“The Concierge” is a feature debut by well-experienced Japanese animator, Yoshimi Itazu, who was a key animator in such movies as “Paprika” (2006) and “The Boy and the Heron” (2023), as well as the director of a few TV Series, like “Run with the Wind” (2018-2019). His first film is based on the two-volume manga “The Concierge at Hokkyoku Department Store” which was written and illustrated by Tsuchika Nishimura. The series won the Excellence Award at the 25th Japan Media Arts Festival. The movie adaptation was screened at many film festivals, such as the 60th Golden Horse Film Festival, the 36th Tokyo International Film Festival, the 17th International Animated Film Festival ANIMATOR, and at the 27th Fantasia International Film Festival where it won the Silver Audience Award for Best Animated Feature.
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The story, written by Satomi Oshima, concentrates on Akino (Natsumi Kawaida). She starts her job as a concierge at a department store where all the customers are anthropomorphic animals. Although very clumsy, she tries her best to help out many different and unique customers with their shopping needs. During the trial period, she needs to quickly learn the ins and outs of her profession. All of this under the watchful eye of the elusive floor manager, Todo (Nobuo Tobita), who seems to defy the laws of physics as he appears from the most unexpected places, and her supportive senior coworkers, Mori (Megumi Han) and Iwase (Natsumi Fujiwara).
In spite of the fact that the story takes place in one location, there are many different topics presented – the harm done to animals by humans, the stress related to meeting someone after many years, the despair caused by losing a loved one, or the (sometimes harsh) reality of customer service jobs. Because of this approach, Itazu’s film feels like a condensed TV Series, where Akino’s encounter with every customer could be easily turned into a whole episode.
Worth noting is that, as Akino is serving a wide range of animal clientele, it seems like Itazu wanted to serve some justice for the animals with the movie’s approach to their characters – although individually they do not have much time on-screen, every one of the animal clients is nuanced, deep, and unique. Not without significance in that regard is the quality of voice acting in the film, as all the actors are well-fitting to their characters. The art style is very colourful and expressive, and is completed by the music by a Japanese singer, producer, and DJ – Tofubeats. This audiovisual layer fits perfectly the overall comedic, a little absurd, and mostly jolly atmosphere of the picture.
“The Concierge” is a short, creative, and amusing movie experience. Despite its light-heartedness, it also presents significant and engaging topics, such as animal rights or the complexity of social relations. The biggest issue with the film is definitely its running time – at only 70 minutes, it’s very difficult to show so many characters and topics in an exhaustive way. This results in a very condensed picture with a very high pace of events that doesn’t really leave the audience much room for taking a breath.
