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“Miyazaki's solo directorial debut adapting Tetsuya Chiba's sophisticated shoujo manga about a 10-year-old orphan girl's melodramatic adoption.”
Yuki no Taiyou Pilot
ユキの太陽
5.47
13,127 rank · 4,080 viewers · 1 favorites
Drama
Shoujo
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Based on your preference for character-driven stories with layered emotional arcs, this title's exploration of identity and belonging would deeply resonate. The pacing mirrors series you've rated highly, and its thematic depth aligns with your appreciation for nuanced storytelling...
However, the slow initial episodes might test your patience given your history of dropping shows that don't hook you early. The art style shift in the middle arc could also be a concern...
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Synopsis
Miyazaki's solo directorial debut adapting Tetsuya Chiba's sophisticated shoujo manga about a 10-year-old orphan girl's melodramatic adoption.
This pilot is remembered, really, for one notable reason: this is Miyazaki's first time as a solo director. He teamed up with Takahata for the later episodes of the 1971-72 Lupin III series, but Yuki's Sun marked his first time solely in the captain's seat. Yuki's Sun was based upon a popular shoujo manga (girls' comic) by Tetsuya Chiba which was serialized in 1963. It involves a 10-year-old orphan girl who is adopted into a family. The storyline is somewhat complex, and seems to play out like grand melodrama. Chiba's stories were more sophisticated and grown-up than, say, Osamu Tezuka, who of course was the godfather of postwar Japanese manga. (Source: TheGhibliBlog)
What people say
Community consensus
Derived from 5 sampled reviews
5.8
/10
What 5 viewers settled on.
0%
recommend
Score distribution
median 6
mode 6
σ 0.40
Agreement
Strong agreement
σ 0.40 · scores cluster tight
The polarity gap
—
Not enough recommend signal yet
Score over time
↓ 0.20
Running avg · Jan 2018 → Mar 2025
Snap verdicts
· shortest highly-rated reviews
- 6 “Hmm... I think this five-minute short anime film was made to promote a manga. The story concept has some clichés, but if it was a feature-length film or a short series of at least 10-12 episodes,...”
- 6 “Surely a product of its time with a pretty cliche story but i think you can really see small hints that of Hayao Miyazaki's famous directing even from back then.I don't know if he had any part in...”
- 6 “Miyasaki's first solo director gig. This is a short that seems to serve as a pilot for the manga, but is more like a quick trailer of a larger story. Perhaps they were hoping to make a full series...”
Verbosity
Short · 80%
Medium · 0%
Long · 20%
Watch Order & Related
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A Special Production
Tokyo Movie.- Format 1 × 4′ eps × min
- Total runtime 0h 04m all episodes
- Aired Jan 1972 – ongoing
- Source Special media type
- Rated PG Children
- Ref. BS-7182 catalog