When Marnie was there

Recently I was going through my collection of videos and dvds, sorting out a few I didn't really need when I saw an anime a friend had suggested I might like a short while back and the copy I ordered a few weeks ago arrived.

Based on the novel by Joan G Richardson, it's about a twelve year old girl called Anna  who believes she is sat outside of a invisible magic circle to which most people belong and she shuts herself away from everyone around of her hating herself.
Anna has Asthma and concerned for her health, Anna's mother has decided the best thing to do is to send her to a sleepy town in rural Hokkaido by the sea for the fresh air.
Dreaming her days away amongst the marshes Anna finds herself drawn to an enigmatic house on the cliff, sitting on the edge.
She discovers there, Marnie a girl full of spirit who appears from nowhere and soon the pair become inseparable.
Marnie one evening makes a heartfelt request to Anna saying "Promise me something - that we'll remain a secret, forever."
Anna soon begins to wonder about the girl and her past,feeling compelled to investigate the truth about her and the start to take turns asking each other questions about themselves.
As in time Anna is more and more immersed in Marnie's world she begins to learn about  family, relationships and kindness.

Although this anime is in part sad, I feel the very real strength of it is the message of love, of self sacrifice and coming to terms with your past.
 

*Some comments on blog layout*

As you may of noticed if you are viewing this via a traditional laptop computer rather than a smartphone or tablet computer, the layout may look different this is because of two things, one I am unifying the layouts between this blog and certain others, for improved legibility and ease of finding things such as pages.

The second is technical which is the template width across the board for all three are now set at 1100 px where originally they were set at 860px because way back in the mid 2000's computer monitors had such smaller resolutions that also were square shaped and today most are at least 1366x768px or better widescreen.

It put simply looks less squashed up and cluttered with Honey Senpai now on the footer matching what has become the middles journal footer.

The original Blogger 'Classic templates were limited to 860px but I changed the templates to newer ones a year or two ago.

Whisper of the heart and a box!

This is a title in the Studio Ghibi Catalogue originally released in 1995 I had very briefly as I had a lot of pausing issues on the original 2006 dvd that proved most frustrating so unfortunately it had to go.

In essence this is a coming of age story around junior high student Shizuku Tsukishima, who is quite popular, has a real talent for writing which can be seen in her new lyrics for the John Denver song Take Me Home,Country Roads which is to be performed for her junior high graduation. 

She's also a very avid reader taking book upon book out of the library that is just switching from paper card booking systems to a computerized one. 

The change saddens her because she likes to see who took out the book previously and notices a boy called Seiji Amasawa has taken out many of those she reads.

Taking the train to the library one day she notices a ginger lone cat sitting next to her who leads her off onto an adventure introducing her to an antique shop who we later learn is owned by the boys grandfather and although things are awkward between them at first in time, it becomes obvious they are in love with each other and both have self doubts about their talents, Seija with his violin making and playing abilities and Shizuku with her writing whose preoccupation with appears to override her need to get good grades to go the a good high school to complete her education.

Spotting in the antique shop a cat statue of The Baron and its story, this inspires her to work very hard for hours per day writing a story that promises to show Seiji's grandfather first and this leads to her exploring her hopes and fears set out in her book Whisper Of The Heart.

That is really the main focus of this anime rather less than the romance between her and Seiji, looking at what it is she wishes to do in her professional life, and indeed the new lyrics to Take Me Home Country Road, is not only about the personal road upon she is set but expresses a nostalgia for the rapidly disappearing rural landscapes of Japan.

I really enjoyed watching this full length anime for its themes and where The Baron 's sequences inspired Studio Ghibi to make The Cat Returns in 2002.

If you were rather observant you may of noticed something on the top of the first picture that hasn't been on any of the anime entries here before.

 

Er yes two words "Blu Ray" cos after the end of the VHS era circa 2000, we had a dvd player where most of my anime titles were first bought on and I bought my last dvd player April 28th 2014 which was a Toshiba that played discs from anywhere in the world.

Since then a number of things happened such as our main tv got bigger (32 inches) and the market has stabilized somewhat with disc prices coming down so I acquired a Panasonic Blu Ray player very similar to Miss Green's.

Mine though has been ahem modified  so the dvd playback is multi-regional which as as well as just over half my dvd's are North American releases while the blu ray section is just Region B (GB and Ireland, Europe and Australasia)

 

It also has RCA sockets for audio output and even composite video which is seriously retro apart from HDMI, the modern does everything including handshake digital standard.

Its reproduction of the anime was extremely good with loads of definition and sharpness on the newer television.

The Wind Rises

It's Halloween here today but apart from having a ghoulish time of it tonight I have a new anime to watch.

A little different than most because it is very much about Jiro a Japanese aeronautical designer who worked for Mitshibushi who was inspired by the Italian Caproni who because he'd been nearsighted from a young age wasn't able to become a pilot joins the company in 1927.
He goes on to become one of the world's most innovative and accomplished airplane designers and in that respect this anime by Hayao Miyazaki is a tribute to him.
A seconary interest in this anime, unexpected and much appreciated by me watching it is the romance between Jiro and Nahoko who is ill with tuberculosis marrying her. Some of the scenes showing his love for her during periods where she was very ill are really moving.
The anime, chronicles much of his life time, the Great Kanto Earthquake of 1923, the Great Depression and the entrance of Japan into war in 1937.
The film also explores the growing friendship between him and his colleague Honja.
While some have criticized this anime for being ambivalent on what Jiro designed, warplanes that were a important part of Japan's war machinery, the overall message is one of how war only brings down countries and anti war opinions are voiced.
Overall I thought this was a really good anime, a fitting tribute not just to Jiro but also to the director.

Happy halloween folks!

Kiki's Delivery Service

At the instigation of a online friend from a forum I recently bought this title in the acclaimed Studio Ghibi collection.

Adapted by Hayao Miyazaki from the Japanese childrens book by Eiko Kadono, it is about Kiki - a thirteen-year-old witch, and daughter of a witch - who is eager to leave home and spend a year working away from home. Her only talent is flying on her broomstick, but she sets off with her black cat JiJi) and finds a big city by the sea that she decides to live in.

She makes a deal with the bread store owner to work for her board in store that soon transforms into a courier service delivering anything from pies to pets. In this activity she -a polite, cheerful if naive child - encounters the rudeness and spoilt behaviour of others especially of a girl of her own age.

She encounters a boy on a bicycle who becomes her friend but undergoes a crisis of confidence losing her ability to fly. Only by looking into herself can she regains her abilities saving the boy from a Zeppelin flight that goes disastrously wrong.

What I liked about was the attention to detail in the drawings coupled with the message of triumph over adversity it presents.

Howl's Moving Castle

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

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

Pix edit August 2017 for blu ray edition

Laputa: Castle in the Sky

I recently brought this anime for my collection

The high-flying journey begins when Pazu, an engineer's apprentice, finds a young girl, Sheeta, floating down from the sky, wearing a glowing pendant. Together, they discover both of them  are searching for the legendary floating castle, Laputa, vowing to unravel the mystery of the luminous crystal around her neck. Their quest it has to be said will not be easy, however for there are sky pirates, secret agents and monumental obstacles stopping them from discovering the truth - and each other. However, Laputa is more than it appears, and some seek to use it for evil.
Director Hayao Miyazaki's love of air travel shows thropugh this anime that I greatly enjoyed.

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

Spirited Away

One thing I enjoy is animation and this anime from 2001 is one that I recently watched.

The story is centred on Chihiro, a headstrong 10 year old girl who is very unhappy that her family are relocating and so she'd have new friends.
Making their way toward the new home, her father takes a detour to explore a mysterious tunnel in the woods while on what is the other side there appears to be a deserted theme park but is actually a ghostly town.
Without realizing it they have strayed into the Land of the Spirits, a world of dreamy scenery that is inhabited by ancient gods and magical beings ruled over by the sorceress, Yubaba.
Chihiro's parents are held hostage and with Yubaba set on enslaving them forever, she must use all her energy to survive in her new strange environment.
Aided by Haku, a young brave spirit, she is forced to overcome her fears joining an epic battle for her family's freedom.

I hugely enjoyed watching this which won the 2003 Oscar for the best animated film which in the opinion of many has set a new benchmark in animation.

Tag altered in 2017 for blu ray version.

Princess Mononoke

Anime is a thing I'm interested in especially when it tells stories vividly and recently I got this one.
Made in 1997, it depicts the clash between the natural world and its old gods and the rise of humans with the beginning of of modern civilization, showing three elements of the Japanese  psyche warring for supremacy in the form of an ecological fable

Young warrior Ashitaka sustains a wound that refuses to heel from battling with a cursed beast.

Anxious to secure a remedy for this supernatural injury, he leaves the remote village he lives for the forbidding forests of the west where he discovers an enclave of humans under siege from divine powers. They are the deities of the past, the wolf gods and a wild girl of the forest called San.

Updated 2017 for blu ray image and tag

The Cat Returns

Directed by Hiroyuki Morita, This anime recently bought, is a fantasy adventure ideal for feline fans and younger audiences.
The story revolves around Haru, who is a free spirited young girl, who along the way home from school spots a cat trying to cross and busy street, rushes out to save it using her racquet just as it was about to be crushed by a large truck.
She discovers the cat she rescued is the Cat Kings son, Prince Lune and soon she receives an invitation to visit the Kingdom of Cats from the King himself as thanks.
It is not before long that she realizes there is a catch in accepting the offer, namely the King wishes her to marry Lune and so she has to decide if it is she wishes to stay within the Kingdom of Cats, being a Nekimimi (catgirl) or return to her own world.
She is helped by the Baron, first seen in Whisper of the heart, and his friends in making the decisions she wishes.
The animation is first class holding your attention as you are dragged into the story while delivering an important message about being true to yourself.

Pix and tag edit 2017 for blu ray edition

Nausicaa-Of The Valley Of The Wind

This anime was the second animated feature by director Hayao Miyazaki and for it he chose to adapt his own best selling manga whose huge success in Japan help launch Studio Ghibi and this anime bears all the hallmarks that its output over the years  features in its successes, namely magical kingdoms,great characters and stunning animation.
The story is routed in the past, a thousand years ago after a big war where a seaside kingdom known as the Valley of the Wind is one of the few areas that remain populated.
The people of the Valley, lead by the courageous Princess Nasusicaa are engaged in a constant battle with the Ohmu, a most powerful group of insects who are guarding a poisonous jungle that is spreading across the Earth.
In the anime, we see Princess Nausicaa  and her brave companions working with the people of the Valley, striving to restore the bond between humanity and the earth.
One of the most important messages in it I feel is that as people we need to work alongside nature  for our own well-being.

Edited 2017 for blu ray pix.