My Neighbor Totoro: The Sad Fate Awaiting Kanta

“My Neighbor Totoro(Official Studio Ghibli)” is an animated feature film directed by Hayao Miyazaki, released in 1988.

This time, I’d like to think about Kanta, one of the characters in “My Neighbor Totoro.” He’s Satsuki’s classmate and clearly has a crush on her, but did his feelings ever reach her?

The key to his fate is likely held by the couple who unnaturally appears in a farm truck. They show up before Satsuki while she is searching for the missing Mei. Why them? It could have been anyone else. But it was that couple.

Why was it a couple in love who appeared before Satsuki?

*This article is an English translation of the original Japanese article, “【となりのトトロ】カンタに待ち受ける悲しき運命“.

Kanta’s Portrayal in “My Neighbor Totoro”

This discussion is based on the premise that “Kanta has a crush on Satsuki.” Of course, many of us might feel that way, but let’s look back at the specific depictions to be sure.

Kanta Staring Intently at Satsuki

The first time Kanta sees Satsuki is in the opening scene where Satsuki’s father greets someone working in the rice fields.

There, Kanta is staring intently at Satsuki. It’s his love-at-first-sight moment.

Of course, it’s debatable whether Kanta himself is aware of his romantic feelings for Satsuki, but from an objective viewpoint, Kanta was smitten in an instant.

The “Haunted House” Comment

When you think of Kanta, his line, “Your house is a haaauuunted hooouse~,” likely comes to mind from when he visited Satsuki’s house on an errand for his mother.

It’s the classic case of “teasing the girl you like,” but he himself might not have understood why he said such a thing.

In fact, in the scene where he interacts with Satsuki again after this comment, he was completely silent. His heart is being tossed about by Satsuki.

Kanta Lends a Busted Umbrella

On the day Mei, who was supposed to be with Kanta’s grandmother, came to school, Satsuki and Mei were caught in the rain on their way home.

That’s when Kanta, a true gentleman at heart, appeared.

He silently lent (or rather, shoved) his umbrella at them with a grunt, “Nn! Nn!”, and then ran home, basking in the satisfaction of having done a good deed. However, being too embarrassed to tell his mother about his good deed, he told the bold lie that he had “forgotten his umbrella on a rainy day.”

Lending an umbrella full of holes might seem like an unhelpful favor in some ways, but for Satsuki, it was likely a significant event on that particular day.

For Satsuki, who is forced to handle everything from taking care of Mei to various household chores at home, school time should have been a precious time to just be a “child.” With Mei showing up during that time, it must have been a tough day for her.

At the end of such a day, the experience of “having someone do something for her”—even if it was just lending a leaky umbrella—may have saved Satsuki’s heart, even just a little.

Kanta did what needed to be done when it needed to be done. Good job, Kanta.

Kanta Gazing at Satsuki’s Back

Now, the final point of depiction regarding Kanta after his good deed is the scene where Satsuki is desperately trying to call her father after receiving a telegram from Shichikokuyama Hospital.

He keeps a certain distance from Satsuki, watching her intently.

Presumably, he’s worried about her, but the clothes Satsuki is wearing are tube-like, revealing her upper back.

At that moment, he must have had “those kinds of feelings” mixed in as well. You could call it inappropriate, but that’s just how people are.

But what’s most poignant is the distance between the helpless, standing Kanta and Satsuki. That distance is the emotional gap Kanta desperately wants to close, a distance that still seems almost infinite to him.

One can’t help but hope he closes that gap, but the conclusion of this article is the sad ending that “he cannot close that distance.”

From here, let’s consider why we arrive at such a conclusion.

Kanta’s Sad Fate

The Couple in the Farm Truck

First, let’s think about the couple in the farm truck who appeared before Satsuki.

In terms of plot progression, it didn’t have to be that couple who appeared. It could have been some old lady or an old man. If you want someone other than the old man who just appeared, a young man in a farm truck would have been sufficient. There was no need for them to be a couple.

Therefore, there must be a reason beyond plot progression, and that is likely for “contrast with Kanta.”

Immediately after meeting that couple, Satsuki meets Kanta again. However, he cuts a rather pathetic figure, pedaling an adult-sized bicycle with incredible effort. While his determination is admirable, he looks quite pitiful compared to the man Satsuki had just met.

It’s a merciless contrast, but ultimately, it seems to imply his future: “Kanta’s still-immature feelings will not come to fruition.”

In fact, if you look at the background during the end credits, Kanta has become Satsuki’s “friend.” His future will probably be the same as Sugimura’s from “Whisper of the Heart.” Kanta will always have a slight crush, but his feelings will never reach Satsuki.

Now, this alone might seem like a stretch, as if I’m deliberately creating a sad future for him, but there’s a bit more evidence. Though it might still be a bit of a stretch.

Director Miyazaki’s First Love

Toshio Suzuki, Director Miyazaki’s close ally and the mastermind of Ghibli, spoke about an event that occurred when he and Miyazaki were scouting locations to establish a new studio (the current one in Koganei) (Reference: “Studio Ghibli’s Location Was Near Hayao Miyazaki’s First Love’s House… Producer Suzuki Reveals Secret Episode(in Japanese)”).

In Koganei, there was the house of the director’s first love. The director not only told Suzuki this fact but also that the love was unrequited. If it had ended there, it might have been a small, funny story, but Director Miyazaki, lost in the memories of that time, trudged all the way to Musashi-Sakai Station.

This doesn’t mean the director is still hung up on it, but rather that he can recall those things so vividly.

When a director like that draws a character like Kanta, do you think he would depict the dream he wished had come true, or the unchangeable reality he faced? Which do you think it is?

As I mentioned earlier, the presence of the “unnatural couple in the farm truck” makes me lean towards the pessimistic view. But that’s how it was for most of us, wasn’t it?

The images used in this article are from the “Studio Ghibli Still Images” collection.