What I watched in APRIL 2013: Digest Version, part 2 of 2

b From Up on Poppy Hill: A lovely, enjoyable, slice-of-life sort of movie.  Gorgeous on the big screen with its hills and coastline.  This is a studio Ghibli film, directed by the famous Miyazaki's son (and apparently much better than his last one).  The dub was great, too.

b Magic Users' Club: This mostly light-hearted and goofy fantasy series starts with one of the most ridiculously-shaped alien invasion ever and continues in general ridiculous, over-the-topness, and sometimes realistically awkward romantic geometric shapes.  I really enjoyed it and found it a fun thing to play in the background as I assembled and organized a massive amount of medical records into a PHR.  (You really need something funny when you are doing this.)  The dub suffers from sounds-like-they-recorded-this-in-a-tiled-bathroom syndrome but is generally pretty serviceable and sometimes a total hoot.

b Strawberry Marshmallow 1: Bwahahaha.  So cute.  Makes me happy.  I really enjoyed it and found it a fun thing to play in the background as I assembled and organized a massive number of medical records into a coherent PHR.  (You really need something funny when you are doing this.)

b Zatch Bell!, 10: Oh, big brother Kanchome.  And Folgore.  And everything.  What a fun, ridiculous show.  I really enjoyed it and found it a fun thing to play in the background as I assembled and organized a massive number of medical records into a coherent PHR.  (You really need something funny when you are doing this.)

Super Awesome Studio Ghibli Marathon, Part 4

Oh, the crazy.  Not only did I tackle National Novel Writing Month, but then I discovered that a local theater was playing a chunk of Studio Ghibli movies (each for only a couple days), and how often does that happen?   So I made it work.  Somehow.

b Whisper of the Heart: Oh, Country Roads.  I love it when someone just gets obsessed with a song and uses it in some other medium.  This one is STs favorite, I think, and I really loved it, too.  It was nice to see it all in it's inspiring, romantic, and awkward glory.  I like how it's kind of open-ended.  I mean, you hope they'll keep their promise and stuff, but you don't really know.  I like how the kids inspire each other.  And the Baron is pretty great, as was that clock.  I like how there's always a family in the background and some normal family troubles to ground the fantasy elements.  I got kind of choked up.

b Only Yesterday: This one had some odd animation.  There was something off about the main character's face when she smiled; it was just a little creepy.  I had some trouble following the time jumps, and it took me an embarrassingly long time to realize the flashback family was the older girl's past.  It was late, and that probably made things seem more confusing.  Anyway, what an odd duck this film was.  It was one of the most Japanese Ghibli films, I think, grounded with almost ruthless firmness in history and nature.  Maybe this is why Disney never released it here?  I can't tell you how much I wanted to slap those horrible, petty, spiteful older sisters when they spiked her chance to finally do something she was good at.  Dividing fractions.  Sigh.  I learned quite a bit about all sorts of things that will never help me win on Jeopardy. : )

Super Awesome Studio Ghibli Marathon, Part 3

Oh, the crazy.  Not only did I tackle National Novel Writing Month, but then I discovered that a local theater was playing a chunk of Studio Ghibli movies (each for only a couple days), and how often does that happen?   So I made it work.  Somehow.

b Kiki's Delivery Service: This was another one I had seen and forgotten most of the details of. It has been a long time since I saw this one.  I found it more confusing this time, but that may have been the exhaustion catching up to me.  I liked the nice couple she stayed with a lot, and I loved the warm feeling of the movie overall.  This didn't make the dangerous bits any less heart-pounding, which is for the good, I think.

b The Cat Returns: This one was in English for some strange reason.  And they played it before Whisper of the Heart (it's a sort of "sequal" to Whisper" but not really.)  This one was pretty trippy, so I suspect it's supposed to be for the younger kids.  But even Totoro had Japanese showings, so I'm baffled about that.  There's this girl, and she saves a cat, but he's a prince of the cat world, so the cat king tries to reward her, and things just get very strange.  It's okay because the baron (and I like his character design much better in this version) saves the day, true love conquers some, physics are mocked wonderfully, and everybody lives happily ever after, including the disagreeable, surly bouncer cat.

Super Awesome Studio Ghibli Marathon, Part 2

Oh, the crazy.  Not only did I tackle National Novel Writing Month, but then I discovered that a local theater was playing a chunk of Studio Ghibli movies (each for only a couple days), and how often does that happen?   So I made it work.  Somehow.

b Castle in the Sky: This was grand and magical and lovely on the big screen. I had seen it before but forgotten all the specifics (seriously all of them).  I just knew there was flying and adventure and that I would adore it on a huge screen.  And I did.

b Porco Rosso:  This was another one I had seen and forgotten most of the details of.  I just knew it had flying and would likely be gorgeous on a movie screen.  And it was.  This one is kind of non-standard, too, in that the protagonist is a middle aged man.  We gather these tantalizing bits of backstory (he was an ace pilot in WWI who left the air force because he hates fascism, he's watched a lot of camrades die, he thinks he doesn't deserve to be loved and that anyone he loves will die or be hurt), but they are just bits you pick up when you meet someone and get to know them a little, not the focus of anything.  Mostly it's flying and air piracy and brawling and rousing adventure and romance on the Mediterranean.

b My Neighbor Totoro: Animation and style a bit dated?  Yes.  Does it matter?  No!  I loved seeing this one in a theater with actual children who actually liked it.  They were Japanese children since I didn't go to a subtitled show, but still.  That scene in the rain with the umbrellas was awesomely loud!  Warm, weird fuzzies abounded.  A good time was had by all.  Really a marvelous film, so I'm glad I was able to see if larger than life. 

Super Awesome Studio Ghibli Marathon, Part 1

Oh, the crazy.  Not only did I tackle National Novel Writing Month, but then I discovered that a local theater was playing a chunk of Studio Ghibli movies (each for only a couple days), and how often does that happen?   So I made it work.  Somehow. 

b Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind: I hadn't seen this yet because I was going to buy it, you know, someday.  It's true that the manga has much more depth because it has more room to cover ground, but the movie holds together just fine.  Oh, so lovely.  It's "dated," but the watercolor feeling is kind of perfect.

b Pom Poko: What a thoroughly depressing movie.  It has its moments, and it has plenty of time to have those moments in.  Man vs. nature.  (SPOILER: Nature loses.)  On the way, there are plenty of totally Japanese folklore things that would make American parents have strokes.  Most of these things have to do with the tanuki and their magical shapeshifting (especially of a particular body part that most Americans don't even want their kids to know about even if they possess it).  The ending tries to be hopeful, but it just left me feeling tired and sad.  I still have no idea why Disney released this one, but I don't care why.  I think I'm just glad they didn't play it in English.  My favorite part of the movie was definitely the comment someone (looking a bit shell-shocked) made while exiting the theater: "Well, that movie had balls."

b My Neighbors the Yamadas: So, if there is one movie in this series that is NOT like the others visually, it's this one.  It's a movie based on a manga series (and I suspect it's a 4-koma series) about this wacky, sort of whimsical, quirky, normal everyday family composed of a mom, dad, older brother, younger sister, and grandma.  The animation style is unique and simplified and varied.  I cannot gush enough about the sound design, which was amazing and fascinating.  Also, there is a ton of poetry in this movie, and it's unexpected and perfect.