Originally published on metropolis.co.jp on August 2010

©2010 タツノコプロ／映画「みつばちハッチ」製作委員会

Based on the’70s TV series of the same name, Mitsubachi Hachi is fresh off a successful screening at Italy’s renowned Giffoni children’s film festival. For this idyllically beautiful effort, Tatsunoko Productions has put together a first-class team that includes Okuribito scriptwriter Kundo Koyama and Macross 7 director Tetsuro Amino. Though nature is depicted in a more ethereal, glistening style than in the films of Tatsunoko’s rival, Studio Ghibli, the world is not without its dangers. The story concerns Hachi (Ayaka Saito), a sweet, playful honeybee who is separated from his mother after evil hornets attack their hive. Hachi enlists other insects to help find her, some of whom are kind, some malevolent; he also befriends a harmonica-playing human girl named Ami (Ayaka Wilson). Though essentially for children, Mitsubachi Hachi’s rich vision of nature will appeal to adults as well. (110 min)