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!
No comments:
Post a Comment