The Wind Rises

It's Halloween here today 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 nearsighted 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 seconary 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.

Happy halloween folks!

Howl's Moving Castle

Today I'm going to talk about an anime I've always liked from 2004 and recently bought

Howl's Moving Castle is based upon the book by britisher Diana Wynne and is set in a magical world of wizardry and spells we follow the adventures of Sophie and her incredibly Odyssey to lift  a witch's curse all while being swept off her feet Howl a handsome and mysterious wizard who kindly offers her refuge in his most magical moving castle.
Howl as a character while being quite enchanting can at times by very childish, self-centred and tormented even while Sophie, is a beautiful but very reserved young woman who is rather mousey and soft-spoken.
She has a sister called Lettie but in the story she only has a small part to play as worker in the bakery and so only shows up in just one scene.
What I love about this is goes beyond the story but to director Hayao Miyzazki brilliant animation and inspirational story telling in  this art form.

Pix edit August 2017 for blu ray edition

Laputa: Castle in the Sky

I recently brought this anime for my collection

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 thropugh this anime that I greatly enjoyed.

Edited 2017 from dvd to blu ray edition by Miss J Chan.

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 racquet 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 Nasusicaa 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.