Castenell, Dee-Spirited Away

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The film, Spirited Away, is by far my favorite Miyazaki film. First of all, the music was amazing throughout the entire film, phenomenal job.  It does a great job portraying many underlying events and fun filled story. The main character, Chihiro is travelling to her new home when her father takes a shortcut to the house only to find an abandoned train station in the middle of a forest. Normally, an individual would not go explore the abandoned train station but of course, our characters went right for it. After many unfortunate events, Chihiro finds herself in the spirit world, alone and scared in a new environment. I really enjoyed how the overall movie played on the fact that she is moving to a place she didn’t desire and adjusting is hard. Becoming less dependent at that age is also a major theme considering she starts out spoiled and ends up sufficiently independent. Only comment I would have about the movie was that her parents just greet her at the end of the movie with a “where have you been?”. Clearly something should have been wrong if their daughter was missing for nearly five days. Anyways, the story was great, never boring considering events progressed at a decent pace. The artwork was truly magnificent. It gave a perfect sense of being in another world while also relating common aspects of the natural world to it, like a bathhouse and restaurants with common surroundings. The character models were extremely imaginative and detailed. I enjoyed how they portrayed human greed throughout the entire bathhouse, mainly Yubaba and No Face but also the denizens of the structure. The insatiable greed of the citizens and Yubaba led to the eventual downfall of their civilization (or bathhouse, however you’d like to call it). It is only when Yubaba has reached her limit and realized she had been conned with the fake gold and loss of her son that she had a change of heart. Lastly, I’d just like to mention that there are countless Japanese religious symbols throughout this film, (stones, statues, sekkai gates, bridges, etc.).  I highly recommend this to anyone looking for a fun, imaginative, and heartwarming story in general. 

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Castenell, Dee-Nausicaa

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The film, Nausicaa, was one of Miyazaki’s first films and at that time it came out, it did not disappoint. It was a well rounded movie covering a few important themes that are seen today in everyday life. Humans and nature coexisting is the main topic around this movie and also his more recent film, Princess Mononoke. The movie portrays the young girl as a heroine and princess (nausicaa). Judging from scenes of her past, she is the only human around who seems to communicate and understand the insects and limits of our relationship between nature. The toxic forest portrays a wide array of terrible things that the majority of humans want to destroy. They think living harmoniously with nature is impossible. The only reason the forest has become so deadly is because of the chemicals and pollutants we put into it as we harvest and destroy it. Having said that, it means that there would be an eternal battle between human and nature seeing as it becomes more deadly and we only try to fight it back which causes more toxicity for us and greater pollution for nature. Even though the main character has a deep seated love for the insects and nature, in the end she attempts to protect the humans because all in all, humans are her people, her species. It is seen that the main enemy “ohm” cannot possess the same humanistic features and are easily blinded by hatred and bloodlust. This is also seen in princess mononoke when the boars were filled with hatred from the destruction of the forest that Lady Eboshi had caused.  At that point in time, the hatred is so intense, not even the peaceful attempts are enough to sway their bewildered hearts.

Luckily there were parts of Nausicaa in which it showed a garden of non-toxic plants that were exactly the same as the ones in the forest. She showed that it was possible to co-exist and also she found out when she fell through the forest floor losing her mask. Deep down where humans haven’t polluted yet, the trees filter out the poison and leave a tranquil environment.

Anwyays, this movie was pretty good, I’m not sure if I would recommend it over other Miyazaki films but considering it was one of his first films, it is definitely worth seeing. 

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Castenell, Dee-Princess Mononoke

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  Princess Mononoke was easily one of the best films that we have seen and that studio ghibli has made. The character development, themes, artwork, and stunning music all added to the incredible factor the film had. This movie dealt with many great things like how humans even back in the old days were in conflict with technology and nature. Even today we are in conflict considering the vast amount of trees being cut down and desecration of many fertile lands. The characters were very clearly described while having so many underlying tid-bits of info about them. Ashitaka,  the main character, is plagued by a boar god and forced to leave his village forever and search for a remedy. During his journey he aids a few stranded workers and meets princess mononoke (San). In the village, he learns of the cause of his plague and how this lady (Eboshi) caused all of it to occur. On Ashitaka's journey, he realized the conflicts between nature and civilization and stood in the gray area seeing the problem from both angles.
   

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   This film expressed hatred in a form of crazy strength and a metastasizing plague. Mainly it showed a relationship between gods and humans. Lady Eboshi and the Emperor were both figures that challenged the gods without fear. As the story progressed, the gods proved to stand no chance against the technology and weapons possessed by the civilizations. Primordial gods versus advanced weaponry equals a complete slaughter for the gods unfortunately. Nature was defeated and the demand for expansion continually grows without remorse for the horrible punishment and abuse us humans cause. The one instance in which the humans opened up a can of worms they really should not have was when they took on the forest god himself. By killing him, they broke the natural balance and unleashed a rage and hatred that was omnipotent in every form. An overwhelming tsunami of death reigned over and destroyed the civilization that challenged nature and also the many lives in the process. This was all caused by the insatiable desire for more that humans have. "Everyone wants everything", a direct quote from the incredibly knowledgeable monk. Anyways, I thoroughly enjoyed this film and own it on dvd. I highly recommend it to anyone and everyone!

Castenell, Dee- Ah my Goddess!

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The film Ah my Goddess! was by far the most feminin movie we have seen, shojo one could say. It focused on some great themes though which can trigger intense philosophical debates (as seen in class). The movie focuses on the relationship between a teacher and student, and a human and a goddess. Keiichi (the human), Celestine (the teacher) and Belldandy (the Goddess) are the three main figures in this story. Throughout the film and based on the reading, the teacher-student relationship is quite normal although most people would be surprised considering Celestine was with Belldandy as a little girl. Often women ninja or samurai would have relations with their mentor or student way back in those times. The priests of that era even allowed it to occur. In our society, that would be pretty messed up and against our sociocultural
norms.

Anyways, this movie brings up a great point seeing as it associates God's with humans and portrays the different responses from each side. The Gods do not seem very keen on the whole idea, thus they created a gate in which it seemed certain that any couple who seemed to go through would be separated forever. It seems as though the Gods created it to be impossible to pass through unless it were a fairy and a fairy passing through. I believe that the only reason Keiichi was able to go through the portal at the very end was not because of his mutual love for Belldandy but because of Celestine making Keeichi a fairy by using his body as a host. Considering that the Gods did that, it shows that they do not desire the relationships between the upper powers and lower powers which is evident in Japanese society and frowned upon. Members of higher-up clans or emperors should not ever marry anyone of lowly power.
Despite all that, I wanted to mention that Celestine was swayed by the immense display of love Belldandy and Keeichi had for each other.  His desire to purge the world of corruption was completely understandable, only his methods were not suitable or humane in the least. Before I rant on more, I would like to mention that even though this movie was pretty shojo-esque, it was enjoyable from many perspectives and displayed humor, great animation, and a sweet love story.
Overall, I recommend this movie to women who enjoy anime, and to men who like to think and analyze anime and the themes it possesses. 

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Dee Castenell-Grave of the Fireflies

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       Grave of the Fireflies has a strong seat next to the movies I feel are amazing in all aspects. This film demonstrated the incredible perils that the Japanese endured while we mindlessly bombed them over and over. It showed the unparalleled bond between a teenage boy and his sister during the hell of WWII. There was many realistic and powerful scenes throughout the film, one realistic one being that after the passing of their (Seita and Setsuko’s) mother. They had no where to go since their father was at war so they ventured to their aunt who accepted them but grew to despise them once their contributions were drained. The aunt stopped feeding them over time seeing as they were just eating and not working at all to help out. She also showed intense resentment throughout their living there, the mother would despise any type of fun they would have. It makes sense that she would not like the company of Seita and Setsuko but seeing as they had lost their mother and had no one else left, she should have just accepted them and treated them as her child. Unfortunately, family ties are not as strong in Japanese culture so they were quickly shunned for being present in the aunt’s household. This movie shows the harsh truth and the struggles that each and every person has to go through. 

            

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          Many movies try to tie in a happy ending and it usually features some incredibly fake or fairy tale-like ending. To the viewers’ surprise (mostly American viewers who have the happy endings), this movie did not have the fairy tale ending. It was seen in the very beginning that Seita had died out in a subway. It was quite depressing and powerful, the scene depicted Seita as run-down, starved, and emotionless. The one thing he had lived for had dissipated. He was left with nothing, no family, and no money. Another powerful scene was after the death of Setsuko, Seita cremated her but sat there with the flame until the very end, not moving an inch. Seeing that scene and remembering all the hardships he had gone through to keep her alive really hit the heart hard. Probably one of the most touching scenes was the scene in which Seita withdrew the last of the money in the bank to buy some quality food for Setsuko. He knew that after feasting on all that delicious and fresh food, they would be completely broke and left to starve to death or struggle endlessly to survive but he took out and spent all the money anyways to have the temporary happiness and revitalized Setsuko. After coming back with a knapsack full of food, Setsuko was bedridden and completely starved. She was at the end of her rope chewing on a marble in hope that it was food. As Seita feeds her one small piece of watermelon, her dead-like expression changed for a brief moment only to say, thank you, as her last words.

            Anyways, I thoroughly enjoyed this movie and the animation was excellent.

Although it is a tearjerker for most, it was truthful in the hardships of what the Japanese endured. I highly recommend it to anyone.

Castenell, Dee- Harp of Burma

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 The anime film Harp of Burma focused on some great points that really interested me. First of all, my major, music therapy, demonstrates the many ways in which music can affect individuals. The playing of the harp for the distressed soldiers was therapeutic. Also fortunately music is the only universal language so it was able to sooth the combat ready troops from India and England (when they were surrounded at the hut). Through music, their lives were all spared and bloodshed was put to a rest. Also the hopes for a positive future were able to persist in each soldier as the going got tough.
 

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 I enjoyed the fact that this story was able to portray so many themes to all ages considering its viewer friendly. It shows war but a completely non-violent seeming side of war. There were no bloodshed scenes and instead it focused mainly on music and the perspectives of soldiers on all sides. Due to some scenes, its evident that no one wanted to go into war and have to shed blood or lose comrades. Unfortunately, the overwhelming pride and sense of honor that many Japanese have led to the deaths of a large squadron. To the Japanese, retreat taints your honor to a point where they would commit seppuku (a ritual suicide). The movie followed a squadron in search of their musical harpist while under the detainment of enemy troops. The harpist, Mizushima, was separated after attempting to calm down the squadron of Japanese held up near some mountains.  He was injured during the whole conflict and woke up under the aid of a Burmese monk. From then on he went into hiding, scared to go back. He came across the remains of the battle that had taken place and saw a vast sea of fallen soldiers bodies decaying. His Japanese duty and emotions flood him and he is left to decide what to do. Mizushima defaults on staying behind to respectfully bury all of the dead even though he has the perfect chance to go back with his beloved squadron. His belief of fate and overwhelming sense of duty succeed in keeping him at bay while his squadron embarque on a journey to the unknown.
   Anyways, this film was incredibly in the sense that it showed sacrifice, peace through music, and various instances of Japanese-exclusive culture at play in everyday life (sounds silly but for us Americans it is quite different.) Overall I very much enjoyed this film and look forward to part 2. I highly recommend it to anyone, young or old.
               

Castenell, Dee- Ghost in the Shell

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The film Ghost in the Shell has to be one of the most interesting anime movies I’ve seen thus far.  It was the first anime film we have seen in which the main character was not human. An interesting topic brought up in the film is the importance of a soul. For the Japanese, its commonly known that everything has a soul but for Americans, only humans seem to have souls. Considering that last statement, I was surprised to see how a robot can function with a soul.

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The main character of the film, Kusanagi, was quite fascinating for both viewers and the main antagonist of the film.  She was birthed in a fashion similar to a human, coming out of a pool of birth-juice (sorry, not quite sure what you call it). Kusanagi demonstrates a personality and feelings, which are quite different from any other robot. The concept of a robot developing feelings is seen in a couple mainstream films like Terminator. Throughout the Terminator series, it always seemed as though the robot became attached to a certain individual, protecting them despite being programmed against it. Free will and somewhat of a soul provide a mechanical figure the ability to express such uncommon characteristics. I would have to say that the scene in which Kusanagi was on a boat with Batou (who’s name means boat) and she goes for a dive in the ocean. First of all, diving in water as a machine is pretty crazy, also the pressure of the ocean drives her sensors and modules to become inaccurate so she can never tell if something goes wrong. The interesting thing is that she says she does it to feel emotions such as fear and hope. Those were some pretty deep words coming from a machine if you think about what a machine is composed of. The main antagonist, project 2501, demonstrated another interesting concept that is quite feared among many individuals worldwide. It gives a great demonstration of humans creating a machine that is far too powerful to control. It acts on its on and ascends the normal bounds of human and machine. Project 2501 intrigued me when it stated that with all the power and capabilities it possessed, all it really wanted to do was be like a human and experience life and death.

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Overall, I would like to say that I sufficiently enjoyed this movie for not only its incredible visuals but its music as well seeing as it contained very powerful music to back up incredibly in-depth themes. I highly recommend this movie to anime fans and the general audience.