Whisper of the heart and a box!

This is a title in the Studio Ghibi Catalogue originally released in 1995 I had very briefly as I had a lot of pausing issues on the original 2006 dvd that proved most frustrating so unfortunately it had to go.

In essence this is a coming of age story around junior high student Shizuku Tsukishima, who is quite popular, has a real talent for writing which can be seen in her new lyrics for the John Denver song Take Me Home,Country Roads which is to be performed for her junior high graduation. She's also a very avid reader taking book upon book out of the library that is just switching from paper card booking systems to a computerized one. 

The change saddens her because she likes to see who took out the book previously and notices a boy called Seiji Amasawa has taken out many of those she reads.

Taking the train to the library one day she notices a ginger lone cat sitting next to her who leads her off onto an adventure introducing her to an antique shop who we later learn is owned by the boys grandfather and although things are awkward between them at first in time, it becomes obvious they are in love with each other and both have self doubts about their talents, Seija with his violin making and playing abilities and Shizuku with her writing whose preoccupation with appears to override her need to get good grades to go the a good high school to complete her education.

Spotting in the antique shop a cat statue of The Baron and its story, this inspires her to work very hard for hours per day writing a story that promises to show Seiji's grandfather first and this leads to her exploring her hopes and fears set out in her book Whisper Of The Heart.

That is really the main focus of this anime rather less than the romance between her and Seiji, looking at what it is she wishes to do in her professional life, and indeed the new lyrics to Take Me Home Country Road, is not only about the personal road upon she is set but expresses a nostalgia for the rapidly disappearing rural landscapes of Japan.

I really enjoyed watching this full length anime for its themes and where The Baron 's sequences inspired Studio Ghibi to make The Cat Returns in 2002.

If you were rather observant you may of noticed something on the top of the first picture that hasn't been on any of the anime entries here before.

 

Er yes two words "Blu Ray" cos after the end of the VHS era circa 2000, we had a dvd player where most of my anime titles were first bought on and I bought my last dvd player April 28th 2014 which was a Toshiba that played discs from anywhere in the world.

Since then a number of things happened such as our main tv got bigger (32 inches) and the market has stabilized somewhat with disc prices coming down so I acquired a Panasonic Blu Ray player.

Mine though has been ahem modified  so the dvd playback is multi-regional which as as well as just over half my dvd's are North American releases while the blu ray section is just Region B (GB and Ireland, Europe and Australasia)

 

It also has RCA sockets for audio output and even composite video which is seriously retro apart from HDMI, the modern does everything including handshake digital standard.

Its reproduction of the anime was extremely good with loads of definition and sharpness on the newer television.

The Wind Rises

It's Halloween  soon but apart from having a ghoulish time of it tonight I have a new anime to watch.

A little different than most because it is very much about Jiro a Japanese aeronautical designer who worked for Mitshibushi who was inspired by the Italian Caproni who because he'd been near sighted from a young age wasn't able to become a pilot joins the company in 1927.

He goes on to become one of the world's most innovative and accomplished airplane designers and in that respect this anime by Hayao Miyazaki is a tribute to him.

A secondary interest in this anime, unexpected and much appreciated by me watching it is the romance between Jiro and Nahoko who is ill with tuberculosis marrying her. 

Some of the scenes showing his love for her during periods where she was very ill are really moving.

The anime, chronicles much of his life time, the Great Kanto Earthquake of 1923, the Great Depression and the entrance of Japan into war in 1937.


The film also explores the growing friendship between him and his colleague Honja.
While some have criticized this anime for being ambivalent on what Jiro designed, warplanes that were a important part of Japan's war machinery, the overall message is one of how war only brings down countries and anti war opinions are voiced.

Overall I thought this was a really good anime, a fitting tribute not just to Jiro but also to the director.

From Up On Poppy Hill

Today I talk about a dvd that was issued on September 23rd in the UK.

Called From Up On Poppy Hill, this anime stage play by Hayao Miyazaki and lovingly directed by his son, Goro, is a coming of age romance set in Yokohama, Japan in 1963, just 18 years after the end of World War Two and the establishment of modern day Japan.

Set in the ramshackle club house of their high school , it charts the romance of Umi and Shun as they join forces to save it from demolition for a new sports facility for the (then) upcoming 1964 Tokyo Olympics. 

The musical score is jazz based and features Sukiyaki the World conquering  1963 Japanese song that had a cover version by Kenny Ball's trad jazz  band in the UK.

The animation as is usually the case from this studio, Studio Ghilbi, is unapologetically old school cell drawn and all the better for it allowing you to concentrate on the story.
Strongly recommended. 

Arrietty

I had this for a while but forgot to write about it with having a damaged disc on arrival to deal with.

Arrietty is  based upon the classic English children's book The Borrowers by Mary Norton, this adaptation takes the action to Tokyo where Arrietty's family are discovered in a mansion by Sho, a young boy.

The anime was developed by Hayao Miyazaki and directed by Hiromasa Yonebayashi being released on dvd and blu ray January 9th in the UK.

This anime is well up to the Studio Ghibi standards being a largely faithful retelling of the original story but with a poignant ending as Arrietty realizes she and the Big People have to live alone departing with gifts from Sho.

Recommended to all.

Panda Go Panda!

Originally released back in May 2009 I missed getting this dvd until prompted buy discussion in chat and a too good to be true offer by Amazon.
This is the acclaimed produced Hayao Miyazaki first ever production from 1972 which wasn't seen outside of Japan .
Cheerful Mimiko has a very strange family for a little girl - a Panda for her Papa, and his son, Panny, calls her Mom! Join this happy family and their many adventures! When Panny follows Mimiko to school, he must pretend to be a teddy bear so Mimiko won't get into trouble, but everyone wants a cute Panda! Despite his efforts to behave, Panny causes trouble in the school kitchen, and now the whole school is after Panny! Then, Panny makes a new friend, Tiny, a baby tiger who's wandered off from the circus. Getting Tiny back to his mom becomes the first adventure, but after a hard rain, the whole town is flooded and Mimiko, Papa Panda and Panny must rescue Tiny and other animals from the trapped circus train
I think the panda's awful cute.

Kanon & Ocean waves

This was a four disc region 1 dvd set I got for Christmas and have been watching recently.
The story is narrated through Yuichi who hasn't seen his cousin Nayuki in years. 

Upon his return seemingly all his knowledge of ever visiting has vanished. He senses something vaguely familiar around his surroundings trying his best to adjust but his memory gaps haunt him as time grows ever short.

He sees in time the pieces of this puzzle, the mysterious girl with the winged backpack, a sword wielding dragon slayer and an eerie silent beauty with blazing tresses but it's up to Yuichi to discover how all these pieces of the puzzle fit together.

This entry is a bit late as I've had the dvd since it's release over here one that wasn't without being put back a few times. It's also worth noting that this title isn't and will not be released in North America because it was not part of the deal done by Disney who distribute Studio Ghilbi there.

This offering was one that Hayao Miyazaki, co-founder of Studio Ghibli and the director of many highly regarded Ghibli titles played no part in. This has left this title which gives younger staff members an opportunity to shine to be neglected in the West

Ocean Waves is a story impacting only on three characters, Taku and Yutaka who are joined by Rikako (a transfer student from Tokyo), locked inside their own small little world. 

It's a story covering the journey towards adulthood of three high schoolers, where the friendship of two is damaged by the one thing besides hate that can destroy bonds - love.

It is a moving story which I enjoyed although the characterization revealed in the story for Yutaka was too short and we only see the selfish side of Rikako rather then the mature woman she became.

Kiki's Delivery Service

At the instigation of a online friend from a forum I recently bought this title in the acclaimed Studio Ghibi collection.

Adapted by Hayao Miyazaki from the Japanese childrens book by Eiko Kadono, it is about Kiki - a thirteen-year-old witch, and daughter of a witch - who is eager to leave home and spend a year working away from home. Her only talent is flying on her broomstick, but she sets off with her black cat JiJi) and finds a big city by the sea that she decides to live in.

She makes a deal with the bread store owner to work for her board in store that soon transforms into a courier service delivering anything from pies to pets. In this activity she -a polite, cheerful if naive child - encounters the rudeness and spoilt behaviour of others especially of a girl of her own age.

She encounters a boy on a bicycle who becomes her friend but undergoes a crisis of confidence losing her ability to fly. Only by looking into herself can she regains her abilities saving the boy from a Zeppelin flight that goes disastrously wrong.

What I liked about was the attention to detail in the drawings coupled with the message of triumph over adversity it presents.

Laputa: Castle in the Sky

Anime is a passion of mine and recently I bought this acclaimed anime to add to my collector upon recommendation by friends from the Studio Ghibi catalogue.

The high-flying journey begins when Pazu, an engineer's apprentice, finds a young girl, Sheeta, floating down from the sky, wearing a glowing pendant. Together, they discover both of them  are searching for the legendary floating castle, Laputa, vowing to unravel the mystery of the luminous crystal around her neck. 

Their quest it has to be said will not be easy, however for there are sky pirates, secret agents and monumental obstacles stopping them from discovering the truth - and each other. 

 However, Laputa is more than it appears, and some seek to use it for evil.
Director Hayao Miyazaki's love of air travel shows through this anime that I greatly enjoyed.

Edited 2017 from dvd to blu ray edition by Tammy

Spirited Away

One thing I enjoy is animation and this anime from 2001 is one that I recently watched.

The story is centred on Chihiro, a headstrong 10 year old girl who is very unhappy that her family are relocating and so she'd have new friends.

Making their way toward the new home, her father takes a detour to explore a mysterious tunnel in the woods while on what is the other side there appears to be a deserted theme park but is actually a ghostly town.

Without realizing it they have strayed into the Land of the Spirits, a world of dreamy scenery that is inhabited by ancient gods and magical beings ruled over by the sorceress, Yubaba.
Chihiro's parents are held hostage and with Yubaba set on enslaving them forever, she must use all her energy to survive in her new strange environment.

Aided by Haku, a young brave spirit, she is forced to overcome her fears joining an epic battle for her family's freedom.

I hugely enjoyed watching this which won the 2003 Oscar for the best animated film which in the opinion of many has set a new benchmark in animation.

Tag altered in 2017 for blu ray version.

Princess Mononoke

Anime is a thing I'm interested in especially when it tells stories vividly and recently I got this one.

Made in 1997, it depicts the clash between the natural world and its old gods and the rise of humans with the beginning of of modern civilization, showing three elements of the Japanese  psyche warring for supremacy in the form of an ecological fable

Young warrior Ashitaka sustains a wound that refuses to heel from battling with a cursed beast.

Anxious to secure a remedy for this supernatural injury, he leaves the remote village he lives for the forbidding forests of the west where he discovers an enclave of humans under siege from divine powers. 

They are the deities of the past, the wolf gods and a wild girl of the forest called San.

Updated 2017 for blu ray image and tag

The Cat Returns

Directed by Hiroyuki Morita, This anime recently bought, is a fantasy adventure ideal for feline fans and younger audiences.

The story revolves around Haru, who is a free spirited young girl, who along the way home from school spots a cat trying to cross and busy street, rushes out to save it using her racket just as it was about to be crushed by a large truck.

She discovers the cat she rescued is the Cat Kings son, Prince Lune and soon she receives an invitation to visit the Kingdom of Cats from the King himself as thanks.

It is not before long that she realizes there is a catch in accepting the offer, namely the King wishes her to marry Lune and so she has to decide if it is she wishes to stay within the Kingdom of Cats, being a Nekimimi (catgirl) or return to her own world.

She is helped by the Baron, first seen in Whisper of the heart, and his friends in making the decisions she wishes.

The animation is first class holding your attention as you are dragged into the story while delivering an important message about being true to yourself.

Pix and tag edit 2017 for blu ray edition

Nausicaa-Of The Valley Of The Wind

This anime was the second animated feature by director Hayao Miyazaki and for it he chose to adapt his own best selling manga whose huge success in Japan help launch Studio Ghibi and this anime bears all the hallmarks that its output over the years  features in its successes, namely magical kingdoms, great characters and stunning animation.

The story is routed in the past, a thousand years ago after a big war where a seaside kingdom known as the Valley of the Wind is one of the few areas that remain populated.
The people of the Valley, lead by the courageous Princess Nausicaa are engaged in a constant battle with the Ohmu, a most powerful group of insects who are guarding a poisonous jungle that is spreading across the Earth.

In the anime, we see Princess Nausicaa  and her brave companions working with the people of the Valley, striving to restore the bond between humanity and the earth.

One of the most important messages in it I feel is that as people we need to work alongside nature  for our own well-being.

Edited 2017 for blu ray pix.