Summer vacation was the highlight of every child’s primary school, but what happens when a whole group of children suddenly get lost at sea? The world they knew is changing rapidly: the buildings they grew up in are being demolished and friendships quickly change as the aging relatives die. Netflix’s latest animated release, Driving home, takes his feuding protagonists and puts them in a situation where they and their friends are at great risk if they don’t overcome their differences. And above all, they must learn to forgive, despite being young and immature in the eyes of the adults around them.
In September 2021, a Japanese anime film titled Driving home was officially announced by the streaming platforms in the making. It would make its grand debut in Japanese theaters and on Netflix’s streaming platforms. Studio Colorido would produce the film and in April 2022 the company signed a contract to continue producing work with the streaming platform. Previously they had made Penguin Highway, Burn The Witch, A whisker away, and cartoons. Hirosayu Ishida directs and wrote the script for Driving home, while the score was composed and provided by Umitaro Abe. Although scenes are depicted with Japanese script and appear to be in Japan visually, dubbing was done for worldwide distribution.
On Netflix, the film was released in a variety of languages, with English and Japanese being the primary modes. The Japanese cast includes Mutsumi Tamura, Asami Seto, Ayumu Murase and Yumiko Kabayashi. All Japanese voice actors are well known and established in the voice acting industry in Japan, and that trend is reflected in the English cast as well. Bryce Papenbrook, Cassandra Morris, Ben Diskin, Abby Trott, Cherami Leigh and Joe Di Maggio are all recognizable names in American voice acting, bringing together a multitude of experiences to make this film happen and portray the main characters of the child.
An abandoned complex at sea
Driving home opens with a portrait of modernization. Although it is set in the modern era, rather than a hundred years ago when people would have witnessed massive technological and social changes, the scene of this film is a city tearing down its buildings for more development projects. It positions the protagonists as two young elementary school students, Natsume and Kosuke, who grew up with certain buildings around them during their short lives. The development projects suddenly become so much more real when the apartment block they grew up in is demolished next. A relic of Japan’s distant past, built when World War II was over a decade ago, the building is rumored to be haunted now. And, as the characters will soon discover, it’s haunted in a way that dwells on past glory and desolation.
At the same time, this reflects Natsume and Kosuke’s past relationship. Over the years, they have grown apart and have essentially become strangers, despite the fact that they went to the same school and used to be neighbors. Their mothers ask them about the other, leading to awkward conversations about how they should have thanked the other family and how they miss the other child. Their abandoned apartment complex and surrounding neighborhoods reflect the decay between the two; in the world’s quest for something new, something bigger, everything has been left to rust and fall apart. There is a lingering resentment between the ex-friends because when the other is mentioned by a parent or friend, it immediately becomes uncomfortable and tense.
One day, when all the school kids decide to check out the haunted apartments, Natsume and Kosuke get into an argument on the roof in front of everyone, and a rainstorm suddenly intensifies. As Natsume falls over the side of the building, the rain becomes blinding and the building seems to float randomly in the ocean. With the children left alone on top of the apartment complex, now stuck in the middle of nowhere, a manifestation, or ghost, of the building itself called Nappo appears and joins the group. Without food, fresh water or supplies to keep them alive, Driving home looks like it could drift into the territory of a show like We are all dead – minus the zombies – or a survival movie, but instead it dwells on the emotional aspects of relationships.
If new problems arise in their situation, the students should get together and figure out how to coexist in this new space. Old quarrels resurface again and again, whether it’s the cause of the rift between the two friends, or Reina, one of the female students, who blames Natsume for the situation they find themselves in. And maybe this whole situation is for the students, and give them a chance to heal their wounds. Natsume and Kosuke’s anger at each other becomes increasingly childish and petty, partly due to miscommunication and a tendency to point fingers when it comes to their trauma. At the end, Driving home is heartwarming, a message of reconciliation. It asks the viewer this: If you were in this situation, would you also learn to forgive and forget?
A floating plot
Like many other animes, despite the fact that they feature some of the well-known dubbers for anime in the anglophone world, Driving home leaves a lot to be desired. Compared to the Japanese version, the English dialogue sometimes came across as stiff, forced and unnatural. Text messages and everyday objects are still written in kanji, retaining some of the original cultural elements, although one character casually mentions that he is going to Florida. The film seems to have a bit of an identity crisis during these moments, deepening the debate about watching with subtitles and the quality of dubbing in an entirely different language, adapting it for a new audience. In addition, this film is for adults as well as for children with its themes and material.
Regardless of what audio one is watching Driving home in, there are clear boundaries of what it means to grow up. Natsume and Kosuke are forced to express their feelings because there is nothing else to do in this building, and it’s not like these kids are focused on basic survival instincts. Hunger is one of the many issues that crop up while moving, trying to raise the stakes a bit and add some momentum. And like the other problems, they are tackled systematically as the children brainstorm ways to overcome their obstacles. All this lacks any real urgency, causing the film to dissolve into more abstract and philosophical questions. Depending on who’s watching it, they can get frustrated with the lack of real answers when it comes to the fantasy elements.
Other than being in the building where they originally met, the two get no further than basic conversations and arguments about what they used to be. Now it might be refreshing to see a male and female protagonist not forced to mate romantically, but that storyline is cleverly avoided by stating that all of these students are children. There are plenty of merits to the film beyond its flaws. The soundtrack adds to the overall atmosphere in a way that works well, and the animation is of high quality. The plot offers many points to ponder when it comes to memory, abandonment, and the nature of our relationships with humans and inanimate objects, which is valuable in times of great change.
With a run time of two hours, Driving home starts to lose steam pretty quickly. The fantasy element of being lost at sea doesn’t work other than being a useful plot point that forces all the characters to discuss their feelings. It evokes the ghostly atmosphere that the apartment complex should have with its shadowy corners and abandoned apartments, further isolated by the fact that nothing but other abandoned buildings, such as the department store, will occasionally float by. However, the characters tend to fall into the same actions and expose their age despite trying to appear older than they are. They are young children who are lost at sea, and for all the adventures and heartfelt conversations they get, they tend to get lost in bickering and petty fights. But in the end they admit, “I’m glad to have known you.”
Driving home will be available to stream on Netflix on September 16, 2022 and in theaters in Japan on the same day.