Yona Yona Penguin
よなよなペンギン
Yona Yona Penguin
よなよなペンギン
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Watch-outs
What this film brings
Content barometer
Violence
2/5
Moderate
Fear
2/5
A few scenes
Sexuality
0/5
None
Language
1/5
Mild
Narrative complexity
1/5
Accessible
Adult themes
0/5
None
Expert review
This animated fantasy film is a family adventure with unusual imagery and a gentle tone in places, following a lonely girl into an underground world filled with creatures and a threatening villain. The main sensitive elements are the death of her father, bullying directed at a child, repeated peril, and a few dark or monster like figures that may unsettle younger viewers. The whole story stays highly stylized and not realistic, with no graphic violence and no sexual content, but scenes of pursuit, falling, and menace appear often enough to matter. Very young children may struggle more with the grief theme and with the strange dreamlike atmosphere than with the action itself. I would recommend it more confidently from age 7, with a parent nearby to explain the early teasing and to reassure children during the darker fantasy scenes.
Synopsis
Rintaro directs a tale of three children who visit a land of wonder. This is the first "3D anime" that Madhouse has produced. Oh, and there are penguins.
Difficult scenes
Early in the film, the heroine is shown as a lonely child after her father's death, and other children mock her and tell her she has no friends. This humiliation may affect children who are sensitive to exclusion or bullying, especially because it connects directly to her grief and to her wish to believe she can fly. One notable scene shows the girl trying to fly and then falling after being pushed into it by teasing. The moment is not graphic, but it combines sadness, danger, and the vulnerability of a child, which can be intense for very young viewers. Once she enters the goblin world, the atmosphere becomes stranger and sometimes uneasy, with a threatened village and hostile or distorted creatures. These scenes feel more like fantasy storytelling than horror, but the visual design and the sense of menace may unsettle children who are not used to darker worlds. The story also involves an evil force growing stronger, with confrontations, chases, and a real sense of danger around the characters. The violence stays moderate and stylized, with no detailed injuries, but the tension is present often enough to require some emotional readiness.
Where to watch
No verified platform for the US market yet. We keep this section updated as availability changes.
About this title
- Format
- Feature film
- Year
- 2009
- Runtime
- 1h 25m
- Countries
- France, Japan, Thailand
- Original language
- JA
- Directed by
- Rintaro
- Main cast
- Ei Morisako, Hikari Ota, Rena Tanaka, Akira Emoto, Hideyuki Tanaka, Ichiro Nagai, Shunji Fujimura, Yuko Minaguchi, Yûji Tanaka, George Takahashi
- Studios
- Madhouse, Imagimax, Def2Shoot, Dynamo Pictures
Content barometer
Violence
2/5
Moderate
Fear
2/5
A few scenes
Sexuality
0/5
None
Language
1/5
Mild
Narrative complexity
1/5
Accessible
Adult themes
0/5
None
Expert review
This animated fantasy film is a family adventure with unusual imagery and a gentle tone in places, following a lonely girl into an underground world filled with creatures and a threatening villain. The main sensitive elements are the death of her father, bullying directed at a child, repeated peril, and a few dark or monster like figures that may unsettle younger viewers. The whole story stays highly stylized and not realistic, with no graphic violence and no sexual content, but scenes of pursuit, falling, and menace appear often enough to matter. Very young children may struggle more with the grief theme and with the strange dreamlike atmosphere than with the action itself. I would recommend it more confidently from age 7, with a parent nearby to explain the early teasing and to reassure children during the darker fantasy scenes.
Synopsis
Rintaro directs a tale of three children who visit a land of wonder. This is the first "3D anime" that Madhouse has produced. Oh, and there are penguins.
Difficult scenes
Early in the film, the heroine is shown as a lonely child after her father's death, and other children mock her and tell her she has no friends. This humiliation may affect children who are sensitive to exclusion or bullying, especially because it connects directly to her grief and to her wish to believe she can fly. One notable scene shows the girl trying to fly and then falling after being pushed into it by teasing. The moment is not graphic, but it combines sadness, danger, and the vulnerability of a child, which can be intense for very young viewers. Once she enters the goblin world, the atmosphere becomes stranger and sometimes uneasy, with a threatened village and hostile or distorted creatures. These scenes feel more like fantasy storytelling than horror, but the visual design and the sense of menace may unsettle children who are not used to darker worlds. The story also involves an evil force growing stronger, with confrontations, chases, and a real sense of danger around the characters. The violence stays moderate and stylized, with no detailed injuries, but the tension is present often enough to require some emotional readiness.