My Anime Thoughts - Miyazaki Madness: Spirited Away

If you forget your name completely, you'll never get home...

The penultimate Miyazaki Madness review is up today, and we've got a real special one here.  This is one of the most critically acclaimed and most loved anime films of all time, possibly the most.  Spirited Away is regarded by some as Miyazaki's masterpiece, and with such an outstanding director that's really saying something.  It's also the only anime film to ever win an Academy Award.  It's been placed highly on several lists of top films, and a sixth of the population of Japan has seen it.  When it was released it was the second highest grossing film in Japanese history and the first film to earn $200 million before opening in the US.  I'm not gonna comment about "does it deserve it" or anything like that, it'd be silly - there's no question about it.  Instead, let's just look at what makes this movie so great. 

While taking a side road on their way to their new house, Chihiro and her family find an old abandoned building they decide to explore to Chihiro's dismay.  After passing through a tunnel and a wide field, they find a deserted marketplace - except for one food stall.  As her parents chow down, Chihiro, scared of getting in trouble, wanders around and discovers a large bathhouse.  Darkness starts to set in and spirits start coming out of the walls and Chihiro's parents gluttony has turned them into pigs.  Lost and alone in this strange world of spirits, Chihiro gets some help from a young man named Haku who tells her that she needs to find a job in the bathhouse or she'll never save her parents or get home.

Upon sneaking into the bathhouse, she meets the crusty, spider-like boiler operator Kamaji and the big-sis-with-attitude mentor Lin.  These two watch out for Chihiro after she gets a job at the bathhouse from the crafty witch Yubaba.  Yubaba takes her name in the deal though, reaming her Sen, and if Chihiro forgets her real name, she'll be stuck in Yubaba's service forever.  Chihiro has to struggle to keep her head above water in this bizarre new world while at the same time trying to find her way out from under Yubaba's thumb and helping Haku to do the same.  She gets some help in this quest from some strange allies, like the dragon-esque River Spirit, a quiet but "generous" spirit known as No-Face, and a little bird and mouse from Yubaba's side.  Throughout this journey, Chihiro grows from a scared, spoiled child to a confident courageous heroine. 

After seeing all of Miyazaki's movies (I've already seen next review's Howl's Moving Castle), I can say firmly that Spirited Away remains my favorite of his movies.  It combines the strengths of several of his movies into one single entity that is strong on all fronts.  The storyline is an example of this - it combines the charming and magical elements of films like Totoro and Kiki while having the solid plot and conflict of Mononoke and Naussica.  This film brings you into one of Miyazaki's most magical worlds, showcasing a wide variety of wondrous and frightening creatures and brightly lit scenery.  The struggle for Chihiro's freedom is interspliced well with other situations and conflicts that all help Chihiro to gain the confidence needed to stand up to Yubaba.  There is a constant feeling of growth in the movie; most of the important characters undergo some level of change and development as the plot progresses.  Similarly, all the events of the story build to the finale as they also help to build up Chihiro.  Whether it's the magic of the world or the struggle and development, there's something great in this plot everyone can enjoy. 

The characters in the film are very well-rounded and most all of them are very likeable.  As said earlier, Chihiro is a heroine who advances leaps and bounds as the movie progresses.  She shows great determination to do whatever it takes to save herself and anyone else she can.  She is flawed - especially near the beginning she shows a lot of fear and weakness - but keeps pushing past the flaws in order to help whoever she can.  Haku is a good guy stuck working for the bad who goes out of his way in risky situations to guide Chihiro, but also needs to be rescued throughout the movie.  He also grows as Chihiro helps him to become warmer and more caring.  Yubaba is an interesting villain; she's a powerful witch but comes off feeling more like a shrewd businessperson.  She doesn't want to hire Chihiro as dead weight at first, but then she doesn't want to let her out of her grip.  A favorite character of mine has always been No-Face.  He feels very mysterious as the movie introduces him and is slowly revealed as a monster, but instead of being dropped as the conflict is resolved, he finds the friend he was looking for in Chihiro and journeys with her as she nears her goal.  The cast is all strong and gets stronger as the movie progresses and they're all endearing on some level. 

The art is as good as any of the other Miyazaki movies and is definitely better in some aspects.  The scenery in this movie is absolutely beautiful - the main areas evoke the feeling of a festival that fits the resort nature of a bathhouse and the supernatural feel of the parading spirits.  And all those spirits have very creative and unique designs straight out of a dream or a nightmare.  The style gets more soothing and relaxing as they leave the island at one point, which fits in that Chihiro is distancing herself from the source of her problems.  The animation is one aspect I feel showed the improvement more than others.  Everything on screen moved so fluidly and so well, particularly some of the larger monsters.  One example that stood out to me was the oh-so-creatively named Stink Spirit, a sludgy creature covered in oozing mud with greasy oils bubbling out of him.  All the movements of both the creature and these substances felt realistic and intricately detailed and lent a crucial feeling of life to the creation.

The soundtrack stood out to me as one of his best, with the music always fitting and adding a lot to the scenes.  The spirit island had this traditional music that sounded very festive and ancient much like the spirits themselves and could even be somewhat intimidating at times.  A lot of the other music felt very uplifting and cheery while being subdued and really fit the overall tone of the film.  The dub cast was, in my opinion, the best Disney has gathered for one of Miyazaki's films, which is interesting as they didn't quite get as much big name talent here.  Daveigh Chase sounded a bit rough as Chihiro but really did being the feel of a scared young child to her performance but still acted well in her composed and serious bits.  Jason Marsden's serious and sometimes cold performance as Haku fit the character very well, and Suzanne Pleshette as Yubaba sounded like a perfect cackling old witch.  Another of the standout performances to me was David Odgen Stiers as Kamaji the boiler worker.  He sounded very crotchety and cranky at first like an old man without time from some brat underfoot, but as Kamaji connected with Chihiro he also provided some very good softspoken and caring lines as well. 

Spirited Away is the best of all of Miyazaki's movies in my opinion and is probably still the best anime movie I've ever seen.  I would enthusiastically recommend this movie to anyone and everyone, and I definitely feel that kids and adults alike will find the movie memorable, enjoyable, and heartwarming.  It deserves all its acclaim and is definitely something to consider for people who have no experience with anime. 

We wrap up Miyazaki Madness next time with Howl's Moving Castle.  (I own this one, so expect it perhaps a bit sooner!)

My Anime Thoughts - Miyazaki Madness: Princess Mononoke

To see with eyes unclouded by hate...

Ah, Princess Mononoke.  Not only is this one of Miyazaki's most loved movies, it is quite possibly one of the most loved animated movies of all time.  Generally, if you ask what Miyazaki's best movie is, Mononoke is one of the 2 possible answers, with Spirited Away being the other.  It's the 4th highest grossing anime movie of all time (all of which were made by Miyazaki), it was in Ebert's top 10 of 1999, it was included in a list of the best 500 movies ever in 1998 by Empire Magazine, and it has received numerous other accolades and awards.  Truly this movie is an anime classic - let's see what makes it one. 

Our story leaps right into the action as a small village is attacked by a demon that looks like a mass of crawling worms.  After our hero Ashitaka strikes it down, the demon is revealed as a dying boar god cursed by a wound from an iron bullet.  Ashitaka was cursed during the battle as well and he leaves his village in order to find the source of the curse that threatens his life.  Along the way he meets a mysterious monk named Jigo and finds out that his curse is fueled by hatred and rage.  Shortly after this he rescues 2 men from a group that was attacked by 2 wolves and a young woman, San, known as Princess Mononoke (Mononoke means monster or spirit) .  He escorts them through a forest full of powerful spirits and brings them safely to Iron Town. 

There he meets the town's leader, the cunning and determined Lady Eboshi.  He also learns that once the town exhausted their supply of iron, they moved to the forest, clearing large sections of it and killing the boar god Nago.  However, Eboshi has also taken in prostitutes and lepers and given them better lives.  Hearing about the forest angers Ashitaka, and later when San invades the village and tries to kill Eboshi, Ashitaka intervenes with his curse's strength and saves them both.  However, he sustains near-fatal wounds and San takes him to the Forest Spirit's spring to heal him. 

While in the forest, he learns that the boars, led by another boar god named Okkoto, are planning to attack Iron Town.  At the same time, Jigo is revealed to be an Imperial mercenary seeking the head of the Forest Spirit for the Emperor's immortality and Eboshi is helping him so her town will be protected from a samurai lord.  A massive battle erupts between the animals and the humans, and during the ensuing chaos Jigo and Eboshi go to hunt the forest spirit.  With both sides facing devastating losses, Ashitaka must find a way to achieve peace for both sides and prevent the ruination of the world. 

Get used to high praise, cause this film excels in most every way.  The story's up first, and it's amazing.  It's a classic battle of good and evil but which side is which isn't always black and white.  For the most part you'll see the side of nature as good and the humans as evil.  However, Eboshi is very sympathetic, taking care of the people society usually overlooks and simply doing what she has to to protect her village.  Likewise, the animals have their bad moments, with their violent rejection of the humans and the times when they turn demonic.  The plot is very predictable, but it is strong enough that this isn't really a problem.  Unlike most of Miyazaki's films, this film has a lot of external conflict but still maintains the internal conflict with San unsure of her place in the world.  The plot is stronger than any of Miyazaki's films I've reviewed so far and is definitely as good as any I've seen in an anime movie. 

Like the story, the characters are all top-notch.  Ashitaka is a great hero - courageous and heroic, serious while remaining idealistic.  He's faced with a life-threatening curse, but instead of worrying or getting depressed, he faces it and tries to find a way to fix it.  He also stands as a bridge connecting both the natural forces and the humans.  San is also an interesting protagonist.  She acts like how you expect a girl raised by wolves to act - fierce and wild - but she also gets confused when she is faced with a good human like Ashitaka.  All the animal gods sound wise but at the same time manage to be intimidating and fearsome.  Eboshi is, as I said, very sympathetic while also suave and intelligent; she's the kind of villain who's always in control.  Jigo also stands out as a well-done "hidden talons" type who knows more than he lets on.  Really, the only characters who annoyed me were the townspeople, but they're pretty minor and easy to ignore. 

Miyazaki's art and animation is always beautiful, and Mononoke is no exception.  It retains the beautiful traditional look even with a bit of computer animation mixed in and everything remains very fluid, particularly the action and the demon effects.  Princess Mononoke in particular shows off one of the things I love most about his work: the backgrounds.  All the scenes in the mountains and the forests show the gorgeous attention to detail that Miyazaki always gives his backgrounds, with some shots looking like they're straight out of paintings.  The one thing that stood out as laughable to me though were the lost limbs.  One man lost his arm with a clean cut from a cannon blast, and there are several arrow decapitations.  It's really laughable and detracts a bit from the action scenes, but not enough that the movie isn't still a visual feast. 

The soundtrack stands out to me as one of the best from his films.  Whenever an action scene rolled around, the music always sounded grand and fast paced; it really got me pumped up for the action scenes and left an impression.  The remaining music was softer and really fit the movie by sounding very natural and traditional.  Disney knocked the dub out of the park again.  Billy Crudup provided a serious air of determination and caring for Ashitaka, and Claire Danes made San sound wild and rough.  Minnie Driver was the stand out role to me, giving Lady Eboshi the perfect air of sophistication, refinement, and cunning.  I even thought Billy Bob Thornton did a good job as Jigo, sounding like a rough old rural monk while still sounding good in the serious moments.  I did have one BIG problem though, and that was Jada Pinkett Smith.  She just was not good in her role.  She sounded far too modern both in tone and dialogue, ruining her character for me. 

Nothing is perfect, and Princess Mononoke certainly has some flaws.  These are minor though compared to the whole package, and Princess Mononoke definitely delivers as a whole.  There's no major area that fails as a whole and the failings are small parts of larger fields.  It deserves all of its acclaim and really is a masterpiece.  Every anime fan should see it, and I'd recommend it to anyone regardless of taste, even people with no anime experience. 

Next time we've got the only anime to win an Academy Award, Spirited Away!

My Anime Thoughts - Miyazaki Madness: Porco Rosso

I'd rather be a pig than a facist.

So, about the movie I'm actually reviewing.  The fifth movie Miyazaki made with Studio Ghibli, Porco Rosso seems to me to get the short end of the stick as far as his movies are concerned.  I certainly rarely see it brought up in anime movie recommendations, and while it seems like it got good reception generally, it seems to be passed over in favor of his other more well-known titles.  There does seem to be one possible reason for this, however: it was actually planned as an in-flight movie, but changed into a full-length film during production.  So does this movie deserve some more acclaim, or should it just be shown on a red-eye into Tokyo?

As the film begins we're introduced to our protagonist, Porco Rosso - a somewhat jaded old ex-WWI fighter pilot with a pig's head.  Yeah.  Anyway, he makes his living these days as a bounty hunter taking in seaplane pirates, and he's one of the best.  The pirates are getting fed up with him, so they bring in an ace from America named Curtis in order to get rid of Porco once and for all.  Around this time we're also introduced to an old friend of Porco's named Gina, a war-widow who's actually carrying a torch for Porco and who Curtis falls for but is ultimately rejected by. 

As Porco's beat-up old plane is starting to show it's age and he heads to Milan to get it repaired.  On the way, Curtis ambushes him and Porco can't take him with his plane acting up like it is.  He gets shot out of the sky but survives and Curtis returns to brag.  Porco continues to Milan and enlists his usual mechanic to fix the ship, though his young granddaughter Fio takes the lead in the repairs, something Porco is uncomfortable with.  She quickly proves her talent and Porco slowly comes to respect her ability. 

There's a catch, however - Porco's a deserter from the Italian Air Force (due to the incoming Fascist government) and the secret police are out to get him.  He barely gets out of Milan safely, but the plane's a bit more crowded as Fio insists on coming along to make sure the plane's working alright.  They return to an ambush by the pirates and later Curtis.  However, Fio sets the pirates straight and reminds them of their honor and also arranges a dogfight between Porco and Curtis to settle things - if Porco wins, Curtis pays his repair bills; if Curtis wins, Fio marries him (o_O).  The dogfight ends in a draw followed by Porco winning an impromptu boxing match, and then everyone high-tails it before the Italian Air Force shows up for Porco.

The story of Porco Rosso is really just alright at best.  One thing that stands out to me is that it doesn't feel like a Miyazaki movie.  Male lead, slight focus on action, not as much charm to it - a lot of things feel off.  This isn't necessarily bad, but I wonder if it suffers because he's out of his element.  There's something of a theme of lost honor and rediscovering that honor, but it isn't done in a particularly intriguing or fascinating way.  A lot remains unexplained as well, most notably the reason for the pig head, as Porco used to be a human named Marco.  It's implied to be connected to the desertion, but it's really unclear.  While I enjoyed the final conflict and found the more real-world approach interesting, as a whole the plot felt lacking.

The character interactions are probably the best part of the movie, and the characters themselves are great for the most part.  Porco is a good lead, while not immediately likeable, shows his nicer side as the movie progresses.  He's clearly haunted by his past and he can't get past it; he really feels like a grizzled vet.  Fio is more of the traditional Miyazaki protagonist, a cheerful, upbeat young girl with attitude who also serves as an inspiration to Porco to remember what honor is about.  Gina is a wise, thoughtful, and capable woman keeping the peace between Porco and the pirates.  On the other hand, there's Curtis, a brash casanova playing up the American stereotype a lot.  He's good for a laugh at the stereotype, but he's annoying the rest of the time. 

Amazing art, what a surprise.  Do I really need to keep saying anything here?  Miyazaki made it, so that means beautiful hand drawn art and unique and charming character designs.  The animation flows well and never skips a beat.  You can always count on Miyazaki's art.

The music was really good in the movie as well.  The dramatic pieces played during the dogfights, the soft and airy tones during Porco's flashback, the soothing song sung by Gina - there are a lot of parts where the music fit perfectly.  And once again, Disney brings in great talent for the dub.  Keaton plays Porco to a tee, playing him gruff and lively most of the time but bringing warmth and compassion when needed.  Kimberly Williams-Paisley brings a lot of energy and confidence to Fio and Susan Egan as Gina sounds very wise and kind.  The rest of the supporting cast gave good performances as well.

In the end, this is probably the weakest of his films that I've seen.  This isn't to say it's necessarily a bad movie, as it has good characters and Miyazaki's gorgeous art, but the plot leaves something to be desired.  I would still recommend it, but not as heartily as I would Miyazaki's other movies. 

Next week, Princess Mononoke, one of his most well-loved films!

My Anime Thoughts - Miyazaki Madness: Kiki's Delivery Service

Excuse me. But would you like me to deliver it for you?

Miyazaki Madness marches on after a bit of a delay, and now it's time for Kiki's Delivery Service.  Kiki's Delivery Service is Miyazaki's 4th movie with Studio Ghibli and was the first movie released under the long-lasting partnership between Ghibli and Disney.  Released in 1989 in Japan, it was very successful, being the highest grossing film of '89 and the best selling DVD in the month it was released.  While it was only released direct-to-video in America, it still received a notable amount of success stateside as well.  So, is this film worthy of all the accolades?

So, as the film begins, Kiki has just recently turned 13 and is preparing to leave home with her cat Jiji to train her magic as is their custom.  Which is good, since her abilities are a bit rough - flying is basically all she can do, and even that's a bit rough.  However, when she finds a town that she's happy with, she finds the welcome somewhat cold and distant, which leaves her feeling like an outsider.  However, she soon finds a kind heart in young Tombo, a boy around her own age who is fascinated by flight, but her previous reception leads to her being somewhat icy towards him at first. 

She soon finds another friend in the baker Osono.  After Kiki helps to return a lost item, Osono is grateful and agrees to let Kiki stay in her spare room provided Kiki helps to mind the bakery occasionally.  It is also here where Kiki finds her inspiration to start a delivery service, and the movie then proceeds to follow Kiki's life in the city as she struggles with her emerging business.  She also has to deal with all kinds of personal struggles throughout the movie, which later take on a tangible presence with Kiki facing the possible loss of her magic powers because of them. 

The plot of Kiki's Delivery Service is, at its core,  a pretty typical, somewhat simple coming of age story.  However, the movie presents this very familiar plot in a fantastic way with a respectable amount of depth.  Throughout the movie, while trying to make a success of her newfound independence, Kiki is also struggling with a lot of internal conflict like her feelings of isolation and notable lack of self confidence.  She also has to try to find out who she is outside of her training and find her own inspiration that gives her a reason to use her powers.  The end result of all this internal conflict is that there's little to nothing as far as external conflict: a couple of problems during deliveries and a climatic event.  In this way it reminds me of Totoro - not a lot of plot-driven drama, but it makes up for it with an emphasis on the characters and their lives presented in an charming way. 

Speaking of characters, the cast of Kiki's Delivery service are all endearing, likeable characters.  However, it does seem to have a pretty small cast, with Kiki, Tombo, and Osono as the main characters and Jiji and Ursula (a painter living in the woods) for supporting cast.  I felt Kiki was a great heroine, a mostly upbeat and cheerful girl who also had some issues and would get serious or depressed at times and mostly came off feeling like a very well-rounded character.  Tombo acted how I would expect a young boy with a crush to act - excitable, energetic and always wanting to impress Kiki.  Osono was great nurturing surrogate mother character; Jiji, while tiringly pessimistic at times, provided some nice comic relief; and Ursula, while not having a large presence in the movie served a nice inspirational role to Kiki.  In the end, most of the cast was only important in how they related to Kiki, but they still were likeable and none were too annoying. 

When it comes to discussing art and animation in this series of reviews, I feel like I'm getting a bit repetitive, but what can I say - Miyazaki's art is consistently amazing.  His traditional hand-drawn style once again lends itself to great character designs and beautiful backgrounds.  The town seems vibrant, the characters all look good, and there's a lot of attention to detail.  All in all it's another feast for the eyes.  The same can be said for animation as well.  All the movement flows really well and there's not a lot of still shots or anything.  Like most of his movies, it's very well put together. 

The music set the mood well with a lot of light and upbeat tunes during the cheerier parts and slower more serious melodies when called for.  I also found that the dubbed songs both in-film and during the credits were well done and sounded a lot better than some I've heard.  However, on the whole it wasn't particularly memorable and nothing really stuck with me.  The dub cast all performed their roles admirably with no weak voices I can think of.  Kirsten Dunst did a great job as Kiki, bringing the right sound for every mood, and Matthew Lawrence sounded just right for an excitable kid like Tombo.  My favorite voice in the dub has to go to Phil Hartman as Jiji.  His voice was perfect for Jiji's snarking personality and brought a lot of charm to the role.

All in all, Kiki's Delivery Service is a great coming of age story with charming characters and beautiful art.  I fully recommend it to anyone looking for a cheery and light-hearted story or just looking for a good anime movie in general.  Be sure to keep an eye out for my next Miyazaki Madness review on one of his more overlooked movies, at least by me: Porco Rosso!

My Anime Thoughts - Miyazaki Madness: My Neighbor Totoro

To-to-ro?  Your name is Totoro?



For the third installment of Miyazaki Madness, it's time to turn to what is quite possibly Miyazaki's most iconic movie, My Neighbor Totoro.  When someone says Miyazaki, or even anime movies in general for some people, one of the first things that comes to mind is probably this movie.  Totoro himself has also become an incredibly iconic character, featured in the logo of Studio Ghibli and being referenced to or cameoing in multitudes of things (my favorite is the Totoro plush in Toy Story 3).  So, does this iconic movie live up to the hype or is it all growl, no bite?

Our story begins with a father and his two daughters moving out to a slightly run-down old house far out in the country.  When they get there, the two girls, Satsuki and Mei, immediately take to exploring the house and marveling at... well, just about anything, including a rotting support beam.  The strangest things are small, harmless creatures called soot sprites, said to inhabit old empty houses.  They make a mess, but they're shy and they mostly leave the family alone.

We soon find out the girl's mother is in the hospital, though for what is never quite made clear.  The story then continues along with everyday life until, while exploring the nearby forest one day, Mei stumbles upon some small mysterious creatures and eventually a huge version - a gray, furry, sleepy, friendly bear-like spirit that she names Totoro after the sound of its growls.  From here, it mostly just continues with everyday life, sprinkled with some magical moments with Totoro and ending with a bit of drama.

So, for the story.  There really is no story, no plot.  This movie is really just a movie about life and experiences, specifically the magical and wonderful experiences life has to offer through the eyes of a child.  The whole movie revolves around these experiences, both the regular, more routine experiences of everyday life (seen through the excited eyes of a child), and the supernatural and wonderful experiences the girls share with Totoro, and outside of the last 15 minutes or so, there's no actual issues or drama present in the movie.
Do not take this as a negative, however, as Totoro delivers these experiences in such a wonderful and appealing way that feels so magical and amazing that it makes you feel just like a child again.  On one hand you'll be marveling at Totoro and the mystical things he can do, and on the other you'll be connecting with the incredibly realistic events portrayed during the everyday lives of the family.  For Totoro, it's not about the destination but the journey and loving every minute of it.  This may not suit everyone's tastes, but for me it was very enjoyable and fascinating.

For the characters, the main cast consists of the two girls and Totoro.  Both of the main girls are completely charming and adorable while also being very relatable, though for different reasons.  Satsuki really feels like a still-young older sister without a mother around.  She's very responsible and is always looking out for Mei, but still gets excited about little things and can't always handle the things going on in her life.  On the other hand Mei feels like a real toddler/preschooler, constantly amazed by everything going on around her, clinging to her older sister, and not always understanding the seriousness of events or her actions.  They're both great characters that you really come to like and care about.

Totoro is just completely loveable and charming.  He really embodies that sort of whimsy and magic of a child's imagination and feels like a real version of an imaginary friend that you could have all kinds of adventures with as a kid.  The mystique that he and the other creatures bring to the film are really what make it so great and not just a window of everyday life.  The supporting cast, like the girls, also feel incredibly realistic and help to make the film that much more connectable.

The animation is top notch, beautiful hand drawn traditional animation that's in all these movies.  There's a great attention to detail, from the little extra things added to a scene, to the way things move; nothing is overlooked and it lends itself to an amazing visual experience.  Like I said the animation moves as good as anything I've seen and all the little touches are there so that the movie just never looks bad.  It seems to me to be a bit of a jumping point, as Totoro definitely had a better look to it more similar to the later movies than either Nausicaa or Castle did.

When it comes to the music, there's really not much to say as there's not a whole lot of music present in the movie.  This fits the movie very well though IMO, as it's a movie about everyday life and experiences and I just think a frequently present soundtrack would detract from this.  I will note, however, that the English opening song was just bad.  It just sounded a bit too silly and kiddy, even for a lighthearted movie like this.  The dub, as tends to be the case with Disney's dubs, was pretty exceptional.  All the characters brought the right level of emotion to the table and made almost every scene feel just right.  Dakota Fanning and her real life sister Elle Fanning both do great jobs as Satsuki and Mei Kusakabe; their voices seem to have the perfect level of charm and energy while still sounding believable. 

So in the end, My Neighbot Totoro stands out as a memorable, magical experience filled with charming characters, beautiful art, and an amazing feeling of imagination.  It's probably rests pretty firmly as one of my favorite of all of Miyazaki's movies and I really feel that any anime fan should see it at some point, even if just to say they've seen this iconic movie.  I also fully recommend it as a kids movie for anyone not into anime as well.  The movie really lived up to the hype and deserves all it's acclaim.

That's all for today, tune in next time for Miyazaki's next film, Kiki's Delivery Service!  So long!

My Anime Thoughts - Miyazaki Madness: Castle in the Sky

And one day I'll prove it!  I'll discover Laputa!

Miyazaki Madness continues everybody!  Took me a while to get to it, what with the new Pokemon release distracting me, but I finally watched it and it's time to review Castle in the Sky!  Castle in the Sky remains one of Miyazaki's most well known and iconic movies, and it's been years since I last saw it.  It was actually the first movie released under the Studio Ghibli.  As it is also one of Miyazaki's oldest movies, does it still have the charms that made it so famous, or have the years left it flying not so high?

As our story opens, an airship is being attacked by pirates in search of a crystal necklace held by a small girl named Sheeta.  During the attack, the girl falls out of the ship, but the crystal, glowing with a mysterious light, saves her from the fall.  She is found unconscious by a young boy named Pazu working with a group of miners, who takes her to his house.  After waking up, she sees a photo of Laputa, the titular castle in the sky.  Pazu explains that his father took the picture and even though most people denounce it as a fake, Pazu believes Laputa exists and is determined to prove it. 

Their peaceful time together is short lived, however, as soon both the original pirates and the government are breathing down their necks to get the crystal.  They manage to escape into a mineshaft, where they learn that Sheeta's crystal is in actuality a crystal of aetherium, an incredibly rare and powerful crystal responsible for keeping Laputa in the air.  Sheeta then reveals to Pazu that she inherited a secret name, one that indicates a connection to Laputa.  Shortly after this, however, the two are kidnapped by the government. 

At the government base, Colonel Muska, our antagonist, reveals to Sheeta the meaning of her name as well as showing her an giant inactive robot with the crest of Laputa on it.  He then threatens to harm Pazu unless she helps them find Laputa so they can discover it's technological secrets.  After being released, Pazu teams up with the pirates in order to rescue Sheeta. 

However, back at the base, the giant robot has been awakened and is now destroying everything in its path while seeking out Sheeta.  It eventually follows her out onto a tower, but seems more interested in protecting her than attacking her.  The robot is eventually destroyed, but by then Pazu is there to rescue Sheeta, though she has lost the pendant.  Now that the government has the key to finding Laputa, Sheeta, Pazu, and the pirates must team up in order to find it first.  

The story of Castle in the Sky is probably it's greatest feature.  While there are no major surprises or shocking plot twists, Castle in the Sky does present a well written, high-spirited, fast-paced adventure.  It feels pretty typical, but it also feels like typical done very right.  All the energy and excitement while searching for Laputa makes you want to find it just as much as the cast and once it is found, Laputa feels like such a mystical place that the payoff was well worth it.  On another note, Castle in the Sky is also much lighter on Miyazaki's typical environmentalist themes, for better or worse, as I didn't even notice any hints of it until 3/4 of the way in, and even then it's not emphasized. 

The characters are more of a mixed bag for me.  I honestly feel that the main leads were just not great in this movie.  Sheeta was not a bad character by any stretch, but in the end she wasn't particularly memorable and fell flat compared to other Miyazaki heroines.  Pazu was a driven, heroic kid, but on the whole he just didn't feel special to me and it felt like he was there mostly cause he found Sheeta.  I did enjoy the supporting cast, like Dola and her pirates.  They provided welcome comic relief while also helping to bring energy to the film.  I also enjoyed slick and suave Colonel Muska, using anyone and anything he could to get what he wanted. 

As is typical Miyazaki fare, the art is beautiful traditional work.  I will admit, however, that it does come off feeling slightly dated at times.  It is by no means drastic, however, and the movie is full of great art.  I feel the need to bring particular attention to the backgrounds, where the level of detail always looked amazing, and the design of the robots - more of a personal thing - which I felt were both perfect for the setting and very unique.  The animation was fluid and looked great, though there were some still shots here and there.  I again point to the robots, as their motions always looked fluid and their awakenings moved smoothly as well.

The music was spectacular, and while I can't say there are any particular tracks that stand out to me, it always brought the feeling of adventure and excitement to me to bring me into the setting.  As far as the dub cast goes, I find my opinion here mirroring that of the characters.  James Van Der Beek really felt off as Pazu, both sounding too old for him as well as talking faster than seemed natural at times.  Anna Paquin performed acceptably as Sheeta, but was perhaps a bit too softspoken and ultimately didn't feel very special.  I did enjoy Cloris Leachman as Dola, feeling she played an eccentric old pirate perfectly, and Mark Hamill as Muska was also great, with Hamill sounding very sinister and sophisticated.  The remaining supporting cast also had good performance in general. 

In conclusion, Castle in the Sky is a well made, well rounded anime film that shined in most areas while being unfortunately brought down for me by some lackluster leads.  This may keep it from being one of Miyazaki's best in my book, but it still remains a great movie for anyone looking for a light-hearted adventure.  I fully recommend it to anyone.  Be sure to tune in to my next review, My Neighbor Totoro!

My Anime Thoughts - Miyazaki Madness: Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind

There's nothing to fear...

If you've been reading my reviews, you may remember that a couple of weeks ago, I did a double review that included Hayao Miyazaki's latest movie, Ponyo.  After finishing that review, I thought to myself, "I really like Miyazaki's movies, but there's several I haven't seen and several I've only seen like one time a long time ago."  So I decided to throw about 6-7 on my Netflix queue and dedicate a series of reviews to one of the best and most famous directors of anime movies around.  I'll be reviewing them in order of release date and limiting myself to movies made with Studio Ghibli (I don't think he's done much else, just covering myself here from people claiming I'm missing something). 

And with that, I'll go ahead and jump on in to my first review, Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind.  Nausicaa is set in a post-apocalyptic world 1000 years after war, particularly due to massive behemoths called Giant Warriors, has destroyed most of the ecosystem as well as crippled human civilization.  The remaining humans now live in fear of two major threats - an ever spreading poisonous jungle called the Toxic Jungle and massive, sometimes violent insects, particularly the enormous Ohmu. 

Our title character, Nausicaa, is a princess of one of the remaining human civilizations, a small peaceful tribe that has settled in the Valley of the Wind.  She believes in peaceful coexistence with both the jungle and the insects and is trying to develop a cure for the jungle's poisons to save her people.  One night, a plane crashes in the valley carrying important cargo for the militaristic Tolmekians from the weaker nation of Pejite that they are occupying.  The cargo turns out to be a dormant Giant Warrior that the Tolmekians plan to use to burn down the jungle despite the warnings from ancient tales.  Now Nausicaa must find a way to stop war from breaking out between the various human groups as well as the insects and stop the destruction of the jungle that is more than the poisonous threat most people see it as. 

The story of Nausicaa is very well done, a well told story of war and peace and the different approaches to human-environment interaction.  On the note of the environment (which is sure to come up a lot in this series of reviews...), I have to say I feel that Miyazaki's typical environmental themes feel much more heavy handed in Nausicaa than they do in a lot of his other movies, though this may be my spotty memory of some of his films.  In the end it doesn't detract from the quality of the story, but it does lead to the story coming off as a bit preachy at times. 

The characters were good enough to serve the story well, but they were nothing amazing or anything.  Nausicaa herself fills a pretty typical role as a pacifistic leader trying to stop wars and killing, and while she fills the role well as a courageous and inspiring leader, she doesn't feel too new or unique.  Asbel, the fighter pilot from Pejite that Nausicaa saves from enraged insects, was a decent character but in the end felt pretty unimportant.  Yupa, the wise sage and mentor character, had a couple of heroic moments but also felt somewhat unimportant by the end.  The warring antagonists stood out, providing a nice contrast to Nausicaa's pacifism and having some generally good intentions behind their actions.  In the end though, Nausicaa is the one carrying the story and she does a pretty good job. 

When it comes to the art, Nausicaa displays Miyazaki's usual beautiful traditional style of animation and is definitely great to look at.  The animation is great as well with a lot of the flying sequences and battles moving very well.  The movie is one of Miyazaki's earliest, however, and the art and animation do feel a bit dated when compared with some of his later works.  There are several scenes with either no movement or very limited movement.  Still, the artwork is really good and definitely pleasing to the eyes. 

The music in the movie did a pretty good job setting the mood, but the individual tracks themselves weren't too memorable for the most part.  There was the recurring, surreal "la la la" chant, but that was more memorable for being a bit weird than anything else.  The dub cast pulled in some big names like Miyazaki's films tend to.  However, like several other aspects of the movie, they felt good but not amazing.  Some roles I liked were Chris Sarandon as Kurotawa, one of the antagonists and Patrick Stewart as Lord Yupa. 

In the end, Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind is a great movie I recommend to anyone.  The storyline and art are great, and the other aspects are definitely good enough to make it worth a watch.  It's not one of Miyazaki's best movies, but it's a really good movie worth checking out. 

Join me next time as I review Miyazaki's next movie, Castle in the Sky.

My Anime Thoughts: Space Pirate Captain Harlock

“I wander through the stars freely…  People call me…  Captain Harlock!”

All aboard mateys, set sail for grand adventure in this neverending sea of stars!  ... ... Ok, never doing that again.  Anyway, up for review today is the vintage classic, Space Pirate Captain Harlock, an anime from the late 70's about a ragtag group of pirates sailing with only freedom in mind.  Watching Captain Harlock came about due to me wanting to watch something really old, older than anything I've ever watched before, in order to have a new kind of experience.  So, does this show still shine like a golden treasure, or has its shimmer faded with the years?

A couple of disclaimers before I begin.  First, like I said, I've never watched anything this old before.  As such, I have no experience with other things to compare it to and am not sure how it measures up regarding animation.  Secondly, heretical as it may seem, I almost never watch any subs unless a show is airing and a dub has yet to be made.  As such, I have no plans to discuss, the quality of the voice acting in this review, as I have almost no experience in the matter. 

Our story begins in the year 2977.  Life has become so easy for humanity that people have lost any sort of dream or drive and spend all their time on leisure.  Only one man and his crew still retain humanity's spirit - Harlock and the crew of the Arcadia, who have rebelled against the government and, after being declared outlaws, sail the stars with freedom as their only desire.  Harlock's only remaining tie to Earth is Mayu, the daughter of his dear departed friend who he would do anything to protect. 

Humanity's weakened state means that they're in no position to defend themselves when an alien race of plant people that "burn like paper," the Mazone, lay claim to the Earth as their homeland.  Harlock and a scientist named Professor Daiba are the only ones to decipher the message, but no one believes them and the Professor is killed by a Mazone agent.  Seeking revenge, his son Tadashi Daiba joins Harlock as he decides to take Earth's defense into his own hands. 

The story basically continues in the same way for the first half to 2/3 of the series, feeling very much like a kids show with isolated plots about battles with the Mazone or the feeble attempts of SDF Commander Kiruta to capture Harlock.  In the later parts of the show, it starts feeling like a much more mature show, both because it starts to deal with the harsher aspects of war like civilian casualties and the execution of traitors and because of content that seems out of place on a kids show. 

The plot, while laughable at times near the beginning, really comes into its own as the show moves on and transforms into a truly dramatic and moving tale of galactic war.  The characters are pretty bland for the most part though.  On the plus side, Harlock is a great hero: manly, strong, and wise with a clear idea of what he believes and wants to protect.  His friend Tochiro, shown in flashbacks, is an endearing and lovable character who shares Harlocks dreams and puts everything on the line for them.  Commander Kiruta becomes an amazing heroic character in the later episodes, Mayu is an adorable little girl, and Queen Lafresia is a sympathetic and determined villainess.

That may seem like a lot, but there's still a large crew on the Arcadia to account for, and most of them are pretty one dimensional and usually get like one episode of backstory for development.  Daiba is a hot-blooded but sensible teen driven by revenge; Kei is a pretty generic smart action girl; Yattaran is the first mate who likes plastic models;  Miime is a mysterious alien indebted to Harlock who subsists on wine; Doctor Zero is the ship's alcoholic doctor; Masu, the ships cranky cook; and Maji, the engineer.  The rest of the characters were one-offs or were pretty forgettable. 

Artwise, well, it's a series from the 70's.  It's bound to pale compared to newer things.  Still, I thought, considering the age of the show, that the art did a repsectable job and the art was generally nice enough to look at.  My biggest complaint is probably the fact that most of the female designs, particularly the Mazone, look REALLY similar.  For animation, I again refer you to the decade.  The shortcuts taken are pretty obvious most of the time, with lots of still shots, reused footage, and an eye glint effect use so much I swear I counted it like 5 times in one episode. 

The music was really one of the shows stronger points in my opinion.  The show relies primarily on a mixture of grand, sweeping, dramatic songs and slower, more resonant, ballad-esque tunes.  They really set the mood with great effect and though there aren't a lot of different songs and a decent amount of remixes, the repetition helps to make the songs more memorable and catchy.  Both the opening and ending favor the slower ballads and they both get get you in the moods openings and endings should.  I found the opening in particular very catchy and couldn't resist humming along as the series progressed. 

Wrapping up, this isn't a show for everyone.  It definitely has some notable flaws, like the dated art and animation, the shallower early plot, and a lot of bland characters, and it requires an interest in the traditional kind of sci-fi, with long space voyages, alien planets, and lots of ship battles.  If you like that kind of sci-fi though, this story of a great war with a memorable soundtrack may just be worth checking out. 

P.S. :  I've got a plan for a series of reviews coming up next, and my next one will probably be up real soon, so look forward to that! 

My Anime Thoughts - Double Feature: The Place Promised in Our Early Days / Ponyo

Hello and welcome to my first double feature!  In between watching the next series I'm watching and will review, I took the time to check out some anime movies on Netflix.  Since I figured I normally review full series and one movie isn't nearly as much, I thought I'd double up.  So buckle in, this might run a bit long!

THE PLACE PROMISED IN OUR EARLY DAYS

I always have a premonition of losing something...

Romance is a bit of a tricky minefield to navigate correctly in anime or any medium for that matter.  It seems that for every well done, touching romance, there's at least 10 others that are shoehorned in unnecessarily or are just plain badly written.  Of course, this may just be the way I see it since it's admittedly not my favorite genre.  However, I do appreciate a good romance when I see it, and two romances that stand out as great in my mind are the works of Makoto Shinkai that I've seen: 5 Centimeters per Second and The Place Promised in Our Early Days.  

Early Days is a set in an alternate universe where, following defeat in WWII, Japan has been separated into two different countries under different rule.  On the one hand is all the southern islands of Japan which are occupied by America, and on the other is Hokkaido, now known as Ezo, which is under some kind of union government.  Near the border, Ezo has constructed an enormous tower known as the Union Tower that no one seems to know exactly what to think of. 

Our protagonists know what they think of it though: they admire it.  Between their school life and their jobs, Hiroki Fujisawa and Takuya Shirakawa are working on a plane, the Velaciela, they plan to use to cross the border to see the tower.  As Hiroki gets to know his romantic interest Saiyuri Sawatari, he brings her out to see the plane and she's amazed by it.  They all make a promise to visit the tower together one day, and they start spending most of their time together.  However, Saiyuri has been having strange dreams of desolate, lonely worlds that have been troubling her. 

Fast forward three years and things have fallen apart.  Saiyuri has been in a coma for almost the last three years, an unexplainable sleep that seems to be filled with dreams, unbeknownst to her friends.  Takuya has become a physicist researching parallel universes and the tower is revealed to be replacing the 20km around it with a separate universe.  Hiroki has moved to Tokyo after Saiyuri's disappearance to escape the view of the tower and finds himself longing for her.  The story then follows the mysterious connection between the tower and Saiyuri and the conflicts breaking out between the two countries. 

The story of this anime is very well done.  It features a very endearing, genuine romance and is almost always touching in either a heartwarming or tearjerking way.  The plot is very deep and serious and goes into a lot of detail about the feelings of the characters in all situations.  This can lead to the plot moving slow however, and the earlier parts in particular start to drag a lot.  Also, the characters, while likeable enough, are not particularly memorable and mostly serve to advance the plot. 

The art in this show is absolutely beautiful.  The character designs, the backgrounds, everything is just presented in a gorgeous manner with all kinds of details and it never slips.  The animation, when present, is great as well with things flowing well, even for the little details.  However, the show does use quite a few extended still shots or scenes with minimal motion.  The lack of animation does little to detract from the absolute visual feast this show presents. 

The music was great as well, with amazing classical music and soft, subtle tones.  In particular, the violin melody that serves as a sort of bond between the characters was beautiful and emotionally touching.  The dub cast does a really good job as well, with Chris Patton and John Swasey in particular bring out the feeling and attitudes of their characters really well. 

So in the end, this is a great movie and if you're looking for a romance or just something a bit more serious, touching, and emotional, you can not go wrong with this movie.  I fully recommend the movie to just about anyone who's willing to put up with a slow-moving plot for a great payoff and a complete feast for the eyes. 

PONYO

I'll become a human too!

Ah, Miyazaki.  There is no one more iconic in the anime movie industry and I personally feel he makes some of the best anime movies ever.  I haven't seen all of his works, but the ones I've seen stand on even ground with the best animation has to offer.  So now, I'm taking a look at his newest offering, Ponyo, Miyazaki's Little Meremaid-esque light-hearted adventure. 

The movie opens with our title character, a "goldfish" with a human face and fins like a dress, escaping from her wizard father Fujimoto to see more of the world.  When she gets near a town however, she gets trapped in a bottle until a young boy named Sousuke finds her, frees her, and takes care of her.  They develop a close bond until Fujimoto finds her and brings her back to the ocean.  Ponyo doesn't stand for this though and, using her father's powerful magic, turns herself into a human and returns to to Sousuke. 

Not everything is working out for Ponyo and Sousuke however.  Ponyo's return to the surface was accompanied by a terrible tsunami, and the magic she used to turn herself into a human has thrown the world out of balance.  The movie then proceeds with Ponyo and Sousuke finding a way to deal with and resolve these crazy natural events and a way for them to remain together. 

Storywise, Ponyo is really a fairy tale and it fulfills that role perfectly.  It's nothing profound or deep, but it is enjoyable, upbeat, silly at times, heartwarmingly adorable, and it will leave a smile on your face.  It is a movie for children at heart, but anyone should be able to watch this and enjoy it if they have a soul.  The characters are all good, though to me the stand outs were Ponyo and Fujimoto.  Ponyo was utterly charming and adorable as she learned to be human, and Fujimoto was a sympathetic, well intentioned antagonist who is a nice guy deep down and was also weird and silly in an endearing way. 

The art is exceptional as usual for Miyazaki's films.  It retains his classical hand drawn style with great attention to detail, gorgeous scenery, and features numerous scenes that are just breathakingly beautiful.  The animation is incredibly well-done as well.  There are almost no still scenes at all, with even the littlest things in the shot usually animated perfectly.  The movement is fluid and beautiful and serves to make the amazing art even better. 

The music in the movie was well done as well.  I can't say any songs in particular stood out to me, but they always served to accentuate the mood of the scenes well.  I will mention that I thought the remixed version of "Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea" sounded dreadful, taking a simple ubpeat melody and pop-killing it.  With Disney's budget backing, the dub cast for the most part was exceptional.   Liam Neeson made Fujimoto sound like a perfect distraught old-ish wizard and I admit I was pleasantly surprised with Noah Cyrus' Ponyo and the cheery energetic nature she brought to the character. 

So yeah, in traditional Miyazaki style, Ponyo is a great movie that any anime fan or, really, anyone looking for a cheery, upbeat fairy tale should watch.  It may not be on the level of some of his other works, but it's definitely a great anime movie that you won't be disappointed in. 

Anyway, that's my double feature.  If you've actually read down to this sentence, thank you.  I'm sure it went on too long, and I probably won't do it again unless people specifically want it or something.  Always appreciate feedback and comments!

My Anime Thoughts: Welcome to the N.H.K.

This is... A CONSPIRACY!!

Welcome to your worst nightmare; Welcome to true horror; Welcome to otaku hell.  For anyone who's ever stayed inside most of a day watching anime, Welcome to the NHK can represent a familiar if extreme situation that may terrify some of us and disgust others (or both).  And you know what?  For a dark reflection of some of our worst traits...  this is pretty damn funny. 

Welcome to the N.H.K is equal parts character drama and blacker-than-black comedy revolving around Japanese subcultures and societal issues, though they're the kind of issues most of us are still familiar with.  It revolves around Tatsuhiro Satou, who has been a hikikomori and a NEET for 4 years, ever since he dropped out of college.  Hikikomori are an extreme form of social recluse that almost never leave their rooms, and NEET stands for "Not in Education, Employment or Training."  Combine that with hallucination-driven conspiracy theories and rampant alcoholism, and Satou is a complete wretch who has basically given up on life.  

Enter Misaki Nakahara.  After showing up at Satou's door with her aunt doing church missionary work, she invites him to enter into her "project," which she claims can cure him of his hikikomori ways.  He eventually decides to try it out, partaking in various counseling sessions and experiments while struggling with the countless problems in his life at the same time.  The show then basically follows Satou on his journey to improve his life, though for the most part he slips up and drops even further more often than he succeeds. 

Satou's not the only disturbed and just plain screwed up character in the show though - far from it, his life is full of them.  There's his neighbor and former underclassman Kaoru Yamazaki, an "enthusiastic" otaku who is completely obsessed with gal games, or dating sims, and everything that goes with them.  Another major character is his former upperclassman Hitomi Kashiwa, a conspiracy theorist whose stress has led her to drug use.  Another classmate, Megumi Kobayashi, shows up later with her own issues, and Misaki is eventually revealed to have serious problems in her past as well. 

The plot of this show is good enough, but it really thrives on the interactions between these messed up characters and their development as they struggle with their problems and eventually find a way to cope, even if things don't always get that much better.  And this is one of the areas where the show really shines - these characters, while they may not necessarily be likable, are completely memorable, very interesting, and you really feel like you're getting a good look inside their heads to see what's caused them to end up where they are now. 

The main other area this show shines in is the comedy, though your soul may need to be a bit twisted to laugh at some of this stuff.  In my opinion, there are three main ways you can view the darker stuff in NHK.  First, you can have the necessary mindset to laugh at these disturbing twists, which you'd need to be able to see this as a comedy.  Second, you can see it as very depressing series of events and be completely disheartened by the whole series.  Finally, you can see these complete wretches who consistently screw up their lives and just be disgusted.  Or there can be a mix of any of the above.  Basically, if you don't think you could laugh at someone's life being ruined in a hilarious way or death threats with comedic elements, don't watch this for comedy.  I'd still recommend it for a unique experience with memorable characters, but you're not gonna get hilarity from it. 

If you do have the right mindset, this show will be hilarious with the best of them.  Satou's miserable life is painted in a really funny way, especially as he and Yamazaki get completely excited over some of the least exciting and outright sad things possible.  Satou's mad conspiracy dreams are also hilarious, complete with ninjas, robots, and talking appliances.  There are also several parody jokes, like the MMORPG Ultimate Fantasy and the magical girl show Puru Puru Pururin, both of which poke fun at the typical elements of these genres.  There's also a decent amount of lighter-hearted jokes too, but in the end if you really want to laugh at this show, you need to be able to laugh at the dark stuff. 

The music in this show is pretty good; it usually sets the mood well with either serious dramatic tunes or weird surrealistic melodies.  There are several standout songs too, like the instrumental version of the ending in the final episode and the Pururin theme that you will never get out of your head.  The opening is good in a humorously dissonant way - it's a bubbly theme with light colors and primarily happy imagery.  The endings are delightfully weird and surreal and fit the show well.  The dub is amazing as well, with special mention to Chris Patton for excelling as Satou, both for the serious moments and for the bombastic overacting. 

The art is probably the show's biggest failing point.  While in a lot of the scenes it's good enough and doesn't really detract from the show, there are frequent examples of flat out poor animation, like misshapen limbs and lack of detail on people who aren't the focus.  There's not much to talk about for animation either.  As a more character driven, real-life show, there's a lot of scenes with very little movement.  The show is still great, but the art isn't doing much for that in a lot of the scenes.  I do feel it's worth mentioning that some of the backgrounds, however, look quite good, with nice city skylines and snowy outdoors scenes. 

So all in all, if you want a twisted look at the lives of a bunch of social misfits and have a laugh at their expense along the way, you should definitely check out Welcome to the N.H.K.  Honestly, I recommend this show to any anime fan not turned off by its darker nature, as it's very unique and you'll probably connect with the characters on some level, whether that be pity, familiarity, or plain old interest.

My Anime Thoughts: RahXephon

The world, suffused in sound...

So, RahXephon.  I feel in reviewing this that there's something I need to put out upfront, my feelings on the other anime that is almost always mentioned in the same breath as RahXephon: Neon Genesis Evangelion.  Simply put, I didn't like Neon Genesis Evangelion.  I thought there were some good points, but more things that I couldn't stand, mainly the cast of almost completely unlikeable characters and OH GOD THAT ENDING.  Anyway, this isn't a review of NGE and I only mention this because, in my experience, RahXephon is always suggested as the NGE-esque anime for people who didn't like NGE.  So, Evangelion's less popular but still well received cousin draw me in where the popularity juggernaut had failed?

Well, I'll dive in by giving the best summation of the plot I can while not spoiling too much.  I don't think I can go completely spoiler free, but I don't think I'll be spoiling anything beyond the first 2 or 3 episodes.  After a short scene on a battleship, we come in on the main protagonist, Ayato Kamina.  He seems to be living a relatively normal life in Tokyo.  He spends his free time drawing or painting.  On the day of the first episode, he leaves for a normal day of school with his friends Mamoru and Hiroko.  Everything's going fine, until a sudden terrorist attack rocks the city and totals the train Ayato was riding.  He leaves his friends to find help and runs into another friend from school, Reika Mishima.  As they try to find help, Ayato is confronted by government agents with blue blood only to be freed and offered the truth by a mysterious woman.  However, the agents attack again and Ayato escapes on a train with Reika.  They arrive at a strange shrine with an egg surrounded by water.  Meanwhile, strange looking robots have begun to fight off the invaders, completely turning the tides.  Back at the shrine, Reika begins to sing, awakening the egg while Ayato begins to pass out.  From the egg comes the title robot, RahXephon, who also goes off to fight the invaders and fight one of the other robots, called Dolems, as well. 

The next day, Ayato awakens in a hospital with a spotty memory of the previous day, and even when he remembers some details, others don't seem to remember some parts, such as the RahXephon or Reika.  Things become suspicious and he takes his mysterious savior from yesterday up on her offer of the truth.  Ayato is under the impression that Tokyo is what's left of the world, with the rest of the world being taken out in a mysterious war.  He soon learns, as he escapes Tokyo in the RahXephon, that Tokyo has been encased in a strange barrier that separates it from the world and also causes time to pass at a much slower rate.  This happened during a war with the Mu, blue-blooded people from another world who attacked humanity.  Now that Ayato is in a whole new world, he has to adapt, joining a defense force to fight the Mu and their Dolems.  The story continues with him fighting the Dolems in the RahXephon, struggling with mysteries surrounding the world and his identity, choosing which world and people he wants to protect, and finding the power to protect them. 

The story is good, though it can get very confusing at times.  The plot of the story revolves around Ayato learning who he is and the relationships between all the different cast members, including the serious but cheerful officer Haruka Shitow, the woman who escaped with Ayato, her energetic young sister Megumi, the enigmatic and distant Quon Kisaragi who shares some similarities with Ayato, and lots of other officers and characters.  The relationships are twisted even more when the Tokyo time difference comes into play.  It also references a lot from music and Mayan mythology, two things I admittedly know nothing about so some things may have went over my head.  As plot twists unfold and mysteries are cleared up, the end of the story was definitely worth the ride, but you have to keep paying attention. 

The characters can be a bit bland at times outside of a few characters who shined to me, and while in general the characters and story are more upbeat than Evangelion, it's still bleak at times and you won't be getting much of a pick me up here.  Romance is another one of the major elements of the story, and in my opinion it was handled much better here than most other animes I've seen.  Relationships evolve slowly with time and they remain pretty subtle and serious for the most part.  The action is good but it's not the focus, with most of the fighting only taking up the last parts of an episode with RahXephon coming to save the day.  The battles also get bizzare and psychological at times, reminiscent of some episodes of NGE, with the actual fight only being one or two blows.  So yeah, you'll get a bit of a giant robot fix here, but if that's what you're looking for, look somewhere else. 

When it comes to the art, the pictures look good, but they're nothing amazing for the most part.  You'll enjoy the art enough, and it does really shine in some areas, but there's no real standout, wow factor.  The same goes for the animation, with the fights being well animated and great fun to watch, but the rest is pretty basic.  I really did like mecha designs in this series and they're probably the standout feature as far as the art is concerned for me.  Sure the big wings on the side of RahXephon's head can look goofy at times, but I really liked it and the Dolems were pretty unique for the most part too. 

This series revolves heavily on music, and as such the music in the show is really great.  And I do mean in the show.  The opening and ending are slow paced and the opening in particular was pretty basic and not particularly memorable.  The ending was better, especially remixes used within the episodes, but it still doesn't really hold up to the great classical tunes and such being used in the show.  I'm not someone to notice BGM most of the time, but in this show I definitely took notice and it really built on the scenes most of the time. 

Now, to mention something that doesn't usually bother me - the packaging.  This is the first series I own that I have several complaints about the packaging for.  First, we the hated-by-most method of storing the discs, the infamous "several discs on a center spindle" method.  It's annoying and, with only 4 discs per box, completely unnecessary.  Secondly, for several discs they can't even get the episode listings on the back right, with too many or too few for like half the series.  That really seems like amateur hour to me.  These along with a couple other complaints made me wonder what the heck the design team was thinking. 

So, in conclusion, this is a good series with a complex plot, great music, and an all together nicely well-rounded package.  It probably won't be cracking any top lists of mine any time soon, but I enjoyed it all around and would recommend it to anyone looking for a serious, plot-centric giant robot anime.  Till next time!

My Anime Thoughts: Mushi-Shi

You can see them, can't you?  They're called Mushi...

Mushi are creatures that are born of darkness and inhabit the world, looming in the realm between light and darkness.  Though most humans cannot see them, they interact with the world in strange and mysterious ways and can affect people in peculiar and even dangerous ways.  Most are harmless, but some can even devastate whole villages or alter the terrain on a grand scale. 
This is where Mushi masters come in.  These experts can not only see Mushi, they dedicate their lives to researching and understanding them, helping people who have been affected by them, and exterminating the Mushi when necessary.  Our story revolves around one such master, named Ginko, who travels the world, interacting with these creatures and helping people as best he can.  Ginko was taught that all things, Mushi included, play a part in the life cycle, and as such he aims for understanding and cohabitation in every instance, resorting to extermination only when absolutely necessary.
Mushi-Shi is a very unique anime.  I mentioned earlier that the story revolves around Ginko, but that's true only in the basest sense.  The true star of the show is the world itself: the different Mushi, the people he visits in his travels, and the environment itself.  Ginko mainly serves as the connecting thread, there to realize the truth of the phenomenons around him and address it before wandering off again.  That said, he is a very interesting character: he's serious while not being stoic, caring while remaining at a distance, he can lose his cool at times when things fall apart, and he gets off a few chuckle moments too.  Also, Travis Willingham excelled at giving Ginko a great air of calming seriousness that was just what the show asked for.
The plot is the most episodic thing I've ever seen.  There is quite literally no connection between the episodes and nothing would be lost drawing the viewing order from a hat.  The show is truly about nothing more than experiencing Ginko's travels and like his travels it has no true destination, with even the ending feeling like just another chapter.  I think it aids the premise however.  Letting each incident stand alone and tell its own tale without the need to tie into an overarching plot seems to me the perfect way to tell the assorted tales of a wanderer, though this may be a matter of taste.
All this means that, despite an overarching theme about cohabitation with nature and an overall calm feeling, the episodes are unique entities and therefore more subject to being hit or miss.  For example, I felt the best episodes were the ones with more focus on the Mushi and their fantastic natures and abilities, with the more human element-based episodes feeling a bit weaker, and I'm sure there are people who feel the opposite.  And when I say calm feeling, I REALLY mean it.  Aside from some creepy or sad moments and a handful of more fast-paced ones, this show really is slow, soothing, and calm as a real nature walk.  At times this leads to episodes dragging a bit with a slow pace, but more often it puts your mind at ease and really helps you to feel like a part of the world, drawing you into it so you're just as eager as the other characters to learn about the new Mushi of the episode.
The animation is pretty good for the most part, putting the attention where it needs to be and setting the right mood.  It's a simple style with soft and subdued colors, very fitting for the calm and natural setting of the show.  Most of the detail goes to the backgrounds, environments, and the creatures to the point where the characters can seem a bit basic, but this all seems to draw the focus where it should: to the world that's at the center of it all.  The music fits the mood very well, most of the tracks being subdued to the point where you don't notice them most of the time, with only one or two tunes really standing out.  The opening is catchy and seems like a perfect traveling song, bringing to mind the image of Ginko as he wanders through fields and forests to his next temporary destination.
All in all, this really is an enjoyable watch and a unique experience.  I heartily recommend this to anyone looking for something new or anyone looking for a simple, peaceful trip to another world.  It probably won't satisfy anyone looking for conventional genres and the highly episodic plot and single recurring character (there is one other, though he's only in like 3-4 episodes) may turn people away, but if you let yourself get drawn into the world, you'll find yourself like a child, fascinated by the stories of wonderful travels.