A film like Princess Mononoke must surely be every composer’s dream – a story with a truly grand scope, powerful conflicts of ideology, several overarching themes and several interesting, recurring characters. Such content would certainly provide an endless stream of inspiration for bolder musical themes, motifs, and avenues for development within a score as opposed to the more intimate, personal works Hisaishi had scored for Ghibli leading up to the mid-90s. The work most…..
Combing through lists of anime films in the hope of stumbling upon overlooked gems is a process which becomes tedious rather quickly, but it is the occasional discoveries of films like Junkers Come Here that continue to push me back on track when the effort becomes tiresome. While televised anime often build cult followings to keep some semblance of awareness alive, it seems more common for films to fade into history unless associated with a company or famous director, which …
Hotarubi no Mori e is based on one of the earlier works of Midorikawa Yuki, a mangaka primarily known for her more recent Natsume Yuujinchou – a series that I often hold as an example of commercial success falling upon a work that wholly deserves it. Natsume Yuujinchou is part of a relatively rare breed in the world of televised anime – a series that can be enjoyed by any viewer of any age and communicates admirable messages about kindness, …
Over twenty years ago, amidst the backdrop of a rural Japanese town, My Neighbor Totoro explored both the boundless imagination and the underlying fragility of childhood, setting the standard for the genre. Mai Mai Shinko to Sennen no Mahou (released as Mai Mai Miracle in English) takes many cues from that earlier work, but diverges from the established path to present something fresh and worthwhile while simultaneously feeling like a spiritual partner. The influence of the former thus takes away no …
I have always felt a little uneasy when discussing Makoto Shinkai ever since my first viewing of 5cm Per Second, a film which I had watched due to the constant praise heaped upon it by several like-minded acquaintances. My impression of Shinkai after that film was that he was more of a visual artist than a storyteller – yes, he could beautifully render a certain mood and present a snapshot of an emotion or feeling within a scene , and …
According to the Furusato Japan’s website, the WAO Corporation, which has funded the production film, describes itself as providing general education services across Japan. This film, then, represents one of their areas of interest – making films with strong messages for audiences, particularly youth, across the country. Furusato Japan is a film which tries to communicate the importance of maintaining traditions and culture, in this case, traditional children’s songs, by using a story of a school in post-war Japan. …
After roughly a ten year gap, Hiroyuki Okiura, the man responsible for the critically well-recieved but generally little-known Jin-Roh, returns with Momo e no Tegami. Though the film won’t be released even in Japan until 2012, a very early premier was, surprisingly, held at the Toronto International Film Festival (which I gleefully attended). While Jin-Roh was a dark and adult character drama, Momo is a completely different kind of story, one that is friendly to all ages and treads territory …
Kokuriko-Zaka Kara (From Up on Poppy Hill) marks the second full-length film by Miyazaki’s son, Goro, after his first attempt, Earthsea (Gedo Senki), received only middling response from most Ghibli fans and critics alike. Admittedly, the Ghibli fan response, including my own, was influenced in part by his father’s disapproval at Goro’s sudden rise to director status, something which was exploited fairly heavily by the media – who are always eager for a dramatic headline. Although it is impossible to tell to …
Dennou Coil is a near-future science fiction series which revolves around a group of children entrenched in the fad of their generation – special glasses which overlay a virtual reality onto the real world. This technology, of course, serves a purpose in the infrastructure of the adult world, but for the children – at first, at least – it is a source of high-tech entertainment. The havoc they cause is cleaned up by the authorities, who monitor the junk floating …
The quirk of reviewing longer series is that their appeal so often depends on the slowly developed attachment they allow you to form with their characters and setting – something which is often hard to communicate in words, and is a direct result of the gentle pace that these series can afford. Kemono no Souja Erin takes full advantage of its length of fifty episodes – it takes us though many years in the life of its protagonist, Erin, allowing us …
Username: Theowne Real Name: Prasanth Interests: Studio Ghibli, French classical music, physics, piano, Japanese, Indian classical music. Occupation: Computer Engineering Student Currently an intern at IBM. Location: Toronto, Canada Contact: Feel free to strike up a convo at " theowne [AT] gmail [DOT] com. Omohide?: The old spelling of omoide, meaning "memories". A reference to the film 'Omohide Poroporo'
