Nobody talks about Anpanman movies because they're easy to dismiss as kids' stuff. This one is pure comfort, a character you've known forever suddenly needs you to care about her in a new way, and the movie just lets that feeling sit. Kokin-chan's desperation is real even when everything around her is soft and silly. You watch a bread superhero solve an actual problem for someone who matters, and it lands because Anpanman never pretends to be anything bigger than what it is.

Anpanman comes across a peculiar little girl who has arrived from outer space. She is Kokin-chan, the younger sister of Dokin-chan, and she has traveled to Earth to play. Kokin-chan is an expert at fake crying, and she uses those crocodile tears to escape the trouble she stirs up. Her tears also hold a special power: when they touch someone's eyes, that person starts crying for no reason at all. The 2006 film brings comedy and fantasy together in the familiar Anpanman world.