Hayao Miyazaki is the crowned prince of family-friendly Japanese animation. His works have garnered international attention to the wonderful things going on in hand-drawn animation today, his art has been acknowledged the world over, and by all accounts, he’s the most accomplished person distributed by Disney at the moment. But did you know how long he’s been in the animation game? Try over 30 years!!! He’s been toiling to perfect his craft for longer than most of us have been alive, and he’s gotten so damn good at what he does that it’s hard to believe that his newer work is still hand-animated. But even back when he started making features, Miyazaki was still amazing. Today’s feature, Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind, is his first feature, and it is head and shoulders above anything else that was happening at the time. It’s a strong, pointed parable about the damage we’re doing to the environment and the consequences it could have later down the road.

1,000 years after the end of the world, humanity lives on in a fractured state. There are pockets of people left who have learned to live in harmony with nature from the mistakes their kind has made in the past. But in between these pockets lies the Sea of Decay, a noxious condition that covers the rest of the known world. It’s very existence is poisonous to humans, and it has hindered humankind from expanding its territories ever since. In this tattered world, we follow Nausicaa, a precocious young woman who is the princess of the Valley of the Wind, a peaceful settlement ruled by her father. She is trying to find a way to rid the world of the Sea of Decay, but her research is hindered one day when the settlement is visited by a crashing airship. The airship contains a prisoner that Nausicaa rescues, and the prisoner tells her that she is the princess of far away the kingdom of Pejite, and that the cargo the ship was carrying must be destroyed. And then she dies. Awwww…. So the cargo the princess was talking about was from the greedy empire of Tolmekia, as was the airship, and what it was carrying happens to be a deadly warrior embryo, a weapon from the war 1,000 years ago that could threaten the very safety of the earth. Things get crazy when Tolmekia invades the Valley for the warrior embryo, but Nausicaa won’t go down without a fight! She will do whatever it takes to save her family and friends and make sure the Tolmekian army doesn’t try to awaken that evil, evil thing in their midst!

I like this one a lot. Nausicaa is a strong, smart female character who makes it very easy to love her. She has a lot of heroic qualities, but she doesn’t lose her childlike essence, which seems to be a theme of Miyazaki’s work. You don’t need to be an adult to be a hero who cares about people in a mature way, and he also feels the importance of keeping that childlike wonder alive. Now that I think of it, he’s also very feminist, as well. I can’t really think of that many male Miyazaki protagonists; they’re there, but not nearly as prevalent as the women. Nausicaa is really a prototype of what we would see in the future from Studio Ghibli; powerful family-oriented fantasies about the importance of life above power and greed.

The animation is that of a bygone age. You won’t likely see this unique style of drawing nowadays. Anime, like American animation, goes through cycles, and the 80s was a time of incredibly thin, almost gaunt women, a non-descript male anatomy, and doe-eyed little girls with constant triangle-shaped open mouths. There isn’t as much detail here as in newer animation, but there are touches here that are epochal but beautiful nonetheless; some of my favorites are the look of objects either dirty or scored by fire, which use an unmistakable line effect needing an artist’s steady, careful attention. Nausicaa is full of attention; from the exquisitely designed post-apocalyptic Sea of Decay to the pristine Valley of the Wind, from the most insignificant passerby to Nausicaa herself there is so much care given to this film and its look. It’s just so well done.

The American voice acting is a mixed bag. I wish I could’ve been in the booth when Patrick Stewart delivered his performance as Nausicaa’s father. What a voice acting champ! I almost begrudge how he doesn’t really have to steer out of his normal range, but his voice is so damn robust that you can’t really stand against it. It’s a force of nature, and when you consider that his character’s the leader of the tribe tied to nature, it only seems more fitting that his strong, commanding voice make a splash. Alison Lohman’s Nausicaa is a little flat. I’m not sure how old she was when she recorded this, and I don’t want to bash a child, but I will say that there’s not really enough character in her voice to carry such a larger-than-life heroine. Oh, well, she eventually redeemed herself in Drag Me To Hell many years later, so all is forgiven. Uma Thurman is Lady Kushana, leader of the Tolmekian army and a real firecracker. THIS is what I mean when I say you have to have some character. She’s not too hammy, but she really lets loose and has fun being a villain. Kushana is a real bitch and Thurman obliges that aspect of her, so hearing her get into villain mode really put a smile on my face.

Nausicaa and the Valley of the Wind is, like all Miyazaki films, a unique experience. You’ll never see something quite like it. There’s something for everyone in the family, and even something for jaded film snobs like me. It still has a lot to say to the people of 2009, even from 25 years in the past, and with a magnificent score by Joe Hisaishi and a burgeoning American voice acting crew, I would be inclined to listen. Even if you don’t normally like Miyazaki, check this one out; it’s pre-Studio Ghibli, so you might find it to be a refreshing break from his upbeat rigamarole. This IS a post-apocalyptic film after all. I give Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind 8 1/2 smooth Patrick Stewart line reads out of 10!

Check me out next time, when I dive into THX 1138! Until then!!!

“It’s not really important what color your dress is. What matters is the heart inside it.” – Kokiri

Kiki’s Delivery Service is the story of a 13-year-old witch who, as part of tradition, must leave home and find a place to stay for her training. She eventually finds herself in the beautiful town of Koriko, Japan’s little London/Italy. As she struggles with her newfound independence, Kiki meets Osono, a kindly lady who owns a bakery. After helping Osono return a pacifier to her customer’s child, Kiki is offered a room in the attic. In return, Kiki offers to help her in the bakery. The pacifier incident gives Kiki the idea to put up a delivery business, and along the way she meets a couple of good friends – Ursula, the painter, and Tombo, a boy who develops a fancy for her.

This movie branches out into different themes. I have already mentioned one of these – independence. (I leave the rest of these themes for you to figure out as I go along with the review.) The idea of independence in the movie is very similar to the independence that we know, except that the one in the movie is taken more seriously. Tradition holds that when a witch turns 13, she must leave her home – no questions asked. Of course she is always given the option to return if something goes wrong. But it is compulsory that she leaves when she is of the right age, regardless of whether or not she has decided on what skill to master. (The movie is somewhat coming-of-age- and right-of-passage-ish.)

Kiki’s independence is put to the test the moment she jumps on her broom. She is faced with two tasks: find her town and think of a skill. The former is clearly depicted in the movie. As for the latter, Miyazaki manages to subtly accomplish this. On her first night of travel, Kiki bumps into a fellow witch who claims to have mastered the skill of fortune telling. She bids Kiki good luck in mastering whatever skill she decides on. When she puts up her delivery service, the viewer is led to think that it is this skill which Kiki is trying to master. Apparently it’s not.

The skill of which I’m talking about is the art of flying. Truly, something ordinary, since all witches are bound to fly anyway. But it is flying that Kiki is very passionate about, as she realizes later on. You don’t see it right away, especially after Kiki tells Ursula, “I don’t find flying much fun. It’s more of a job to me.” But I’m getting ahead of myself.

Also part of her newfound independence is meeting friends and making connections with other people. This appears to be her biggest challenge yet, because Kiki is your typical adolescent – she is drowning in insecurities. The quote above is uttered by Kiki’s mother, Kokiri, in response to Kiki when she expressed disgust over her black witch dress.

In another scene where Tombo invites Kiki to explore the dirigible (blimp), Kiki refuses to join him and his friends, and decides to walk home instead. In her room, Kiki tells her cat Jiji, “I think something’s wrong with me. I make friends, then suddenly I can’t seem to be with any of them.” This feeling of remoteness stems from the fact that she’s a witch, and being a witch makes her different from everybody else. Also, when she first arrives in town, people are taken aback by her presence, but eventually takes no notice of her. Moreover, she reminds me of Stargirl when she says, “It seems like the other me, the cheerful and honest me went elsewhere.” The moment she expresses this, she loses her witch powers.

Which brings me back to my previous point. The one about flying. In spite of what she tells Ursula, in truth flying is more than just a job to her. Flying is her life. And unless she recognizes this, she will not be able to tap into her witch’s spirit and see how special she really is.

The plot is simple and does not have an antagonist. But Miyazaki didn’t make it easy for little Kiki. If you think about it, the movie is actually a series of mishaps that a young witch encounters. But in the end, Kiki is able to be just herself and even pulls off a heroic act.

4 out of 5 Stars

-timmy

天空の城ラピュタ (Tenkū no Shiro Rapyuta)
9/10 — A classic for a reason.

Castle in the Sky is without a doubt one of the more well-known anime. While many series and movies come and go like passing fads, young kids in Japan today still know Laputa, and so do their parents. The reason for this is the many talented Hayao Miyazaki and Studio Ghibli. This movie originally came out the year I was born, and I am very happy to have the opportunity to watch it and bring the review to you now. I do feel it is a timeless classic that is suited to a wide variety of audiences.

First the basics:

Voice Acting: 9/10 — a diversity of characters with distinct personalities
(This pertains to the American Disney cast.)
The voice acting in the movie is quite exceptional. There are a number of big names, such as Mandy Patinkin, Mark Hamill, James Van Der Beek, Anna Paquin, and Andy Dick, among others. They deliver an exceptional performance in spite of occasionally awkward dialogue. They make the moments where you kinda wonder why the character said that seem much more natural than other voice actors would, and it makes it that much easier to slip into the realm of the story. Now, the characters do sound awfully stereotypical throughout, from Dola the boisterous pirate mother to Muska, who always sounds evil and sinister even when he’s faking being genuine in order to be persuasive. Pazu and Sheeta are less cliched, which is nice, but there are points where you start to like the secondary characters and they don’t always come through as unique.

Animation: 9/10 — Beautiful scenery and smooth, clear character action.
The backgrounds for this movie are amazingly well-painted; they’re simply beautiful. And while some people don’t particularly care for the Ghibli style of animation that is so recognizable in their films, it is still done very professionally. The actions are clear and recognizable — even some of the more complicated events in the movie you can readily discern what is occurring. The art aptly conveys what’s going on and the choices in camera angles and scene changes are also handled extraordinarily well. We get a lot of playing with distances and layering of various foregrounds with a number of things going on in the background — there’re no audiences of people standing still while things happen at the forefront. It really is about as good as it gets, and it sucks you right into the plot.

Music/Sound Effects: 10/10 — Exceptional.
Joe Hisaishi, a regular composer for Ghibli and also “Beat” Takeshi, is responsible for the music in Laputa. His style has that epic fantasy story feel, which is very appropriate for this film. There are moments that jog my memory of old Final Fantasy games and Chrono Trigger. Given the story, I think Hisaishi’s style fits right in, and it brings emotional emphasis to many of the scenes. There are also a variety of sound effects that play key roles in the action of Castle in the Sky. Everything from steam engines, to the organic sounds in the Laputian garden, to the many many explosions and gun battles — it’s all handled masterfully, and never do you think that either a sound has gone missing or feels misplaced with what’s going on; rather, the world is more fully fleshed out by the circumambient noises that’re included.

Story/Script: 8/10 — An epic tale, especially in the original Japanese
The Japanese script for the film is quite good; although, a little dated. The American rewrite for the dub is sort of crappy in that characters randomly use and dispose of information in jokes that they would not be privy to, and some of the line changes dumb down the original script and story. I for one think there’s a number of extra interesting details to Sheeta’s backstory that she reveals that get trimmed out of the American version. It is unfortunate. Still, the story is magnificent; it has a moral buried deep enough that you can recognize it, but it doesn’t get in the way; and it’s simply an enjoyable story to follow. You want to know what happens next, and I think that says a lot about the quality of the writing. Also, in spite of some changes in the English script, the dialogue is actually quite good, and the characters tend to come off as pretty natural, rather than forced or substituting for a narrator, etc.

The Technicals:
Produced by Isao Takahata and Studio Ghibli, and written and directed, of course, by Hayao Miyazaki. It was originally released on April 2nd, 1986, and has an approx. runtime of 126 minutes. It was also the first film created and released by Studio Ghibli.

Summary:
So the movie starts with a young girl, Sheeta, on an airship being attacked by a group of air pirates known as the Dola gang/clan.

It quickly becomes apparent that she is there against her will, and she uses the opportunity of the pirate attack to try and escape. And anyone who’s watched this movie that it was pretty sweet when the girl brained the government-looking official with a wine bottle. I know that’s when I fell in love with Sheeta, anyway. Castle in the Sky is often compared to Disney films, but show me where Dumbo takes matters so capably into his own trunk — I think the bravery already displayed by Sheeta is way more impressive and admirable than the more general morals displayed in Disney films.

However, Sheeta ends up falling off the airship, and is miraculously saved by the power of a crystal, which is clearly what the pirates were after. She falls down to earth, where a boy named Pazu catches her as she slowly descends towards the mine where he is working.

Pazu has to get back to work, but he takes Sheeta home with him — he’s looking after her, do you remember people ever being this good natured? That’s what I thought. No awkward moments while she’s asleep ensue — thank God this wasn’t a Shonen Jump manga first because you KNOW that he would of groped her by mistake or something. The next morning she wakes up to him blowing his horn — literally plays a trumpet atop his house for God knows what reason. And they have some cutesy conversation getting to know one another, while he explains to her what happened. So, in the dub there’s a line that comes out “if my head were any harder it’d be a cannonball” but in the Japanese it’s definitely closer to “my head is harder than the boss’s fists.” Oh how times change! This conversation comes about because Pazu thinks he knows how the crystal works, puts it on, and jumps off his house, only to crash down through the brick roof of the lower story. At least he had something to hit, he does live overlooking a giant canyon. We also find out that Pazu’s father once took a picture of Laputa, but no one believed it was real. A literary reference is cut from the American script here — for shame! — as Laputa is from Gulliver’s Travels by Swift, and Pazu mentions it in the Japanese.

Of course, the pirates come looking for Sheeta and the crystal, and somehow they end up at Pazu’s place rather fast. Sheeta and Pazu make a break for it with some of the town’s people helping out, only to run into the military and the government official, Colonel Muska, who Sheeta conked out with the wine bottle. Now, there’s a battle between the pirates and the military as they both try to capture Sheeta and Pazu, who are desperately trying to make their escape aided by the townspeople (take a deeeeeep breath).

In the chase, Pazu and Sheeta fall into the canyon and are saved by the crystal. Deep in an old mine Sheeta tells Pazu about her homeland, Gondoa, far to the north. Both her parents had died, and she worked the farm alone. Now, we notice a sort of common trend with characters. Sheeta was a hard-working farmgirl (doing a job that actually she probably couldn’t have done on her own, but we can overlook that, I suppose), and Pazu is a miner from a mining town.

Sheeta was abducted from her farm by Colonel Muska and his associates. Wandering around in the old mine, they run into Uncle Pom, who is crazy.

I burst out laughing when Uncle Pom said he doesn’t get lonely traversing the mines alone because the rocks talk to him. Of course, the story validates him because all the rocks glow in a sort of way. Apparently glowing means speaking. Uncle Pom would go deaf in Vegas. Uncle Pom, upon seeing Sheeta’s crystal, warns them that misuse of such power will only bring misery, and the crystal should remind us all that we come from the earth and it is to the earth that we will return — very heavy-handed, and it seems a little random; the ominous foreshadowing is a bit overdone, and while the moral message is clear, I’m not sure how you quite get that out of glowy, powerful crystal, ooh-aah. For some reason the Japanese call the crystal something like Volucite, and the American version is Aetherium (it’s probably wordplay in the Japanese similar to that in the American, I just don’t get it, ah well).

Once out of the cave, the pair is immediately cornered by the military, captured and brought to the military’s island of doom!

Therein, Pazu is tossed into an oubliette-like spot, and Sheeta is taken to a normal bedchamber. Apparently the national past time has become hauling around unconscious little girls. A strange bit of translation goes on here too: in the American script Muska lies and tells Sheeta that Pazu is being treated very well, and in the Japanese he tells her not to worry because Pazu is more stubborn than he is. Also, the second omitted literary reference is here. In the Japanese, Muska asks, sarcastically, if Sheeta thinks that Laputa is like Treasure Island — for shame! why cut so many lit references? Makes me sad. And Muska shows Sheeta a mechanical soldier that fell from Laputa, and seems to be the reason the government has taken such a strong interest in what was, until recently, considered a myth.

We shortly find out that Sheeta is the true heir to the throne of the kingdom of Laputa, and in order to save Pazu she agrees to help the military. She then gets weepy because Pazu was such a cutie, and she let him get away. Also Pazu tries to scale the wall of his prison to no avail, but he still scales halfway up the damn wall! What is this? Uncharted?!

When Pazu gets home the pirates are waiting for him, but after a heart to heart with the mother of the pirates and their leader/captain/etc., Pazu teams up with them to try and save Sheeta (the pirates of course are still after the crystal).

Meanwhile, Sheeta remembers the words to awaken the crystal from when she was young, and this in turn brings the giant robot man back to life. Chaos ensues. The military thinks they’ve killed the robot, and this happens:

The military is continuing to try to destroy the robot just as the pirates show up.

They manage to rescue Sheeta, but not the crystal. The crystal is mysteriously left on, so to speak, pointing the way to Laputa.

Pazu and Sheeta join up with the pirates as members of the crew. Pazu becomes the engineer’s, Pops, assistant, and Sheeta becomes the cleaning lady/cook.

Many of the pirates become attracted to Sheeta because she starts wearing Mom’s old clothes; though, the age difference is somewhat disturbing, it’s more funny than creepy. The pirates, of course, are also heading for Laputa.

Pazu and Sheeta manage to spend some time together when it’s Pazu’s turn to go on watch; they share a cloak; it’s cute. Sheeta confesses her feelings about not wanting to actually find Laputa because of the dangers: the bit here is a bit better fleshed out in Japanese, as in the writing is more thought out and convincing than the dumbed down version that Disney created in their English dub. Both Dola and the pirates overhear this conversation. Of course Dola thinks it’s sweet, and the pirates are grief stricken because it’s obvious Sheeta only has eyes for Pazu. The conversations comes to an abrupt halt when Pazu and Sheeta realize they’ve caught up with the military’s air destroyer, Goliath, and are flying above it.

The pirates manage to escape the Goliath in the cloud cover, but they have to follow it in order to track it to Laputa. Sheeta and Pazu go up in a glider attached to the pirate’s airship to keep watch. They see a massive cloud coming up ahead, which appears to be a hurricane.

It sucks them in and detaches the glider that Sheeta and Pazu are on, but Pazu is fairly certain that inside the giant cloud lies Laputa.

They manage to get through the storm and discover an amazing garden with robot remaining to tend it; all the others have broken down over the years. Various animals roam the area.

Then there’s an explosion, and it becomes apparent that the Goliath and its crew of several hundred soldiers has managed to land on Laputa as well. Sheeta and Pazu investigate and realize that the pirates have survived, but were taken prisoner.

Meanwhile, the army begins to loot the city, and Muska heads off on his own, looking for something else.

He captures Sheeta, but Pazu gets away. Pazu frees the pirates, and Muska finds what he was looking for — the heart of Laputa. It turns out Muska is also of noble blood from the kingdom of Laputa.
According to him Laputa has been without a king for 700 years, and Laputa is the source of several ancient myths: in Hinduism, Ramayana’s arrow, and in the Christian/Jewish Old Testament, the fire from Heaven that destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah. Muska then proclaims his sovereignty and uses the power of Laputa to kill most of the military present.

And awakens a ton of extra robot dudes. Pazu has managed to cling to the underside of Laputa this whole time and finally gets back in to find his way to Sheeta.

Meanwhile, Sheeta has managed to take the crystal from Muska and is hectically trying to escape. She gets the crystal to Pazu through a crack in the wall, and Muska chases her into the throne room, where he proceeds to shoot off her pigtails — I know, WTF?! Pazu arrives and bargains the stone in exchange for a chance to talk with Sheeta. Muska of course is an idiot and says ok, I can’t possibly see any harm in letting you speak to the girl who can apparently cast spells. And then they cast the spell of destruction because Pazu has the stone.

Oddly enough, the spell to activate the stone was some four obscure sounding words, and the spell of destruction is hardly even a syllable. Muska randomly goes blind, the kids appear dead, and just like every Indiana Jones movie, the legendary structure that has gone on for hundreds to thousands of years a-okay collapses into itty bitty rock bits.

Even though the technology center of Laputa is destroyed, the roots of the giant tree at the center of the city catch the giant crystal that was holding the city aloft, and Laputa takes off!

And NO, Sheeta and Pazu aren’t dead. They find the glider they came in on and glide down to the pirates. In a hilarious moment of characters knowing things they could have no way of knowing (which happens a lot, especially in the English dub; this error for instance, doesn’t happen in the Japanese), Dola comments to Sheeta that there’s nothing worse than having your pigtails shot off. The pirates actually managed to secure a good deal of treasure, and Sheeta and Pazu glide off together. The End.

I’ve been having recurring dreams about tidal waves over the past few years… twice even within the span of these last two weeks.

I’m watching ‘Ponyo‘ at this very moment and these scenes make me feel strange.

Demand for tickets to the London Children’s Film Festival screening on 21 November and the 26 November Japanimation screening has been so high that the Barbican Cinema team have added an extra screening on 29 November. Many thanks to Optimum Releasing for enabling this. Details and booking link here.

Ponyo , noto anche come Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea, è un film d’animazione giapponese del 2008 dello Studio Ghibli, scritto e diretto da Hayao Miyazaki. È l’ottavo film di Miyazaki per Ghibli, e il suo decimo generale. La trama di un pesce rosso di nome Ponyo che fa amicizia con un ragazzo di 5 anni, Sosuke, e vuole diventare una ragazza.

Leggi altre notizie su: | Hayao Miyazaki | Yuria Nana | Hiroki Doi

Non tante settimane fa, durante un famoso pranzo al Bargino, una futura sposa della Val d’Enza mi ha indottrinato sulla vita e sulle opere di Hayao Miyazaki. Il nome magari non vi dice granchè, ma per chi è nato negli anni ‘70, cartoni come Heidi, Anna dai Capelli Rossi, Conan e Lupin III credo che siano molto familiari. Bene. Questo distinto signore, oltre ad aver disegnato molti compagni della nostra infanzia e adolescenza, ha realizzato anche numerosi lungometraggi, che hanno vinto suon di premi (Oscar per La città incantata e Leone d’Oro per Il Castello errante di Howl). Dopo essermi cosparsa il capo di cenere e aver promesso alla già citata futura sposa che avrei colmato le mie lacune, sono passata dalle parole ai fatti e…UAU!

Partita con un po’ di pregiudizio (non tanto perchè si tratta di un film a cartoni animati, ma perchè premiato a Venezia), sono rimasta estasiata di fronte alla poesia e alla bellezza delle immagini, ancor più apprezzabili perchè realizzate secondo la vecchia scuola (non c’è traccia di digitale).

Il film racchiude un potente messaggio pacifista e di tolleranza, senza cadere mai nella retorica o nel melenso. Sophie è deliziosa. L’amore per Howl e l’amicizia che la lega ai curiosi personaggi che l’accompagnano (ispirati al Mago di Oz?) la rendono coraggiosa, determinata e vincente. Sì, perchè il lieto fine c’è, e non vi tolgo nulla se ve lo anticipo. La cosa bella è come ci si arriva al finale. Si attraversano universi paralleli, si passa da una città che racchiude il fascino delle capitali europee alle cime innevate dei monti alpini, da placidi laghi a borghi marinari, da campi di fiori al buio della notte, illuminata solo dal chiarore delle bombe. In questi continui cambi di scena, trasportati dallo sgangherato castello alimentato dal demone Calcifer, si sviluppa la storia tra Howl e Sophie. Due anime che erano fatte per incontrarsi, anzi per re-incontrarsi, e per dimostrare che solo l’amore può sconfiggere la paura e donare la libertà. Tenetevi vicino un pacchetto di Kleenex. Fidatevi.

Da vedere perchè: è un capolavoro da trasmettere, non solo ai bambini, ma anche agli adulti. In generale per tutti i sognatori che sperano e vogliono un mondo diverso in cui vivere.

Spirited Away is Hayao Miyazaki’s biggest success so far and the movie he got the Oscar for.

Plot:
Sen Chihiro is moving with her parents. On their way to the new house, they happen upon an abandoned theme park. Curious, they go to look at it. When the parents find plates of food, they dig in. Sen doesn’t as she’s afraid. When night falls, her parents are turned into pigs and Sen Chihiro, turned Chihiro Sen, finds work at a bath house for gods, with the help of the mysterious Haku.

*sigh*
Spirited Away is just plain wonderful. (Depending on my mood, it fights for the favourite Miyazaki movie spot with Princess Mononoke, Howl’s Moving Castle and My Neighbour Totoro.) Visually, it’s definitely the most beautiful of Miyazaki’s movies. And I love Haku.

But it’s not only Haku I love – I also love Chihiro and pretty much all the characters.

And I think it’s a fascinating look into the mythology of Japan – all the gods and creatures running around. I bet somebody who knows their Japanese mythology could tell you about each and every one of them – what they mean and represent and so on.

[I'd love to hear that, btw. So if anybody wants to get into it, I'm totally available.]

The story is absolutely amazing. And while it should be really scary – and there are a lot of threats flying around the place – you’re never afraid. I’m not sure how Miyazaki accomplishes that. Maybe you’re just lulled by the beauty of it all. Or maybe his sense of humour does the deed… anyway, it is done.

Oh and the score… Joe Hisaishi is awesome… I probably should have mentioned him in the Miyazaki movie posts before this one because he wrote the score for all of those and they’re all great, but for Spirited Away, he outdid himself. [And then again for Howl's Moving Castle.]

The cute, it is lethal.

Summarising, as most of Miyazaki’s stuff, definitely a must-see.

Hayao Miyazaki est né le 5 janvier 1941 à Tōkyō, au Japon et il est surement incontestablement, aujourd’hui, le plus grand scénariste et chara designer du monde de l’animation, à tel point que l’on compare ces oeuvres avec la grandeur des Disney. Que la comparaison soit bonne ou pas, c’est une réalité qui fait de Hayao Miyazaki une personnalité l’échelle (j’aime me lâcher comme ça ^^).  Ce succès mondial a commencé en même temps que la sortie de son chef d’oeuvre, Princesse Mononoké, sortie en 1999. Grâce à ses oeuvres il est considéré comme légal de Osamu Tezuka au Japon.

Dans ses films on retrouve des thèmes récurrents comme la relation de l’homme et de la nature, l’ambiguïté entre la technologie et l’écologie ou même la guerre. Malgré ces thèmes qui paraissent dures, les oeuvres de Miyazaki sont aussi bien accessible aux enfants, de part la beauté de l’animation et la magie des personnages, qu’aux adultes, de part les forts messages transmis à travers ces dessins animés. Miyazaki est aussi le co-fondateur du studio Ghibli.

Côté personnalité, Miyazaki est un grand féministe, d’où le fait que beaucoup de ses héros, soit des héroïnes.  D’ailleurs pour l’anecdote, les toilettes  des femmes du studio Ghibli, conçues par Miyazaki, sont plus grandes que celles des femmes.Miyzaki a également été très traumatisé par la bombe atomique. Bien qu’il était enfant à l’époque de Hiroshima et Nagasaki, on retrouve bien son obsession dans ses thèmes de guerre.

Listes de ses oeuvres:

Animation:

• 1978 : Conan, le fils du futur – (未来少年コナン, Mirai shōnen Conan) – série TV
  1979 : Lupin III : Le château de Cagliostro – (ルパン三世カリオストロの城, Rupan sansei: Kariosutoro no shiro)
  1984 : Sherlock Holm
  1984 : Nausicaä de la vallée du vent – (風の谷のナウシカ, Kaze no tani no Naushika)
  1986 : Laputa – Le Château dans le ciel – (天空の城ラピュタ, Tenku no shiro Rapyuta)
  1988 : Mon voisin Totoro – (となりのトトロ, Tonari no Totoro)
  1989 : Kiki la petite sorcière – (魔女の宅急便, Majo no takkyūbin)
  1992 : Porco Rosso – (紅の豚, Kurenai no buta)
  1995 : On Your Mark (Vidéo-clip)
  1997 : Princesse Mononoké – (もののけ姫, Mononoke Hime)
  2001 : Le Voyage de Chihiro – (千と千尋の神隠し, Sen to Chihiro no kamikakushi)
  2004 : Le Château ambulant – (ハウルの動く城, Hauru no ugoku shiro)
  2008 : Ponyo sur la falaise – (崖の上のポニョ, Gake no ue no Ponyo)

Manga:

• Nausicaä de la vallée du vent

Voilà, sinon que dire à part: Kyoukey Miyazaki sensei.

Haruhi-sama is not amused

Manga Compared to a Plague

Israel Punzano : Lo que parece seguro es que a este ritmo dentro de poco estaremos todos leyendo manga. El éxito del cómic japonés entre los jóvenes no presagia nada bueno para los autores europeos.

Moebius : El manga es una plaga. La invasión ha sido total, como demuestra las cuotas de mercado que ha conseguido. Es una epidemia. Me recuerda a lo sucedido con las abejas de la Amazonia que suben hasta Norteamérica y matan a las especies autóctonas. En Francia, los camarones han desaparecido porque echaron en nuestras aguas una especie foránea que acabó con ellos. Los nuevos también están buenos, pero no son los mismos… Tienen un acento espantoso. El problema es que el manga llega a Europa, pero el cómic europeo no va a Japón. Eso es lo injusto.

“El ‘manga’ es una plaga”, El Pais, 15/11/2009

Google Translation

Israel Punzano : What seems certain is that at this rate, soon we’ll all be reading manga. The success of Japanese comics among youth does not bode well for European authors.

Moebius : Manga is a plague. The invasion has been complete, as demonstrated by market share that has been achieved. It’s an epidemic. It reminds me of what happened to the bees that go up the Amazon to North America and kill native species. In France, the shrimp have disappeared because they threw in our waters a foreign species that killed them. New also are good, but not the same … They have an awful accent. The problem is that the manga comes to Europe, but European comics is not going to Japan. That is wrong.

“El ‘manga’ es una plaga”, El Pais, 15/11/2009

See Also : Axis Powers Hetalia ~ Korea Declares War on Otakudom over Anime Dispute

My Neighbour Totoro is Hayao Miyazaki’s fourth feature film.

Plot:
Satsuki and Mei move to the countryside with their father after their mother falls sick. Their new house is very close to the forest. One day while playing there, Mei finds Totoro, a huge forest spirit. Together they live through several adventures.

My Neighbour Totoro is such a special movie. I don’t know how else to say it. And this rewatch really pushed it forward on my own personal Miyazaki best of list. It might not be as impressive, visually, as his others movies but it perfectly captures what it is to be a child.

The way the story is told and the way we get to see the world, that’s exactly how I remember things going when I was four, five years old. I think that’s what makes this movie so precious and special to me.

What I mean is for example the way there is not really an overarching plot but more a sequence of little episodes. And the way Mei plays. And how tall and adult everybody seems to be compared to her, even Satsuki, who’s like eight or nine years old. And how Totoro being there is just a fact of life for her. No squabbles of how that wasn’t possible.

Wonderful.

I also think that it’s one of the most convincing portrayals of how adult problems effect childrens’ lives. Even if you don’t involve them and don’t tell them everything that’s going on, they are still going to pick things up. And they will try to deal with those things their own way. [And you have to take those ways seriously.]

And can you say best family ever? I mean, hell yeah, they have problems but they treat each other so lovingly and seem genuinely happy with each other, even if not with the world.

Anyway, as I said before, visually it might not be as impressive as Miyazaki’s other movies but in the end that’s exactly as it should be – the story is told from Mei’s point of view and the pictures and images Miyazaki uses stays true to that: Maybe everything is a little simple and landscapes are there to see and forget, but that’s just the way it has to seem to Mei.

Summarising: A must see, for adults and for children.

—

Unfortunately, in the movie theatre, my luck ran out. There was a guy who sat right in front of me for both Laputa and Totoro. This guy was obviously an über-fan of these movies and he had brought along a few friends to initiate them into the world of Miyazaki. Which, of course, is perfectly alright. Unfortunately that meant that he felt he had to comment everything. It wasn’t so bad during Laputa, but during Totoro, he actually started to hum and sing along the (admittedly awesome) Totoro song.

gnnnaaaaaaaaaaah

Gake no Ue no Ponyo, Ponyo sobre el acantilado o con el lamentable titulo que se encuentra ahora mismo en las salas de cine mexicanas: El secreto de la sirenita. Hoy por fin vi Ponyo sobre el acantilado, después de contenerme una vez que la descargue, después de dos retrasos de su estreno, al fin pude entrar al cine a ver la película más reciente de Studio Ghibli y de Hayao Miyazaki.

Ponyo nos narra la historia de una pececita (no es una sirena) que es hija de un hechicero del fondo del mar y la madre naturaleza, por mero azar Ponyo conoce a Sosuke, un chico de cinco años que vive en la casa justo encima de un acantilado, El chico y Ponyo se encariñaran, a partir del encuentro con su nuevo amigo, Ponyo querrá dejar de ser pez y convertirse en humana.

Ella es Ponyo

La historia definitivamente se parece al cuento de la sirenita que después se convirtió en la película de La sirenita de Disney, sin embargo Ponyo sobre el acantilado es más una historia de la fuerte amistad que se da entre los niños, ancianos y adultos, unos seres maravillosos sacados más de la cabeza de Miyazaki que del fondo marino y de la fuerza que llega a tener la naturaleza.

El arte es muy destacable, muy parecida a las anteriores obras de Studio Ghibli, pero esta vez con una animación, pienso, muy artesanal, me refiero a que no se ve que se haya abusado de la computadora, más bien parce que todo fue dibujado cuadro por cuadro, coloreado y al fin animado para que lo veamos en pantalla.

El papá de Ponyo al inicio de la película

Mi opinión y porque cuando he hablado de películas siempre pongo un número es 10/10, pero nunca perdiendo de vista que es una película dirigida a niños muy pequeños.

Aprovechen que pocas veces hay la oportunidad de disfrutar una película animada japonesa en nuestros cines, además no creo que dure mucho en las salas de cine, si ya de por sí solo está en una y de las más pequeñas.

El acantilado

Ponyo (2008)
★★★★ / ★★★★

Written and directed by Hayao Miyazaki, “Ponyo” (also known as “Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea”) tells the story of a princess goldfish (Noah Cyrus) who truly wants to become human. After escaping from her father (Liam Neeson) whose job is to maintain balance in the natural world, she meets a five-year-old boy named Sosuke (Frankie Jonas) and instantly falls for him. Although I very much enjoyed this latest film from Miyazaki, I don’t think it’s his finest work. The story is beyond cute, the characters’ motivations are easy to understand, the world has a sense of wonder, and the situations the characters are put in have enough danger in them to make the audiences want to root for the characters to succeed. In a nutshell, it’s the perfect movie for kids and adults because it’s highly entertaining. However, I wasn’t as emotionally invested in it as I was when I saw “Spirited Away” for the first time. It must be noted that I saw the dubbed version of this animated picture in theaters so perhaps some of the dialogue was lost in translation. But I wanted a more insightful story regarding the characters. Earlier in the film, there was this tension between Sosuke’s mother (Tina Fey) and father (Matt Damon) because his father was always away at sea. There was a certain innocence and genuine comedy when the mother and father were trying to communicate in morse code by using lights. I wanted more of those situational family moments because then the film becomes that much more personal. What I really liked was that the message about the environment and how we must do our best to take care of it but it the message was never heavy-handed. Such messages were simply shown on the screen as tons of garbage were being collected from the ocean floor and ocean creatures were suffering in more ways imaginable (including the title character). Despite some of the very small negatives I mentioned, I still think this is a very strong film about a creature who tried her best to reach her dreams. “The Little Mermaid” comparisons are justified because of the premise but one shouldn’t imply that it doesn’t rise above the template. In fact, Miyazaki’s signature style of being unbound by realism was constantly at the forefront here. Therefore, every image we get (and the emotions that come with them) is very inspired and it’s very difficult to resist its charm.

Laputa: Castle in the Sky is Hayao Miyazaki’s third feature film.

Plot:
Pazu is an orphan who works in a coal mine. One day, a girl – Sheeta, who escaped from some mysterious men in dark glasses – comes floating down from the sky and into Pazu’s arms. She is protected by a mysterious pendant. But the mysterious men – and some sky pirates – keep on chasing them, since Sheeta and Pazu are both connected to the flying island Laputa.

I have to admit that with Laputa, it was quite the opposite than with Nausicaä: On rewatching, I didn’t like it that much anymore, which as usual, is a completely relative thing and means that it still ranks among my favourite animated movies.

On rewatching, I was a little disappointed by the castle itself, I have to admit. I know that on first watching, I was absolutely struck by its beauty. I was literally in awe. It didn’t hold up on the second time. I don’t know why. I still find it stunning and the images in general are wonderful but it just didn’t touch me in the same way as the first time. Maybe I was expecting too much, maybe it lost the novelty factor or maybe I just wasn’t in the right mood the day I watched it.

Whatever the reason… I just can report that it was like that.

And also I remembered that the robots had a much bigger part (especially the last one on Laputa) than they actually had. But that also as a sidenote.

But the story is still great and Pazu and Sheeta are a wonderfully sweet couple. The unfolding of their innocent love-friendship is beautifully done.

And I love the sky pirates. I mean, who wouldn’t?

The ending is very bittersweet and rather open. But I won’t say anymore about it, in case you haven’t seen the film.

[If you haven't seen the film, go and watch it. And the rest of Miyazaki's oeuvre.]

Well, Miyazaki still hasn’t reached his height with this film, but it’s good to watch and very beautiful.

Quick info: Produced by Nippon Animation. Directed by Hayao Miyazaki. Based on a novel called The Incredible Tide.

Expectations, etc: It’s a yet another series I’ve been intending to start watching for quite some time, but have been too lazy. From promo pictures this looks like an adventure series and if we add the title into the mix then I guess there’s going to be this boy who came from the future.

Impressions: The shark-hunting scene broke my suspension of disbelief a few too many times, but that boy running around the place carrying that shark around was even worse, I spent the whole time screaming in my head “Put that shark down! It’s too heavy! It makes no sense to carry it around! Put it down!”. Though by the time he put it down, I didn’t really care anymore and just wondered who that girl who got washed up the shore is. For some reason, in anime, everyone always ends up being washed up the shore, but let’s not dwell into that.

Once the little girl told that people from “Industria” are bad guys I just rolled my eyes since it became clear where this whole anime is going to go. Miyazaki’s anvilicious environmentalism is one of the reasons why I dislike his movies, I thought this anime will be a simple adventure series that I could enjoy regardless of it being directed by Miyazaki, but it looks like I was wrong, and this whole anime will be nothing but an environmental fable.

After that realization I just wished the episode ended faster, and was glad when it finally did.

Rating: 5.5/10

Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind is Hayao Miyazaki’s second movie and the first to be entirely his own.

Plot:
The world is pretty much entirely swallowed by toxic woods, inhabited by huge insects. Nausicaä lives in the Valley of the Wind, one of the few places left that has not been covered by the poisonous gas. When one day a plane crashes in the valley, Nausicaä gets drawn into a war that will shape what it’s left of the world.

To be honest, upon first watching, Nausicaä was the Miyazaki film I liked the least (except for Porco Rosso) which means that I still liked it a whole lot. But it improved considerably on the second watch. Which means that I really love it now. It’s beautifully made, has a wonderful story and Nausicaä is a great character.

In Nausicaä we really get to see what Miyazaki is all about – environmental messages packaged in a near-mystical story, interesting flying objects, intricate world building and beautiful landscapes, all presented with a tight plot and a nice sense of humour.

There, Miyazaki in a nutshell.

The first time round, I didn’t like it that much. Actually, I don’t really know why. I think I didn’t really like Nausicaä. But this time, I adored her. Because Nausicaä is a really female heroine. What do I mean by that? Usually, kick-ass heroines (as in my post from yesterday) take on what are perceived as male traits and weapons – they start to use guns and knifes, they use violence. [Which is a very empowering thing, don't get me wrong.] But Nausicaä takes the strengths that are usually perceived as female – understanding, gentleness – and makes those her weapons. For which I admire her deeply.

[If that last paragraph wasn't clear, I'm sorry.]

And she has the cutest squirrel-like creature.

In the design of the woods and the airplanes – that’s were Miyazaki really outdid himself. It’s so beautiful, you can just lean back and enjoy this.

Fortunately, you don’t have to, since the perfectly paced story will keep you engaged the whole time.

Nausicaä may still not be the best or my favourite Miyazaki, but it’s a great movie and one that hints at the great things to come.

—

I had a little squabble with the German subtitles, though. For example, they insisted on translating “charm” with Charme, which in German means like charisma, but it does not mean in any sense of the word “more or less magic artifact”. *grumble*

[In September, there was a Miyazaki festival in Vienna. This is the first movie I'm going to review from that festival. They had planned to show Ponyo as the highlight at the end but becaue of some contractual problems, they didn't, unfortunately.]

Lupin the Third: The Castle of Cagliostro is Hayao Miyazaki’s first feature film.

Plot:
Lupin is a master thief. When he hears of a batch of excellently forged money, he travels to Cagliostro where he gets more than he bargained for: Not only does he have to save a girl, but also has to solve a riddle that goes back five hundred years.

Lupin III is not at all like Miyazaki’s later films. It’s quite clear that it’s not based on his original material and it’s still stuck way more in the general Anime conventions than his later work. Still it’s funny and entertaining.

Before I say anything else, let me say this: I’m not a huge fan of Anime. Not saying that there’s no good stuff there but I can’t really enjoy the conventions (as I do with horror movies) nor do I like the aesthetics that much. Miyazaki is the exception to the rule because his movies don’t adhere to either that much. Therefore I was really hesitant to watch Lupin III because it was clear that this movie wouldn’t be like that. But since I had already seen all the other movies in the programme, I decided to go for it.

And in the end I’m pretty glad I did. I didn’t expect much but I was pleasantly surprised. Lupin III is funny, much funnier than I ever thought it would be.

While the character design was still very crude, the landscapes and backgrounds already hint at the beauty Miyazaki will create lateron. But the characters themselves – great. I especially like Inspector Zenigata and Fujiko.

The story itself is fun. Nothing terribly surprising but so well executed that you neither need nor want it to be.

Summarising: not as good as Miyazaki’s later work, but still good entertainment.

Gran, gran, gran obra!

Lego no kami-sama xD

visto en [pixelbits]

El día que me muera quiero que me incineren y que esparzan mis cenizas en uno de los paisajes de Miyazaki.

Apologies for the silence – I’ve been hacking my lungs out. Swine flu-related advertisements have mushroomed all over the Underground, with glowing green germstains that put one rather in mind of cartoon representations of radioactive waste. This is not comforting.

In penitence I offer you cute Miyazaki-related pictures.

För många hundra år sedan raserades alla städer och samhällen och än idag breder förruttnelsens hav ut sig alltmer. Giftiga sporer frodas i den växtlighet som återstår och gör luften omöjlig att andas. Endast ett fåtal mindre kolonier återstår och människan är en utrotningshotad art där istället jättelika insekter fått ett allt större fotfäste. I den idylliska Vindarnas dal lever prinsessan Nausicaä som till skillnad från många andra tror på en samexistens mellan olika stammar av människor men även mellan människa och insekt. Krigiska trupper visar sig dock utgöra ett större hot mot kolonin än det annalkande miljöhotet.

Det här ska visst vara Hayao Miyazakis första animerade långfilm och det är verkligen en enastående debut. Miljöerna är hejdlöst vackra och även om intrigen är nog så komplex, är det en fröjd att bara luta sig tillbaka och insupa atmosfären och händelseförloppet i filmen. Även om de surrealistiska fantasivärldarna inte liknar vår värld, är det ändå en spark i arslet på konsumtionssamhället och det sätt vi skövlar och suger ur miljön. Soundtracket är rätt skönt om man står ut med rätt intensiv elektronisk 80-talsmusik. Det är inte för ro skull Miyazaki kallas animationens mästare då det är väldigt snyggt gjort och det är svårt att tro att filmen har 25 år på nacken. Extra heder ska han ha för att ha skapat en så stark kvinnlig hjältekaraktär, vilket man i animationskretsar har svårare för i väst.

Betyg: 4