“Little Amélie or the Character of Rain” (Amélie et la métaphysique des tubes) is a beautiful, fanciful depiction of a young Belgian girl’s early life in Japan. Based on Amélie Nothomb’s novel “The Character of Rain,” and under the direction of Maïlys Vallade and Liane-Cho Han, this is a thrilling 2D animated feature that thrills with its colors and painterly style.

Nothomb is a pen name for Fabienne Clare Nothomb (13 August 1967) a prolific author whose first novel, “Hygiene and the Assassin” was published in 1992 when she was 26. She was in Japan from the age of two until she was around five. Her father, Patrick Nothomb (24 May 1936 – 17 March 2020), was a Belgian diplomat from 1960 to 2001. He was a General Consul in Osaka (1968 – 1972) and was the Ambassador of Belgium to Japan in 1988—1997.

In “Little Amélie or the Character of Rain,” Amélie imagines herself as a god, the center of the universe, but alienated from her family. You might think of her as somewhat stunted developmentally, but this is all memory as inspiration. After all, what do you remember about your baby and toddler years?

For Amélie (voiced by Loïse Charpentier), the revelation comes when her paternal grandmother (Cathy Cerda) visits the family in Japan (Kobe) and gives her a taste of white chocolate. Amélie’s interest in the world and what it can bring to her expands. Besides her kindly grandmother, she attaches herself to the young Japanese woman who serves as the family’s housekeeper, Nishio-san (Victoria Grobois).

Amélie learns to walk and then to run. Suddenly, she learns to talk with her first word, “aspirateur” refers to the vacuum cleaner. Yet she soon includes words she sense are important to her family, “Papa” and “Maman.” She learns her sister’s name (Juliette voiced by Haylee Issembourg), but not her bratty brother’s (André voiced by Isaac Schoumsky).

There are some linguistic questions I have. The film is in French with some Japanese words sprinkled in. Some of the Japanese that isn’t translated (e.g. “oide” which means come). Yet it makes no sense that the landlady Kashima-san (Yumi Fujimori) speaks French to Nishio. If there is a villain or a hint that the world isn’t always a pleasant place, that’s represented by Kashima, who bitterly reminds Nishio that thirty years ago, people like this Belgian family bombed their country. And yet, Belgium forces had little to do with the defeat of Japan during World War II and while there was a French-speaking judge during the Tokyo War Crimes Tribunal (Henri Bernard of France), the Chief Justice was English-speaking (Australian) and the Occupation of Japan was primarily administered by the US.

Yet the occupation wasn’t all filled with the wonders of Western civilization. As a widow without children, one wonders if Kashima-san was the victim of sexual misconduct by US or British Commonwealth Occupation Forces, thus making her attitude more understandable. Moreover, that aside, one must also see that as renters, the parents Patrick (Marc Arnaud) and Danièle (Laetitia Coryn), are far from ideal, allowing their children to draw on and destroy the  shoji windows and break glass windows.

From this film, I did learn that rays, (Japanese sleeper rays, Narke japonica, and Japanese devil ray, Mobula Japanica) and ocean sunfish swim around Japan as well as that Japanese carp, koi, can live as along as one hundred years.

I mostly wish the screenplay by Liane-Cho Han, Aude Py, Maïlys Vallade and Eddine Noël based on Nothomb’s “Métaphysique des tubes” had shown Kashima-san more grace. André is allowed redemption but not Kashima.

Directors Liane-Cho Han and Maïlys Vallade do provide exhilarating depictions of the wonders of spring in Japan and balance the sequences of life-threatening moments with beautiful fantasy of nature. Credit is also due to the graphic designer Thibault Justine (along with storyboard artists David Canoville and Marietta Ren) for the celebration of color and green eyes.

“Little Amélie and the Character of Rain” had its world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival in May. Its US  premiere was at the Animation Is Film festival in Los Angeles.