your entire life, Kobayashi sensei telling her "you're a really good girl", it hits so different watching it now as an adult compared to reading it as a kid. Back then, I just liked the words. Now I actually understand the weight of them. My honest suggestion, read the book before the movie. It's tiny, like 150 pages, such a quick and easy read. You'll enjoy the movie so much more once you've already lived in Totto's world through the book first, trust me on this one. Would rewatch just for the music alone.