My Little Sweet Pea (2013)

It isn’t easy to find a dream to chase when you’re young, but Mugiko (Maki Horikita) has one: she can’t wait to become an anime voice actress. Saving up for classes while she works part time in a manga store, she lives with her older, gambler brother (Ryuhei Matsuda) after her father’s death. When the mother (Kimiko Yo) she never knew turns up out of nowhere and moves in, it only causes irritation for the aspiring otaku. But when her mother just as quickly disappears, it leaves Mugiko (or “Sweet Pea”) searching for answers, bringing her back to her mother’s hometown to discover what happened to her mother’s own dream. Featuring fun animated sequences produced especially for the film by renowned studio Production I.G (“Ghost in the Shell,” “Blood: The Last Vampire”), “My Little Sweet Pea” boasts hilarious and moving performances, with director Keisuke Yoshida’s signature comic timing and snappy dialogue.