Not to be a downer but...

Since his father passed away and her mother studied abroad at United States, Umi as the eldest child, is responsible to take care her family and the people who lives in Coquelicot Mansion, including preparing all meals for them. It doesn't mean that the others are lazy to do that (in several scenes they also helped Umi).

Have you ever been watched another Ghibli's based on reality film such as Only Yesterday, Ocean Waves and Whisper of the Heart? If not, try to compare them with this one.

Many Asian customs are like this where the oldest female is usually the one that does most of everything in the house if the Mother is not there. Films like this and Grave of the Fireflies confuse many people because they don't understand the role and relationships of families, relatives, communities and society. For instance, my people are heavily clan based, where almost everyone knows everyone somehow, where your roots can be traced solely from your last name, and you can't do anything without families in US (don't know about back home) not knowing sooner or later.

The eldest daughter does most of the work and the other siblings can help out but it is her responsibility. The eldest son is responsible to take care of the parents til they die. It's a duty. The youngest is always the one that gets spoiled and does nothing or rather has nothing to do. Trust me, the responsibilities are ENORMOUS when you are in either role (son or daughter).

Heck, even when the daughter is married off her husband now becomes the second person to take care of her parents alongside the eldest son :P My suggestion when watching films that are foreign to you is to watch them with an open mind. Not everyone culture is the same. Even Asians differ in some ways from each other :)

I'd rank it in the lower half of the Ghibli canon, to be sure. It had nice ideas, but I don't think narratively it was on the level of the best stuff they've done. Still very nice though. Characters could probably have used a little more developing, yes, but I liked it overall regardless of that.

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZEkmoawOih0

I definitely agree. Music, pacing, animation, setting- all very interesting and well done. I actually went into this movie having not read a synopsis or knowing anything about it. Just the studio and names attached to the picture were enough to spark my interest.
I, too, was disappointed with the lack of fantasy elements; however, anime is so saturated with fantasy that I did find it a nice break from the norm. My problem, like yours, is that the story at it's core, has been done, was predictable, and uninspiring.

****SPOILERS****

Without knowing anything about the story, when Shun starts looking at Umi's family pictures I immediately thought "they've got the same dad, but it turns out they don't in the end."

Very predictable, and overall, not great. I'm definitely not saying it's a bad movie and am glad I watched it, but I won't be telling anyone to go pick this one up.

This movie is what's known as "a slice of life", where story isn't the most important thing. It's about watching the lives of people in a certain place, at a certain time, and seeing how they lived.

You wouldn't look at a painting and say it sucks because it has no story, and that's how you need to look at movies like this.

Grandma owns the hostel and the two granddaughters live with her. All other girls are paying guests. In Japanese tradition, once you become the grandmother, you no longer have to work. All works will be done by the daughter-in-law. If she is missed in action, her daughter will take her place. In this case, Sora should help more but she could be too young or Umi is too protective of her younger sister. Note that Asian men never do any housework or chore just like their mothers. Otherwise, they will get criticized by their mothers and asked if he loves his wife more than his mom.

Because of this culture, most Japanese, Korean and Chinese women hate their mother-in-law because traditionally mother-in-law is the queen and daughter-in-law is the slave. Most hope and can't wait their mother-in-law dies soon.

I have to agree. Unfortunately, both films by Goro Miyazaki are pretty bland. This movie is not nearly as nostalgic or emotional as Only Yesterday and it's utterly lifeless when compared to Whisper of the Heart. Everything here is done by the book, but it just feels... somewhat empty. Gorgeous backgrounds notwithstanding.

Tales from Earthsea was a terrible adaptation of some pretty wonderful books, but I found this absolutely beguiling, with a strong story, the expected beautiful animation and, of course, certain unexpected narrative turns. My favourite of Ghibli’s nostalgia pieces, I prefer this to Only Yesterday.