Drifting Home is an emotional journey about how change affects children, and how those changes can cause rifts in relationships. Without really talking about it, the movie delves into the five stages of grief – denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance – in a unique format, which shows the two leading characters drifting apart before ultimately drifting home.
Warning: This recap contains spoilers of Drifting Home, so if you do not want any spoilers, proceed with caution.
Kosuke and Natsume are pre-teens who were once best friends but are now no longer on speaking terms. While it is unknown what caused the rift in their relationship at first, their story is told as the movie unfolds.
Following the last day of school, a couple of Kosuke’s friends want to explore the “haunted apartments” before the old apartment buildings are demolished to make room for newer homes. Kosuke, who once lived in the apartments, doesn’t want to go, but reluctantly agrees. The boys discover Natsume asleep in a closet of the apartment that once belonged to Kosuke’s grandpa Yasuji. Natsume tells them she comes to the apartment to visit her friend Noppo, who lives there, but Kosuke accuses her of lying. The truth is that Natsume isn’t quite ready to bid farewell to the apartment, which is her safe haven.
Soon, the kids are joined by Reina and Shuri, who show up because Reina has a crush on Kosuke. She is also frustrated by and probably a bit jealous of Natsume.
After discovering that Natsume has Yasuji’s old camera, Kosuke tries to take it from her. During this moment of anger, it slowly begins to sprinkle, which increasingly turns to rain as the anger between the two lead characters increases. Natsume ends up slipping off the side of the building. Kosuke grabs her arm but loses his grip and she falls. Matching Kosuke’s grief, the rain turns into a torrential downpour, which catches Natsume.
The kids quickly discover that the apartment is floating at sea, cut off from the rest of the world and everyone blames Natsume for the dire situation. Natsume’s only ally is Noppo, a mysterious boy who is clearly more than he seems. Other mysterious things happen, such as other buildings the children recognize as buildings that were demolished years ago, also floating in the water.
Through a series of flashbacks to their time spent living in the apartment, as Yasuji took care of Natsume during her parents’ divorce, viewers see how close Kosuke and Natsume once were. Natsume finally gives Kosuke the camera, telling him that she and Grandpa Yasuji planned to give it to him for his birthday, but that was unfortunately the day Yasuji died.
Kasuke has been angry at Natsume because he wasn’t at the hospital to see Yasuji before he died. Natsume — meanwhile — carries the grief of her parents’ crumbling marriage and Yasuji’s death, who she loved like a father. She always goes to Yasuji’s apartment because it was the only place she felt safe and loved. After being told so many times that things were all her fault, she begins to believe it and thinks the rest of the group would be better off without her.
The movie embraces the idea that while important places have an emotional impact on people, the people also have an emotional impact on those places. Noppo, who is revealed to be the apartment complex itself, loves Kasuke and Natsume, and tries his best to repair their relationship. As he helps Kasuke and Natsume find their way back to one another, Noppo eventually finds peace on an island that seems to represent forgotten things.
The conclusion of the anime shows the apartment finally being demolished, with Kasuke watching as his former home is taken down by a bulldozer.
“This apartment complex was built about 60 years ago. People say it’s haunted, but it’s still home to me,” Kasuke says while watching the demolition, followed by an emotional expression of gratitude to his deceased grandfather. “Thank you, grandpa. Thank you for making this little apartment home.”
This emotional roller coaster, produced by Studio Colorido, makes one stop to think about all the places that are sacred to them, while also realizing that holding on to anger causes them to drift apart, instead of drifting home. This movie can be watched on Netflix.