Ghibli Films

Everything around Japanese animation and comics.
Todd
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Ghibli Films

Post by Todd »

My friends and I are watching a Ghibli film every Sunday evening for a while. So far we've watched Princess Mononoke and Howl's Moving Castle.

They're ...interesting. I had so many questions after watching Howl's Moving Castle! Why was she old only some of the time? Was her curse lifted? Etc. I have theories I want to discuss. lol

Have you guys watched any Ghibli films? Which are your favorites?
LadyDB
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Re: Ghibli Films

Post by LadyDB »

I haven't watched Howl's in a while, so I couldn't answer your question. ^_^U

I love the artwork in Ghibli films, my favorites are probably Spirited Away and Princess Mononoke.

I like the idea of having a Ghibli weekend, that's cool!
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Aku
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Re: Ghibli Films

Post by Aku »

I'm a big Ghibli fan, so I've seen quite a few, although I'm more of a fan of older Ghibli films than the newer ones.

Howl's Moving Castle confuses me too, I think it's because quite a bit of the details of the book aren't included/deviate in the film? As much as I love the movie, I think it's probably kind of a poor adaptation. xD My opinion was always that Sophie's curse would lift itself as she began to feel more comfortable/confident in herself as she was falling in love with Howl. (Sophie was comfortable in her "old form" because her personality matched that appearance, so when she becomes young again it's as if she's accepting herself and letting her guard down.) I've also read that Howl was able to see through Sophie's curse, so it's possible that she might not actually be changing, but it's just Howl seeing who she really is and not the appearance of the spell.

For cuteness/slice of life factor, I'd have to say My Neighbor Totoro is my favorite. My top favorites are probably Laputa and Spirited Away (although Howl's Moving Castle might be my favorite music-wise). Both stories are really beautiful, I cry every time. XD I think Spirited Away is the better of the more recent films that have come out--it's also visually probably one of the most beautiful animated movies.
Todd
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Re: Ghibli Films

Post by Todd »

Aku wrote:Howl's Moving Castle confuses me too, I think it's because quite a bit of the details of the book aren't included/deviate in the film? As much as I love the movie, I think it's probably kind of a poor adaptation. xD My opinion was always that Sophie's curse would lift itself as she began to feel more comfortable/confident in herself as she was falling in love with Howl. (Sophie was comfortable in her "old form" because her personality matched that appearance, so when she becomes young again it's as if she's accepting herself and letting her guard down.) I've also read that Howl was able to see through Sophie's curse, so it's possible that she might not actually be changing, but it's just Howl seeing who she really is and not the appearance of the spell.
Those are my thoughts as well! I think we see how Sophie feels. When she is calling herself ugly, or saying she has never felt pretty, or whathaveyou, she is the old lady. When she's happy and confident, she's her younger self. It's pretty interesting.

Howl's Moving Castle cracked me up, too.
SPOILERSPOILER_SHOW
It sucks that the prince had to be kissed by his one true love to turn human (from the scarecrow he was), and his one true love was in love with Howl.
Chibi
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Re: Ghibli Films

Post by Chibi »

I love Ghibli films! I watched only a few, not all of them. The ones I've watched so far are Spirited Away, Howl's Moving Castle (which is my absolute favourite so far :heart:), Princess Monoke, Whisper of the Heart, Kiki's Delivery Service and The Cat Returns. I like all of them a lot, except maybe for Kiki's Delivery Service? I mean, I liked it, but less than all the others. I plan on watching all of them soon!

I agree with Aku on the whole thing about Sophie's curse. I truly understood Howl's Moving Castle the second time I watched it (the first time I was quite confused too) and at point I fell in love with it completely. I plan on reading the book soon as well, I want to see if it's different or not (and in general, I just love reading, haha). I'm ready to discuss theories about Howl's Moving Castle every time! :D
neo
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Re: Ghibli Films

Post by neo »

I'm not sure which ones you have seen, but I totally recommend Porco Rosso, Whispers of the Heart, and Laputa: Castle in the Sky if you haven't seen them! (All of them really, but these are my personal favorites.)

The only movie I watched and didn't like was the adaptation of Ursula K. Le Guin's Earthsea series: "Tales from Earthsea". I've only read "A Wizard of Earthsea", but it was very hard to get interested in the movie.
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Destinie
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Re: Ghibli Films

Post by Destinie »

@Neo So Earthsea is one of my favorite book series (I used to have a shrine up to Ged but took it down because I'm a dork) and I was quite literally raging at the television screen while watching the movie. The issue with that movie is Hayao Miyazaki originally wanted to do an Earthsea movie and Ursula K. LeGuin said "No". Then when she watched My Neighbor Totoro she changed her mind, but by that time he wasn't interested anymore, so his son took over the project. Apparently, he and his son got in a lot of fights and was angry at him for that project. And I could see why because it's completely...off. LeGuin said, "This isn't my book, this is your movie" stating that it deviated so far from her stories that it wasn't even Earthsea anymore. What they did in the making of that movie was they mashed parts from other books together. They used Tales from Earthsea, The Farthest Shore, and parts of The Tombs of Atuan. The dragon girl was a short story in the Tales book and the main character boy was Ged's pseudo-sidekick in the Farthest Shore. (Sorry, I'll stop here I just have to say that I really REALLY love these books.)

As for Ghibli movies, I've seen most of Miyazaki's work. I think the only ones I haven't seen are Whisper of the Heart, Lupin III (which was his first film, I think?) and all of Castle in the Sky.

My favorite is Kiki's Delivery Service because I really relate to this movie. Especially where she loses all her magic and she meets the artist woman who kind of helps her emotionally. KIKI I'VE BEEN THERE AND DONE THAT I RELATE TO YOU. CRY!! (All his movies make me cry.) Plus I love magic girls.

I also love Miyazaki because he is a feminist which is why most of his movies have strong women or/and are about women. :>

If you like Ghibli stuff you should watch this series they made called Sherlock Hound! It's super cute!
Sarah
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Re: Ghibli Films

Post by Sarah »

Ghibli films I have seen are Kiki's Delivery Service, Spirited Away, My Neighbor Totoro, Princess Mononoke, and The Secret World of Arrietty. The first two are my favorites. For some reason I didn't really care for Princess Mononoke. I don't know why, maybe I didn't fully understand it. (I watched it many years ago.)

I'd also like to see Howl's Moving Castle someday, don't know why I haven't gotten to it yet. (I'd like to read the novel it is based on, too.) And my library actually has Pom Poko, so I should give that a watch as well.
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Destinie
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Re: Ghibli Films

Post by Destinie »

Oh yeah, I haven't seen Pom Poko, either. I heard it was...interesting. Lots of ball jokes and transforming testicles. Well, they are Tanuki after all.

I also haven't seen From Up on Poppy Hill. Has anyone here seen that one? Is it good?
Mikari
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Re: Ghibli Films

Post by Mikari »

I love Howl's Moving Castle and Spirited Away. I've also watched Kiki, Ponyo and Mononoke, but they didn't stand out as much as the other two.

In Howl's Moving Castle there's a part that says that Sophie is only still cursed "because she wants to be cursed" I think this was in the book only? I don't recall, it's been a long time since I listened to it. Anyway, from my understanding she did break the curse, but she believed herself to be cursed so she continued being cursed until she could let go of the curse.

I like the metaphor behind it, like saying it's your own doubt that's a curse and it can only be lifted if you have the will to be confident. So it's not that she "wanted to be cursed" exactly, but she didn't believe in herself even though gaining confidence would come if she just tried to be positive. In other words the first step towards a better image of yourself gaining confidence is wanting it enough to believe it's possible.
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