Category Archives: Anime

Jan 26 2012

Paprika

Viewed – 25 January 2012  Blu-ray

I had previously only been aware of Japanese animation guru Satoshi Kon after seeing the brilliant Perfect Blue some years ago, and on hearing of his  passing in 2010 from pancreatic cancer, I always promised myself I would seek out anything else he had made.  Paprika, adapted from the novel by Yasutaka Tsutsui, follows the story of an experimental device that enables therapists to enter the dreams of their patients in order to help them.  When the device is stolen, chaos erupts as reality and the world of the dream collide.

This is a startlingly visual experience, awash with colour and imagination.  Kon’s movie assaults the senses and really blew my mind.  It plays with your perception of what is real and what isn’t, much like he did in Perfect Blue, but this time its much more avant garde and limitless, showing a director at the top of his game.  Sad it was to be his last feature.  Yet Satoshi Kon has left the world on a glorious high note, delivering one of the most beautiful and imaginative animated movies I have ever seen.  The detail and wonder on display here, along with utterly freaky music and sound, is often quite breath-taking (the reoccurring image of the parade, the gloriously weird theme tune etc).

Ok, it’s quite hard to follow with the kaleidoscopic style and imagery at times overwhelming, but conventional story structure is not the big selling point here, more the look and ideas, with many visual references including classic Japanese TV show ‘Monkey’, and Disney’s Pinocchio.  Christopher Nolan has cited it as his inspiration for the similar Inception, and also in my opinion it has much in common with David Cronenberg’s Videodrome.

A unique, brain-melting event of a movie that I urge you to seek out immediately.

Verdict:  4 /5

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Jan 14 2012

Arrietty

Viewed – 13 January 2012  Blu-ray

I have to admit, I am a great admirer of the movies from acclaimed Japanese animation masters Studio Ghibli, with Spirited Away and Ponyo being two of my favourites.  This latest entry tells the tale of a tiny girl, who along with her mother and father, live under the floor boards of a huge house, unbeknownst to the humans occupying it.  At night they creep out to scavenge for supplies in order to survive … but it’s not stealing, they are Borrowers, as in the classic children’s books by Mary Norton.  Stepping into the shoes of recently retired studio head Hayao Miyzaki is Hiromasa Yonebayashi in his directing debut, and let’s just say, the studio is in good hands.

From the start, this is magical stuff.  The way the world of Arrietty and her family is captured, from their perspective is stunning, with as expected from Ghibli, wonderfully detailed animation and gorgeous art, making you feel like you are right there with them in a huge world.  The sound design is also exceptional and greatly adds to the atmosphere.  Arrietty’s story, that of a little girl who befriends a human boy suffering from a heart disease, is touching and well observed.  The voice casting is generally good, especially from The Lovely Bones’ Saoirse Ronan in the lead, although the boy proves less interesting, with a very bland, wooden performance … which does lessen the movie’s emotional impact.  The story also lacks the sort of peril you might expect, and it’s not all that exciting either.  Even when the house keeper makes an alarming discovery, and a rescue is set into motion – you never feel anyone is in particular danger.

Don’t get me wrong however, this is a movie that despite such gripes, is still filled with wonderful imagination and bags of personality, as well as beautiful animation and a very memorable theme tune.  I found the ending to be a bit of a let down, but overall … this still enchanted the hell out of me.

Verdict:  3.5 /5

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Jul 14 2010

The best of 2010 so far

As we’re just over half way through the year, I got thinking of what have been the best movies I have sat and enjoyed this year, so far?

Here’s a quick run down, in no particular order:

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Jul 2 2010

Ponyo

Viewed – 02 July 2010  Blu-ray

Although an avid fan of animation, especially Disney and Pixar, I also love far eastern ‘anime’, and first got a taste for it with the highly regarded Akira.  But as I’ve mentioned before, the movie’s of famed animation house Studio Ghibli don’t go for cyber-punk bikers or gun-toting femme-fatales, but rather heart warming family stories with more than a touch of magic.  I’ve now seen three of the studio’s movies, having previously enjoyed both the Oscar-winning Spirited Away and the cult-classic Princess Mononoke.  But this one, although in the same art-style and with much of the same talent behind the scenes, offers a more wholesome, mainstream story, with only a glossy shimmer of other-worldy Japanese oddness that blighted those other two.

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Feb 24 2010

Princess Mononoke

Viewed – 24 February 2010  DVD

I’ve always been an admirer of Japanese animation, first getting an appetite for it with the classic sci-fi masterpiece Akira, then further more growing my appreciation with Ghost In The Shell and Perfect Blue.  Yet the movies of famed artist Hayao Miyazaki offer a different spin on Jap anime, namely fantastical dream-like worlds, wierd characters and compelling storylines.  With a maturity to them not often found in the medium.

This tells the tale of a young Prince who after saving his village from a demonic boar, is cursed during the battle and forced to leave.  He soon stumbles upon the plight of mining colony who seem  hell-bent on destroying the local forest, regardless of the spirits and animals present, due to a power-hungry governess.  At the same time the Prince spots a young girl who is living amongst the wolves, and the villagers refer to her as Princess Mononoke, the wolf-girl.  Before long the Prince is torn between his loyalty to a village that take him in and the survival of a sacred forest, as war breaks out.

This grand spectacle is full of quirky characters, some decent voice acting from the American cast shoe-horned in to replace the original Japanese (Claire Danes especially giving Princess Mononoke plenty of attitude), but its Miyazaki’s magical world and that charming Japanese art style that wins through, with a good story where you are soon routing for Princess Mononoke and the Prince and booing the villains.  At two and a quarter hours, it’s certainly epic, both in imagination and emotion, and it’s not hard to see why this is so regarded among movie fans; yet it also remains somewhat lacking in mainstream appeal, with plenty of time given to bland dialogue and mundane moments like eating and working, that may alienate some viewers.  I didn’t enjoy it quite as much as the other Miyazaki movie I’ve seen, Spirited Away, and some of the animation seems in need of restoration, but regardless – this was still time well spent.

Verdict:  3 /5