Summer Days with Coo

Summer Days with Coo depicts the friendship between Koichi and his young kappa (A water creature of Japanese folklore). Five years in the making, this Japanese animation movie met with great reviews and word of mouth for its realistic characters, strong themes, and heartwarming story.

Summer Days with Coo Poster

Genres: Adventure, Comedy, Drama
Director: Keiichi Hara
Starring: Kazato Tomizawa, Takahiro Yokokawa, Naoki Tanaka
Alternative title: Kappa no ku to natsu yasumi
Japanese: 河童のクゥと夏休み
Country: Japan
Language: Japanese
Release Date: 28 July 2007 (Japan)
Runtime: 138 min
Official Site (France): http://www.kaze.fr/sites_officiels/coo/

Plot Summary:
Koichi Uehara is an elementary school boy living in the small-town of Tokyo. One day, he accidentally picks up curious-looking stone which turns out that Koichi has brought home a young kappa (A water creature of Japanese folklore) that has been sleeping underground for the past 300 years. Koichi names the timid, mischievous river sprite Coo - after the first sound it makes. Koichi and Coo become good friends and starts living with his family. But as time passes, Coo could not adjust to the life style in Tokyo and becomes increasingly lonely and sad, a lone kappa in the human world. On a hot summer day, Koichi and Coo decide to set off on a journey to Tono in northern Japan where the kappa legend is still told.

"Summer Days with Coo" Review:
"Summer Days with Coo" won the Best Animation Film award at the 2008 Mainichi Film Awards and the Grand Prize for Animation at the 11th Japan Media Arts Festival and the Feature Film category at the 2008 Tokyo Anime Award. "Summer Days with Coo" is very beautiful movie, not a kind of only critically acclaimed movie. You will see in this Japanese animation movie how human beings who live in concrete jungle forgot sincerity to others. Coo may look like an alien to you but he and his summer days with one kind human family will remind you of your lost memories and bittersweet nostalgia.

Imdb page: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1179773/

Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VMaa1FNbTFo