Okko's Inn

After losing her parents in a car accident, twelve-year-old Oriko Seki, known as Okko, goes to live in the countryside with her grandmother, who runs a traditional Japanese inn. The grandmother intends for Okko to take over the establishment one day, so the girl begins learning the trade of a young innkeeper. She soon discovers that the inn is home to ghosts only she can see, among them a boy called Uribou, and that these friendly spirits, along with the guests she meets, become part of her training.

The film is an adaptation of the children's book series. It was directed by Kitaro Kosaka, a long-serving animator at Madhouse who worked for years under Satoshi Kon and Osamu Dezaki; this was the first feature he directed, and it came after decades of animation work rather than at the start of his career. Reiko Yoshida wrote the screenplay, and the picture was produced by Kodansha, Madhouse, TV Tokyo and GAGA Corporation, with Seiran Kobayashi voicing Okko. Etsuko Kozakura, Nana Mizuki and Satsumi Matsuda number among the credited cast of thirty-three.

Its scores sit at 7.1 out of 10 on IMDb from around 2,600 votes and 7.2 out of 10 on TMDB from roughly 129 votes, with the larger IMDb sample indicating a modest but solid response. Running 94 minutes, it blends family drama, comedy and fantasy.