Chie the Brat

Synopsis

Chie the Brat, released in 1981 under Takahata's direction, is based on the wildly popular manga by Etsumi HARUKI. The narrative follows Chie, a ten-year-old girl called "the most unlucky girl in Japan," who runs her family's eatery while her yakuza father and absent mother are not around. Though this premise seems bleak, the movie is unexpectedly a comedic triumph. Taking place in Osaka, which has its own distinct culture compared to Tokyo, the film's popularity prompted a television series that also had Takahata as the chief director.