Miss Hokusai is based upon the historical manga series and is set in Edo, 1814. It follows O-Ei, who is the daughter of a renowned artist Tetsuzo (later known as Hokusai). Set during the period when O-Ei reaches adulthood, we see her interactions with her father, her sister and the various other painters that comes to the studio. O-Ei lives with her father and she has skill in painting as well. The film feels very episodic with lack of a strong coherent objective so it can feel directionless at times. The focus on O-Ei's sister, O-Nao, who is blind, is one of the best aspects of the film. As the sisters look after each other and eventually convinces their father to visit O-Nao while she was sick, you can appreciate the bond between the characters and how frail that this is. There are some mythological elements which contrasts against the rest of the film and the pacing is definitely slow.
