Momo moves to an island with her mother, but she feels uneasy there. The island seems to be a place of exile for the natural born city girl, and her busy mother leaves her alone in the old house. Most of all, she misses her father, who recently died in an accident, something she feels guilty about. She reads her dad’s last letter whenever she has a moment; only “Dear Momo” is written in the letter. “What is my dad trying to say to me?” she asks. The film begins by exploring a sensitive girl’s internal views via her trivial daily life but quite suddenly switches genres and becomes fantasy. Initially a sad story, this tale then cycles through several changes: at first scary, then humorous, and finally moving towards the end. This fantastic coming-of-age film embraces an Eastern view of death and the afterlife. Seven years in the making to complete the hand-drawn animation, this is Okiura Hiroyuki’s second animated feature. He is best known as the director of Jin Roh: [The Wolf Brigade]. (KANG Sowon)