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Ringing Bell

Ringing Bell

Animation · Drama · Family · 1978

Chirin is an innocent though adventurous young lamb whose carefree life on the farm comes to an abrupt end when a wolf murders his mother. Confused and angry, Chirin pursues the wolf into the mountains, seeking revenge. The laws of nature are brutal, however, and hatred alone won't be enough to avenge the loss of his mother. Only the strong survive in the wild, and obtaining that strength may change Chirin forever.

Movie details

Ringing Bell

1978 Animation · Drama · Family 46m

Critical arithmetic

The consensus, allegedly.

IMDb

7.1 / 10

995 votes

TMDB

6.8 / 10

Community rating

External scores via OMDb · CC BY-NC 4.0. Values normalized for display; availability varies by title.

Chirin is an innocent though adventurous young lamb whose carefree life on the farm comes to an abrupt end when a wolf murders his mother. Confused and angry, Chirin pursues the wolf into the mountains, seeking revenge. The laws of nature are brutal, however, and hatred alone won't be enough to avenge the loss of his mother. Only the strong survive in the wild, and obtaining that strength may change Chirin forever.

CriticWise case file

What this film says about your taste.

Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.

The archetype split

Who fights over Ringing Bell?

The split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.

Taste neighbourhood

Nearby on the taste map.

TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.

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Where it lives

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Streaming availability data supplied by JustWatch.

Names above the title

The people responsible.

Directed by

Masami Hata

Akira Kamiya

Akira Kamiya

Chirin (voice)

Minori Matsushima

Minori Matsushima

Baby Chirin (voice)

Seizo Kato

Seizo Kato

Wolf (voice)

Hitoshi Takagi

Hitoshi Takagi

Narrator (voice)

Taeko Nakanishi

Taeko Nakanishi

Chirin's Mother (voice)

Court is in session

Put Ringing Bell on trial.

Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.

The defence The Prestige Tourist

“Sincerity is not manipulation.”

The film risks embarrassment to make emotion communal, and that openness is harder than fashionable detachment.

The prosecution The Popcorn Loyalist

“The strings are showing.”

Every cue tells you exactly what to feel and when, leaving sentiment to do the work character should have done.