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Mad influential as Nausicaa was, it's still fun picking out the dna of 80's fantasy anime running strong in it, all the knights and castles, the jeweled headwear and wizened old babas
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Sep 23, 2023 02:43
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| # ¿ May 15, 2024 00:01 |
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Was gonna be all "I will do this...for the shin-chan movies" just to be a lil stinker, nyehehehe, but then I looked it up and holy moly, that's a lotta shin-chan...but I've been doing it anyway, alongside the Miyazaki flicks, just cuz I know from Adult's Empire that they animate the bejesus outta these and the contrast with the classier Ghibli fare will be funny. Oh and I'm doin all the Ghibli. Takahata, Goro, even that joint Ocean Waves. Worryin' bout how to rank it all comes later. Oh and gently caress per week, I'm doin one of each(ghibli, shin-chan) per day, w some breaks. Oh, and I started weeks ago, when I was sick and had lots of free time. Shin Chan Movie 1: Action Mask vs Leotard Devil: All I know about these films is they go crazy w the animation when they finally get going w the chosen genre of the week, as it were, but this earliest flick feels mostly like shin-chan bits w prettier layouts and nice backgrounds for awhile. But then it'll take these wild digressions in tone, getting quiet and kinda dreamlike, hit you w some interesting time travel imagery for a sec, and it's off at the races w Action Man. There's some hacky okama crap at the end(which I'd come to find is in literally all these loving things) but at least the swordfight was bitchin. Lupin III: The Castle of Cagliostro: This one really just speaks to the strength and flexibilty of Lupin as a character and a property. You can really do whatever you want w these characters; tone down the menace while cranking up the cartoonyness and the whole cast still works great. The economy of this movie really blows me away on every watch, in a few minutes, the whole vibe is established, who Lupin is and how he's different, the lighthearted sense of momentum to the action. There's just drat fine Cartooning all over this gorgeous flick, w tons of my favorite touches and quirks of animation of the era(namely machines exploding into a bajillion individually-animated pieces)and the castle is a character in its own right. And it still finds time to breathe; easy to see how Lupin sits among the influences of Cowboy Bebop and Shinichiro Watanabe, king of anime montages where a gangly guy stylishly dicks around in sumptously detailed locales. My favorite bit in the movie has gotta be how Lupin doesn't have any fancy Bond way to get out of that daring catch and plummet near the beginning. He just breaks his assbone on the rocks. lol Shin-chan Movie 2: The Hidden Treasure of the Buri Buri Kingdom: This one really hits the ground running genre and animation wise but then sags around the middle w how it spreads out the samey shin chan bits across the adventure proper. The jungle setting is pretty enough but the climax is where all the sakuga happens; there's poo poo in the last third of this flick I couldn't believe I was seeing. They did that. Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind: As a message piece and narrative, it doesn't come together at all, tho the transparency of Miyazaki's perspective is charming in its own way; as a sprawling action epic about nature and kindness, it's got some slack but it mostly slaps. It's that vibe that prompts critics to obnoxiously refer to the fantasy they like as "Elevated Fantasy" when the feeling of elevation comes via how the team put their entire rear end into every element of the production; the world, the beasties, the drama of it. Watched this the same day as Buri Buri Kingdom and it was funny how similar they feel re: doing every last step of the fantasy adventure narrative beats and not half-assing any of it. It's like following a dnd campaign w these movies sometimes. Lord Yuba rocks, but the tolmekian princess comes off very thinly sketched. She takes off her thing and I'm like, so? She never once, even once, seems cool after that in any stuation involving the sea of decay. She was gonna shoot those bigass bugs w her stupidass teeny lil fancy gun and die. Pfffffbbt No real thoughts on the ending, it p much boldly states the story's status as baldfaced parable by openly being the literally prophesized outcome of the fantastical tale of the savior of all mankind, so it all depends on how it speaks to you if the parable works or not. If it's supposed to be a parable on pacifism, then it doesn't for me really; if not for the pejitians fighting back and opposing the invading army, and asbel fighting back, and her own people in the valley fighting back(and hijacking those tanks which was loving sweet) and herself threatening violence once, and that gunship saving her once (which was loving sweet), her pacifism alone wouldn't have gotten her anywhere. And where does it get her? She dies. pfft Her simple kindness, more than simply not fighting, feels like her most celebrated virtue. Sure is an exciting action movie, tho(that I tend to doze off or pause somewhere around the last third cuz this flick really doesn't stop until it ends after a certain point, if ya understand me.) Castle in the Sky: The kitchen scene has always been weird. The most no bitches energy of any pirate crew put to cel right there. Other than that, perfect movie, no notes(well, besides that first one.) As a family adventure movie, it's actually perfect. The midpoint fortress breakout w the robot and basically everything after they land on Laputa proper are the best sequences Ghibli had done at that point, and even now, little comes close. After the stone-faced Nausicaa, the humor and comic timing and cartoon energy on full display here from minute one is so refreshing. God bless and RIP Nizo Yamamoto and the bg art team on this one. Give their "moving trees and backgrounds" artists all the money Miyazaki is good at writing for and around kids in a lot of his movies, and I love the subtle arc Pazu and Sheeta have, starting out basically being whisked from place to place w the little power and agency they have, but they each start to come into their own; Pazu as he comes to the rescue, Sheeta aboard the pirate ship. By the time they're on Laputa, they're doing it for themselves, saving their friends and themselves. It never reads too powerfully like romance to me, just simple friendship. Miyazaki has faith in young audiences too. It's p sophisticated how the story will weave some dramatic irony or complex emotion into the major action beats; from how the rampaging robot, tho horrifically destructive, is plainly trying to reach and protect Sheeta, to the sad way our heroes look on as Laputa ascends skyward, unreachable, untouchable. RIP to those birds and animals that will just die in space now i guess lol Hisaishi's 80's synth stuff owns, and so does the original score to this film, but I rewatched again dubbed over the weekend w my husband and gotta say, the orchestral re-do of the score Hisaishi did for the '03 dub is some of his best work. His 00's orchestral work is his prettiest in my book. The day I did Castle, I needed a break from the shin-chan and on a lark checked out something w Miyazaki's credit on it from the late 60's The Flying Phantom Ship: lmao omg what gently caress yeah repeated endlessly for just over an hour. The whole earth and everything on and within it hates this one dog in particular. gently caress you, Jack, so hard, says The Flying Phantom Ship. Shin-chan Movie 3: Unkokusai's Ambition: This one had me scared it would just be a long ep of the show, takes nearly 14 min before so much as the first pretty background. When it gets there tho, it turns into a nicely animated samurai sendup w some crackin' swordfights. The big bad must be some dumb reference I don't get but lol. The okama bit in this one was particularly nasty, tho really I shoulda saw it comin. My Neighbor Totoro: Again, a perfect movie. Miyazaki and co deciding on a whole vibe, setting, world and absolutely nailing it. Kazuo Oga and the background artists do just stupefying work. The way it feels like the characters really live in and move within these worlds is prolly the most impressive thing for me about the studio's work in sum. A very cozy and evocative watch that always feels both slow and easy and like it whipped right by, like a day of summer vacation. Shin-chan Movie 4: Great Adventure in Henderland: Such pretty layouts! the bg team was going ham on this one. Yuasa and Keiichi Hara are among the storyboarders, so goes to show this would be the most visually inventive yet.The okama crap starts early this time, but I can't even hate cuz these guys own. The way the fairy girl keeps dying and reappearing is sorta incoherent and really coulda used less scenes in the bathtub, but we're fully in the groove now of these films just doing whatever the hell they feel like. The climax of an anime adventure movie everybody runs around a lot scene is some top shelf sillyass cartooning, killed me wholly dead. And then there's that snowman. I'm sorry, S. Noman. The ending reminded me a little of Howl, actually lol Grave of the Fireflies: Yes I did this to myself, but I knew seein this challenge I was gonna do the Takahatas. Just feels like cheatin yerself to not get the full scope of not just what this team at this studio could do, but what they sought to accomplish. Would put space bw watches, but never been so precious about it that "just can't watch it again nonono". As far as bracing, realistic, frank and at times heartbreakingly sweet portraits of life on the ground at Japan at the time, in anime, you've got In This Corner of the World and what else? The tragedy hits hard bc the whole life story is told w masterclass slice of life acuity; that old crank who couldn't draw was one of the best to ever do it!! The movie's a wealth of riches beyond feeling sad at it, but if there's one thing I love it's the nuance to it, not just the way characters act or how they turn out or who was at fault or was anybody, but like, the political nuance The palpable tension as the film progresses where you feel the whole country getting pulled taut like a bowstring, the infuriating lack of kindness shown to these children. The kids are shown mercy where it can be spared, and these are all just people making their choices in hard times. At the same time, there are big parts of the film that feel angrier at Japan than at the bombers. When Seita's out looting and he cheers at the plane overhead, loving. wow. lol. They did that. Pootybutt fucked around with this message at 01:14 on Oct 4, 2023 |
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Oct 4, 2023 01:05
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No Wave posted:It's not just kindness or pacifism. It's the fact she was the only one who understood the world correctly. Nausicaa was firmly convinced that the bugs had a proper place in the world and nobody else believed her, while to Nausicaa it was plain as day even though she couldnt prove it. Yaga even uselessly sums up what just happened as a mathematical/formulaic sacrifice narrative until the (incredible) last sixty seconds of the movie where nausicaa wasnt just an especially nice person, she was the only correct one and what looked like stubborn denial of reality on her part (if you're a yucky grown up) is completely vindicated. No one else could see it the same way Yaga couldnt see the obvious until the very end. I got that and it's another facet to why the film's themes don't convince me. I'm happy it works for other people
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Oct 17, 2023 02:28
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V excited to see Boy and the Heron tonight. Haven't forgotten about my ghibli/shin chan catalog journey, just been depressed.
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Dec 9, 2023 18:13
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They really had to name mah boy Mahito
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Dec 10, 2023 06:39
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"I absolutely HATE YOU" "YOU DON"T HAVE TO SCREAAAAM I CAN HEAAAR YOOOOOOOU"
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Dec 10, 2023 07:07
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| # ¿ May 15, 2024 00:01 |
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The Boy and the Heron: the lock and key secrecy of the film's premise prior to it's original release make a kind of sense when ya figure, man, they really dodged a bullet avoiding any tiresome misdirection discourse, having ppl flooded w all the cutesy birds in commercials and poo poo and then getting, this. don't like my new mom, school sucks, world is a gently caress *picks up rock* ISEKAI ME, DUDE We're tradin in planes for birds, bird up my bros, let's go! I'm still working what "Miyazaki examining and grappling w his own legacy" really means, personally, as the immense sprawling breatdh of all that is percolating in my head, all these familiar images and tones, places. But what he and his team are doing w them feels entirely new, creating something weird and wild, dark and sometimes quiet, confident and evocative with that quietness, with this quiet and intense protagonist, and is with a wonderful frequency, viscerally strange. Keep Ghibli weird. And then the goofy grannies or the big bird will show up and be goofy. or teethy! The impression or hope is Miyazaki may still be growing better at letting other lights in the studio shine in their own ways across the production. I unno, haven't looked at a hard rundown of staff yet, but there's some poo poo in this I've never seen in a ghibli film before hoo mama I second Cephas that the first act is really something remarkable, tense and sad and scored expertly to picture. The lush forest all around here feels like a foreboding prescence, capital Fitting for a border to the next world. Japan's politics rumbling by at a stern distance. All the wonderful suspense work with windows.The warm human moments. The smokin old folks! The mastery of tone, of mystery! Oh, so now we just runnin out full brigade w a bow shootin mysticalass lookin arrows and poo poo when crazy bird drama starts up. What do you know woman!? Waking up to find his sword was still there but also still busted!? Bites sa dust!? Wario in a heron cap lookin rear end. You know who he looks like, the guy from the pixar, The Incredibles I think, "I think NOT", that guy! Was talkin about Dash I think, basically FAIRY GODPARENTS!ing ya know, that guy This kid wants to isekai so bad I love you never learn what's in the book. That a story was shared is the point. I'm always a sucker for stories that put the incredible effort to get across a characters' pain in so little words. That Mahito softens on Natsuko enough to want to save her felt believable enough(and the Kiriko segments are so charming) to provide a good emotional stakes kickstart for what comes next, and that's good cuz all that great, subtle stuff from before falls away and we go full vintage Terry Gilliam dream logic poo poo. If you're the type to get hung up on whys and hows and huhs, then I dunno, you'll be struck dead or something. This movie will kill you. The way attempting to apply western film-derived analysis to it is made beside the point is kind of exhilirating. It's a fairy tale! The Boy and The Heron will do as it pleases. The parakeets are great, things lighten up a lil, it's great. The dad is just, whew. The way he strides lol bougie swingin dick headass. Mr. Man Of Action over here. MY SON IS A BUDGIE The "Delivery Room" scene is NUTS! HOW Let us all come together and pray for Ghibli's hands. The dedication across these movies to drawing what had to be tricky physical movement to work out visually, let alone draw and animate. Recalling Pazu scrabbling across what may as well have been he outside of the death star w his bare hands in Laputa, you've got to draw two characters switching from one side of a flapping door to the other and later, climbing sideways across what looks like *adjusts glasses* giant anti-pidgeon spikes?? Love that poo poo, love this movie The somewhat abruptness of the final shotstraight into highschool powerpoint blue screen w credits(??lol) left my theatre in a bemused silence. Thought breifly of starting a clap but didn't know if it'd take. Still thought the last few scenes before that were very sweet. Mahito and Himi's last looks to each other before going thru those doors, I just I'm starting to feel some things as I write it out like this. Having been offered a chance at creation once, and moved so greatly by a story meant for him, notMiyazaki is ready to move on beyond this house. The fire doesn't scare him. Pootybutt fucked around with this message at 09:53 on Dec 10, 2023 |
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Dec 10, 2023 09:44
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