This film is about the daily lives of the Yamada family: Takashi and Matsuko (the father and mother), Shige (Matsuko’s mother), Noboru (aged approximately 13, the son), Nonoko (aged approximately 5, the daughter), and Pochi (the family dog). It has a significantly different “feel” to it than the other Studio Ghibli films, not only because of its different style of animation, but also because it is not a contiguous plot, but rather a series of vignettes, each preceded by a title such as “Father as Role Model”, “A Family Torn Apart” or “Patriarchal Supremacy Restored”.