Bomberman: Yuuki wo Arigatou - Watashi ga Mimi ni Naru

Synopsis

Rieko is an elementary school student living with her deaf and mute parents along with her younger sister. She dreams of making cartoons and comics that bring joy to others, often filling her notebooks with stories about Bomberman and his friends. When a major earthquake strikes one night, the city is devastated and their neighborhood turns into rubble. The family goes to a shelter, but her parents' communication issues create friction with the staff. Rieko steps in to resolve these problems while also caring for her little sister. With help from Kyoko, an older volunteer from Tokyo, the shelter community begins to connect and understand each other better. Rieko keeps the children entertained with her Bomberman drawings, including a comic where heroes and villains set aside their differences to help one another when the battle arena collapses. The film concludes with a brief public safety message featuring the Bomberman characters, offering advice on securing homes and staying safe during evacuations. Despite appearing heavily in promotional materials, the actual Bomberman content is minimal. Rieko uses her Bomberman comic strips to amuse her sibling and the shelter children, which lead into short animated segments from the Super Bomberman 3 cast—these three scenes total only three minutes.

Background

It is partially based on the true story of Rieko Watanabe, a young girl with deaf-mute parents who survived the Great Hanshin earthquake only a few months prior.