Pet Project Part 1: Junkers Come Here!

This month we'll be focusing on people and their beloved animal companions.  First up will be a story about a young girl and her talking dog who grants wishes.  Sounds like a happy, child-pleasing tale right?  Oh you poor naive fool.  Brace yourself for the tragedy of:

Background:
Released By: Bandai Entertainment
Length: 95 minutes
Year of Production: 1994
Language: Sub and Dub both included, Dub reviewed
Available on Netflix: Yes

As I mentioned above, this movie sounds like it would be all peaches and cream or whatnot but it is actually terribly depressing.  According to the insert that comes with the DVD, there is a town in Japan that has a tradition of watching this once a year.  I can't imagine watching this every year.  When I first watched this with a good friend of mine, she thought she would need a bucket of ice cream to make it to the end of this film.

This Week's Pet
The title character of this film, Junkers, is a miniature Schnauzer that belongs to Hiromi Nozawa.  Unlike most dogs he can use the toilet, he watches samurai dramas, he can talk and he can grant 3 wishes to his owner.  It seems likely that Junkers was purchased to distract Hiromi from her parents' blatant neglect.  He is a very simple, straightforward animal.  Oh, and Junkers is terrified of cats, or as he tells it, "Cats are difficult to deal with." 

He is an adorable little distraction from a broken home

Story:
Junkers is not your average dog and the opening credits let us know this very clearly as we watch him wander about town, using toilets and interacting with the townsfolk.  He is on his way to pickup Hiromi from school and waits outside the gate near the crossing guard.  He accidentally speaks to answer a rhetorical question the guard asks, causing her to freak out and try to get him to talk again.  She is interrupted by Hiromi who grabs Junkers and runs back home.  They are greeted at home by their housekeeper Fumie who obsessively cleans Junkers feet.

Japanese dogs can't switch to their indoor shoes

Fumie lets Hiromi know that her mother won't be home for dinner and that her dad is still overseas with no contact.  The duo retire to Hirmoi's room where Junkers gets a stern talking to.  Hiromi is angry that he spoke to the security guard and talks about how horrible his life would be if people knew he could talk.  Some kids would take the "tortured by scientists" route but Hiromi opts for the "overworked by Hollywood" scare tactic.  Junkers agrees to keep his talking secret.

The story is still cute and sweet at this point

In comes Hiromi's live-in tutor Keisuke, we'll call him Kei for short.  I don't want to have to write out Keisuke for this rest of this post, I'm lazy like that.  Kei and Hiromi do 2 hours of homework together each day.  Hiromi is pissed at the arrangements because she believes if they are teacher and student, they can't be "friends."  The only thing sadder than 11 year old Hiromi's love for her 23 year old tutor is the middle-aged Fumie's equally hopeless love for the young stud.

Fumie is always offering him pie.  Big ol' Pie

Since her parents are never home, Hiromi frequently eats dinner with the "help" and no one else.  Hiromi calls her mom during dinner and the two argue about Mom's work schedule.  Fumie says that the only reason Mom feels comfortable working late is that Hiromi is a good girl.  Hiromi responds that her parents will regret it and says "I wanna be a bad girl!."  After dinner she write a letter to her dad asking for pictures of French Temples.  Hiromi stares longingly at a music box with a picture of her family all together.  At this point Junkers reveals he can grant 3 wishes, but Hirmoi laughs him off.  

The last time she was really happy, many years ago. 

The next day at school Hiromi gets tormented by the boys in her class and longs for a more mature man in her life.  Her friend talks about a sister's marriage to a man 12 years older than her, the same difference between Hiromi and Kei.  This sends Hiromi into full blown fantasy mode of her own potential marriage with Junkers as the priest.

Junkers was summarily dismissed for humping the altar boy's leg

  Mom finally comes home to spend a couple days with Hiromi and offers to take her to Tokyo Disneyland.  Hiromi refuses because she would rather go when both parents are home.  Mom decides this would be an ideal opportunity to ask Hiromi what she would do if Mom and Dad got a divorce.  Mom keeps pushing the "what if's" and wants to know who Hiromi would live with.  Hirmoi leaves to go to her room where Junkers asks what a "divorce" is.  After hearing the basics, Junkers recommends Hiromi sit both of her parents down to talk about her feelings but Hiromi refuses.

Ruining your daughter's life is exhausting

Hiromi spends the next day playing tennis with Kei and asks him to take her to Disneyland.  Kei is not against the idea but refuses becuase he has a "friend" he needs to meet next weekend.  Hiromi loots through his mail to find out where they are going and decides to tail him.  Junkers comes too and naturally both are in disguise.  They follow him to a tea house where he meets with a lovely woman.  The meeting is short and when the two part Hiromi and Junkers follow the mystery woman.  They see her in the arms of another man and now have the moral conundrum of whether or not they should tell Kei. 

Excellent disguises

After coming to terms with her less than pure intentions, Hiromi decides to talk to Kei at dinner.  He finds it amusing she thought he was dating that girl as she is his best friends fiance. Kei was meeting with her to discuss wedding plans.  Hiromi's has a momentary sense of relief that is shattered when Kei says he does have a girlfriend he is planning on marrying after graduation.  The devastated Hiromi waits up all night to tell this to her mother, a woman we have established is not good with emotions..  The talk goes less than well, but on the plus side Dad is on his way home!  The night he finally returns he takes Hiromi out for a fancy dinner and tells her he is laving again soon for Africa.  Oh, and Happy Birthday.

The waiter is offering a delightful 1937 Welch's

Mom finally gets home just before midnight, and Hiromi is ecstatic that her birthday was not missed completely.  She has very low parental standards at this point.  As she sneaks down the stairs to greet Mom she overhears her parents arguing.  They go back and forth, debating which of them is the worse parent.  Honestly this is a close contest that neither wants to win.  Mom says she is moving to Sand Francisco to manage a hotel and wants Hiromi to come with.  Dad calls her a horrible mother who had promised to make work fit around motherhood and failed.  Mom counters with the fact that since Hiromi has no father in her life Kei is acting as the substitute father/love interest which is very unhealthy.  Dad asks if mom has mentioned the possible breakup to Hiromi and Mom tells him no.  We all know this is a bloody lie however.

Surprise! Happy Birthday! We got you a broken home!

If this wasn't bad enough, a few days later Kei's significant other, Yoko, comes to visit.  Junkers spies on their conversation as Hiromi requests.  He overhears that Kei only sees Hiromi as a little sister which devastates her.  She runs away to the park and has a bit of a breakdown.  She tells Junkers that she feels everyone she loves is about to abandon her and it is more than she can take.  She eventually pulls herself together and goes home.  Yoko spots her as she is on her way out and invites Hiromi to a puppet show she works at.  This is all a lot for one girl to take in, but Hiromi has a way to cope.  She goes to a nearby fast-food restaurant and orders one of every kind of hamburger they have and an orange juice.  Hiromi and Junkers spend the evening gorging, making themselves sick, and possibly developing a lasting eating disorder. 

This is one scene of the movie Americans can relate to

Hiromi surprises her mom at work the next day and her mom doesn't surprise us by bringing up the divorce and the potential move to San Francisco.  Apparently her American assistant will look like Arnold Schwarzenegger and this is supposed to convince Hiromi.  Next Hiromi goes to the puppet show with Kei to see Yoko perform.  The show is about a girl who is abandoned by her mother and tries to regain her family.  Not very subtle.

Female puppeteers get all the hot guys

Hiromi spends the night crying.  Apparently the depressing puppet show did not improve her mood.  Junkers reminds her of the 3 wishes and begs her to use one to boost her spirits.  Hiromi calls him a liar and says if he really can grant wishes he'll make sure Kei and Yoko never get married so Hiromi can stay with him forever.  Junkers freezes up and gets a spooky look on his face.  

Slightly less creepy than a monkey's paw

The next day Kei has a loud argument on the phone with Yoko and a breakup sounds imminent.  Hiromi is horrified at the result of her wish and drags Junkers to her room to ask him about what just happened.  Junkers does not remember the wish and as such can not undo it.  Hiromi decides to take measures into her own hand when a month passes without Yoko and Kei getting together.  She plans a big Christmas Eve party for her parents, Yoko, Kei and Fumie.  She also insists on doing everything herself, acting much less bratty than usual.

Undoing her bad deeds with delicious cake

Dad calls to say he won't be there.  Mom doesn't call but they all assume she won't come.  Yoko calls from a few blocks away.  She has gotten cold feet, which is understandable given all the snow.  Hiromi and Junkers attempt to chase her down but she gets in a taxi and they lose her.  Hiromi cries out, begging her to come back.  Junkers freezes ups and gets his wish-granting look on as he slides into a snowbank.  Yoko turns around and comes back, meeting Hiromi and heading back to the party.  A good time is had by all, except Hiromi's parents, and Kei and Yoko reconcile.  For those of you keeping track, Hiromi uses one wish to cancel out the other, which is just bad economics really. 

Magicians and genies are notoriously bad at math

Hiromi calls Mom to see how her night is going.  Mom promises her daughter a great present when she gets home.  She also tells Hiromi that the divorce paperwork has been started, thus keeping her string of ruining happy occasions alive.  When Mom finally gets home Kei gives her a tongue lashing and Mom screams at him as well.  A few nights later Hiromi is very depressed about the divorce and Junkers begs her to talk to her parents or at least use the last wish to fix things.  Hiromi refuses and starts venting her feeling to her dog.  She doesn't know how the divorce will change things and this terrifies her.  Hiromi starts talking about the time her family went to the beach and was actually happy.  She wants things to be like that again.  Junkers considers this her final wish and weird things start happening.

Wishing bubbles are awesome!

Junkers and Hiromi fly out the window toward a destination known only to the young girl's heart, or if you've been paying attention, the beach.  Mom notices her daughter is gone, surprisingly enough, and calls Dad in a panic.  They begin to mount a search for their daughter but just as they are getting started they become enveloped in bubbles.  The bubbles pop and the parents find themselves falling slowly from above the beach and grab each other in a terrified grip almost resembling a loving embrace.

If we survive this I'm still going to divorce you and find a young lover

Her parents, neglectful but not stupid, remember the beach and the happy times they once spent there with their daughter.  Hiromi pours her heart out to her parents, telling them how she is still an emotionally weak child and how the pending divorce has been a lot harder on her than she has been willing to admit.  She also says she would rather have them stay together even if they can't spend time with her.  There is a brief moment of the family coming together and reconciling before Junkers' magic runs out.  The family wakes up back where they were before the bizarre bubble trip.

Emotions flow easier when you're in pajamas

The next day Mom and Dad talk on the phone and agree to try and work through their problems.  Hiromi is ecstatic and thanks Junkers, but he just stares blankly at her.  When she pressures him to speak he simply barks.  Apparently when he used up his magic he also lost the ability to speak.  We flash forward a few months and Mom is in San Fran managing the hotel with Schwarzenegger's stunt double and Hiromi is finishing up grade school with Dad.  They will all move to California together before the next school year starts.  Kei and Yoko are preparing to get married and even Fumie has a new crush on the paperboy.  Hiromi starts to wonder if Junkers could ever really talk or if it was all a product of her stressed mind. Then Junkers uses the toilet which, I assume, is supposed to prove that he was magical.  The End.

MAGIC!

Why watch?
1. Junkers - The dog  is adorable in this.  Despite all of the anthropomorphism inherent in a talking dog, there is enough dog left to really appeal to animal lovers.  It is clear that the animators knew dogs and their movements very well.  Junkers really carries this movie to the finish line.

Lassie eat your heart out!

Why not to watch?
1. Hiromi - The little girl infuriates me in this show.  She has many opportunities to solve her own problems by talking to her parents but instead suffers needlessly in a misguided attempt at being "mature."  Her wishing is poorly thought out and her unnecessary wishes cost her dog his ability to speak.  I have some sympathy for Hiromi, after all she has a frustrating home life.  My empathy does not overpower my irritation in this case however.

I'm gonna be passive-aggressive with my mother over the phone

2. Character Designs - The designs on the human characters are very plain and bland.  I get the feeling this was a conscious, stylistic choice but it does not appeal to me personally.  I think I've seen human designs like this in some type of Japanese art, but danged if I can remember where I saw it or what the style is called. 

The style is more exaggerated in the snow chase scene

Should you be watching?
Whether or not you want to watch this depends entirely on your mood.  On the plus side the story is complete and decently executed with some believable character development.  Also, Junkers is entirely endearing, especially if you're a dog person.  The negative flip-side is that the show is horribly depressing.  Mom is always making things worse at the most inopportune time and Hiromi's needlessly self-imposed suffering is infuriating to me.  Maybe this is an accurate portrait of a young girl growing up in a home with two working parents.  I don't know and I don't want to.  If you're in the mood for a tear-jerker this is an excellent choice.  If you want a feel-good movie check back next week.  I'll have something amazing for you then.

I'll be back...next week......with another Pet Project