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putschki1969 · 26 days

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2024/03/30 Blog post by Wakana ジブリをうたうコンサート〜全私が泣いた日〜

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“Ghibli wo Utau” Concert~A Night Of Tears~

“Ghibli wo Utau” Concert ~ Produced by Satoshi Takebe was held on March 27th (*'▽'*) It still feels like a dream to be able to perform at a tribute concert for my all-time favourite Studio Ghibli works. Today I will be sharing plenty of photos from that concert! It was held at Tokyo International Forum Hall A✨ The screen at the back shows famous scenes from each work. When I was singing, I believe they showed San and Moro in the background 😍 (I was facing the audience the whole time so I couldn't see them...)

This time, I chose a dress inspired by San from Princess Mononoke 👗 It was so cute ♡ Here I am together with Mr. Satoshi Takebe who is literally a super-human, he was hosting the whole event, taking charge of the MCs, performed on the piano and he also arranged all the songs for this concert😂😂It's amazing😂 When I was asked to sing ``Princess Mononoke'' for the album, I remember that at first I jumped up and down with joy but then I quickly started to feel anxious, wondering whether I would be able to do a good job... However, when I saw Takebe-san and everyone involved in the production working so incredibly hard to make a good album, I swore to myself that I would give my very best and work as hard as I could. I am grateful to Takebe-san for always believing in me and never giving up on me! ! Takebe-san, thank you very much for your hard work! ! ･:*+.\(( °ω° ))/.:+

This was my first time collaborating with Leo Ieiri! I got to sing “Itsumo Nando Demo” together with her, it was so much fun 😊 She was a very kind and wonderful person...😳✨ We actually have something in common, we are both Sagittariuses from Fukuoka, that made me happy 😊 I hope to see you again✨

And here I am with Shigeru Kishida from “Quruli”! We had our picture taken while I got to hold my personal Totoro😂 During the concert, I watched most of the artists' performances from the stage side wings, Kishida-san's story was particularly funny 😂 It seems like Takebe-san tends to call him "Shige-chan" 😂 So cute 😂 Not only his performance of “My Neighbor Totoro” but also “Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea” was amazing!

I also had a photo taken together with Kaela Kimura! She is too cute~~🥺💕 I felt the audience get even more excited during Kaela's "Rouge's Message"😊 She is a very powerful and charming performer😍

I brought a lot of my Ghibli mascots with me that day, actually, everything except Tet was a gift from my fans 😂 All of you really know and understand me...😭✨Thank you😭✨ (Totoro and his friends on the right, Acorn and Kurosuke are matryoshka dolls. Ashitaka and Kodama are finger puppets, and Totoro on the left is a pouch!)

The Totoro cream puffs provided by the catering service were super cute! (It doesn't even look out of place when lined up side by side with all of my mascots!)

I really enjoyed reflecting on that special day with lots of photos! I was among the first ones to perform so I actually wanted to tell all of you in advance that you should make sure to arrive in time 😂 And then when I stood on stage, I immediately started looking for familiar faces in the audience😂

It was my first time standing on stage with so many artists since I became a solo artist so I was a little nervous... I sang while thinking of all of you, believing that my botanical friends were definitely there in among the many gathered fans! 😂 Thank you to everyone who came and everyone who supported me...😭✨ I was beyond thrilled to be able to participate in a concert that allowed me to be so involved with Ghibli's music! The concert will be streamed on U-NEXT on May 18th, so please look forward to it ＼＼\\٩( 'ω' )و //／／

Also, the submission deadline for the next "Talk Garden" episode is tomorrow! This time's theme is "Something I Want to Ask Wakana/Something I Want Wakana to Talk About"! 😊 Please send it here ↓↓ https://wakana-fc.jp/answers/botanical_oshaberi_8/new

Finally, here are some fun photos~☆ YAY! ! (I'm floating in the air)

Until next time~☆( *'▽'*)/

＊＊＊Wakana＊＊＊

Wakana to Perform at Everyday's Omatsuri

Wakana will appear at "AirTrip Presents Everyday's Omatsuri 2024" featuring a variety of amazing artists, held every day from July 3rd to July 15th! Wakana will be performing as part of a two-man live together with RYTHEM on July 13th, starting at 19:00. Please look forward to it! ! (Source)

《Performance overview》 Title: “AirTrip presents Everyday's Omatsuri 2024” Date and time:July 13, 2024 Open 18:30 / Start 19:00 Venue: Yokohama Red Brick Warehouse Performers: RYTHEM・Wakana Ticket type: Luxury seats 7,000 yen / Premium seats 6,500 yen / General seats 6,000 yen Official site: http://omatsuridays.jp/ Advanced ticket lottery for FC members of Botanical Land has started! ! 【Application period】4/1～4/8 【Results】4/12～【Payment period】4/12～4/14

#kalafina #wakana #wakana blog #botanical land #fan club exclusive content #Ghibli wo Utau Concert #Everyday's Omatsuri 2024 #Everyday's Omatsuri

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lady-of-the-spirit · 1 year

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ohhh please tell me your thoughts about Princess Mononoke, i've only seen it once (fairly recently) but i'd love to hear someone's thoughts other than my mom who didnt "get" it

anon I've had this in my inbox for a couple of months now because I've been trying NOT to go on a whole rant about the movie and have something coherent to say. but I was thinking about it last night as I was answering other asks and I've got something to say.

the post that I think inspired this ask was a result of me watching Brother Bear for the first time with some friends and one of them (knowing I love the movie) called it the American Princess Mononoke which (even based on my basic knowledge of BB) I called bs on. (I loved the movie don't worry but it was wildly different from Princess Mononoke). But anyway, after the movie was over we kept talking about Princess Mononoke and we started on Lady Eboshi and I remembered that some people have different interpretations on her than I do (and the movie itself does).

The way the movie deals with morality is so interesting, especially in how it intersects with the theme of nature vs civilization. Because it could be seen as a kind of standard, "save the forests, civilization is bad and evil" lesson. And that would be valid. the plot kicks off because Lady Eboshi brought in her guns and rifles and killed one of the forest gods and Nago ended up cursing Ashitaka. the massacre led by the samurai, killing off all those villagers. Iron Town itself, destroying the entire mountain and Lady Eboshi eventually killing the Forest Spirit. It's demonstrated over and over again that humans are Shit and destroying nature. it would have been so easy portray humans and their civilizations as the villains here.

Except it's more complicated than that. Because the people who are making up Iron Town are essentially refugees from the rest of civilization, people who have been forgotten in the rest of the world - brothel girls, lepers. Lady Eboshi comes along with her warriors and her rifles, and she destroys the mountain, kills the forest and the boars, but she also creates a safe haven for the people who were at risk. she creates a society where these people can live freely and also where they don't have to live in fear of whoever is in charge. everyone respects her but also they don't fear her, the women and lepers can joke and talk freely as much as they want.

And what's more, is that Lady Eboshi is shown to not just be using them, she actually wants to help them. She wants to heal her lepers and keep their town safe, training her girls to use the rifles so they can defend themselves when they need to. I think the scene that shows this best is the scene where she introduces Ashitaka to the lepers for the first time. They walk into the building and Ashitaka - himself carrying a sickness, shown to be kind and compassionate contrasting Eboshi's ruthlessness - is immediately on guard when he sees the lepers inside, while Eboshi walks straight inside and interacts with them without a care in the world, and apologizes for working them so hard and gives them wine. She cares about these people and she wants to give them a cure, and failing that, then a place where they can live their lives safely. Even the ones who can't help - Osa, the one with the "life is suffering, but you still find reasons to keep living" speech, is shown to be very sick and resting, and when he speaks it's treated as a surprise - are treated kindly, they aren't kicked out because they can't do anything for her.

And this still doesn't change the fact that she and her civilization is destroying the land, but it does change the tone. She's not doing it for no real reason, or simply for power. She's creating a safe haven for people ignored or downtrodden by society. She kills the forest spirit, she destroys the forest - even if she encourages a path with no loss of (human) life, she intends to destroy it slowly and surely - she leads to Ashitaka being cursed and could have lead to who knows how many other demons being born. She stands for civilization itself and what happens when it expands without concern for nature.

But she also creates this moral conundrum of what you do in a situation where you and the people who follow you - who you care about - don't have anywhere else to go and live freely. And it brings up the question of what things you're willing to do to get you and your people that safety. And I love the complexity of the situation because it turns the movie into more than just man vs nature. I mean, it still is, but it becomes so much more complicated in how we solve the problem. And the answer isn't one or the other, it has to be both.

(I have a concern that people are going to take this as me defending colonization or something and I just want it clear that I don't.)

#ask #anonymous #princess mononoke

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adagreys · 2 years

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Awesome anime landscape

#AWESOME ANIME LANDSCAPE TV#

Make your way to Shinjuku Station, the park is right next to it. But really, it’s easy to get to from anywhere in the city. There are multiple hostels around the Shinjuku region of Tokyo. If you visit during cherry blossom season, it’s an even bigger deal. Located a short walk from Shinjuku Station, this is one of Tokyo’s largest and most visited parks. Like its refining reality with every drop of rain. The film doesn’t just look real, it looks better than real. Set in the famous Shinjuku Gyoen, an imperial garden turned public park, be prepared for some truly beautiful anime scenery brought to life. The Garden of Words is a contemporary Tokyo tale inspired by ancient Japanese poetry. Shinjuku Gyoen – The Garden of Words in the capital? Time for some rest and relaxation. Hostels sit on countless street corners finding one close to the anime-action is easy. Like most of Tokyo, Yotsuya is easy to get to by metro/bus/cab/foot/go-kart. It’s located in the striking National Art Centre, a must-see for architecture and art lovers. Tired of anime-trekking? Stop by Salon de Thé Rond for a latte. A highly popular photo spot it’s perfect for recreating the film’s heart-wrenching final scene. The top hit here is the Suga Shrine Steps. The events taking place from young Taki’s point of view are located in Tokyo, particularly the Yotsuya area. It’s a striking mix of the surreal and the ordinary that blends time travel, body-swapping, and a saliva-filled bottle of sake. Yotsuya, Tokyo – Your Name must have been hiding in a secret bunker in 2016 to not have heard of Your Name, the magical realism love story that captured the hearts of anime fans worldwide. Accommodation-wise, there are multiple guesthouses (and one or two hostels) dotted around the island. Once arrived, there a numerous car rental companies, buses, and taxis to explore the island further. To get here, you can fly or ferry from Kagoshima City. There are many walking, hiking, and climbing trails through the forest if – like Ashitaka – you’re the energetic type. To experience the forest at its best, hiking is essential. The air is heavy with magic and humidity. Primaeval roots (over 7000 years old) burst from the ground covered in hides of lime-green moss. On Yakushima Island in the far south of Japan, the wooded valley Shiratani Unsuikyo hides some of the oldest trees on the planet. While giant wolf deities may not exist in real life, the Kodama-clustered woodland certainly does. Yakushima Island – Princess Mononoke Studio Ghibli classic, say whaaat? Princess Mononoke is set in age-old forests teeming with ancient gods. Most travellers are happy with a day trip, but there are great hostel options for diving deeper into the spirit world. How to get here? Jump on a direct express bus from Taipei. Don’t worry though, it won’t turn you into a pig. Sugar-seekers, try the famous Ice Cream Puff: a scoop of ice cream sandwiched between two slices of flaky puff pastry. Hungry? Gorge yourself – No Face style – on a feast from Jiufen Old Street. Climb your way through winding alleyways lit with the glow of countless paper lanterns. Although Miyazaki denies it, the resemblance is truly uncanny. Fans have likened the film’s otherworldly spirit town to an unsuspecting mountain village in Taiwan. The 2001 classic is teeming with enchanting (if not slightly creepy) characters while the anime scenery will hurl you headfirst into the spirit realm. Spirited Away follows the story of young Chihiro as she wanders to the spirit world, forced to work in a magical bathhouse after her parents are transformed into pigs by the witch Yubaba. Jiufen, Taiwan – Spirited Away (2001) up: everyone’s favourite Miyazaki masterpiece. And yes, Studio Ghibli is most definitely included. Fuelled by a matcha latte and the entire works of Joe Hisaishi blasting through my AirPods, here are the top 10 spots that inspired your (and my) favourite anime scenery. Fragments of anime magic can be found all over Japan (and beyond) if you know where to look. After all, who wouldn’t want to stroll among traditional thatched-roof farmhouses huddled together in leafy hidden valleys or climb the steepest steps of a hillside town bathed in the rosy hues of psychedelic paper lanterns. It may surprise you to know that the most beautiful anime scenery is based on real life. And the animation team is just half of it. From Studio Ghibli staples to old-school Seinen series, anime scenery is a relentless eyegasm.

#AWESOME ANIME LANDSCAPE TV#

The rich visuals, emotive storylines, and intoxicating landscapes have me attempting to dive through my TV screen on a weekly basis. Not a day goes by that I don’t wish I was the main character in my favourite anime. Anime in real life: the top 10 spots that inspired your favourite anime scenery

#Awesome anime landscape

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nellavee · 2 years

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looks like twilight has met the thorn princess...

#ro.draws #ro.spyxfam #this came to me in a vision #i had to do it #twiyor #brought to you by That One Scene from princess mononoke #i will die on the hill that loid is his wife's biggest simp #again have you SEEN the way he's so amazed by yor's strength #mans would be in a trance for a hot minute if he found himself in this position #this is dedicated to user prologhe on twt andi and i are knee deep in sxf brainrot #spy x family #loid forger #yor forger #twilight spy x family #thorn princess #princess mononoke

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so-many-crushes · 2 years

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number 8 for whoever you want?? 👀👉👈

*shuffles in 6 months later with this* heeeey hi @squips-ship thank you sooo much for this! It kinda helped get me out of a writer's funk! And I’ve never really shared my writing outside of my two irl friends so tbh this is kinda scary™!

Uuuh anyways this takes place well before Thor 1, so Loki and my s/i and teens/young adults are in this! I also slipped in a Princess Mononoke reference at the end because why not

Number 8- "Hands brushing unexpectedly"

Eir was getting frustrated. She had been sparring with Thor, Loki, and Sif for what felt like ages. She had just gone against Thor which went just as well as one would expect, she hardly got one good punch in before they had switched partners and Sif also kicked her ass. And now she was sparring with Loki as Thor and Sif finally had an even match, fighting each other. And to make matters worse, Loki and Eir’s fathers were watching. Odin and Kol watched as their children circled each other. Suddenly, Loki lunged at the girl in front of him, Eir lowered herself to the ground, preparing herself. However, faster than Eir could blink, Loki was behind her and had her in a headlock.

“Cheater.” Eir hissed, there was no way he could do that without magic.

Loki simply chucked in her ear, Eir’s face flushed before she gave the god a backward kick in the shin. Loki loosened his grip slightly, but it was enough for her to slip out of his grasp and roll away to a safe distance while she caught her breath. She smirked as Loki shot her a glare.

Eir stole a glance at her father, being the only child of the head of the Einherjar, she always felt like she was placed on a high pedestal and would never be a good enough guard for the two princes of Asgard. Kol gave her daughter a warm smile, he knew she would do the best she possibly could, training in combat, practicing medicine, and mustering up the courage to ask the queen to teach her some magic. Kol leaned over to the king and asked him a question in a low tone. Odin raised an eyebrow and nodded, a slight smile on his face. Eir and Loki watched as the Einherjar took a dagger from his belt and tossed it to the ground, evenly spaced between the two young Asgardians.

Instantly, the two dove for the blade. At this point Thor and Sif paused their sparing to watch the scene unfold. Loki and Eir reached the dagger at the same time and reached out for it together, their hands lightly grazing the others. Eir felt a spark flood through her body, she quickly looked up at Loki to see if he felt the same. He must have, he looked at her with wide eyes and a slight pink tint spreading across his cheeks. Loki brought his hand back a bit and looked at it, that gave Eir enough time to remember what was going on and she shot her hand back out and grabbed the handle of her father’s dagger. In one swift motion, she lunged at Loki and landed on top of him, bringing the blade a few inches from his face.

Loki looked up at the girl on him, her auburn hair flowing down around her face, acting almost like a curtain to the outside world.

“You’re beautiful…” he mumbled.

#um yeah hi #take this #khourey rambles #khourey creates #answered #Eir #loki #marvel #friends asks

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nissakii · 3 years

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Top 5 anime that start airing this September! [2021]

After a turbulent summer full of different and interesting anime for us to watch, we are now officially rolling into the new fall season with another list of fresh anime adaptations that you can get excited for! Welcome to the movies and series you can look forward to in the next month of September!

If you haven’t caught up yet, make sure to check out Makii’s ‘Top 13 anime of July’ post first!

With the summer having brought us numerous exciting titles, and the winter months ready to do the same, the list for this month might look a little more scarce, but it doesn’t take away from some highly anticipated anime to come out.

Let’s review together and see what is coming up for September 2021!

Shika no Ou: Yuna to Yakusoku no Tabi (Formerly September 10th)

Our first anime will be a movie which has brought us a nostalgic yet refreshing atmosphere through the trailer, with the name Shika no Ou a.k.a the Deer King.

With the mesmerizing animation that reminds of the classic ghibli movie “Mononoke Hime” and an outstanding soundtrack, Shika no Ou tells the story of a seemingly beautiful friendship between a little girl and a veteran soldier who has seen the horrors of war.

With aspects of calming nature but also action filled scenes from the trailer, we can assume that a variety of interesting plot points will be unraveled bit by bit! The young girl named Yuna has a very cheerful nature and is a complete contrast to the gigantic and stoic Van who seems to be playing the role of the hero in this movie.

The movie is an adaptation of the fantasy novel with the same name written by Naoko Uehashi, and will be produced by the popular studio Production I.G, who have also brought us works such as Haikyu!!, Psycho Pass and Kuroko no Basket.

The original release date was scheduled for August, and has been pushed to the 10th of September which due to COVID-19 might be pushed further, but let's keep our fingers crossed that it will air soon!

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The Ancient Magus' Bride: (September 10th)

Chise Hatori has nowhere else to go, so in her desperate attempt to find a new home she puts herself up for auction to bring herself into a hopefully better situation.

Based on the manga, the anime ‘the ancient Magus’ bride’ will now be continued with a three part OVA series that takes on the story of the 16th, 17th and 18th volume of the manga and thereby continues the popular slice-of-life romance drama between a young girl and the humanoid with a skull that has been anticipated by many fans of the show.

The OVA specifically is called “The Boy From the West and the Knight of the Mountain Haze” and deals with a new threat called the “wild hunt”. New characters get introduced next to the original cast and we find ourselves roped into a compelling new storyline concerning a young boy who wants to run from his problems.

What will Chise do to fend off this new evil?

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Free! The Final Stroke (September 17th)

Here we are again! After three seasons, multiple recap movies and prequels, in splashes another continuation of Haruka Nanase’s story to swim to the top!

After the events of season three, this will show us Haru and his rivals at a whole new stage.

At the international stage, the drive, the pressure and the competitions are harder than ever before. With the past trials and tribulations hanging in the back of his mind, Haru promises himself to become worthy of standing on the top.

This movie will be split into two parts, the first being released in September while the second one is due to be shown in April 2022.

The trailer shows us the typical beautiful animation that is even more refined now, and it already promises a lot of dramatical elements, characters we know and love who will make a comeback and new ones that have that international flair.

It’s an accumulation of all experiences and characters we have seen so far in Free! and this movie seems to want to tie it all together with a final stroke!

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Princess Principal: Crown Handler (September 23rd)

You always found history class a little more interesting than others?

Well then, Princess Principal should tickle your fancy!

As the fictional country Albion, modeled by Great Britain and its old name, is torn apart by a gigantic revolution, it is a sly act of espionage that sets the ball rolling in this anime. With a lot of action and steampunk elements this anime tells the story of a princess that works against her own royal blood to become queen.

After the anime with 12 episodes, now comes a six part film adaptation with the first movie already out since February, the sequel comes now!

The tone that this trailer sets is extremely promising, and the oddball group of girls that work together is a part of it that shows diversity and fun in a very original setting.

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Hanma Baki - Son of Ogre

Punching his way through a third season, Netflix has announced the release of the next adventure of Hanma Baki.

Hanma Baki trains to become a fighter just like father, starting off with conventional training supported by his mother which he grows out of pretty quickly.

With the urge to become better and better, he finds new opponents and fights them in a no-limits combat style. With the very rough yet detailed animation style, Netflix renewed the already existing anime series that was based on the manga and brings the fateful encounter between father and son.

The feud that has been gnawing between the two will now be shown as far as the trailer is concerned, with lots of the typical bizarre fights and techniques we have already seen before.

The release was promised in September 2021, but Netflix has yet to disclose a proper date, which will hopefully be very soon for all the fans of this franchise!

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Here we are at the end of the list, make sure to check out these new titles when they come out and feel free to leave a comment on your first impressions right here!

Let’s see each other again soon for another tea time~

-Nissa

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queen-of-my-goofball-army · 3 years

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An Ode To Miyazaki:

Hi everyone! So for my final paper for film, we had to pick our own director of our choosing and talk about them extensively between the attributes that make them special. Our course focused on the narrative and technical styles of directors. For my final project, I have chosen my biggest hero in the world of animation and somebody that drastically changed my life as a young child, Hayao Miyazaki. Learning about him for this project gave me so much insight into not just his films but who he is as a person. I hope that my paper is as interesting for you to read as it was for me to do research for!

1. Hayao Miyazaki, often referred to as the Japanese Walt Disney is the front runner of his animation studio Studio Ghibli. I picked him because I already have sufficient knowledge and love of his films. One of the first memories that my parents love to remind me of is my first time watching Totoro and laughing at the introduction characters. Miyazaki himself stands out for a number of reasons. Over the years, Miyazaki has made a humongous name out of himself, one of his most famous movies Spirited Away became the most popular film to ever be released in Japan and also won the academy award for the best-animated film that year. His most “popular” films (I say popular in air quotes because it is nearly impossible for people to agree on a favorite) remain the aforementioned Spirited Away, My Neighbor Totoro, Howl’s Moving Castle, and Princess Mononoke. Beginning his career as a simple animator for Toei animation, he worked as an in-between artist. It was here that he met his future collaborator at Ghibli, Isao Takahata. His first big directorial debut in film before founding Ghibli was a team effort without Takahata was Lupin The Third, The Castle Of Cagliostro. His first successful movie was one that was based upon his own manga Nausicaa of the Valley Of The Wind. The first official Miyazaki movie that was made with Ghibli was one of my personal all-time favorites that had ever been created, Castle In The Sky. For many children, especially ones with parents who are lovers of a film like mine, Miyazaki was one of the first animators that I was introduced to. His films have become classics for every fan of animation, being referenced in culture, specifically back when Disney owned Studio in Toy Story 3, Bonnie has a Totoro.

2. So, this brings up the question, how does one recognize a film by Miyazaki? You can always expect for him to be critically acclaimed, for there to be some element of magic and whimsy in the way that he animates, for there to be something to do with flight (whether it be dealing with airplanes like in Porco Rosso, the idea of flight in Howl’s Moving Castle, or a floating castle up in the sky in Castle In The Sky.), his heroines are always strong-minded and live by their own rules never bowing down to anybody, his love stories are dynamic and fulfilled, a sweeping score by Joe Hizashi, and they have a meaning about nature somewhere, mostly about why it needs to be protected.

Let’s start by breaking him down narratively. The thing that is always in every Miyazaki film no matter which one you decide upon watching, is that his female characters are always strong-willed no matter what. In many ways, I think that he writes women better than Disney does. He has gone on record saying “Many of my movies have strong female leads—brave, self-sufficient girls that don't think twice about fighting for what they believe with all their heart. They'll need a friend, or a supporter, but never a savior. Any woman is just as capable of being a hero as any man.” Sometimes, this will cause them to come across as reckless, or stupid, but in my opinion, I have always looked up to his female characters and the way that they are portrayed. My personal favorite female character that he has ever brought to life through the screen is Sophie from Howl’s Moving Castle. She is strong-minded, not willing to put up with any of Howl’s dramatics, kind, an incredible adult figure for Markal, endlessly sympathetic to her friend’s plights (namely Howl and Calcifer), and somebody that I can always look up to. I spent most of my childhood looking up to characters like Kiki in Kiki’s Delivery Service, Chihiro in Spirited Away, or one of my personal favorite underrated girls, Fio in Porco Rosso. All of these female characters are independent and never let themselves be taken advantage of by anybody.

Another trait that can always be found narratively in his films is that Miyazaki is an airplane/ air travel fanatic. He absolutely loves airplanes, even to the point where his latest film, The Wind Rises was based upon the life of one of the first airplane manufacturers in WWII. Almost all of his films will involve something about flying in the air. Even with the ones that he didn’t direct and he just simply wrote. His obsession with flight is something that stemmed from his childhood and he never saw them as a thing to be used for war “airplanes are not tools for war. They are not for making money. Airplanes are beautiful dreams. Engineers turn dreams into reality.” My personal favorite of all of his flight animation is used in Howl’s Moving Castle when Howl and Sophie “fly” over the heads of all the people below them.

Narratively also one of the biggest things that set apart his films from any others is his focus on nature. The idea of protecting the beauty of nature is something that he has always stood by. A lot of the time, America tries to prove that it can make films about nature as well to usually varying results. I think that nobody can sell an environmental message quite like my biggest hero for Japanese animation. One of the main movies that focus on his will to protect nature above all else is Princess Mononoke. He always manages to animate nature in such a beautiful and majestic way no matter where the film is set.

I also think that a narrative trait of his that often gets overlooked is how beautiful the romance in his films can be. He never has a romance between two characters that feels stale or boring. I love the fact that you can pick any number of his films and the chance of there being a romance that you’ll get sucked into is a very large one. Everybody has their personal favorites, I love Howl and Sophie from Howl’s Moving Castle but my best friend loves Sousuke and Ponyo from Ponyo. He has on record saying that “I’ve become skeptical of the unwritten rule that just because a boy and girl appear in the same feature, a romance must ensue. Rather, I want to portray a slightly different relationship, one where the two mutually inspire each other to live - if I’m able to, then perhaps I’ll be closer to portraying a true expression of love.” Writing romance between two characters can be a very tricky thing which is why it’s always amazing when he can continually pull it off despite everything and how many films that he has made over the years. The beauty of having both a strong and independent male and the female character is that they can both lean on one another for love and support. Probably the biggest supporter of this is Whisper Of The Heart, a film that he wrote instead of directing. The romance is what makes up the entire film. It’s a beautiful love story about how two young teenagers fall in love with each other. The romance is something that continually keeps me coming back for more every time.

Technical style Miyazaki can always be assured to deliver breathtakingly stunning animation. There is a reason why so many people leave his films starving because the food that he draws always looks so good. For me though, it’s the backgrounds that stand out above all else. It’s nearly impossible to have one favorite shot in one of his films but I as a matter of fact do have one. The most breathtaking animation in any Miyazaki film is the scene where Howl takes Sophie to see his secret garden. Everything about this scene never fails to make my breath catch. It’s such a profoundly beautiful moment and how it is animated is something that I haven’t forgotten since my first initial viewing of the film when I was seven.

Another iconic technical trait is that Disney did a fantastic job dubbing the films from their original Japanese language into English. Back when Ghibli films first started to become popular, they needed a way for an American audience to see them. So Pixar’s CFO at the time, John Lassater made a deal with Ghibli that they would dub all the films from their original language for a brand new audience. Growing up, this was how I watched all of Miyazaki’s films. I fell in love with the way that they sounded in English. To this very day, I have yet to see one of his films in any other language. I don’t think that anybody could have dubbed them better. Ever since Ghibli and Disney went their separate ways and they went to GKids the dubs haven’t been the same.

Finally, the last technical trait is that a Miyazaki film will always have a score done by his longtime collaborator Joe Hizashi. The score is such a big part of what makes Miyazaki’s films his own. They are what get you sucked in through their whimsical and magical tones; they always fit the vibes that he’s going through at that moment. There is also the element of sound. Every Miyazaki film has a distinct sound effect that will set it apart from the one before it.

3. The first film that I want to look at is my personal favorite of all his films that he has made so far if you were to force me to pick just one Howl’s Moving Castle. Released in 2004, it was the 9th film that the director came out with. It has an 8.2 out of 10 on IMDB and an 87% on Rotten Tomatoes. The storyline for the movie follows a young woman named Sophie. She gets a curse set upon her by the Witch of the Waste and when she leaves home she finds the infamous Howl’s Moving Castle. This is the second Ghibli movie voiced by a Batman live action actor. Christian Bale voiced Howl Pendragon after Michael Keaton played the titular Porco Rosso.

Narratively this is definitely a Miyazaki film. From how strong of a female character Sophie is I spent most of my childhood looking up to her as a character. Strong female characters are everywhere in his films and in my opinion, Sophie is one of the strongest. Another strong factor is that flight plays a major part in this film. One of Howl’s main powers is that he has the ability to fly around. This leads to my favorite scene of flight in any Miyazaki film when Howl takes Sophie’s hand and they “fly” over the tops of the city down below them. All of his early films up until the last few were set in someplace other than Japan. This one is set in Europe, and he takes a lot of time while in the cities to show off all the different types of buildings while Sophie tours around the city.

Technically speaking this is also a Miyazaki film and holds all the titular traits of being so. The animation is utterly for lack of a better word, magical and spellbinding. It takes my breath away every time that I rewatch it. The food looks incredible, one scene that most of Miyazaki’s fans always think of when this movie is brought up is Calcifer making the food for Howl, Sophie, and Markal to eat. The dub for this film is also one of Disney’s best dubs for Miyazaki films. It even brings actors to the table that I usually would not like to see in other films like Christian Bale. I haven’t loved him in any other films than this one. Billy Crystal is a stand-out as well as my favorite fire demon Calcifer. The score is done by Joe Hizashi as well. My favorite part of the score is the main theme which has Howl and Sophie floating above the people below. The sound effect that follows throughout this film is the steady creaking of the castle itself.

Princess Mononoke was the first time that Miyazaki ever “retired”. Most of the time, whenever he tries to retire, he always comes back. A lot of his colleague's joke that it’s because he physically can’t stop working. He animated most of this movie by himself. Before Spirited Away it was Japan’s most famous film to date. The story about a young man who is just trying to erase the curse that was set upon him by an angry boar and it leads him to a place called Iron Town is something that never fails to amaze me. While in Iron Town, Ashitaka meets a young woman named San who was taken in by wolves and he finds himself caught between a war involving humans and the gods of the forest.

Narratively this is definitely a Miyazaki film. It has a strong female lead, focusing most of its screen time on how important it is to protect and preserve nature as a whole. The idea of protecting nature is such a moving part of the film, as we see what it does when man takes over the forest. We see how distraught it makes the Gods of this world and how they wish that the humans would just go away. However, you also see it from the point of view of the villain of the film Lady Eboshi, who also regularly helps lepers and people who would often never get work outside of her offering them a home and a family. I have regularly gotten into a debate with my mom over which side is “right” and which side “wrong” over the course of the last few years of me being a massive fan of this movie. She takes the side of the forest while I see Ashitaka’s side that everybody should just get along and interact in peace and harmony. Miyazaki never shoves the idea of nature down your throat. That is not what this film is. It’s instead about the beauty of what we have and learning to appreciate it.

On a technical level, this film is fantastic as well. It blows my mind that Miyazaki-san animated most of it all by himself. The backgrounds are sweeping and utterly gorgeous showing off the time period of the film. The fight sequences which make up the bulk of the film’s running time are engaging, thrilling, and fabulously animated. Mononoke’s score was done by Joe Hizashi as well. Its score is beautiful and I always find myself getting sucked into it, especially for the more dynamic scenes with Ashitaka and San. The sound effect for this film uses nature as a backdrop for brutality. Ashitaka’s arrows don’t just come out of his bow, they screech through the air.

Finally, my last film that we will be focusing on, Kiki’s Delivery Service was made in 1989 a year after his cult phenomena My Neighbor Totoro and was his fifth animated feature. Kiki is a young girl that is hoping to become a young witch in training. However, to do so she has to train a year away from home. She and her cat Jiji find a town by the sea where she learns her true strength and what she can really do to help others. Hayao Miyazaki didn't want to bore the audience during the film's end credits by using just the names. He set it up to be like a mini-sequel so that the audience would leave the theatre feeling happy.

Narratively this has all the traits that one should be familiar with and associate with a Miyazaki film. It has a strong-minded female character at the source of it that young girls can look up to and admire. As a kid, Kiki was my favorite female character of his because I loved her strength and her dedication to what she was good at. She knew that she was still young and had a lot to learn but even though she gets depressed she doesn’t let that stop her in the long run and will still save her love interest Tombo. The romance in this film is by far one of the sweetest. I love the interactions between the characters and the way that they both inspire one another to be better than they are. The idea of flight is basically the focal point of everything. Kiki finds that her best trait is that she flies incredibly well and decides to create her own flying delivery service.

Technically this also has a lot of traits that Miyazaki made a name for himself in doing. The animation is spectacular, especially for Kiki’s flying. I could watch her fly around all day and that was the idea that he was going for while making the film. The sweeping score by Joe Hizashi, especially in my favorite song A Town With An Ocean View, is something that I’ll often listen to outside of the film itself. The sound effects for the film are meant to be calming. From the first sound that you hear of the wind rolling through the reeds while Kiki lies against the grass to the waves when she finally finds a home.

4. Miyazaki as a director has inspired me since I was way too young to even remember. When I was a kid I would pretend to run around my apartment building's front yard imagining that I lived in a big house in front of a camper tree like the one in Totoro. His movies are perfect for children that “suffer” from having an overactive imagination. His movies are everything that is bright and beautiful in the world. The animation never fails to take my breath away, the characters and stories are unforgettable, the soundtracks sweep me away and tell stories themselves. His movies are something that even my parents, who are not anime fans, can watch over and over again. I think that speaks for itself. Miyazaki makes films that are art, not just animated films.

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revchainsaw · 3 years

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Nausicaa and the Valley of the Wind (1984)

Prayers and Salutations Cult Members! I am your mysterious minister Reverend Chainsaw and this is another nights revival service at the Cult Film Tent Revival. I bring you a special word tonight. Tonight's word is about a person who roamed the earth, in a time where people were backward and warlike. A leader emerged into a kingdom full of eschatological expectation. This leader came preaching peace, and was killed for the sins of the world, but was resurrected. In that resurrection a new hope was brought to the planet, and true healing through the power of love in the face of violence is made possible. I am talking of course about Princess Nausicaa from the Valley of the Wind.

The Message

Nausicaa and the Valley of the Wind is the film that put studio Ghibli and Hayoa Miyazaki on the map. No animated feature this grandiose and epic had been achieved by 1984, as much as Disney may beg to differ. The tale may be simple, and it may feel super 80s to us today, but Nausicaa is a masterpiece, and the fact that Howl's Moving Castle is brought up alongside Princess Mononoke and Spirited Away more often than Nausicaa is a farce and a tragedy.

The film takes place on a fantastic planet that seems to have suffered the ravages of an apocalyptic war. A war that involved gigantic warriors with powers so devastating they about made the entire planet inhospitable if not uninhabitable; save for a few areas. The fall out of this ancient war has left the earth in a state of repair, where the natural processes of a planet healing has creating giant toxic jungles.

Beyond these jungles lie two imperialistic factions, they seem almost to be city-states but it's not terribly clear. The Kingdom of Tolmekia, a militaristic proto-fascist society of almost Spartan sensibilities. Tolmekia is governed by the ambitious and cynical Princess Kushana, But I like to call her Furiosa. Just like Furiosa, Kushana is physically missing parts of herself, a visual metaphor for her metaphysical lacking and the parts of her humanity she has cut away. Kushana's world view is one of fear, a fear that can only be quelled by waging a genocidal campaign against her enemies.

Speaking of enemies, the Athens to Tolmekias Sparta would be the Pejite Kingdom. The Pejites might like to view themselves as simply responding to Tolmekian aggression, but the narrative of the film, and the story told quite visibly on the body of Kushana, is quite different. The Pejites are just as bloodthirsty if not more palettable in their approach, but like the Tolmekians, they believe only their own lives have any value. And thus, in this theatre of war, a Giant Warrior from the ages before is unearthed by the Pejite Kingdom, Stolen by the Tolmekians, before the forces of nature themselves, seem to conspire to drop the Giant Warriors "egg" right into the Valley of the Wind.

The Valley of the Wind is populated like the world of Avatar the Last Airbender, that is mostly of children and the elderly. The people of the Valley have been able to remain untouched by the ravages of war and the toxic jungles of the damaged world primarily due to geographic luck that's explained in minor exposition in the film. They are ruled by a King, and they are all deeply enamored by their beloved Princess Nausicaa.

Nausicaa is a gentle soul. She is kind to animals, she is empathetic, unreasonably patient, and bears pain and grief inflicted on her out of cruelty with a saintly understanding. She really is a thinly veiled Christ figure, scratch that. There is no veil. But she's also my favorite Christ figure. She does not preach a message, as much as she tries to save everyone from their own short sighted goals. She is not perfect, she does lash out and do some fantasy sword fight murder, but she regrets her actions so deeply that it seems to have played a part in motivating her to become even more compassionate and patient with the evils of the world.

Nausicaa discovers yet another plot by the Pejites, who are afraid of the possibility of the Tolmekians awakening the Giant Warrior, to use animal cruelty to enrage a group of almost invincible giant insects known as the Ohm. By luring the Ohm into the Valley of the Wind where the Tolmekians have become an occupying force, they hope to completely wipe out everything that threatens them. The Tolmekians DO awaken the Giant Warrior and pure pandemonium ensues. Nausicaa manages to save the Baby Ohm and calm the rage of the bloodthirsty Ohm swarm, and to defeat the warlike tendencies of both the Pejites and the Tolmekians. All the while fulfilling a prophecy fortold about a messianic savior figure called the Man in Blue.

Now that you have heard the Gospel of Nausicaa, please stand to receive The Benediction.

Best Character: Half a Person

Now that I've spent the better part of this review gushing about our Lord and savior Nausicaa. I have to admit, she's at times a bit too perfect, a bit too saccharin. Even her flaw, or her one weakness and her failing to be perfect, just adds to the perfection. I can't even say she never makes mistakes cuz she made one, and that's infuriating. It's even more infuriating that I still think she's a great character. Normally this kind of thing really kills a hero. Most Chosen Ones are the most boring and least likeable characters in their narratives. I don't know how Nausicaa avoids this trap, but she does. I'll have to do some meditating on that.

However, just like in your typical Chosen One fantasy narrative, the hero is a lot less fun than the villain. I'm going to say the best character in Nausicaa is Kushana. I want to be like Nausicaa, but I don't understand her. She's almost alien, even though we learn all about her. Kushana is mysterious, secretive, and enigmatic, yet I understand her. She barely has an arc, she doesn't really change. She's cold and cynical to the bone, but I don't need to see much of her situation to completely understand why she is the way she is. I usually hate totalitarian bad guys, but Kushana I like. Sue Me.

Also fun fact, did you that Nausicaa means 'Sinker of Ships'. That's kinda fun.

Best Scene: Spoiled for Choice

I'm going to be lazy and say take your pick. There is really not a bad seen in this movie. If the action isn't going, then there's intriguing dialogue. If there's no dialogue then you may be about to get hit with a forceful burst of whimsy. There's horror, there's swordfights and aerial dogfights. The only thing in Nausicaa I don't like to see, is the bloody tortured Ohm Baby. It's like a god damned Sarah Mclachlan commercial.

Best Creature: Foxy Shazam!

The Ohm are so simplistic yet so detailed. The number of eyes is alien, but the way they are used is expertly expressive. Who'd think you could get me to love what basically amounts to a silverfish with the intensity that I love a kitten. How did Miyazaki pull an Okja with a creature that should be haunting our dreams? I don't know.

And what about the Giant Warrior! If you are an Evangelion fan then you probably already know that Hideaki Anno designed and animated the melting goopy biomechanical beast. Surely a sight that would make both H.R. Giger and Clive Barker giddy with excitement. Just the image of the silhouettes marching amidst the desolation of the old world is burned into my brain.

So which of these is the best creature from Ghibli's first outing? It's fucking Teto. It was always gonna be Teto you idiot. Just look at Teto, he's adorable. He's too cute to exist. I'm so alone. I need a pet.

Best Character Design: Tolmekian Regalia

I originally included this category to talk some about Kushana, however, at that time I also thought I was going to say Nausicaa was the best character. I thought hard about deleting it, but I think it's a different category and you can't accuse me of playing favorites because my favorite character is clearly Teto. Just to keep it simple. It's the two costume shift from full military regalia in white and gold, to the one metal arm, warrior princess get up. It's a great costume and a great look. Get on this shit cosplay nerds. It's great for Cons in Canada, you have to think about layers, and you can't keep going as Mr. Plow. It's lazy.

Best Excuse to Talk About Patrick Stewart's Character: Lord Yupa

I just realized that I was about to write this whole review without talking about Lord Yupa. Lord Yupa is a sword saint and all around badass I think a lot of entertainment, especially in the west is lacking bad ass old men. Lord Yupa particularly shines in the early half of the film as a warrior and as a wise council to Nausicaa. If she's Jesus then Yupa is John the Baptist. He is also voiced by the elegant and eloquent Patrick Stewart. He also comes with 2 chocobos!

Worst Character: For Whom Asbel Tolls

This might also be the worst actor category as well. Actual Cannibal (haha meme) and actual monster (haha real life) Shia Labeouf doesn't so much act in the role as he read the lines and it was recorded. The good news it doesn't effect the film too much because Asbel is completely forgettable. He is a catalyst to some of the action, but besides that I don't really care for him.

Worst Aspect: To Be Fair ...

It would be unfair to completely ignore anything negative about Nausicaa. I have already mentioned in many places that there are some pretty corny, or pretty predictable tropes to this movie. But what I can't capture in words is exactly why it feels fresh when it's done in this movie. I suppose that's what makes it good. It's just so good that it's weak points are lifted up by it's strengths. Some people may bored of Nausicaa's unyielding goodness, or that she very rarely chooses to take action as much as she chases and pleads with her surroundings, but I mean, she does pay for that eventually. It's a fantasy story and it hits a lot of timeless themes that have been hit in stories for as long as human beings have been telling stories. Some people may feel that it doesn't do enough to stand out.

Summary

I have defined the S tier for myself as "near perfect and personal favorite" films. I like to think that Nausicaa and the Valley of the Wind is near perfect. Some may say that it looks like it might just be a personal favorite. In the case of Nausicaa, I'm having a very hard time telling the difference. I think it would be overly simple to claim that Nausicaa is just an ancient archetypal heroes journey with an 80s anime coat of paint. I think it's doing quite a few new and interesting things with that formula, those things are just playing out all around that narrative as opposed to being at it's center. For a first full length outing by the studio, you can really see Miyazaki's heart and the values he holds close to. I'll repeat myself so that we are completely clear on the matter. I think Nausicaa and the Valley of the Wind is a near perfect movie.

Overall Grade: S

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ani-fest · 3 years

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2021 Screenings

Available online for the duration of the festival, here is the 2021 program for Ani-Fest!

Anomalisa (2015)

An American made, deep psychological comedy/drama that is made in stop motion. Nominated for Best Animated feature in 2015, this feature shows us how much human expression and feeling we can see in an artistic animated representation.

Wallace and Gromit (3 piece set)

A close shave, The wrong trousers, and a grand day out. Beautiful and fun stop motion from the UK that solidified stop motion in many households across the world.

The Breadwinner (2017)

An Irish adaptation of the bestselling novel of the same name, this modern 2D animation nominated for best animated feature in 2017 shows a young Afgani girl doing all she can to provide for her family when her father is arrested.

Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009)

A Wes Anderson stop motion film with an all-star cast from George Clooney to Bill Murray, that went up for a best animated picture nomination in 2009.

Perfect Blue (1997)

Based on the novel Perfect Blue: Complete Metamorphosis, this mature Japanese thriller made in traditional 2D animation shows the dark side of fame, and the psychological weight it can have on its stars. Produced by Mad House, known for hit series like Death Note, Hunter X Hunter, and One Punch Man.

Princess Mononoke (1997)

A Studio Ghibli classic in their iconic traditional 2D style. A masterful tale of humans' involvement in nature, that hits harder now than ever. Love, spirits, and an industrial movement clash for a masterpiece of iconic animation.

Klaus (2019)

A Spanish animated modern Christmas origin story, getting Netflix its first best animated picture nomination in 2019. This feature shows the promise in modern animation outside of the big production scene, the studio being made by Sergio Pablos, a worker on Disney renaissance films, demonstrates the soul of classics will live on.

Love, Death and Robots (2019)

While Technically a series, each “episode” of Love Death and Robots can be seen as a collection of shorts with many different styles, themes, and types of animation, perfect for showing the diversity and capabilities of the animated feature. Another Netflix hit, that just put out a trailer for its second season!

Into the Spiderverse (2018)

A shocking masterpiece of comic book inspired animation, from the studio that brought us the Emoji movie, this feature brought home the Oscar for best animated feature in 2018, Spiderverse can resonate with any audience with amazing performances, animation that feels like reading a comic and hilarious comedic timing.

Bao (2018)

A modern Pixar short that won best Animated short in 2018. Masterfully a full Pixar film’s emotional weight into 8 minutes. Any parent or child will find themselves welling up through this short roller coaster.

Lava (2014)

A musical Pixar short, humanized volcanoes in the search for love sing to each other, spanning thousands of years in 7 minutes, show the endless pursuit and tribulations of chasing the one you love.

Burrow (2020)

A 2020 Disney+ short that accompanied the release of Soul. A 2D animated Pixar production and was nominated for best animated short for 2020.

Canvas (2020)

A Netflix animated short, a touching story of how art connects us with family and memories. It was considered for a nomination for animated best picture by Netflix.

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isabella-gliatta · 3 years

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~ G R E E N W E E K ~

For this week, I chose scenes from Studio Ghibli’s ‘Princess Mononoke’ (1997).

1,2,&3.) I am fascinated by the use of light throughout this movie. Scenes under foliage, such as this one, have amazing speckled light and harsh shadows. This gives each scene a sense of depth within the forest. The gradual desaturation in distant trees also gives a sense of depth and density to the forest.

4,5,&6.) This opening scene quickly gives the audience the main theme of the movie: the battle between nature and humans. The demon in this scene was formed when a human shot a boar god. The now disfigured boar greatly contrasts the landscape around it. While the landscape is a lush green and the “pre-demon” boar a muddy rust, the demon stands out with its dark black and red-violet tentacles and bright red eyes. Its color palette greatly differs from anything natural, giving the demon a better sense of unnatural death and evil.

7&8.) The unnatural demon who brought unnatural death was given unnatural colors. The forest spirit (seen in these pictures) is given earth tones and animal-like features; he governs life and death within the forest. This contrast in colors shows the forest spirit’s natural ways.

9&10.) I LOVE Studio Ghibli background paintings. Their landscapes are mesmerizing. In the first picture, you can see the sense of space given by the desaturated mountains in the back with a vibrant foreground. The second picture is from a scene that takes place at night. Color is hard to discern at night under moonlight, so in this scene the landscape has little variation in pigment of plants. Every thing is very dull, dark, and cool-toned.

#lifecolorpost

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gh0stguts · 3 years

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9,12, 30 - @boykingsofhell. Please tag me if you answer so I can see it <3

Hell yeah let's go! @boykingsofhell

I'm on mobile so I'm sorry for not putting this under a read more lol

9. What episodes best encapsulate the brother's relationship? Does this change throughout the series? Doesn't have to be the best episode btw.

I feel like their relationship definitely changes a bit over the course of the show, but not super significantly. Like they definitely keep that weird codependent thing throughout but their trust levels with each other fluctuate a fair bit and there's less sibling banter at times because of that.

I think any episode where one of them dies does pretty well to show that codependency, the way they just do a complete switch of "Fuck everything else, I'm not doing shit until he's back."

1.17 shows the prank wars and let's us know that they have a history of pranking each other, which is a nice little insight to an almost normal sibling dynamic rather than what we see more of throughout the show (I'm referring specifically about how Dean essentially raised Sam for their entire lives, this blog is NOT SAFE for winc*st shippers. If you ship them, block me.)

When Ruby 2.0 is brought in, that's where we really see their dynamic change as Dean starts to trust Sam less and less, and how Sam gets angrier and more frustrated with Dean because he's convinced himself he's doing this for the right reasons.

In 1.18, we get the shtriga episode, which is a good insight into both how Sam and Dean were raised, and ALSO how Sam has always been Dean's responsibility. Hell, this is set up straight from episode one when we see Dean carrying baby Sam out of their burning house. 1.18 gives us more context to John leaving Dean to take care of Sam a lot more than just that one instance of John trying to save Mary at the start. It's something that continued through their whole lives.

This is shown again in 4.13, although much less, as that episode focused more on Sam during school. We still see though that John would leave Sam and Dean alone for weeks at a time in a motel and Dean would be responsible for taking care of Sam (i.e. when Dean offers/threatens to beat up the kid that tried bullying Sam.)

Speaking of Dean's raising Sam, that also brings up the Gadreel arc. Dean's primary job growing up was always "look after Sammy, don't let anything happen to Sammy," and this persisted even when he became an adult and long after John passed. Dean is often willing to do whatever he has to if it means keeping Sam safe, I think both because Sam is the only blood family he has left, and also because even with John gone, there's still that lingering thought of "Dad will be mad." (Insert that quote about 'if there is an angry man in your home once, there will always be an angry man in your home even when there isn't' here.)

Honestly I could go on about this forever if I really wanted to look up specific episodes and really get into it, but that's a long enough answer for now haha

12. Symbolism: tell me about some cool symbolism in SPN! Your pick!

Okay I don't have a long rant about this, I just think a lot about that scene with Cas in season 4 with the light flickering above him and go absolutely feral

Like we knew for a good portion of that season that Cas would fall or rebel but that scene has me foaming at the mouth everytime, I can't do this

30. Make up a fact about a character and convince me it's true.

I think Dean really likes Ghibli movies and he will never admit it but his favorite one is Ponyo because Jack likes it and they watched it once during movie night and Dean got very quietly and privately emotional about the whole thing because he was never supposed to have moments like that but there he is, with his brother and Cas and their son having this little domestic moment and watching a kids movie with his family

He also likes Princess Mononoke but he's less secretive about that one. If anyone accuses him of liking Ponyo best, he will vehemently deny it because it's too childish and not many enough (bc y'know, toxic masculinity and all sorts of internalized phobias and all that, or as I like to call it, Raised by John Winchester Syndrome) but Ponyo is his favorite because it reminds him of his family and these little soft moments they get to have sometimes where he makes them popcorn and they can get comfy on the couch and relax and have a nice time together because despite it all, Dean isn't his father, and he isn't "daddy's blunt little instrument," and he doesn't just want to use his hands to kill, he wants to care for and nurture and protect and love and be a better man than his father ever was and raise a kid better than John ever could.

(I also think he'd like it because he'd watch it and it would remind him of watching movies with Mary when he was little and he thinks she would like Ponyo too.)

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princessbilliam · 3 years

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Otaku Nation: Anime's Effect on American Pop Culture

The modern age of Anime arrive in Japan in the 1960s, and within the course of the following decade or so prospered to the giant robot, distance battle genre bender that we would soon realize as the anime of now.

Evolving within the next 30 years or so, it reached a summit where it could start to overtake and eventually become an essential component of different cultures, similar to the Hollywood of the 1930s quickly grew to encompass the remainder of the planet and inform their pop culture. In precisely the exact same fashion, American pop culture becomes increasingly informed by the trends and cult reaction to anime.

On the other hand, the national awareness as to where these shows came from as well as the poor marketing of the shows made them forgettable and rather than a jump in point, they behave as a nostalgic reminder. Know more NaijaVibe is a pop culture and entertainment website

When Speed Racer came, the beginnings of a true understanding that Japan was producing something fresh and exciting started to install. The prevalence of Speed Racer was never that of its American contemporaries, but it created at a established fanbase the openness to devour newer offerings in the future in Starblazers and Robotech (a convoluted perversion of multiple animes, but nevertheless a comparative success in the countries ). Nonetheless, the effect was largely underground.

From the 1980s, the addition of Beta and VHS made it possible to join together with friends and watch more varying forms of anime. When Akira arrived in 1989, the effect was real. People who knew of Akira were lovers for life, eagerly awaiting their opportunity to partake more and more of the developing tendencies out of Japan.

For Japan's role, this age was a period of major expansion, a veritable boom in the company. The 1980s saw the success of shows such as Gundam and Dragon Ball overgrow the national consciousness and become runaway sensations. The explosion of the manga sector before hand, with serializations of works by Akira Toriyama and Katsuhiro Otomo in the early 80s simmered in the childhood of Japan and finally seeing the commercial possibilities of those functions, creating in the process a major conglomerate of companies in the Akira Committee to bring the huge funding of Akira to fruition.

By the 90s anime was the mainstream in Japan, and the result was that the ramping up of production and increased output of shows. In part because of the simple, streamlined art style, multiple artist were able to work on a single project and create episode per week for years at a time, leading to monumental runs such as the case of Dragonball (156 episodes) and Dragonball Z (276 episodes). The ability to serialize and turn a story into something that millions of youths would tune into each and every week made firms billions (of yen) and secured the sorts of industrial sponsorships and funds necessary to undertake extraordinary jobs that would require huge sums of cash to finish.

Back in America, a few executives were starting to see the impact that these shows were having in Japan. Slowly and very carefully they began taking the hottest, Dragonball Z and Sailormoon by way of example and finding timeslots first in the afternoon, before the daily retinue of American cartoons, testing the waters of marketability. In 1995, the trickle of anime into the states was only that, a relative trickle. Sailormoon aired every morning in syndication, but sliced and missing key seasons to relate the endings of significant storylines. Dragonball Z ran an equally mild run early on Saturdays in syndication that was abruptly cut when the rights to the show have been lost by the initial company and bought by Funimation.

All the while, works from Japanese specialists like Hayao Miyazaki were being overlooked, passing undetected through limited release in the countries, while making him a God of his own craft in Japan. All the while firms like Manga, Funimation, and Viz were buying up licenses and releasing small known, untraceable reveals that no one knew the origin of. The shows were treated badly, often dubbed and cut up to accommodate American audiences. Viz even launched the very first Anime magazine in 1993 using Animerica, primarily reviewing their particular products but still giving a view of this civilization that nobody knew anything about.

Butin 1995, the release of the shows in the Usa along with the premiere and rave reviews of Neon Genesis Evangelion at Japan, Otaku curiosity abroad began to spike. Otaku is a bid of a misnomer as it is a little bit of a insult in Japan, a mean spirited way to call someone a nerd. Here though, it normally signifies a purveyor of Japanese pop-culture and with all the Otaku so in fashion right now it's less of an insult than the clique. The early 90s was a time of massive growth of interest from the little known import of Anime however, and the American marketplace was not slow to react.

In 1997, tv programs made broad sweeping moves to bring displays to the mainstream. The Sci-Fi station had always needed a small market in its own latenight line up for cult classics like Vampire Hunter D, but Warner Bros finally brought the genre to primetime. And in 1998, a small known video game for the Game Boy exploded at the American market, bringing along with it its whole arsenal of marketing ploys, including the childish, but enormously popular Pokemon anime. Finally, kids throughout the nation were gluing themselves to the tv series as earnestly as their Japanese counterparts had for nearly a decade earlier hand.

Miyazaki's new film played to better reception, receiving a proper release through Miramax. Princess Mononoke has been a success in the terms of the time, even receiving the coveted two thumbs up (let alone an overview whatsoever ) out of Siskel and Ebert. Movies started to arrive in America more liberally, still finding small release, but release at least. And the shows started to pour into. At the time, the fansub scene was more or less the only way to get access to some of the more obscure titles being released in Japan. But since the market thrived, so did the licensing by major companies, and it really started to become prohibited to fansub certain shows since they might be published by a company eventually.

Thus began the closing and full assimilation of Japanese pop culture into American. The DVD format sped up the process, as more episodes of a series could be packaged into a disk than a VHS and production prices plummeted, removing a lot of the financial threat of an untested foreign product in the American marketplace. Cartoon Network surfaced its Toonami afternoon cartoon slot, in which they showcased anime that had been in existence for just a time, but was able to appeal to a much larger demographic and spread the word about these great narrative driven cartoons from throughout the ocean. An whole generation grew into the expanding popularity and became entranced by the epic storylines, amazing storytelling and capacity to show in a cartoon what many considered adult topics and much more mature perspectives on matters like competition and personal success. The Japanese ability to cross genre as well as the extremely higher production values which started to enter displays made in the late 90s and outside supposed amazing shows that appealed not only to children but to adults and outside.

What began as a crossover, gradually began to actually alter the manner in which American's promoted their tv to kids. Shows with more adult articles appeared, and in some cases emulated the Japanese structure. The authors at Pixar crafted brilliant, more maturely themed animations with no ridiculous musicals of Disney ago, and Disney even dissolved their attempted format in favor of much more adult, stories that were complete. The devolution of American quality in animations though as they attempted to match the output signal meant even more Japanese entries in the market. Now, if you flip on Fox kids in the morning you'll find more than half of those shows on are animes. And Cartoon Network nevertheless presents multiple entrances themselves, with much more adult offerings in their Adult Swim block late at night.

These days, you will find anime oriented t-shirts anyplace, an entire aisle devoted to DVD releases at Best Buy (compared to the 1 row only seven years ago) and the achievement of this Anime Network, a channel solely devoted to Anime programming. Magazines like Newtype, a Japanese trade magazine to the Anime sector is now translated and released in America every month with previews of new shows, and American directors like James Cameron are looking to direct live action versions of manga like Battle Angel Alita.

Now, we view new releases from Japan within seven weeks, and the fansub community has to scramble to keep up with what is legal and what's not legal to offer through their services. The internet itself has made it a huge community, in which a show can be recorded on Japanese television, ripped and subbed, subsequently uploaded within a couple hours for the entire world to view. There is no place over, and new displays are immediately available. And it's evident in the universities too. Japanese is one of the most pursued languages, filling up instantly with a lawn long waiting list each year, and much more segments being added each year.

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creacherkeeper · 5 years

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how to study an author’s style

i hate when teachers will tell you to copy an author’s style for a project but DON’T TELL YOU HOW TO DO THAT! or maybe you just want to write more like your favorite author! trying on some new hats! there are plenty of reasons to want to look at style, so, some tips, & examples under the cut

where do they put their dialogue tags? how often does their dialogue go without tags, and when?

are there any words that are repeated throughout a section or text? how often do they use repetition of phrases or words? what is this for - tone, character, or something else?

how elevated is their language? (you can always chuck a passage into a readability checker like this one to get a grade level for the text)

how long are their sentences & how many clauses is that sentence broken into? does the length vary little or greatly? is there a pattern to their sentence length within each paragraph?

long paragraphs or short?

do they use humor, and when? what’s meant to be funny about the text? is it in the narration, the dialogue, or both?

how often do they use figurative language, and which kinds? metaphors or similes? personification? synecdoche?

do they alliterate for emphasis or write out sounds?

how do they imply emphasis? italics? punctuation? sentence length?

when listing things, what number of things do they list? how do they use conjunctions? (syndeton is when conjunctions are used, “blank and blank and blank.” asyndeton is when no conjunctions are used, “blank, blank, blank.”)

how is information delivered? at the end of the sentence, or beginning? do we always know something right when the character knows it?

this is all great in theory, but how about we put it in practice?

to use as an example, we’re going to look at several works of neil gaiman, author of the princess mononoke adaption and nothing else (besides many books and comics and whatnot, some of which we will look at here)

under the cut: the graveyard book, the ocean at the end of the lane, & american gods

each text has had three sections, about a page in length, analyzed. i used the first page, as well as at least one page with heavy dialogue, and one page with little to no dialogue. besides these criteria, the pages were chosen randomly

the graveyard book

3rd person omniscient - past tense - children’s book

sentences per paragraph: paragraphs had one sentence in them commonly (39% of the time), but went up to 7 sentences in a paragraph

words per sentence: sentences had high variation in number of words. each page had sentences between 1 and 4 words long. however, some sentences were very lengthy, with the top sentences in each section being 43, 41, and 57 words long

clauses: it was not uncommon for a long sentence to have up to 5 clauses, with one extraordinary sentence having 11

dialogue: dialogue tags were put before the dialogue 2 times, in the middle of dialogue 8 times, and after the dialogue 3 times. a character’s dialogue tag or action being between two or three sections of dialogue was by far the most common, but did vary by character. sometimes dialogue tags were used multiple times per character speaking (such as one in the middle and another at the end)

emphasis: italics were used 3 times in the pages, and a character spoke in all caps once

figurative language:

synecdoche: “There was a hand in the darkness, and it held a knife.”

personification: “The knife had done almost everything it was brought to the house to do” / “The knife and the man who held it had slipped in”

simile: “they looked like dark mirrors”

metaphor: “smoke-tendril voice”

in these passages, figurative language was used to bolster an atmosphere of dark aesthetics and light horror. figurative language was used the most in the passage with no dialogue

syndeton: “His hair was dark and his eyes were dark and he wore black leather gloves”

special notes: period-specific language was used, such as one character using the term “blast it”. while the book was easy to understand, elevated language was used on occasion, such as “expostulated” instead of “said”. the narrator gave us information about how the characters were feeling or what they were thinking, but also seemed to have opinions not shared by the characters, despite not being a ‘present/strong’ narrator. the narrator did imply some concept of an audience

the ocean at the end of the lane

1st person POV - past tense - adult book with a child main character

sentences per paragraph: paragraphs had one sentence in them 17% of the time, but went up to 11 sentences in a paragraph, with 4 to 5 being common

words per sentence: sentences had high variation in number of words. each page had sentences 3 or less words long. the top sentences in each section were 42, 41, and 28 words long

clauses: there were sentences with 5+ clauses in each section, with 7 clauses appearing twice

dialogue: dialogue tags were put before the dialogue 4 times, in the middle of dialogue 7 times, and after the dialogue 1 time. no dialogue tag was used 4 times. mid-dialogue was still the most common, and sometimes there would be multiple tags or actions in each section of dialogue

emphasis: italics were used 4 times in the pages

figurative language:

metaphor: “transformed her face to gold”

synecdoche: “lettie’s voice was close to me, and it said” (this could also be interpreted as personification, since the voice is talking)

figurative language was not used often in these passages, but was used to bolster the mood of scenes (the golden face introduced a mystical character, the voice was in a tense moment before a chase)

asydeton: “squinted at it, sniffed it, rubbed at it, listened to it, then touched it”

special notes: in this book, an adult narrator is telling the story of his childhood. the narration is very simple and to the point, and does not use flowery or figurative language often. though it is told in first person, in these passages, we don’t get very much interiority from the narrator. most of the mood-setting of scenes is in the actual content of them, which is meant to be magical or horrifying in parts

american gods

3rd person close - past tense - adult book with adult main character

sentences per paragraph: paragraphs had one sentence in them commonly (36% of the time), but went up to 7 sentences in a paragraph, with 3 being most common. overall, the trend was towards less sentences in a paragraph

words per sentence: sentences had high variation in number of words. each page had sentences 1 or 2 words long. the top sentences in each section were 39, 41, and a whopping 92 words long (92 words? neil, dude.)

clauses: the most clauses in a sentence was 12 clauses, with 4 or 5 clauses being common

dialogue: dialogue tags were put before the dialogue 2 times, in the middle of dialogue 11 times, and after the dialogue 3 times. no dialogue tag was used 8 times, mostly if there were two people in a scene or we weren’t supposed to know who was talking.

figurative language:

personification: “[snow] that kisses your face with its hesitant touch”

metaphor: “twelve cotton-candy inches of snow”

so shadow isn’t ... the most imaginative person when it comes to figurative language, but bless, he’s trying. figurative language is used when we’re inside the POV character’s head

syndeton: “so he kept himself in shape, and taught himself coin tricks, and thought a lot about how much he loved his wife.”

special notes: this book uses more complex punctuation than the others did. we have em dashes and colons, sometimes in the same sentence, as well as ellipses and semicolons. though the narration follows shadow, we also get thoughts directly from him in italics. one time, italics is used for a piece of dialogue said in the past, while quotation marks are used for past dialogue in the same sentence. overall, this book has much more complicated sentence structure, though the overall diction isn’t necessarily of a higher grade level (though it does swear, like, a lot)

conclusion

from this sort of analysis, this is what we can gather of neil gaiman’s style, that we can now use to copy him as we choose:

he has high variation in paragraph length and sentence length. there are plenty of short, punchy sentences, both in narration and dialogue, but the long sentences are much longer than average, and use a high number of clauses. 4 or 5 clauses in a sentence was fairly common, not just for listing things. when a paragraph had only one sentence in it, most of the time it was used for emphasis of an idea or to switch the focus of a scene. interestingly, the paragraphs that took up the most space on a page usually had more words per sentence rather than more sentences than average

word choice and diction was used to establish tone. the graveyard book, which is a children’s book, had more elevated diction than ocean at the end of the lane, which is an adult book. overall, the sentences tended to be fairly low-grade-level in word choice (besides the many curses in american gods, as mentioned), and the content set the age range more than word choice

if you want to write like neil gaiman, for the love of the gods, put your dialogue tags in the middle of your dialogue. this was by far the most common way the dialogue tags or character action was placed within the dialogue (49% of the time, out of four options). another thing that stands out about the dialogue tags, is that while in the middle they’re often used to emphasize the first word or phrase of the sentence (”who,” said shadow, “...” / “that,” said silas, “...” / “i think,” said silas, “...”). when not in the middle, the tag could be at the end of the sentence, or there would be no tag at all. the tag was very rarely at the beginning of the sentence

he used both syndeton and asyndeton for lists of things or joining multiple clauses. this was present in every book, though i only looked at 3 pages per. another thing i noticed while reading the graveyard book separately (this was not present in the pages i analyzed) was listing things in twos with two and’s and one comma (blank and blank, blank and blank).

emphasis tended to be through sentence length rather than italics. italics were used for specific words or thoughts more often than emphasis, and was not very present in these pages

the POV changed in each book, as well as narrational distance from the characters, but they were all written in past tense

figurative language is used to set tone, abide by an aesthetic, and inform us of character. the presence of figurative language does change depending on the book, and was the most present in graveyard book, which had the most distant narrator. the figurative language used was tied to character. in the graveyard book, the man jack and his knife are described with synecdoche--when a part represents the whole. this is very interesting once you find out who the man jack is!

and all this from just 9 pages! imagine what you could do with a chapter, or a short story

i do recommend checking out the “bad gaiman challenge” on youtube, one because it’s very very funny, and two because you can then ask yourself, what about these make them read like neil gaiman stories, terrible though they are? some things you might notice - long sentences, syndeton, tone, and more!

if anyone is still reading, thank you for sticking with that very long winded example. hopefully you learned something about how to analyze a writing style! try it with your own writing, too! do it for a story you might not like as much, and your favorite, and see how they differ. plug your stories into an analysis website. you might be surprised what you learn!

#writing #writing tips #style #neil gaiman #the graveyard book #american gods #ocean at the end of the lane

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jeremys-blogs · 4 years

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My 10 Comfort Films

Movies have been a big part of my life for as far back as I can remember. And like any movie-lover, there are some I'll be more inclined to watch than others. Not my absolute favourites or the ones I think of as "the best movies ever" necessarily, but ones I'll always come back to when I have a free afternoon to watch them. And those are the ones I want to list out here. Films that might not be the objective best of their respective fields and franchises, but ones that I just always enjoy watching whenever they're on my screen.

The Isle of Dogs (2018) - Now, I realise that the visual style championed by Wes Anderson (lots of symmetrical shots, characters looking directly into the camera, and so on) can be a bit of an acquired taste, but it definitely works for an animated outing like this one. A story of a bunch of dogs living and trying to survive on an island covered in trash doesn't admittedly sound like the most appealing of movies, but let it never be said that Wes can't make film look good. Voice talent like Brian Cranston and Bill Murray help provide a deadpan style of humour that, while certainly not to everyone's liking, had me hooked from moment one. And of course, as someone who grew up with stop-motion animation, it's always nice to see someone try to keep that style alive, and yes kudos also has to be given to Laika for that. Anderson has only done one other animated work, Fantastic Mr Fox, and between them this is definitely my favourite. I have no idea if he'll ever return to animation, but I have a good feeling it'll be great when he does, because as unpolished as this might sometimes appear, it's nevertheless a great watch.

Porco Rosso (1992) - I may have watched a good number of other anime films in my day, but few have ever managed to match the enjoyment given to me by the movies of Studio Ghibli, and especially not against those of Hayao Miyazaki himself. In fact, I'll even go on record now and say that he might be my all-time favourite filmmaker, since he's never made a movie I didn't like, which I've never been able to say about anyone else. Porco Rosso might not have the kind of deep characters and story of Princess Mononoke, and it might not be anywhere near the sheer visual brilliance of Spirited Away, but it nevertheless engages me deeply whenever I watch it. Of all Miyazaki's films, this might have the fewest fantastical elements to it, with the only real bit of other-worldliness being that the main character is under a curse that turns him into a pig, but never let that lead you to think this doesn't have Miyazaki's signature whimsy all over it. Porco is often an overlooked and under-appreciated movie when compared to Miyazaki's other films, but as far as I'm concerned it deserves to stand alongside even the best of them.

Hercules (1997) - The Disney Renaissance is often lauded for its critically and commercially successful films, and rightfully so. From classics like Little Mermaid to Aladdin, this ten-year stretch of Disney's history has a lot to be pleased about. So it might seem odd that my personal pick from this era is the film often regarded as one of its lesser entries. And I'll grant you, compared to revolutionary films like Little Mermaid, this might not seem particularly special. But it still has a lot to enjoy, especially by me. Yes, the mythology buff in me does indeed wince whenever I see some inaccuracy, but the sheer joy I feel at watching Hercules always negates that. And of course, who could forget one of the most enjoyable villains ever to grace a Disney production, courtesy of the great James Woods. But don't think the movie is carried by him alone, as plenty of the other cast, including Susan Egan and Danny DeVito in particular, do great and making this a fun ride. Between the animation, the voice work, the often-catchy musical numbers and the simple pleasure this film offers, Disney's Hercules proves that it is indeed a hero, and not a zero.

Toy Story 4 (2019) - Toy Story was a groundbreaking movie that kicked down the door for the success of all future computer-animated films. Toy Story 2 was a more-than-worthy addition to the ultra-exclusive club of sequels that were better than the original. Toy Story 3 was a poignant and heartfelt goodbye to a franchise and cast of characters that we had come to know and love over the years. Let's not mince words here, people. Being tasked with creating another sequel in a franchise that had been capped off almost a decade earlier in a way that led many to calling it one of the greatest trilogies of all time must have been an exceptionally daunting prospect. But let it never be said that Pixar can't rise to the challenge when one is presented to them, as Toy Story 4 is a hugely engaging and entertaining flick. Is it as good as those that came before? Well, it's certainly not pushing any boundaries like they did, with the exception of the clear advances in animation that have been made, but even wit that taken into account, it's just a nice film to watch. The farewell given to us here might not have brought a tear to my eye the way the third movie did, but I'd still be happy to have this be the final word on the Toy Story theatrical releases.

The Avengers (2012) - Like everyone, I had been watching and enjoying many of the MCU movies that had been coming up in the years leading up to this big crossover, and like those other people I too had been learning about the eventual team-up through all the various end-credits scenes Marvel had become so famous for. But whether the eventual film would be good was still up in the air. I certainly hoped it'd be entertaining, but I also didn't want to get too hopeful, just in case. Thankfully, Marvel met my expectations and smashed through them, delivering what is, quite possibly, my all-time favourite superhero film. The idea of comic book continuity and crossovers working in a live-action movie had been thought of as almost a laughable notion, but Marvel proved those naysayers wrong in the biggest way possible, showing that not only were these movies capable of being good when all these disparate characters got together, but that they thrived while doing so. Avengers was the first of these big team-ups, and in my eyes it has remained the gold standard. Other entries like Age of Ultron or Infinity War all had their value, but to me nothing will ever quite measure up to this first meeting of such iconic and wonderful characters.

Star Trek Beyond (2016) - I'll be upfront, I wasn't a big fan of the 2009 reboot of the Star Trek franchise, nor was I particularly fond of its 2013 sequel, Into Darkness. For me the movies were just trying too hard to be serious and heavy, and while I fully acknowledge that the Trek fandom has a lot of people who enjoy the more gritty directions the franchise has gone in, I cannot count myself among them. Beyond, by contrast, actually seems like it wants to just be a fun ride, which is something I appreciate a great deal. This is not, in any way, a deep or complicated movie. In fact, when you get right down to it, what we have here is just an episode of the original Trek show just blown up to feature length with some modern-day visuals and cast. But you know, that's okay by me, as the end result was hugely enjoyable. Pine and the rest of the cast, in terms of their acting, seem far more comfortable here than they were with the other films of the trilogy, and special mention has to go to Zachary Quinto as Spock, who was able to perfectly balance not only the character's famous stoicism, but also the moments of drama and humour the role called for. This is not the greatest Star Trek movie ever made, but it's one I enjoy more than anything else in the franchise.

Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015) - A common trend with me as far as Star Wars trilogies are concerned is that the first movie in that grouping will always be the one I enjoy watching most, and it seems that pattern continued with the release of Disney's foray into the franchise. Force Awakens is often maligned as being too similar to the original 1977 film, and while I can certainly see those similarities, that isn't anywhere near enough of a reason for me to dislike it. New characters like Rey, Finn and BB-8 were instantly endearing to me and I always enjoyed seeing the three of them together and working off one another. Harrison Ford's return was welcome and he definitely gave it his all, though Carrie Fisher was no slouch either. There's nothing especially revolutionary about this movie, and really the only thing that gets it on this list is just pure likeability. But as far as I'm concerned, that's all a movie needs. Abrams has a noted talent when it comes to recreating the look of sci-fi movies of past decades, and that talent is on full display here, as the movie looks right at home with every other Star Wars story out there. Disney's other films in this trilogy might not have brought me as much joy, but I'll always have this one to pick me up again.

Shin Godzilla (2016) - Okay, given that this is a list of movies I like to just watch while chilling, Shin Godzilla probably seems like an odd pick. I've talked about it before and mentioned repeatedly how it's probably the most serious and unhappy Godzilla film to date. So why go for this instead of something more exciting like King of the Monsters? Well, it's hard to put into words, but there's just something about this movie that draws me to it. It's one I respect certainly, owing largely to its goal of recreating everything that made the original Gojira movie great but putting it in a modern setting, but besides that there's just a quality that I can't put my finger on. Maybe it's the fact that, despite my previously-mentioned dislike of movies trying to be serious, this is one of the rare examples of that seriousness actually fitting the kind of film I'm watching. It's a movie of Godzilla at his most dangerous, horrific and nightmarish, and whose great terror is thwarted only by the collective efforts of a group of political, scientific and military misfits, yet I'm on the edge of my seat unable to look away throughout the whole thing. No idea if that rumoured sequel will ever come to pass, but I can only hope it's as engrossing as this one was.

Legend (1985) - By far the oldest movie you'll find on this list, this gem of a story by famed director Ridley Scott is a fairy tale of a young woodland boy hoping to rescue his fair love from a wicked demon. Now that sounds about as generic a fantasy story as you can make, and in truth the movie is more interested in creating as unique visual portrayal of that classic setup than it is in revolutionizing or pushing it in any way. But what a visual spectacle it is. It's really hard to put into words just what it's like to watch this movie, and most of the time it feel like you're watching some feature-length dream sequence. That certainly makes it an oddity among other fantasy flicks of its era, but "classic fairy tale executed perfectly" is a pretty good reason to love it. Thankfully, it also has some great performances to help bring that whole thing to life, with the star-making turn of course being that of the great Tim Curry as the movie's central antagonist. If there's a list of great movie fantasy villains out there, Curry's character absolutely deserves to be on it, and chances are he'll be the thing you end up remembering most if you ever decide to watch this yourselves.

Demolition Man (1993) - I'm admittedly not a big watcher of the big, muscly action flicks that dominated the 80s and 90s, but this one actually caught my interest a few years back. A film that, while certainly showing off some pretty intense fight scenes, also had a lot of smart things to say. Ideas that you didn't normally see in beefcake action titles, like the importance of the balance between personal freedom and the collective good. A society where murder has been eradicated, but at the cost of many of the things we know and love today. It might not be the best at that particular discussion, but it's certainly something to note given that I don't normally consider this particular genre to be the place to think about it. But of course the big draw is the two leads, Stallone and Snipes, and yeah they are definitely having fun in their roles. Stallone is a far better actor than most people give him credit for, and this is definitely a role I enjoyed watching him in, especially since they actually allow him to be occasionally funny. Any action movie that remembers that you need to tell a joke every once in a while has my respect, and it's just one more thing about this fine move to like.

So yeah, those are my regular comfort movies. Some odd choices maybe, but hey, I like what I like 🥰

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thetwistedmentat · 5 years

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The year in anime for 2018

2018 was a banner year for me in anime, it saw me move away from action and science fiction anime toward drama and slice of life titles. Things began with Kimi no Na Wa (Your Name), which I enjoyed immensely and proved to me that there are studios out there that can make movies that rival Ghibli in terms of overall quality.

I finally got around to watching Spirited Away and Howl’s Moving Castle later in the spring and summer, which is somewhat surprising because though I really respect Miyazaki’s works, I find them to be too whimsical for my taste (with the exception of Princess Mononoke and Grave of the Fireflies, of course). I did really enjoy both movies a lot, but once again, I’m not really into whimsical works.

Fall brought along titles such as Wolf Children, which I absolutely loved, and The Girl Who Lept Through Time about which I was only lukewarm. I plan on exploring the rest of Mamoru Hosoda’s work as time will allow including Mirai and Summer Wars.

There was one anime movie experience for me this year that absolutely eclipsed all others and catapulted itself to my favorite movie of all time. That movie would be Koe no Katachi (A Silent Voice). I had read a few reviews here and there about the movie and they all spoke about how powerful it is, though I was really surprised that it was not widely available. I somehow managed to procure an imported (and probably pirated) copy of the film....where it sat on my shelf for six months. Finally, in September I pulled it off the shelf for a viewing with a friend. To say that I wasn’t prepared for the experience would be a huge understatement. I have never had that kind of an emotional response to any sort of visual media in my entire life and I wept openly during several scenes. The movie is really something else and it’s really a shame that it came out on the heels of Kimi no Na Wa (which absolutely eclipsed it in popularity, but not critical acclaim). It has taken over two years, but Koe no Katachi is finally getting a release in the United States on April 2nd. I couldn’t recommend this movie more, it has themes of bullying, social anxiety, depression, suicide, and living with a disability in it.

This really kicked off a revolution in my anime viewing habits, I finally subscribed to Crunchyroll, and I moved on to such titles as Anohana, Shigatsu Wa Kimi no Uso (Your Lie in April), Plastic Memories, Seishun Buta Yarou wa Bunny Girl Senpai no Yume wo Minai (Rascal Does Not Dream of Bunny Girl Senpai) (it’s not what you think it is), and Violet Evergarden (I can’t praise this series enough). From the selection, you could definitely say that I’ve been seeking out emotional dramas.

I’ve always been an otaku, but I’ve primarily stuck to the mecha and cyberpunk genres for the last 25 years. This year was the first year I broke out of my comfort zone and I have to say that I love anime far more than I ever have. Here’s to 2019.

#anohana #shigatsu wa kimi no uso #your lie in april #Koe no Katachi #A silent voice #plastic memories #rascal does not dream of bunny girl senpai #violet evergarden #wolf children #the girls who lept through time #kimi no na wa #your name

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a-corndog-named-schibbs · 6 years

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Fangs, Fur, and Phantoms - Chapter 1

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IT’S FINALLY READY!

Y’all, I’ve been wanting to write a multi-chapter fic of the fangs and fur au since forever. I’ve been working on this for months and I’m so excited to share it with you!

Fic contains Klance, Hidge, and (mostly) platonic Shallura. The Hidge content is in later chapters, but it is coming, I promise.

Let the spooky fun begin!

Lance was pretty sure his boyfriend was a black hole.

Keith had invited Lance over to join his family for dinner and during that dinner he had managed to consume three whole steaks and a mountain of pasta salad and still went back to the fridge to retrieve some leftover meatloaf.

Lance shook his head, taking a sip of his blood pouch, which Keith’s mom had been kind enough to procure for him so that he would have something to eat at dinner, “Where does it all go?”

Keith swallowed the bite he was working on, “Would you rather I be hungry during the pack run and try to take a chunk out of your arm?”

Lance shrugged, “It’s not like it wouldn’t grow back. Accelerated healing, remember?”

“Accelerated healing or not,” said Krolia, sitting diagonally from Lance and finishing off her own steak, “we don’t want to act too aggressive during the pack run. The more we eat now, the more in control we’ll be once the moon rises.”

“Besides,” Keith’s adopted sister, Romelle, piped up from the other end of the table, “it’s a good way to get rid of those leftovers sitting in the fridge.”

Lance finished the last of his blood pouch, “Well, it was very kind of you to invite me over tonight, Krolia. Do you need any help with the dishes?”

“No, that’s fine, Lance,” said Krolia, gathering up the plates, “You’re a guest here and you didn’t even dirty any of them. Besides, I know Keith will help me with the dishes, won’t you, Keith?” She tapped the leg of Keith’s chair with her foot and nodded toward the kitchen. Keith rolled his eyes, but got up and followed her anyway. As they exited the dining room, Lance heard Krolia whisper, “He’s such a gentleman! Where did you find him?”

Lance turned toward Romelle, “So…how does this work? Because I’m pretty fast, but I don’t think I’m, like, wolf levels of fast. I’m not sure I’ll be able to keep up with everybody.”

Romelle smiled, “You’ll see. If I can participate in a pack run, so can you.”

“Well, I’ll take your word for it.”

At that moment, the doorbell rang and Romelle’s pointed ears pricked up. “Mom, they’re here!” she called through the kitchen door.

“Can you get it, Romelle? My hands are full.”

Romelle grinned and tugged on Lance’s sleeve, “Come on, it’s time for you to meet everyone.”

She led Lance into the foyer and opened the front door and before Lance could blink, the small hallway seemed to be filled with dozens and dozens of werewolves, all chatting and greeting Romelle warmly and lining up to shake Lance’s hand while he desperately tried to remember all their names. The one with the sideburns was Thace and the one with the mohawk was Ulaz and the one built like a tank was Antok or was it Regris? He knew he should have gotten Keith to make him a cheat sheet.

Finally, a white-haired man stepped through the doorway, one of the largest werewolves in the room and definitely the oldest by several years. He carried himself with the authority of a general.

“Are we all here?” he asked, looking around at the others, “Remember, less than half an hour until moonrise, so if you haven’t eaten yet, do so now.” He turned and noticed Lance for the first time, “Who’s this?”

His gaze made Lance squirm, “I, uh…I’m Keith’s…um…”

“He’s my mate,” Lance felt Keith come up behind him and put an arm around his waist, instantly calming his nerves, “You’ve all introduced yourselves to Lance, right? He’s going to be joining us for the pack run tonight.”

“That’s right,” said Krolia, walking into the room and wiping her hands on a dishrag, “so I expect all of you to be on your best behavior around him.”

Kolivan raised an eyebrow, “Are you sure about this, Krolia? Pack runs can be dangerous to non-wolves.”

“He’s fine,” said Krolia, “He’s a vampire. He won’t even get a scratch.”

Murmurs rose from the group assembled, with the word “vampire” standing out most clearly. Lance winced. Historically speaking, werewolves and vampires had not always gotten along.

“That…seems fine, then,” said Kolivan, “We’ll assemble outside. If you brought any snacks, eat them now.”

“Come on,” said Keith, tugging Lance towards the kitchen where the backdoor was. As they walked away, Lance couldn’t help overhearing Kolivan whispering to Krolia.

“Next time, I wish you’d consult me before inviting a non-wolf to the pack run.”

“You’ve never objected to Romelle joining the pack run.”

“Adopting an changeling into the pack is one thing. Having a vampire as the future alpha-mate is—“

“You don’t even know if Keith wants to be the alpha someday! I might name someone else as my beta.”

“Keith is your oldest child and a strong wolf in his own right. We both know he’d be a great leader some day. You and he need to think about what’s best for the pack.”

Krolia growled, “You were just like this when I introduced Tex to the pack.”

Keith was apparently eavesdropping too, because he pulled Lance closer as they stepped into the backyard, “Don’t listen to them. Kolivan’s all hot air, he’ll warm up to you. He did to my dad.”

“Is what Kolivan said true? Are you really going to be alpha someday?”

Keith avoided eye contact, “It…would make sense. Everyone knows Krolia’s going to be alpha once Kolivan steps down, but we haven’t really…talked about it.”

Lance wanted to ask more questions, but the moon was beginning to rise and Keith and the others were beginning to transform. Keith started to remove his clothes so they wouldn’t be ripped and Lance averted his eyes for decency’s sake. While he didn’t look, he heard Keith groaning and breathing heavily as he shifted. There were medications a werewolf could take to make the transition less painful, but that didn’t mean it wasn’t still uncomfortable. When Lance turned back, his boyfriend’s human form was gone and in its place was a powerful creature, indistinguishable from a normal wolf except for slightly longer and more muscular forelegs and the fact that it was much, much bigger.

“You still you, babe?” said Lance.

The wolf panted, a silly grin on its face.

“I take it you’ll be riding with Keith?” said Romelle, the only other person in the backyard who still looked humanoid.

“Riding?”

Romelle nodded and approached a wolf with thick gray fur and dark markings around her face, who Lance recognized as Krolia, and swung herself up onto the wolf’s back.

“Seriously? This is gonna be awesome!”

Lance clambered up onto Keith’s back, reveling in the feeling of his soft, black fur against Lance’s hands.

“Let me know if I pull too hard, okay?”

Keith barked once.

Across the yard, a large, white wolf howled to get the others’ attention and loped toward the back gate and out into the woods behind the house. Lance yelped as Keith and the other wolves bounded forward to follow their leader.

Soon Lance found himself flying through the forest, trees whipping past him and Keith as they rushed forward. They were on the far left of the group, which seemed to be splitting up into smaller hunting parties. Keith stayed close to Krolia and Romelle, the four of them forming their own hunting party.

Lance turned toward Romelle, “I feel like Princess Mononoke!”

“Nice, isn’t it?” Romelle yelled back.

Lance would have answered in agreement, when an unpleasant smell hit his nose. Blood, stagnant blood that had been spilled hours ago and some other scent too, something he couldn’t place, yet made the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end.

“Smell that, babe?” he said into Keith’s ear.

Keith huffed and changed course, following the new scent with Krolia close at his heels.

They didn’t see the dead body until they had nearly tripped over it.

***

Temptation, despite the name, was considered one of the classiest bars in the city. Shiro almost felt bad about causing a scene there.

But not bad enough to reconsider it.

That evening, he and his partner, Allura, stepped out of the black sedan their organization had issued them and walked toward the entrance of the club. The car, chosen to appear average and nondescript, now looked dingy and plain next to the sports cars and classic vehicles belonging to the bar’s other patrons.

Typical PBI, Shiro thought, Couldn’t they have sprung for a nicer car just this once?

“Think this is the right place?” Allura asked.

Shiro looked up at the purple neon sign, the word “Temptation” written in cursive and accompanied by the neon outline of a woman with devil horns.

“I’m pretty sure.”

The two agents approached the entrance, where an exceptionally buff woman with short hair was waiting with a metal detector. As expected, the detector went off within two seconds of being waved near Shiro.

“What is this?” the woman said, pointing to Shiro’s arm.

“It’s a prosthetic.” said Shiro.

“You’ll need to leave it here.”

“Are you serious?”

“You could be concealing a weapon in there.”

“Listen—“

But Shiro was interrupted by another woman approaching them, clad in a black cocktail dress, her dark hair pulled away from her face.

“It’s all right, Zethrid,” she said, placing a hand on the buff woman’s shoulder “I can vouch for these two. If you’ll follow me, please…”

Shiro and Allura followed her into the bar. The place was tastefully decorated in black, silver, and various shades of purple. A stage dominated the back wall, where a woman in a high ponytail and a red evening dress crooned seductively into her microphone. The woman in the cocktail dress led the two of them to a booth in the corner.

“Anything I can get you two to start out?” the woman asked.

“Whiskey on the rocks,” said Allura.

“A ginger ale,” said Shiro.

The woman raised an eyebrow.

“I’m our ride home.”

“This is a lovely establishment you have here,” Allura added quickly.

“Yes, Lotor takes great pride in his business.”

“I don’t suppose he’s in tonight?” said Shiro, “We’d love to meet him.”

“I’ll see if he’s around,” the woman said, “And I’ll have those drinks to you right away.”

As she walked away, Allura leaned in, “Ginger ale? Really? There goes our air of mystery.”

“Drunk driving’s illegal, Allura. I’m not taking any chances.”

“You’re really leaning into the straight-laced agent persona, huh?” said Allura. She leaned back, “Think our server is Acxa?”

“I certainly hope so, or this is going to be a real short visit.”

A few minutes later, the woman returned with two drinks and a man in a well-tailored suit and long platinum-blond hair.

“I was told you wished to speak with me, Mr…?”

“Shirogane.” said Shiro, “And this is Miss Prince. I take it you’re Lotor.”

“The one and only,” said Lotor, sliding into the booth, “How can I help you two?”

“We think we might have a mutual friend with you,” said Allura, reaching into her clutch purse and pulling out her phone. She pulled up a photograph on it, “Do you recognize this woman?”

Lotor looked at the phone and frowned, “Can’t say I’ve ever seen her.”

“Strange. Well…” Allura slid to the next picture, “What about this woman?”

“Don’t recognize her.”

“Or this man?”

“Never met him.”

“That’s funny. They all seem to have met you.”

Lotor raised an eyebrow, “And where do they say they know me from?”

“Well, they all seem to be under the impression that you forced them to hand over a large sum of money,” said Shiro.

“Did they? And how do they say I managed to do that?”

“By seducing and hypnotizing them into complying with your demands.”

“Hypnotizing?” Lotor scoffed, “Next you’re going to accuse me of putting a magic spell on them. Be reasonable, Mr. Shirogane, we’re all adults here. How could I possibly hypnotize someone into giving me money? It’s not humanly possible.”

“You’re right, it’s not possible. For a human.”

Lotor rolled his eyes, “I assure you, Mr. Shirogane, I am entirely human.”

“Then this shouldn’t hurt at all.”

Shiro reached into his waistband and pulled out a small green water pistol, spraying Lotor full in the face. Lotor leaned back abruptly, screaming in pain, steam rising from his face where some nasty boils were beginning to form.

“He’s the real deal,” said Shiro, “Call them in.”

It took Allura only a few taps on her phone before the doors of the bar burst open and three men in black suits barged in, immediately spotting Shiro and Allura at their booth with Lotor. Two of the men grabbed Lotor by the arms and handcuffed him while the third trained a Super Soaker at him.

As the men were carting Lotor away, the woman in the cocktail dress approached their booth.

“I thought he’d go down with more of a fight. I’m Acxa, by the way.”

“Agents Shirogane and Prince,” said Allura, “It’s the holy water. Works like a charm. You’re the woman who called in the tip, aren’t you? How did you know that man was an incubus?”

Acxa shrugged, “I went to his office to ask for a raise. I left the office under the impression that the last thing in the world I wanted was a raise. It wasn’t until I got home that I realized I had no memory of the actual conversation.”

“Good instincts,” said Shiro, just as his phone began to ring, “Excuse me one moment.”

He checked the ID on his phone.

“Iverson?” asked Allura.

“Must be important if he’s calling us on a job,” said Shiro. He accepted the call, “Yes, sir?”

“Wrapped up the incubus case yet, agent?”

“Just about. We still need to debrief, but otherwise we’re done.”

“Well, you and Agent Prince had better come in as soon as possible. We just got a new case. You’re really going to want to see this.”

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