Anime & Manga Teh CX Anime Review Thread
- Thread starter Captain X
- Start date
I think that both Trigun and Berserk are great.Berserk too grimm for my liking,but considering world where they live i undarstandt that.WH40 could learn from that settling how to be cruel and without hope.
Now,fragment of Trigun showing how Vash tried/and fail/ intimitade his enemies plaing cruel monsters/he defeated them anyway/
Here :
P.S By the way,i think that there is no single soul in the Universe,which would feel fear after hearing this song performed by Vash.
Now,fragment of Trigun showing how Vash tried/and fail/ intimitade his enemies plaing cruel monsters/he defeated them anyway/
Here :
P.S By the way,i think that there is no single soul in the Universe,which would feel fear after hearing this song performed by Vash.
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Thermae Romae
(6 episode series)
This was a short, simple, and effective series. Being short, unfortunately there really isn't a lot to say about it, but it was a pretty enjoyable series to watch.
Set mostly in ancient Rome, it follows the time-traveling adventures of Lucius, a Roman architect who specializes in baths. He is initially down on his luck, as the style of architecture he prefers to use in his designs is currently out of style. He initially tries to relax in a bath as he explains what's upsetting him about current trends in bath architecture with one of his friends, only to wind up in a modern Japanese bath house. With what he experiences during these mysterious journeys, which he takes to be a strange country Rome has conquered full of "flat-faced slaves," he copies everything about it that fascinates him, as per Roman tradition, and thus becomes famous as a bath architect. Each episode sees him coming up against a new challenge, which he then solves after a humorous journey to modern Japan, bridging the gap between two bath cultures that are millennia apart.
As someone who considers themselves a Roman history buff, I have to say that I was actually pretty thoroughly impressed with the amount of historical accuracy put into this show. For instance, the complaints about the noise and loss of the formerly relaxing nature of the baths in Rome was a real complaint written about by a Roman historian, though I can't think of which one as I write this. There was also the many different aspects of Roman life and the technology they had available to them, and just some tidbits here and there that I thought added some authenticity to it. They even had the voice actor struggle through some Latin at appropriately humorous times.
That being said, the people who made this had a lot of fun, and that really comes through. In fact, if I were to sum this series up, it would be just to call it that – fun. It has a lot of humor in it, mostly based around the "fish out of water" aspect of an ancient Roman finding himself in modern Japan, but not entirely around it. It uses a flash animation style that reminds me a bit of some of the shows aired on Adult Swim, and in some ways that actually works for this series as far as making it funny.
I would definitely recommend this series; it's short, relaxing fun. 8/10.
(6 episode series)
This was a short, simple, and effective series. Being short, unfortunately there really isn't a lot to say about it, but it was a pretty enjoyable series to watch.
Set mostly in ancient Rome, it follows the time-traveling adventures of Lucius, a Roman architect who specializes in baths. He is initially down on his luck, as the style of architecture he prefers to use in his designs is currently out of style. He initially tries to relax in a bath as he explains what's upsetting him about current trends in bath architecture with one of his friends, only to wind up in a modern Japanese bath house. With what he experiences during these mysterious journeys, which he takes to be a strange country Rome has conquered full of "flat-faced slaves," he copies everything about it that fascinates him, as per Roman tradition, and thus becomes famous as a bath architect. Each episode sees him coming up against a new challenge, which he then solves after a humorous journey to modern Japan, bridging the gap between two bath cultures that are millennia apart.
As someone who considers themselves a Roman history buff, I have to say that I was actually pretty thoroughly impressed with the amount of historical accuracy put into this show. For instance, the complaints about the noise and loss of the formerly relaxing nature of the baths in Rome was a real complaint written about by a Roman historian, though I can't think of which one as I write this. There was also the many different aspects of Roman life and the technology they had available to them, and just some tidbits here and there that I thought added some authenticity to it. They even had the voice actor struggle through some Latin at appropriately humorous times.
That being said, the people who made this had a lot of fun, and that really comes through. In fact, if I were to sum this series up, it would be just to call it that – fun. It has a lot of humor in it, mostly based around the "fish out of water" aspect of an ancient Roman finding himself in modern Japan, but not entirely around it. It uses a flash animation style that reminds me a bit of some of the shows aired on Adult Swim, and in some ways that actually works for this series as far as making it funny.
I would definitely recommend this series; it's short, relaxing fun. 8/10.
Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind
(1984 movie, 2005 dub)
This is the first of three Miyazaki films I’m reviewing, all of which I watched over the course of a weekend. Just as a warning, I’m going to point out that, yes, I know Miyazaki is basically a hippy, being very pro-environment and anti-military. Actually I find it somewhat amusing that he’s a pacifist considering how much violence there tends to be in many of his movies. In any case, this is your fair warning that if you’re looking for a positive review that might reinforce your view of this movie, or really any that Miyazaki has made, you aren’t going to find it here. That’s not to say that I’m going to be all negative, either, just that I definitely do not agree with most of what Miyazaki has to say with his movies. I will say, though, that I think his movies tend to be very pretty, and they do have some interesting plots, characters, and good action, even if I really don’t care for his heavy-handed environmentalism and pacifism.
With that out of the way, I’ll start my actual review of this particular movie. This is a post-apocalyptic move in which the earth has been devastated by warfare, which has burned most of the surface and killed most of the life on the planet. As if that wasn’t bad enough, giant fungus has started to grow and spread, along with giant bugs that would give the Mobile Infantry a run for its money. The bugs are really easy to piss off and the giant “ohm” bugs in particular, which are the size of a large house, will stampede and destroy everything in their path if anything disturbs what has come to be known as the toxic jungle, mostly because all the spores in the air are deadly to breathe. This is actually part of how the toxic jungle spreads, as the ohm literally go until they drop dead, and then fungus starts to grow out of them on the newly devastated landscape they’ve created. Of course, the spores that the fungus creates spread pretty easily on their own, so it’s safe to say that humanity is basically fighting a losing battle, as the opening of the movie makes obvious. There are only a few small areas still habitable to humans, and these are becoming overrun by fungus, or by the military actions of other “nations” that still exist.
Unfortunately, there’s no Johnny Rico to help save the day. Instead, we follow the peace-loving protagonist Nausicaä, princess of the Valley of the Wind, as she figures out a way to save everything without using any weapons, apparently having figured out how to communicate with the giant bugs. We first see her as she explores the wonders of Pandora –I mean the toxic jungle. I will say that it’s nice to see a strong female protagonist who isn’t bloody useless, but the downside is that she’s basically the mouthpiece of Miyazaki. As a result, she tends to spout off a lot of crap science, and I have to admit that this irritated me almost as much as the “humans are evil and a threat to the planet” message, but then I have a background in engineering and science, so I actually know that ceramic, while extremely hard and heat resistant, is also very brittle, and that the soil from very deep underground tends to be sandy and/or made up of clay depending on where you are in the world, and is not suited to grow anything.
She also seems to be making a statement against wearing underwear.
Okay, okay, it’s probably just an issue with the coloring and she’s actually wearing pants, but still…
Anyway, the main plot of the series revolves around the militaristic Kingdom of Tolmekia and what big assholes they are. We get our first introduction to them as one of their impossibly huge airplanes crashes in the peaceful, monarchy ruled Valley of the Wind. It seems they stole the embryo of a “Giant Warrior”, which is a genetically engineered weapon that’s responsible for the destruction of the world. The Pejite are the ones who actually found and dug it up the thing, but the Tolmekians wanted it for themselves, and kidnapped the Pejite princess as a hostage after stealing it. Both kingdoms wanted to use the Giant Warrior to burn up the toxic rainforest, but naturally the story is stacked completely against this idea, mostly in the form of a stampede of giant bugs, but also in the whining of Nausicaä as she tries to explain the convoluted “evolution” of the toxic jungle and its creatures.
Apparently, the giant, deadly fungus functions to filter the soil, which makes zero sense since it’s, you know, fungus. And the giant bugs? Why to protect the giant fungus, of course. And we’re just supposed to accept that humans are going to die as a result, because humans are seen as a threat by the planet. And this is why I tend to not like Miyazaki films.
If that wasn’t absurd enough, though, apparently the world was destroyed by a bunch of fire-breathing giants. This is where the movie delves into the pacifist message, which itself is frankly completely illogical, even with the story stacked in its favor. Mostly this is because it preaches a peaceful solution in the face of an aggressive force bent on genocide and destruction, and chides the natural, sane response of wanting to fight for survival. This applies to both the Tolmekians and the toxic jungle, by the way. Of course the movie finds a way to actually resolve the immediate situation of a giant herd of ohm bearing down on the Valley of the Wind, and the occupying Tolmekian force by having Nausicaa sacrifice herself to them, which somehow shocks them into stopping. Since, as a young girl, Nausicaa fought to preserve one of their kind, and did it again even as they stampeded toward her home bent on destruction, the ohm are then nice enough to bring her back to life, making it not really a sacrifice at all. And they all lived happily ever after. Except that the toxic jungle is still slowly devouring the rest of the planet and killing more and more villages as it does, but hey, the giant bugs are alright and the Tolmekians decided to go home, so I guess we’re supposed to forget about that part.
As you can tell, I wasn’t really a big fan of this movie. It had very heavy-handed environmental and pacifist messages, and frankly the protagonist could get on my nerves at times, not only because of the stuff she’d say, but also because of how she was basically perfect, practically a Mary Stu, really. Personally, I actually liked Master Yupa, a Gandalf-like wanderer who was pragmatic and skilled in both diplomacy and combat – the perfect character to be voiced by Captain Picard himself.
And as an added bonus, he didn’t talk down to the audience or spout any bullshit.
As for what I liked about this movie, well, occasionally post-apocalyptic stories can be interesting. They show how people deal with the end of the world as we know it, and as long as they aren’t completely stupid, it can be interesting to see that. This movie, and really a few of Miyazaki’s works, also tend to have a rather fanciful tone to them when they aren’t busy being preachy, with some good comedy relief moments, and character development, even if they can be a bit slow-paced at times. I’ll also admit to just liking how things look, too, as Miyazaki movies tend to be very beautifully animated, and I also kind of like the different examples of steampunk in them. Yeah, most of the giant flying machines and the like are impossible, but they are still cool to look at.
I’m sure some of you might be surprised to read after all of this that I think this is actually one of the better Miyazaki movies I’ve seen so far. Unfortunately, the heavy-handed messages really dragged it down for me. However, if you happen to agree with that stuff yourself, especially if you like the movie Avatar, which seems to think this movie wasn’t heavy-handed enough, you’ll probably like this movie. If you aren’t into those kinds of messages, it’s still somewhat watchable, but be warned that this movie is pretty preachy. 7/10.
(1984 movie, 2005 dub)
This is the first of three Miyazaki films I’m reviewing, all of which I watched over the course of a weekend. Just as a warning, I’m going to point out that, yes, I know Miyazaki is basically a hippy, being very pro-environment and anti-military. Actually I find it somewhat amusing that he’s a pacifist considering how much violence there tends to be in many of his movies. In any case, this is your fair warning that if you’re looking for a positive review that might reinforce your view of this movie, or really any that Miyazaki has made, you aren’t going to find it here. That’s not to say that I’m going to be all negative, either, just that I definitely do not agree with most of what Miyazaki has to say with his movies. I will say, though, that I think his movies tend to be very pretty, and they do have some interesting plots, characters, and good action, even if I really don’t care for his heavy-handed environmentalism and pacifism.
With that out of the way, I’ll start my actual review of this particular movie. This is a post-apocalyptic move in which the earth has been devastated by warfare, which has burned most of the surface and killed most of the life on the planet. As if that wasn’t bad enough, giant fungus has started to grow and spread, along with giant bugs that would give the Mobile Infantry a run for its money. The bugs are really easy to piss off and the giant “ohm” bugs in particular, which are the size of a large house, will stampede and destroy everything in their path if anything disturbs what has come to be known as the toxic jungle, mostly because all the spores in the air are deadly to breathe. This is actually part of how the toxic jungle spreads, as the ohm literally go until they drop dead, and then fungus starts to grow out of them on the newly devastated landscape they’ve created. Of course, the spores that the fungus creates spread pretty easily on their own, so it’s safe to say that humanity is basically fighting a losing battle, as the opening of the movie makes obvious. There are only a few small areas still habitable to humans, and these are becoming overrun by fungus, or by the military actions of other “nations” that still exist.
Unfortunately, there’s no Johnny Rico to help save the day. Instead, we follow the peace-loving protagonist Nausicaä, princess of the Valley of the Wind, as she figures out a way to save everything without using any weapons, apparently having figured out how to communicate with the giant bugs. We first see her as she explores the wonders of Pandora –I mean the toxic jungle. I will say that it’s nice to see a strong female protagonist who isn’t bloody useless, but the downside is that she’s basically the mouthpiece of Miyazaki. As a result, she tends to spout off a lot of crap science, and I have to admit that this irritated me almost as much as the “humans are evil and a threat to the planet” message, but then I have a background in engineering and science, so I actually know that ceramic, while extremely hard and heat resistant, is also very brittle, and that the soil from very deep underground tends to be sandy and/or made up of clay depending on where you are in the world, and is not suited to grow anything.
She also seems to be making a statement against wearing underwear.
Okay, okay, it’s probably just an issue with the coloring and she’s actually wearing pants, but still…
Anyway, the main plot of the series revolves around the militaristic Kingdom of Tolmekia and what big assholes they are. We get our first introduction to them as one of their impossibly huge airplanes crashes in the peaceful, monarchy ruled Valley of the Wind. It seems they stole the embryo of a “Giant Warrior”, which is a genetically engineered weapon that’s responsible for the destruction of the world. The Pejite are the ones who actually found and dug it up the thing, but the Tolmekians wanted it for themselves, and kidnapped the Pejite princess as a hostage after stealing it. Both kingdoms wanted to use the Giant Warrior to burn up the toxic rainforest, but naturally the story is stacked completely against this idea, mostly in the form of a stampede of giant bugs, but also in the whining of Nausicaä as she tries to explain the convoluted “evolution” of the toxic jungle and its creatures.
Apparently, the giant, deadly fungus functions to filter the soil, which makes zero sense since it’s, you know, fungus. And the giant bugs? Why to protect the giant fungus, of course. And we’re just supposed to accept that humans are going to die as a result, because humans are seen as a threat by the planet. And this is why I tend to not like Miyazaki films.
If that wasn’t absurd enough, though, apparently the world was destroyed by a bunch of fire-breathing giants. This is where the movie delves into the pacifist message, which itself is frankly completely illogical, even with the story stacked in its favor. Mostly this is because it preaches a peaceful solution in the face of an aggressive force bent on genocide and destruction, and chides the natural, sane response of wanting to fight for survival. This applies to both the Tolmekians and the toxic jungle, by the way. Of course the movie finds a way to actually resolve the immediate situation of a giant herd of ohm bearing down on the Valley of the Wind, and the occupying Tolmekian force by having Nausicaa sacrifice herself to them, which somehow shocks them into stopping. Since, as a young girl, Nausicaa fought to preserve one of their kind, and did it again even as they stampeded toward her home bent on destruction, the ohm are then nice enough to bring her back to life, making it not really a sacrifice at all. And they all lived happily ever after. Except that the toxic jungle is still slowly devouring the rest of the planet and killing more and more villages as it does, but hey, the giant bugs are alright and the Tolmekians decided to go home, so I guess we’re supposed to forget about that part.
As you can tell, I wasn’t really a big fan of this movie. It had very heavy-handed environmental and pacifist messages, and frankly the protagonist could get on my nerves at times, not only because of the stuff she’d say, but also because of how she was basically perfect, practically a Mary Stu, really. Personally, I actually liked Master Yupa, a Gandalf-like wanderer who was pragmatic and skilled in both diplomacy and combat – the perfect character to be voiced by Captain Picard himself.
And as an added bonus, he didn’t talk down to the audience or spout any bullshit.As for what I liked about this movie, well, occasionally post-apocalyptic stories can be interesting. They show how people deal with the end of the world as we know it, and as long as they aren’t completely stupid, it can be interesting to see that. This movie, and really a few of Miyazaki’s works, also tend to have a rather fanciful tone to them when they aren’t busy being preachy, with some good comedy relief moments, and character development, even if they can be a bit slow-paced at times. I’ll also admit to just liking how things look, too, as Miyazaki movies tend to be very beautifully animated, and I also kind of like the different examples of steampunk in them. Yeah, most of the giant flying machines and the like are impossible, but they are still cool to look at.
I’m sure some of you might be surprised to read after all of this that I think this is actually one of the better Miyazaki movies I’ve seen so far. Unfortunately, the heavy-handed messages really dragged it down for me. However, if you happen to agree with that stuff yourself, especially if you like the movie Avatar, which seems to think this movie wasn’t heavy-handed enough, you’ll probably like this movie. If you aren’t into those kinds of messages, it’s still somewhat watchable, but be warned that this movie is pretty preachy. 7/10.
I liked it,but lack of logic really was problem.Fungus could absorb toxins,sure,but i do not knew if they could that kind of work which anime showed.And even if they could,would humanity survive long enough to profit from it.
It is just another post-apocaliptic stories where humanity is dying,but protagonists are OK with it,and anime is made in a way that people watching it do not care about humanity dying,too.
Other that style which i remember -
I arleady made reviev of Jinrui wa suitai shimashita,but OVA Yokohama Kaibatsu Kikou i leave to better writer then me.Becouse it is really good.
There was also another movie/not Miazaki/ with forest taking over Earth,but i forget title.
It is just another post-apocaliptic stories where humanity is dying,but protagonists are OK with it,and anime is made in a way that people watching it do not care about humanity dying,too.
Other that style which i remember -
I arleady made reviev of Jinrui wa suitai shimashita,but OVA Yokohama Kaibatsu Kikou i leave to better writer then me.Becouse it is really good.
There was also another movie/not Miazaki/ with forest taking over Earth,but i forget title.
Val the Moofia Boss
Well-known member
I think the Ghibli movies are visually great. Very high production values. But as you said, the nonsensical pacifistic messaging is aggravating. Given Ghibli's influence, I think it might have had an effect rest of Japanese entertainment, since you see a lot of stuff with utterly nonsensical pacifistic messages. Kenshin adamantly refusing to kill the serial killers and mass murderers who are trying to kill everyone. Naruto forgiving heinous mass murderers and talking about how great they were (lol the mad scientist Orochimaru, who committed horrific human experimentation, is giving out signatures to kids in Boruto as if he's a friendly celebrity rolemodel). Gundam Wing's nonsense ending. The first Pokemon movie. The Trails series where the protagonists doom their countries by trying to take out the one guy who is trying to keep their country from being invaded by the neighboring empire. Twice. Etc.
Terthna
Professional Lurker
Kenshin refuses to kill because he's recovering from PTSD, and fears that taking even one life will revert him to the amoral murderous psychopath he became during the war. Naruto meanwhile, forgives mass murders because that's what dumbass shonen protagonists have done ever since Goku asked Krillin to spare Vegita; which worked because "mass murder finds redemption" character arcs appeals to the Japanese psyche, thanks to certain psychological issues leftover from the aftermath of WW2. As for Gundam Wing; the whole show feels like a rush job honestly, and the ending is reflective of that.
Bear Ribs
Well-known member
I've seen Gundam Wing described as "Everybody in the world wants to bring about an everlasting peace, just after they finish this massive giant robot fight."
I find that's more accurate to most of Gundam than just Wing myself, though.
I do have to admit I find the "Coexist with nature, even when it's actively trying to rip your head off your shoulders" a bit odd but common to these films.
I find that's more accurate to most of Gundam than just Wing myself, though.
I do have to admit I find the "Coexist with nature, even when it's actively trying to rip your head off your shoulders" a bit odd but common to these films.
Val the Moofia Boss
Well-known member
I was mainly thinking about the Shishio arc, where you have a warlord and his army who are taking over Japan. The government is apparently failing to stop this rogue army, and their politicians are being assassinated left and right. The government approaches Kenshin and asks him to deal with Shishio. As the arc progresses, Shishio becomes more and more powerful, as more more and more people are falling to Shishio. He eventually winds up unveiling a battleship that begins setting sail to blow up the Japanese navy and take Tokyo hostage at gunpoint, only narrow stopped by Kenshin as it was sailing out of port. We also find out that Shishio's vision for Japan is rather brutalist. Then we get to the final battle against Shishio, where you have a team of three of the fiercest warriors in Japan trying to 3v1 Shishio... and they lose. Kenshin is the last guy standing. The stakes are very high. This is no time to be holding back. If Kenshin loses, then at least thousands of people will die in the ensuing civil war, even if the government does eventually put down the rebellion.
Before the show began, when Kenshin was an assassin, he didn't have anyone he cared about, but now he does. I know Kenshin is traumatized and feels really guilty, but his fear of losing the people he loves and their idyllic way of life being destroyed should outweigh that. Kenshin has tried diplomacy with Shishio, and has failed. Kenshin has tried holding back against Shishio, and yet Shishio is still standing. At this point, Kenshin's strength is dwindling and it's getting down to the wire. He must flip over his sword and just kill Shishio, or that's it. But Kenshin is still faffing about refuses to take things seriously. It's only by mere coincidence that everything turned out okay in the end. If it wasn't for that unexpected stroke of luck, then Kenshin's newfound family would have been screwed.
I think one of Wing's biggest problems is that, as the show goes on, character motivations start becoming incoherent, as everyone is switching sides multiple times, Wu Fei is accusing everyone of being his enemy, and I don't know what's going on anymore or why anyone is fighting each other. The ending is pretty meh as Zechs decide to colony drop his mothership on the earth for... reasons, and then Heero and Zechs fight and Zechs decides to stop fighting for... reasons, and then Heero blows the ship up and then apparently everyone stops fighting for... reasons. I remember that they were trying to stop the Foundation, who were trying to take over the world with their robots, but once they were defeated I can't remember why people were still fighting each other after that.
Relena was extremely aggravating, though. "We here in the Sanc Kingdom practice absolute pacifism! Fighting is wrong!" says Relena, literally as her nation's soldiers are dying a few miles away trying to stop the Foundation's forces from invading the country. I think she might have done it again... at the same time everyone was trying to stop Zechs from wiping out the Earth. And then there was that scene in the movie where all of the protestors got on the busses and drove down to the military base where the fighting was happening, and it was presented this as a "they're putting their money where their mouth is!" heroic moment, but it just came off as dumb.
I only recall the hypocrisy happening in early Zeta, SEED, and 00.
- Kamille refused to take responsibility for the fact that he was killing people. "Why did you make me blow you up? It's your fault this happened to you!". I suppose maybe he's supposed to be unlikeable at first, but I don't recall him ever growing out of that mindset.
- Kira in SEED was suish in how he was the most awesome Gundam pilot ever, so awesome he could non-lethally take down most of his enemies (whereas Amuro, despite being an ace pilot, was only rarely able to get an opportunity to disable his enemies suits rather than having to take the safe route and just blow them up).
- 00 has this bizzare message about how the good guys are terrorists... trying to bring about world peace by blowing up militaries. "If only militaries didn't exist! If nobody fought each other, then humanity could unite, and perhaps humanity could change so we could become ready to venture out into the galaxy and meet with aliens!".
- Everyone in the last Unicorn OVA is an idiot who threw away an opportunity to objectively improve the wellbeing of the setting, for... reasons.
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Terthna
Professional Lurker
A family that has done nothing but reinforce his belief that he should never kill again, for any reason; else he'd become a manslayer again, and no longer be the Kenshin they know and love. So from Kenshin's perspective, he loses them anyways if he kills Shishio.
Princess Mononoke
(1997 movie)
Yet another offering by Miyazaki, this movie takes place in a mythical ancient Japan, which is not long into the iron age, and which still has to deal with actual spirits which exist in the vast forests which cover most of the land. Like every Miyazaki film, there are heavy-handed environmental and pacifist messages, but fortunately these are balanced out by an intriguing story filled with characters that have some actual depth to them, including the people who are theoretically supposed to be the bad guys.
While there is a strong female character in this movie, named San, the protagonist is actually Ashitaka, a young member of an isolated, traditionalist village that sits on the edge of the forest, which we're informed is supposed to be off limits to humans. Ashitaka is sent on a journey into this forest following an attack on his village by a forest spirit in the form of a giant boar that's been covered by black worms. While Ashitaka is successful in defeating this possessed boar and protecting his village, he is wounded by the black worms, which leave a mark on his arm that will spread to cover more and more of his body throughout the movie. He's informed that this will kill him unless he successfully finds the Forest Spirit and is able to talk it into lifting this curse from him. In the interim, though, the evil black mark gives him superpowers that enable him to literally shoot the heads and limbs off of some douche-bag samurai types with a regular bow and arrows, lift a door that normally takes ten men to lift, and survive getting shot through the center of mass by a musket ball the size of a fist long enough to rescue the girl and get healed by the Forest Spirit he's looking for.
San is "the girl" I'm referring to here, who Ashitaka takes a liking to the moment he lays eyes on her, in spite of the fact she and her giant wolf buddies have just finished slaughtering a bunch of humans who are only trying to get through the forest to bring food and supplies to their families in Iron Town, and in spite of the way she and her wolf buddies constantly threaten to kill him and even make a go of carrying out those threats. She is kind of a looker, though, so, hey, crazy in the head, crazy in bed, right?
The main plot of this film is about the conflict between the industrializing humans and nature, actually somewhat paralleling the kind of conflict J. R. R. Tolkien set up in his stories. Actually it wouldn't surprise me that much if this movie was somewhat inspired by Lord of the Rings (as in the books, obviously), but really that's just an interesting thought and not something I'm actually holding this film up against.
Anyway, the industrializing humans are represented by two different groups – the douche-bag samurai I referred to earlier, and the inhabitants of the island-based Iron Town. The samurai represent a militaristic group of humans who basically want everything they lay eyes on, and they'll kill anyone and everyone who happens to be there. Given that this is a Miyazaki film, this representation of a military force really shouldn't be all that surprising. Not that the samurai weren't douche-bags. Iron Town, on the other hand, exists to create iron and the primitive firearms it uses to defend itself against douche-bag samurais and forest spirits alike. Of course in doing so, they've cleared a significant portion of the forest, and have mined for iron ore, so you can kind of guess where the conflict comes in here.
Iron Town and its leader, a woman named Eboshi, are actually what help to balance this movie out quite a bit, and show that in spite of the fact Miyazaki can be very preachy when it comes to the environment and fighting, he can still keep his films from being completely one-sided, and I respect that. See, Eboshi has basically taken in all of the social misfits that wouldn't be able to find good work anywhere else, like prostitutes and even lepers, so they can make iron. It's hard work and these people are portrayed as more or less good people who are simply trying to make a living, and who owe a lot to their leader because she's taken them in and given them this refuge in exchange for their labor. Ebashi also genuinely seems to care for these people, and will put her own life on the line to defend them. As this brings them into conflict with the forest spirits, San and her wolf family are very hateful toward Ebashi and the residents of Iron Town, and since San and her wolf family are constantly killing their friends and family members, they're naturally very hateful toward San and the forest spirits. This kind of puts Ashitaka in an awkward position, because while he doesn't agree with the industrialization and the stripping of the forest, he still recognizes these as good people and can't bring himself to condemn them, in spite of the revelation that they are essentially the cause of his present misfortune. Then, of course, is the fact that he really wants to slip San the ol' sausage, so he ends up finding himself fighting both groups while trying to befriend both groups. Complexity and depth, I like it.
So as I mentioned earlier, Ashitaka ends up getting shot by a huge musket ball of doom, which is made of iron instead of lead for some reason, and is also responsible for the various forest spirit animals who get shot going crazy and turning into worm-covered demons that want to kill everyone in their sight. Kind of like the samurai-types. Huh, wonder if there's a parallel there or something. Anyway, since San is impressed by what Ashitaka is willing to sacrifice in order to preserve her life, and by his respect for the forest and its spirits, she decides to take him to the Forest Spirit to be healed. As it turns out, he'd actually spotted the Forest Spirit earlier in its day time form, which looks kind of like an elk with a flat, human-like face.
The forest's savior.
Due to its ability to magically heal the sick and wounded, and to literally walk on water, I'm going to refer to the Forest Spirit as Elk Jesus from now on. In any case, this first instance of the audience being shown that Elk Jesus has these abilities also establishes that in order to give life, by healing or otherwise, life must be sacrificed to do so, which is why San grabbed a tree branch and planted it close to Ashitaka when she took him to Elk Jesus's home.
And thus Ashitaka finds himself no better off than he was at the start of his quest, healed of his gunshot wound, but still bearing the curse that has spread even further through his body. And despite San coming around to him, somewhat, she still refuses to accept any kind of a peaceful compromise with humans, or that she even is human herself, having been raised by a she-wolf like Romulus and Remus. He's also told to leave the forest by both the wolves and the leader of a huge pack of giant boars, because the next time they see him they'll kill him. Of course, the samurai douche-bags attack Iron Town while Ebashi and most of the men from Iron Town are away on a hunt in service of the emperor, so he ends up resuming his quest to find a peaceful solution for Ebashi and her group and the forest spirits, and to save San while he's at it.
Ebashi, for all the good that she's done the residents of Iron Town, apparently only had the resources to do so because of the emperor, and now owes the old bastard a favor. As it turns out, the favor consists of hunting down Elk Jesus and cutting off its head, which is said to grant immortality upon its owner, or something like that. To ensure she lives up to her end of things, the emperor even goes as far as to send an elite group of hunter-monks, who are portrayed not all that differently from the samurai.
As it turns out, Elk Jesus turns into this giant, ethereal humanoid at night and wanders the forest. Apparently, during the transformation phase between elk-thing and giant ghost-thing, it's actually vulnerable to getting shot, although it apparently losing its head just makes it grope around wildly, killing everything it touches while it looks for its head. This is where the movie basically sells itself as being a kind of lost history to the real world, because this incident marks the end of forest spirits as a tangible thing, and of the forest animals being sentient beings. But hey, Ashitaka gets the crazy wolf-girl in the end, and in spite of Iron Town being destroyed and overrun by plants, there's nothing left now to keep humanity from progressing into an industrialized society, so happy ending for all ... except the forest spirits and Elk Jesus, who died for humanity’s sins (only being slightly sarcastic here).
This movie is mainly interesting to me due to its themes: religious, change from nature to industry, life from death, etc. And while I don't really agree with what all this movie has to say, it is interesting to note these themes and to make comparisons to other works that have similar themes. I also like that the majority of the characters in this movie have some actual depth to them, and that the causes and solutions to the conflict and drama in the story are not really all that clear-cut. The resolution wasn't perfect for everyone either, because even though Ashitaka was cured of his curse and got a hot new girlfriend out of the deal, he was not able to save the forest spirits and only barely managed to save the residents of Iron Town. And while the residents of Iron Town survived, everything they worked for and fought to protect was destroyed.
The main weakness of this movie, like pretty much every Miyazaki film, is that at times the pacing can be somewhat slow and the movie can drag in parts. I also have to admit to a personal bias here in that the setting and subject matter just aren't all that terribly interesting to me. However, due to the interesting theme and the balanced storytelling, I'm going to rate this movie somewhat higher than I might have otherwise.
If you’re interested in myth, fantasy, and really like trees and stuff, you'll probably like this movie a lot more than I did, because really it's custom made for people who have those interests. But even if you aren't someone like that, it's still a somewhat engaging and interesting story that can entertain. 8/10.
(1997 movie)
Yet another offering by Miyazaki, this movie takes place in a mythical ancient Japan, which is not long into the iron age, and which still has to deal with actual spirits which exist in the vast forests which cover most of the land. Like every Miyazaki film, there are heavy-handed environmental and pacifist messages, but fortunately these are balanced out by an intriguing story filled with characters that have some actual depth to them, including the people who are theoretically supposed to be the bad guys.
While there is a strong female character in this movie, named San, the protagonist is actually Ashitaka, a young member of an isolated, traditionalist village that sits on the edge of the forest, which we're informed is supposed to be off limits to humans. Ashitaka is sent on a journey into this forest following an attack on his village by a forest spirit in the form of a giant boar that's been covered by black worms. While Ashitaka is successful in defeating this possessed boar and protecting his village, he is wounded by the black worms, which leave a mark on his arm that will spread to cover more and more of his body throughout the movie. He's informed that this will kill him unless he successfully finds the Forest Spirit and is able to talk it into lifting this curse from him. In the interim, though, the evil black mark gives him superpowers that enable him to literally shoot the heads and limbs off of some douche-bag samurai types with a regular bow and arrows, lift a door that normally takes ten men to lift, and survive getting shot through the center of mass by a musket ball the size of a fist long enough to rescue the girl and get healed by the Forest Spirit he's looking for.
San is "the girl" I'm referring to here, who Ashitaka takes a liking to the moment he lays eyes on her, in spite of the fact she and her giant wolf buddies have just finished slaughtering a bunch of humans who are only trying to get through the forest to bring food and supplies to their families in Iron Town, and in spite of the way she and her wolf buddies constantly threaten to kill him and even make a go of carrying out those threats. She is kind of a looker, though, so, hey, crazy in the head, crazy in bed, right?
The main plot of this film is about the conflict between the industrializing humans and nature, actually somewhat paralleling the kind of conflict J. R. R. Tolkien set up in his stories. Actually it wouldn't surprise me that much if this movie was somewhat inspired by Lord of the Rings (as in the books, obviously), but really that's just an interesting thought and not something I'm actually holding this film up against.
Anyway, the industrializing humans are represented by two different groups – the douche-bag samurai I referred to earlier, and the inhabitants of the island-based Iron Town. The samurai represent a militaristic group of humans who basically want everything they lay eyes on, and they'll kill anyone and everyone who happens to be there. Given that this is a Miyazaki film, this representation of a military force really shouldn't be all that surprising. Not that the samurai weren't douche-bags. Iron Town, on the other hand, exists to create iron and the primitive firearms it uses to defend itself against douche-bag samurais and forest spirits alike. Of course in doing so, they've cleared a significant portion of the forest, and have mined for iron ore, so you can kind of guess where the conflict comes in here.
Iron Town and its leader, a woman named Eboshi, are actually what help to balance this movie out quite a bit, and show that in spite of the fact Miyazaki can be very preachy when it comes to the environment and fighting, he can still keep his films from being completely one-sided, and I respect that. See, Eboshi has basically taken in all of the social misfits that wouldn't be able to find good work anywhere else, like prostitutes and even lepers, so they can make iron. It's hard work and these people are portrayed as more or less good people who are simply trying to make a living, and who owe a lot to their leader because she's taken them in and given them this refuge in exchange for their labor. Ebashi also genuinely seems to care for these people, and will put her own life on the line to defend them. As this brings them into conflict with the forest spirits, San and her wolf family are very hateful toward Ebashi and the residents of Iron Town, and since San and her wolf family are constantly killing their friends and family members, they're naturally very hateful toward San and the forest spirits. This kind of puts Ashitaka in an awkward position, because while he doesn't agree with the industrialization and the stripping of the forest, he still recognizes these as good people and can't bring himself to condemn them, in spite of the revelation that they are essentially the cause of his present misfortune. Then, of course, is the fact that he really wants to slip San the ol' sausage, so he ends up finding himself fighting both groups while trying to befriend both groups. Complexity and depth, I like it.
So as I mentioned earlier, Ashitaka ends up getting shot by a huge musket ball of doom, which is made of iron instead of lead for some reason, and is also responsible for the various forest spirit animals who get shot going crazy and turning into worm-covered demons that want to kill everyone in their sight. Kind of like the samurai-types. Huh, wonder if there's a parallel there or something. Anyway, since San is impressed by what Ashitaka is willing to sacrifice in order to preserve her life, and by his respect for the forest and its spirits, she decides to take him to the Forest Spirit to be healed. As it turns out, he'd actually spotted the Forest Spirit earlier in its day time form, which looks kind of like an elk with a flat, human-like face.
The forest's savior.
Due to its ability to magically heal the sick and wounded, and to literally walk on water, I'm going to refer to the Forest Spirit as Elk Jesus from now on. In any case, this first instance of the audience being shown that Elk Jesus has these abilities also establishes that in order to give life, by healing or otherwise, life must be sacrificed to do so, which is why San grabbed a tree branch and planted it close to Ashitaka when she took him to Elk Jesus's home.
And thus Ashitaka finds himself no better off than he was at the start of his quest, healed of his gunshot wound, but still bearing the curse that has spread even further through his body. And despite San coming around to him, somewhat, she still refuses to accept any kind of a peaceful compromise with humans, or that she even is human herself, having been raised by a she-wolf like Romulus and Remus. He's also told to leave the forest by both the wolves and the leader of a huge pack of giant boars, because the next time they see him they'll kill him. Of course, the samurai douche-bags attack Iron Town while Ebashi and most of the men from Iron Town are away on a hunt in service of the emperor, so he ends up resuming his quest to find a peaceful solution for Ebashi and her group and the forest spirits, and to save San while he's at it.
Ebashi, for all the good that she's done the residents of Iron Town, apparently only had the resources to do so because of the emperor, and now owes the old bastard a favor. As it turns out, the favor consists of hunting down Elk Jesus and cutting off its head, which is said to grant immortality upon its owner, or something like that. To ensure she lives up to her end of things, the emperor even goes as far as to send an elite group of hunter-monks, who are portrayed not all that differently from the samurai.
As it turns out, Elk Jesus turns into this giant, ethereal humanoid at night and wanders the forest. Apparently, during the transformation phase between elk-thing and giant ghost-thing, it's actually vulnerable to getting shot, although it apparently losing its head just makes it grope around wildly, killing everything it touches while it looks for its head. This is where the movie basically sells itself as being a kind of lost history to the real world, because this incident marks the end of forest spirits as a tangible thing, and of the forest animals being sentient beings. But hey, Ashitaka gets the crazy wolf-girl in the end, and in spite of Iron Town being destroyed and overrun by plants, there's nothing left now to keep humanity from progressing into an industrialized society, so happy ending for all ... except the forest spirits and Elk Jesus, who died for humanity’s sins (only being slightly sarcastic here).
This movie is mainly interesting to me due to its themes: religious, change from nature to industry, life from death, etc. And while I don't really agree with what all this movie has to say, it is interesting to note these themes and to make comparisons to other works that have similar themes. I also like that the majority of the characters in this movie have some actual depth to them, and that the causes and solutions to the conflict and drama in the story are not really all that clear-cut. The resolution wasn't perfect for everyone either, because even though Ashitaka was cured of his curse and got a hot new girlfriend out of the deal, he was not able to save the forest spirits and only barely managed to save the residents of Iron Town. And while the residents of Iron Town survived, everything they worked for and fought to protect was destroyed.
The main weakness of this movie, like pretty much every Miyazaki film, is that at times the pacing can be somewhat slow and the movie can drag in parts. I also have to admit to a personal bias here in that the setting and subject matter just aren't all that terribly interesting to me. However, due to the interesting theme and the balanced storytelling, I'm going to rate this movie somewhat higher than I might have otherwise.
If you’re interested in myth, fantasy, and really like trees and stuff, you'll probably like this movie a lot more than I did, because really it's custom made for people who have those interests. But even if you aren't someone like that, it's still a somewhat engaging and interesting story that can entertain. 8/10.
Val the Moofia Boss
Well-known member
I quite the liked the rustic setting of Princess Mononoke. Felt comfy. Joe Hisaishi's music was also good.
I believe Princess Mononoke was the first instance of 3D CGI being used in a Ghibli film. You don't notice it when watching and only find out if you do more digging. The black worms on Ashitaka's arms are 3D CGI models. I suppose they nailed the colors, and the writhing mass of worms looks busy and it only appears for a few seconds so your eyes can't figure it out. He would also briefly use 3D CGI models in Spirited Away as the plates that Chihiro's parents eat from. The audience wouldn't notice if they only moved for a couple seconds and the audience isn't paying attention to them anyway. More info.
I believe Princess Mononoke was the first instance of 3D CGI being used in a Ghibli film. You don't notice it when watching and only find out if you do more digging. The black worms on Ashitaka's arms are 3D CGI models. I suppose they nailed the colors, and the writhing mass of worms looks busy and it only appears for a few seconds so your eyes can't figure it out. He would also briefly use 3D CGI models in Spirited Away as the plates that Chihiro's parents eat from. The audience wouldn't notice if they only moved for a couple seconds and the audience isn't paying attention to them anyway. More info.
prinCZess
Warrior, Writer, Performer, Perv
[Gundam Discussion--specifically Wing]
I have never understood the Gundam franchise.
I even like giant robot fighting franchises (Battletech a biggie). But Something about Gundam shows always put me off entirely...Usually, I think, their themes and weird pacifist...absurdity.
Gundam Wing has cute boys in it.
Gundam 08th MS Team is about the only one of the series I could even get past an episode or two...And that one I actually liked quite a good bit. But it seems pretty distinct and distant from its cousins (ESPECIALLY Wing which is, like...I dunnow, boy band giant robot fighting? You've got the macho one, the troubled one, the cute one, the bad boy...)
That made me giggle probably more than it should've, but it's not wrong.
Miyazaki films, especially ones focused around nature/life always sit odd with me (So Nausica and Mononoke particularly). They're good. Beautifully animated (and apparently incorporating more CGI than I ever knew/recognized!). But I always get the impression that me and him would be throwing drinks in each other's faces if ever given the chance to talk about shit because his viewpoints on a lot of this stuff just...do not jive with my own in such dramatic fashion that it's hard not to let that overshadow all else.
They're a bit 'preachy' in feeling to me--they never seem to escape that pit of despair and melancholy over nature that isn't all that deserved in my own opinion. Enjoyable outside that, but they're always frustrating to me because there's the lingering feeling of how much better they could be if they didn't have these particular elements holding them back or fundamentally making me go 'That's stupid'. But...Hey, nature of art I s'pose. Someone will say stuff with it I think is silly.
I have never understood the Gundam franchise.
I even like giant robot fighting franchises (Battletech a biggie). But Something about Gundam shows always put me off entirely...Usually, I think, their themes and weird pacifist...absurdity.
Gundam Wing has cute boys in it.
Gundam 08th MS Team is about the only one of the series I could even get past an episode or two...And that one I actually liked quite a good bit. But it seems pretty distinct and distant from its cousins (ESPECIALLY Wing which is, like...I dunnow, boy band giant robot fighting? You've got the macho one, the troubled one, the cute one, the bad boy...)
Blessed be His rack.
That made me giggle probably more than it should've, but it's not wrong.
Miyazaki films, especially ones focused around nature/life always sit odd with me (So Nausica and Mononoke particularly). They're good. Beautifully animated (and apparently incorporating more CGI than I ever knew/recognized!). But I always get the impression that me and him would be throwing drinks in each other's faces if ever given the chance to talk about shit because his viewpoints on a lot of this stuff just...do not jive with my own in such dramatic fashion that it's hard not to let that overshadow all else.
They're a bit 'preachy' in feeling to me--they never seem to escape that pit of despair and melancholy over nature that isn't all that deserved in my own opinion. Enjoyable outside that, but they're always frustrating to me because there's the lingering feeling of how much better they could be if they didn't have these particular elements holding them back or fundamentally making me go 'That's stupid'. But...Hey, nature of art I s'pose. Someone will say stuff with it I think is silly.
Howl's Moving Castle
(2004 movie)
My third and final (for the moment) Miyazaki film review, this is everything I've come to expect from the man. Well, mostly. In this case it's more about being anti-military and pacifist than environmentalism, which takes a back seat to calling everyone in the military murderers. The Wikipedia article about this movie mentions that Miyazaki was upset about the 2003 Iraq invasion, like pretty much everyone else in the world, so naturally he uses this movie as a soapbox to that end.
Okay, maybe I'm being a bit harsh here, because to be fair, most of the movie is about the protagonist, a young woman named Sophie, and the love she develops for the eccentric wizard named Howl. As you might guess from the title, much of the movie takes place in Howl's magical moving castle, though the setting itself is in a fantasy country I never quite caught the name of and remembered, which seems like a mix of pre-WWI France, Britain, and Germany. Actually the setting is one of the most impressive things about the movie as far as I'm concerned, mostly because it reminds me a lot of the fantastic visions of the future from the late 19th and early 20th centuries, from the architecture to all the different vehicles seen buzzing about on the ground and in the air. Of course another major theme is that magic is taken as a normal, everyday thing, with wizards and witches actually being educated to be such.
Sophie is a hatter, working for a small family shop, and she's very down on what she sees as her lot in life. Basically she starts out with a very negative outlook on herself and her life because she feels it is her responsibility and her fate to waste her life making hats. This becomes an important theme for the movie, because not long after the movie starts she has an unfortunate encounter with The Witch of Waste, who apparently is after Howl for some reason. In any case, she's put under a spell that artificially ages her to the point that she looks like she's one foot in the grave. The thing of note here is that she only looks like this when she is feeling down on herself or has an otherwise negative outlook on life, because when she's distracted with what's going on around her, and when she lets her feelings for Howl come to the forefront, she begins to appear younger – in one outburst defending Howl she briefly even appears her true age. For most of the movie, though, you could almost miss the change in her appearance simply because of everything that's going on, as the movie doesn't slow down all that much once it starts introducing the characters.
The plot of the movie mainly focuses on Howl's involvement with a war that has recently broken out with another country. The details are never discussed, though, because the movie is too busy bashing the military and war in general. Actually this is part of where the movie shows some major weakness, primarily because there's a plot hole that makes things not make a lot of sense. Because the thing is, Howl is drafted to fight, and he makes it obvious that he doesn't want to fight, but he still does. The thing is, at one point he has Sophie pose as his mother to try to talk the reigning monarch/witch into letting him off the hook, and a big deal is made about this monarch, Madame Suliman, ordering him to be hunted down when it becomes obvious to her that he's just draft-dodging. Yet later on, he's seen fighting in the war, and the focus shifts to Sophie trying to get him to stop fighting, because apparently there's some risk of him being stuck in the crow-like form he fights in. So why is Suliman still hunting him if he's fighting?
I don't get it.
There are some scenes that manage to hit home, especially when Sophie's home is attacked, but for the most part I find all the anti-military crap to be sanctimonious and frankly insulting. It's true, I have some bias here because I was in Air Force ROTC for a while, but while I have respect for members of the armed forces, my limited experience has given me perspective enough to not be unquestioning and basically the kind of stupid that would be on the other side of the same coin here. So while I don't unconditionally call everyone in the military a hero, I also don't unilaterally call them murderers, either, which at one point Howl just flat our states. And while war is tragic and at times pointless, there are times it's necessary, illustrated wonderfully by WWII with the Hitler and Japan taking over the world thing. I'm not going to get into it too much, because frankly that's its own discussion. Safe to say that the movie rather irritated me with this subject matter.
For the most part, though, the movie tries to generate laughs more than anything, mostly with jokes having to do with getting old – something Miyazaki undoubtedly has experience with. There are a number of secondary characters, which mostly serve comedic roles as well, including the Witch of Waste, who is reduced to a "cute" old woman who only really serves as a minor annoyance later on. There isn't a lot that really stands out, though, either story-wise or character-wise. The movie ends pretty much the way you would expect, which is to say not completely happy, but with Sophie and Howl hooking up and even adopting the child wizard who's been Howl's apprentice/assistant, along with the dog who's actually supposed to be a spy for Suliman but apparently just decides to become the family dog instead.
Before I wrap things up, though, I think I should mention another theme I've noticed with Miyazaki. I can't help but notice that all the female characters he wants to portray as being strong tend to have short hair. I also noticed that in the case of two female leads, Sophie being one of them, they start out with long hair and are somewhat weak and unassertive, but their hair is cut or otherwise ends up short as their character develops and they become stronger and more assertive. It's not really important, just something I noticed and thought I'd mention. I'm partial to short hair on women, too, so I guess that's one form of common ground between myself and Miyazaki. I still think he's a hippie, though.
Anyway, this is an interesting and marginally entertaining movie, but I find it to be mostly fluff surrounding an anti-military message. If you like other examples of Miyazaki's work, you'll probably like this, too. Even if you aren't, but you just don't mind being preached at for a few minutes out of two hours, you still might find this movie entertaining. But when it comes to me, I don't much like the sermon, which earns it a -1 modifier in my book, resulting in a score of 6/10.
(2004 movie)
My third and final (for the moment) Miyazaki film review, this is everything I've come to expect from the man. Well, mostly. In this case it's more about being anti-military and pacifist than environmentalism, which takes a back seat to calling everyone in the military murderers. The Wikipedia article about this movie mentions that Miyazaki was upset about the 2003 Iraq invasion, like pretty much everyone else in the world, so naturally he uses this movie as a soapbox to that end.
Okay, maybe I'm being a bit harsh here, because to be fair, most of the movie is about the protagonist, a young woman named Sophie, and the love she develops for the eccentric wizard named Howl. As you might guess from the title, much of the movie takes place in Howl's magical moving castle, though the setting itself is in a fantasy country I never quite caught the name of and remembered, which seems like a mix of pre-WWI France, Britain, and Germany. Actually the setting is one of the most impressive things about the movie as far as I'm concerned, mostly because it reminds me a lot of the fantastic visions of the future from the late 19th and early 20th centuries, from the architecture to all the different vehicles seen buzzing about on the ground and in the air. Of course another major theme is that magic is taken as a normal, everyday thing, with wizards and witches actually being educated to be such.
Sophie is a hatter, working for a small family shop, and she's very down on what she sees as her lot in life. Basically she starts out with a very negative outlook on herself and her life because she feels it is her responsibility and her fate to waste her life making hats. This becomes an important theme for the movie, because not long after the movie starts she has an unfortunate encounter with The Witch of Waste, who apparently is after Howl for some reason. In any case, she's put under a spell that artificially ages her to the point that she looks like she's one foot in the grave. The thing of note here is that she only looks like this when she is feeling down on herself or has an otherwise negative outlook on life, because when she's distracted with what's going on around her, and when she lets her feelings for Howl come to the forefront, she begins to appear younger – in one outburst defending Howl she briefly even appears her true age. For most of the movie, though, you could almost miss the change in her appearance simply because of everything that's going on, as the movie doesn't slow down all that much once it starts introducing the characters.
The plot of the movie mainly focuses on Howl's involvement with a war that has recently broken out with another country. The details are never discussed, though, because the movie is too busy bashing the military and war in general. Actually this is part of where the movie shows some major weakness, primarily because there's a plot hole that makes things not make a lot of sense. Because the thing is, Howl is drafted to fight, and he makes it obvious that he doesn't want to fight, but he still does. The thing is, at one point he has Sophie pose as his mother to try to talk the reigning monarch/witch into letting him off the hook, and a big deal is made about this monarch, Madame Suliman, ordering him to be hunted down when it becomes obvious to her that he's just draft-dodging. Yet later on, he's seen fighting in the war, and the focus shifts to Sophie trying to get him to stop fighting, because apparently there's some risk of him being stuck in the crow-like form he fights in. So why is Suliman still hunting him if he's fighting?
I don't get it.
There are some scenes that manage to hit home, especially when Sophie's home is attacked, but for the most part I find all the anti-military crap to be sanctimonious and frankly insulting. It's true, I have some bias here because I was in Air Force ROTC for a while, but while I have respect for members of the armed forces, my limited experience has given me perspective enough to not be unquestioning and basically the kind of stupid that would be on the other side of the same coin here. So while I don't unconditionally call everyone in the military a hero, I also don't unilaterally call them murderers, either, which at one point Howl just flat our states. And while war is tragic and at times pointless, there are times it's necessary, illustrated wonderfully by WWII with the Hitler and Japan taking over the world thing. I'm not going to get into it too much, because frankly that's its own discussion. Safe to say that the movie rather irritated me with this subject matter.
For the most part, though, the movie tries to generate laughs more than anything, mostly with jokes having to do with getting old – something Miyazaki undoubtedly has experience with. There are a number of secondary characters, which mostly serve comedic roles as well, including the Witch of Waste, who is reduced to a "cute" old woman who only really serves as a minor annoyance later on. There isn't a lot that really stands out, though, either story-wise or character-wise. The movie ends pretty much the way you would expect, which is to say not completely happy, but with Sophie and Howl hooking up and even adopting the child wizard who's been Howl's apprentice/assistant, along with the dog who's actually supposed to be a spy for Suliman but apparently just decides to become the family dog instead.
Before I wrap things up, though, I think I should mention another theme I've noticed with Miyazaki. I can't help but notice that all the female characters he wants to portray as being strong tend to have short hair. I also noticed that in the case of two female leads, Sophie being one of them, they start out with long hair and are somewhat weak and unassertive, but their hair is cut or otherwise ends up short as their character develops and they become stronger and more assertive. It's not really important, just something I noticed and thought I'd mention. I'm partial to short hair on women, too, so I guess that's one form of common ground between myself and Miyazaki. I still think he's a hippie, though.
Anyway, this is an interesting and marginally entertaining movie, but I find it to be mostly fluff surrounding an anti-military message. If you like other examples of Miyazaki's work, you'll probably like this, too. Even if you aren't, but you just don't mind being preached at for a few minutes out of two hours, you still might find this movie entertaining. But when it comes to me, I don't much like the sermon, which earns it a -1 modifier in my book, resulting in a score of 6/10.
Val the Moofia Boss
Well-known member
The first half of Howl's Moving Castle is overall good, up until they escape from Suliman. But after the escape, I think it's starts losing steam and it starts becoming a little too incoherent (with the time travel and falling star people and stuff), and sorta ends anti-climatically. What happened to the firebombed countries? Etc.
I think the movie would have been more interesting if they had played up Howl's life as he manages multiple different identities, runs a potion shop as one identity, etc.
I though the romance was rather cringey. Same problem with the vast majority of movie romances: two people meet each other for a few hours, and now all of a sudden they are head over heels for each other? What? Sounds more like lust than a love built up over a long time to me.
Aesthetically, I believe the town Sophie is from is based off of Alsace, a town near the border between France and Germany and switched hands multiple times, so there is a bit of mixing of styles going on there.
AFAIK it's a Japanese entertainment tropes that predates Miyazaki. "Woman cuts her hair symbolizing her resolve" or something like that. Which is sad. Long hair is gorgeous.
I think the movie would have been more interesting if they had played up Howl's life as he manages multiple different identities, runs a potion shop as one identity, etc.
I though the romance was rather cringey. Same problem with the vast majority of movie romances: two people meet each other for a few hours, and now all of a sudden they are head over heels for each other? What? Sounds more like lust than a love built up over a long time to me.
Aesthetically, I believe the town Sophie is from is based off of Alsace, a town near the border between France and Germany and switched hands multiple times, so there is a bit of mixing of styles going on there.
AFAIK it's a Japanese entertainment tropes that predates Miyazaki. "Woman cuts her hair symbolizing her resolve" or something like that. Which is sad. Long hair is gorgeous.
PsihoKekec
Swashbuckling Accountant
The worst part of the movie is at the end when Howl and Sophie declare that they will get married and the witch which is something like king's vizier, says that in this case they can stop the war. I was like, all the bloodletting was just to get Howl hitched?
009-1
(13 episode series)
As you might guess from the title, this is basically the Japanese version of James Bond, naturally featuring mostly female spies. Set in a fictional future where the Cold War never ended, countries have single letter names, and the cybernetic implantation of firearms into one's body isn't all that uncommon, really all this anime has going for it is the amusement factor. Heavy on fan service without any real actual nudity, this show manages to give new meaning to the phrase "killer set of tits", as the main character isn't the only woman who has either machine guns or lasers for nipples, which apparently come standard issue for female spies in the future. The male agents apparently pack, too, though in different parts of their anatomy. I have to say, though, that the character and visual design is a bit odd for a modern anime, and in fact seems to hearken back to '70s anime. Not saying this is bad, just different and maybe worth noting.
The series itself is very episodic in nature, with the only real character development being the title character moving away from being an unquestioning spy into being more of an independent operator. The closest this series comes to a story arc is a plot thread about how there are psychics/telekinetics which the East Block likes to exploit, and the West Block likes to hunt down and kill as soon as they find out about them, the West Block being our side, and the side 009-1 is on. As you might imagine, she kind of has problems with that, as most people who aren't evil really should. There's also a bit with her having a sad back story, and a lost brother who she ends up finding Basically it's about a chick with guns in her tits having action-filled adventure in each episode and that's about it, which earns it a 4/10. It's a fun series, worth watching maybe once and that's about it. It has pretty cool opening, though.
(13 episode series)
As you might guess from the title, this is basically the Japanese version of James Bond, naturally featuring mostly female spies. Set in a fictional future where the Cold War never ended, countries have single letter names, and the cybernetic implantation of firearms into one's body isn't all that uncommon, really all this anime has going for it is the amusement factor. Heavy on fan service without any real actual nudity, this show manages to give new meaning to the phrase "killer set of tits", as the main character isn't the only woman who has either machine guns or lasers for nipples, which apparently come standard issue for female spies in the future. The male agents apparently pack, too, though in different parts of their anatomy.
I have to say, though, that the character and visual design is a bit odd for a modern anime, and in fact seems to hearken back to '70s anime. Not saying this is bad, just different and maybe worth noting.The series itself is very episodic in nature, with the only real character development being the title character moving away from being an unquestioning spy into being more of an independent operator. The closest this series comes to a story arc is a plot thread about how there are psychics/telekinetics which the East Block likes to exploit, and the West Block likes to hunt down and kill as soon as they find out about them, the West Block being our side, and the side 009-1 is on. As you might imagine, she kind of has problems with that, as most people who aren't evil really should. There's also a bit with her having a sad back story, and a lost brother who she ends up finding Basically it's about a chick with guns in her tits having action-filled adventure in each episode and that's about it, which earns it a 4/10. It's a fun series, worth watching maybe once and that's about it. It has pretty cool opening, though.
I love both Princess Mononoke and Moving Castle,even with their anti-war bullshit.
Problems - in Princess we have iron age people,town producing guns,samurai and Emperor with real power in one settling.
I am sorry,but it never occured,becouse iron age people existed till 19th century,but either with samurai or/after 1868/ with Emperor.There was no period when all things existed together.
Moving castle - technology.Even we could not made flying fortress,like in movie ,so all they could have would be biplanes.Maybe some big Iilia Muromiec bombers,too.
About hairs - cutting hair show resolve in Japan.Unless it is Upotte - where assault guns have 2 forms,weapons and girls.And ,in case of guns which could get longer barrel,they would get longer hair,too.
Every part of assault gun have equivalent in human anatomy,and barrel is hair.I forget,which is boobs,unfortunatelly.
Problems - in Princess we have iron age people,town producing guns,samurai and Emperor with real power in one settling.
I am sorry,but it never occured,becouse iron age people existed till 19th century,but either with samurai or/after 1868/ with Emperor.There was no period when all things existed together.
Moving castle - technology.Even we could not made flying fortress,like in movie ,so all they could have would be biplanes.Maybe some big Iilia Muromiec bombers,too.
About hairs - cutting hair show resolve in Japan.Unless it is Upotte - where assault guns have 2 forms,weapons and girls.And ,in case of guns which could get longer barrel,they would get longer hair,too.
Every part of assault gun have equivalent in human anatomy,and barrel is hair.I forget,which is boobs,unfortunatelly.
A Wind Named Amnesia
(1990 movie)
Of the post-apocalyptic variety, this movie tries to ask questions, but in the end only rhetorically.
Basically humanity has reverted to something like cavemen, having lost its civilization along with its memories, which all disappeared one day thanks to a mysterious wind that swept over the entire planet. Fortunately, all the neat toys the military had been playing around with were left behind, one of which was a convenient teaching tool that allowed the main character to relearn how to be human, if not his own actual past. He's taken on the impossible task of restoring humanity to its former self, but really all he can do is drive around in a jeep and help a few people as he comes across them. Along the way he meets a strange woman who also seems to be a normal, civilized human, except for the fact that she seems to know an awful lot about what's going on in any given situation.
In a way this almost would have done better as a series, but it probably wouldn't have been a very good series either. I found it just interesting enough to keep watching, though amusement with the Japanese interpretation of the United States (the movie took place entirely there) helped keep me watching, too. In the end it really didn't pay off. As I'd suspected early on due to some really obvious foreshadowing, the mysterious woman was in fact an alien, and the wind was caused by these aliens, who took it upon themselves to punish humanity, or something like that. I never really understood the reasons, but the message in the end was the standard issue "humanity is growing too fast and too out of harmony with Earth" variety. So really there was nothing special about this movie. The main character didn't even act upset at all at this revelation, and instead had some good-bye sex with the alien chick before she left him in the ruins of his civilization, neither of them really having accomplished anything toward the goal stated in the beginning of the movie, which earns it a 2/10.
(1990 movie)
Of the post-apocalyptic variety, this movie tries to ask questions, but in the end only rhetorically.
Basically humanity has reverted to something like cavemen, having lost its civilization along with its memories, which all disappeared one day thanks to a mysterious wind that swept over the entire planet. Fortunately, all the neat toys the military had been playing around with were left behind, one of which was a convenient teaching tool that allowed the main character to relearn how to be human, if not his own actual past. He's taken on the impossible task of restoring humanity to its former self, but really all he can do is drive around in a jeep and help a few people as he comes across them. Along the way he meets a strange woman who also seems to be a normal, civilized human, except for the fact that she seems to know an awful lot about what's going on in any given situation.
In a way this almost would have done better as a series, but it probably wouldn't have been a very good series either. I found it just interesting enough to keep watching, though amusement with the Japanese interpretation of the United States (the movie took place entirely there) helped keep me watching, too. In the end it really didn't pay off. As I'd suspected early on due to some really obvious foreshadowing, the mysterious woman was in fact an alien, and the wind was caused by these aliens, who took it upon themselves to punish humanity, or something like that. I never really understood the reasons, but the message in the end was the standard issue "humanity is growing too fast and too out of harmony with Earth" variety. So really there was nothing special about this movie. The main character didn't even act upset at all at this revelation, and instead had some good-bye sex with the alien chick before she left him in the ruins of his civilization, neither of them really having accomplished anything toward the goal stated in the beginning of the movie, which earns it a 2/10.