In This Corner of the World

Suzu is a quiet and ordinary -- if not a bit of clumsy and daydreaming -- girl growing up in the outskirts of the city of Hiroshima in mid-1930s. She loves drawing sketches with pencils -- a hobby she is really good at. Following her parents' arrangement in 1943, 18-year-old Suzu is married to a young man living in Kure, a neighboring city with a large naval base, in which he works as a civilian secretary for the military tribunal. There she faces a new life, a new family, as well as many new challenges and hardships, particularly with the worsening life conditions due to the Pacific War. Yet Suzu manages to find happiness and peace in her daily life. The concept behind the film is to give the perspective of "several more lives" in addition to Suzu's, so it has a new title to reflect the new theme. It will adapt more scenes from the manga. The new scenes include Suzu crossing paths with Rin in the fall of 1944 and the winter and spring of 1945. Rin features prominently in the new visual above and the video below. Another new segment will focus on the Makurazaki Typhoon of September 1945, while Suzu is worried for her younger sister Sumi.

In an alternate timeline, Japan was divided after losing World War II: Hokkaido was annexed by "Union" while Honshu and other southern islands were under US sovereignty. A gigantic yet mysterious tower was constructed at Hokkaido and could be seen clearly from Aomori (the northernmost prefecture of Honshu) across Tsugaru Strait. In the summer of 1996, three 9th-graders had made a promise that one day they'll build an aircraft and unravel the tower's mystery, but their project was abandoned after the girl, Sayuri Sawatari, began experiencing sleeping sickness and transferred to Tokyo for better treatment. Three years later, Hiroki Fujisawa accidentally found out that Sayuri had been in a coma since then, and he asked Takuya Shirakawa to help him finding a way to revive her. What they don't know yet is that Sayuri's unconsciousness is somehow linked with secrets of the tower and the world.

Kayoko is a young girl in 1940, just starting first grade. She's a bit of a crybaby, which is no secret to those around her. She loves playing with friends and singing cute schoolyard chants, and occasionally having fun with her three older brothers. Her mother is pregnant, and so she looks forward to being a big sister, only partially understanding the responsibility that might bring. Meanwhile, the war effort is growing, and it`s only the natural thing to do to be patriotic and support the country... Kayoko goes so far as to contribute her favorite dolly, whose materials could help build explosives. Time passes, and as she grows older, Kayoko sees how the war has affected her life and those around her. Nothing can prepare her for 1945, however, and the bleak times that are soon to come. Based on original creator Kayoko Ebina's real life experience during World War 2 on Showa era.

Japan, summer of 1945. Nobuko, an elementary school girl, saves a little cat from crows. She desparately wants to keep the cat in her home. It is the time everyone suffers shortage of food, so naturally her parents don't like the idea. But Nobuko manages to convince them. She names the cat Kuro (black). Kuro eventually brings laughter to the family. However, the war situation becomes worse and worse...