Okko's Inn

Okko's Inn
North American film poster
若おかみは小学生！ (Waka Okami wa Shōgakusei!)
Genre	Family[1]
Novel series
Written by	Hiroko Reijō
Illustrated by	Asami
Published by	Kodansha
Imprint	Aoi Tori Bunko
Demographic	Children's literature[1]
Original run	2003 – 2013
Volumes	20 (list of volumes)
Manga
Illustrated by	Eiko Ōuchi
Published by	Kodansha
Imprint	Kodansha Comics Nakayoshi
Magazine	Nakayoshi
Demographic	Shōjo
Original run	2006 – 2012
Volumes	7
Anime television series
Directed by	Mitsuyuki Masuhara Azuma Tani
Written by	Michiko Yokote
Music by	Takeshi Hama
Studio	DLE Madhouse
Original network	TV Tokyo
Original run	April 8, 2018 – September 23, 2018
Episodes	24
Anime film
Directed by	Kitaro Kosaka
Written by	Reiko Yoshida
Music by	Keiichi Suzuki
Studio	DLE Madhouse[2]
Licensed by	BI Manga Entertainment[3] NA GKIDS[4]
Released	June 11, 2018 (2018-06-11)
Runtime	94 minutes[2]
Anime and manga portal

Okko's Inn (若おかみは小学生！, Waka Okami wa Shōgakusei!, transl. "The Young Innkeeper Is a Grade Schooler!") is a series of Japanese children's novels, written by Hiroko Reijō and illustrated by Asami. Kodansha released twenty volumes between 2003 and 2013 under the imprint of Aoi Tori Bunko. A manga adaptation with art by Eiko Ōuchi was serialized in Kodansha's shōjo manga Nakayoshi and collected in seven tankōbon volumes. The 2018 anime film was nominated for an Annie Award for Best Animated Feature - Independent.^[5][6]

Plot[]

After her parents died in a car accident and had lost her memory, Oriko "Okko" Seki moves to the Hananoyu Inn, a ryokan where her grandmother works. There, Okko befriends the ghost of a boy Makoto "Uribo" Tachiuri, the late childhood friend of Mineko. He goads Okko to be a junior innkeeper. At first, Okko finds her job exhausting, but Uribo keeps her spirits up. One day, Okko invites a disheveled man and his son to the inn, since it "rejects no one". The staff learn about his late mother and Akane end up opposing everyone. He requests a cake from the kitchen. The inn has none, but Okko feels inspired to invent a new recipe for a "hot bath" pudding resembling hot spring water. Akane and his father are impressed about the pudding and a shrine for his mother. It is revealed Okko achieves her fulfillment for everyone. Akane's father writes a magazine review about the inn. At school, Okko meets Matsuki Akino, a girl with a pink colored Lolita fashion whose family runs the inn. She becomes selfish at Okko. Uribo tries to provoke Matsuki by painting her face, but then a blond girl ghost retaliates by painting Okko's. The girl ghost turns out to by Miyo, Matsuki's sister who died when she was young. She mocks Okko and something what she did. But since Okko can see her and talk with her, Miyo decides to live at Hananoyu Inn instead of Harunoya. Okko finds a monstrous bell received from her late grandfather. She uses it, releasing a low key demon named Suzuki. He befriends Okko with a bad habit. Suzuki, Okko becomes cheerier, though Suzuki notices Okko cannot see the ghosts properly. One of the guests is a woman named Glory Suiryo who works as a fortune teller. She invites Okko to a shopping trip. Okko is paralyzed by a flashback, but Glory comforts her. Okko dreams of her parents, believing they are here. As the Kise family arrive at the inn, they include a boy named Shota and his recovered father. The man finds bland food unsatisfying. Okko learns Matsuki was working on a menu. Setting aside her rivalry to please a guest, she visits Matsuki at her inn to ask for help. Matsuki gives her a sample of beef and cooking tips Shota's father does not taste so bland. But then the Kises reveal Shota's father survived the accident and was in a coma. He said that the only daughter had survived after her parents died. Okko started remembering the past and leaves. Glory consoles with Okko. She sees the Kises leaving the inn, because they will soon leave. Okko forgets the past and respectfully invites the Kises to stay at the inn. Months later, Okko and Matsuki perform a ritual dance at the festival. The ghosts move on to the next lives and visit them someday.

Movie voice cast[]

Release[]

An anime television series adaptation aired from April 8 to September 23, 2018, and was produced by DLE and Madhouse.^[6] The film adaptation premiered at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival on June 11, 2018^[7] and on September 12 in France^[8] and September 21 in Japan.^[2] It was licensed by GKIDS in North America, and was released in the United States on 22 and 23 April 2019.^[4] The film was released on DVD and Blu-ray by Shout! Factory on July 2, 2019.^[9]

Reception[]

The novel series has over 3 million volumes in print.

References[]

External links[]

• Official website (in Japanese)
• Anime/movie official website (in Japanese)
• Anime official website (TV Tokyo) (in Japanese)
• Okko's Inn in GAGA international sales catalogue (in English)
• Okko's Inn USA and Canada official website
• Okko's Inn on Twitter
• Okko's Inn (anime) at Anime News Network's encyclopedia