 Here we have around the time Ghibli starts to slip a bit. In which particular way, I'm not entirely sure, but here we see Ghibli teamed up with a studio called Wild Bunch, and the following film isn't actually a Ghibli production at all - but more on that with that particular review.
This is the last of the Ghibli collection to earn an Oscar nomination, this time around losing it to 'Zootopia', which was almost certainly the better film of the two. 'The Red Turtle' was something that struck me as so incredibly basic that it could have potentially done better as an animated short. The basic 100% non-speaking plot involves an unnamed man, getting shipwrecked on an island that is luckily abundantly full of resources. When trying to escape, this big, red turtle keeps getting in his way. For revenge, he just about kills the turtle, but then the turtle turns into a woman, and the rest of the movie is them growing and raising a son together. Yeah, it's probably the strangest of the collection altogether. That is saying a LOT when it comes to Ghibli studios, too. It's only the second to last film on the list, but I have to find this one kinda near the bottom of things. It's not quite like sitting through something like 'Ocean Waves', as there's still some neat stuff here, but it does remain a bit boring at time, along with a bit of "what the hell did I just watch?" Seriously, I dunno if this turtle-turned-girl is supposed to be some kind of symbolism for loving mother nature or something, but this was one of the more confusing titles on the list for me. I know this is probably the shortest review I've written yet on a Ghibli film, but there's just nothing for me to talk about here. It's neat that it's a different type of animation like 'Yamadas' or 'Kaguya', and it is a very beautiful film to look at, but all in all I have to say I found this one to be entirely overrated. I guess a lot of it is to portray family in a sort of unique way, but in the end, this one just didn't do much for me. Once again, it's a 3, but on the lower end of it. 3/5
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 Here's another Ghibli title that went up for a Best Animated Picture Oscar, this time losing to the likes of 'Inside Out' (which, in my humble opinion, was frankly the better film anyway, this time around). But, as usual, that's not to say that this was a bad film at all. Speaking for myself, it just kinda ends up in that all around forgettable category.
This time around, we're introduced to a preteen girl named Anna Sasaki (Sara Takatsuki/Hailee Steinfeld) who is going through all sorts of horrible depression, as well as suffering from bad asthma. She's therefore sent to the countryside to live with her Auntie in the fresh ocean air. While still going through her personal problems, Anna meets and befriends a very sweet girl around the same age named Marnie (Kasumi Arimura/Kiernan Shipka). She manages to be the perfect friendship that Anna has been seeking this whole time, allowing her to open up like never before, however the catch is that Marnie may not even be real. This one, at least to me, covers the angst of what its like to get into that confusing stage known as puberty quite well. The only issue I have with it is that Anna is almost a little too angsty for the overall enjoyment of her character. She's relatable to those going through similar issues, but one has to admit there are moments that she just acts like a straight up ungrateful brat. The film otherwise looks quite lovely and has a fairly intriguing, if not relatively predictable storyline. However I found this time around that the characters lacked a bit more than usual. Our two mains are almost polarizing extremes to the point that they're almost unlikable. Anna is just stubborn and often irritating, but Marnie is sweet enough that she's almost a bit creepy. That said, perhaps that's kinda what they were going through here - an almost perfect Yin and Yang to make such a strong friendship. One might ask oneself if this movie has some leaning towards potential homosexuality with its undertones as well. There are moments that left me wondering if they were going for something that strong. I'd have to say that it's something one would have to judge for oneself though. To me, perhaps a little, but it's not about that so much as the bond formed as a whole between Anna and Marnie. It's perfectly decent for what it is, but it I have to admit that as someone who suffers from certain things, myself, including some depression, a lot of it kinda hits almost too close to home. That said, I CAN say that one could follow Marnie's example when it comes to dealing with people who have depression. The idea is that Marnie's there for her when she's needed (hence the title) no matter how brutal things get. It's sweet, but it can be a little hard to get through. 3/5  I have to say, right off the bat, this is the type of movie I was truly hoping to see while going through these Ghibli titles. This is something that delves into Japanese culture and traditions, being based on a Japanese folktale, 'The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter', in which a mysterious baby girl is found inside the stalk of a glowing bamboo plant.
The bamboo cutter, Miyatsuko (Takeo Chii/James Caan) and his wife (Nobuko Miyamoto/Mary Steenburgen) who found her eventually have her named Kaguya (Aki Asakura/Chloë Grace Moretz) and raise her as royalty. As one may imagine, the rest of it has to do with the pressures of an otherwise free-spirited girl being raised in such a way. The whole thing is really quite real and depressing, but it's very well done. You know, like 'Grave of the Fireflies' but a bit less morbid. Perhaps what is to be appreciated most as a takeaway from this has to do with men being blind to beauty. You see, a large part of this movie consists of several suiters of noble standing attempting to win the affections of Kaguya. I won't say how its done, because it's actually quite interesting what Kaguya comes up with for their challenge. There is usually something to be said about the strong female leads in the Ghibli films, and this one is no exception. Yes, she's pretty strong-willed, but most of the strength of her character comes from how fleshed out she is. She's forced into this seemingly traditional princess role against her will, and it's not like some Disney romantic comedy. All in all, it actually gets quite harsh, and we totally end up feeling for her and empathizing with how difficult the situation must be. What 'The Wind Rises' pulled the trigger on for a few years ends up continuing with this title as well; that being the Oscar nomination. However, this time around the winner was 'Big Hero 6'. I'd be lying if I said I was disappointed in the end result, but I have to admit that this film may have been more deserving altogether. It's not everyday we get introduced to something as seemingly culturally significant as this, and it loses to another superhero movie. I LOVE 'Big Hero 6' and I'm saying that. At the end of the day, this is definitely one of the more emotionally powered Ghibli films, and that's something I always appreciate. If it can manage to make me say "woah" at least once, I'm pretty satisfied with its emotional pull. And unlike 'Fireflies', this is one I may very well want to revisit in the future. 'Fireflies' was great and all, but it's up there with 'Schindler's List' for devastation. This was more a sad, yet hauntingly beautiful film - especially when you take into account its soundtrack and seemingly traditional, 2D animation. For my money, THE Ghibli film anyone interested in Japanese lore should check out. 5/5  Taking a giant step away from anything that Gjibli would usually put out there, here is something of a biographical pic, covering the life of Jiro Horikoshi; the chief engineer of several Japanese fighter plan designs during World War II, most notably, the Mitsubishi A6M Zero fighter.
The film opens, showing him as a kid, dreaming about another Italian aircraft designer named Giovanni Battista Caproni (Nomura Mansai/Stanley Tucci), who seems to be a sort of spirit guide for Jiro (Hideaki Anno/Joseph Gordon-Levitt). Due to Jiro's eyesight, he knows he may never be able to pilot a plane, but he does wish to design them. The problem is, Jiro finds himself designing these fighter planes throughout World War II, while his real dream is just to create something beautiful. A lot of the story has to do with the struggling conrtast between his talents and what the government needs from him. Meanwhile, mush as the movie poster dictates, there's also a fictional love story going on here, involving a woman named Nahoko Satomi (Miori Takimoto/Emily Blunt). Knowing my more recent reviews, you're probably already rolling your eyes at me going "and what's wrong with this one?" The only real answer I can give as to there being anything "wrong" with it, is that it appears to be entirely fictional when the film otherwise tells of Jiro's career in aircraft design quite well (at least according to what my homework on the film suggests). However, with a film's subject-matter as heavy as it is, the love story - or at least A love story of sorts seems to be in order. I think in many ways it was mainly thrown in to create more of a humanistic character, and to illustrate how much he cared about life, rather than just profile him as a creator of war planes. This was the third Ghibli film to be nominated for an Oscar, respectively following 'Spirited Away' and 'Howl's Moving Castle'. Sadly, this was also the year that 'Frozen' got its icy clutches on that award, and we've been hearing 'Let it Go' ever since. I daresay, if that film wasn't out that year, this could have easily claimed that award - if only for the original idea of doing a semi-biographical picture which, much like with 'Grave of the Fireflies', shows up a Japanese perspective during war times; something we must admit that we tend to turn our backs to as North Americans. Once again, I would urge people to at least give this one a look, if only to gain another perspective on things. However, I wouldn't say it's more important than 'Fireflies'. This may lean more toward true story territory, but 'Fireflies' really bluntly illustrated the devastation left behind by the Americans that we tend to turn a blind eye to. This one, while it does have a sadness to it, that sadness wears off when you find out that our female lead was most likely fictitious. I've looked for the name, but only this animated character ever shows up. As far as Jiro's love life in reality, I have nothing really showing me what's what about it. Anyway, the fictitious aspects of this film set aside, it still remains an interesting movie on the whole. Again, if nothing else, it shows us a new perspective on things, and the fact that its pretty much Ghibli's one and only real biopic sets it aside from everything else the studio has put out, making it far more unique. It's worth checking out, but I'm not sure it'll top my list. Of the more or less straight up love stories thus far, however, I'd have to say this was the more enjoyable of them, even if it is fictitious. Most of the positive rating here comes from the other, more real parts of the story. 4/5  I guess it was only a matter of time before something like this came up again, in which I consider it to be one of Ghibli's "lesser" films. As usual, not necessarily bad, but just an odd and awkward subject matter that I'd sooner avoid to see one of the studio's stronger films instead. That said, I'll give the film credit for tackling the subject matter in a positive way, without it getting too out of hand.
Long story short, we meet a couple of high school students named Umi Matsuzaki (Masami Nagasawa/Sarah Bolger) and Shun Kazama (Junichi Okada/Anton Yelchin). Umi's mother, Ryoko (Jun Fubuki/Jamie Lee Curtis) has gone to study abroad as Umi is left to take care of her sisters and grandmother while also attending school, and Shun works for the school newspaper, and is a bit of a showoff. The two develop a liking for each other, however they both soon find out that they have just a bit more in common than they originally thought. Meanwhile, the other side of the story involves the classic "save the rec center" plot, involving a group of high school club members attempting to save their school's clubhouse from being taken down to make way for the 1964 Olympics. It's another title that strays away from fantasy and grounds itself in reality, which is fine, but I personally find Ghibli's fantasy films to be far superior. I mean, to each their own, but I personally find these love stories a bit yawn-inducing. That said, credit to the studio for changing it up once in a while. While this may not be up my alley, it's perfectly fine for others who enjoy the "realistic slice of life" concept rather than the "epic fantasy adventure" concept. Thus far, the only realistic one I've really liked was 'Grave of the Fireflies', and that was mostly for the view into Japan, immediately post-World War II. It was a story about a struggle for survival, and often difficult to watch, yet captivating all at once. Most of the realism in these films afterward tend to be love stories executed in different ways, which generally aren't up my alley, unless they can be done in a fantastic way. But these are just kinda plain and simple. Again, that's fine for many, and I can see people enjoying them, but all they do is make me look more forward to the next fun fantasy adventure. Anyway, I find this one landing in the same area as 'Only Yesterday', 'Ocean Waves', and to a lesser extent, 'Whisper of the Heart'. It's not gonna find itself on my final Top 10 list, but it's something to check out if you feel like something more simplistic and realistic. Again though, it touches on a subject matter that may be a bit awkward for some, so just keep that in mind going into it. Once again, it's a 3, but the lower end of it. 3/5  Going from almost absolute innocence to total darkness, this film caught me slightly off-guard as to just how epic it actually is. I mean, I always expected good things after hearing about if from a few people, but I didn't expect it to honestly have the potential to end up on my personal list of all time favourite films. Believe me, I know how abrupt that must sound, but this title has so much going for it that its scale can almost be compared to that of 'Lord of the Rings'. That's surely heavily debatable, but that's honestly how taken I was with this movie. It's likely to reach the #1 spot on my Ghibli film list.
We begin in an Emishi village where the last prince of the village, Ashitaka (Billy Crudup) takes down a demon-possessed boar, and in the process, has a curse placed on his right arm. The arm allows him superhuman strength, but he is told that it will ultimately consume him with pain and kill him in the end. His only hope is to head west to try to find a cure, and he is ultimately now dead to the rest of the village. To make a long story short, Ashitaka soon finds himself caught in the middle of a raging battle between San (Claire Danes), a.k.a. Princess Mononoke, along with her wolf pack, and Lady Eboshi and her warriors. The most interesting catch behind it all is that, much like with a movie like 'Nausicaa', we can sort of see the villain's side of things when it comes right down to it. Where San is trying to protect her pack and the surrounding wildlife she can openly communicate with, Eboshi is trying to protect her people. It's one of these movies where you can almost find the good as well as the bad in every character. The only truly good character here all around seems to be Ashitaka, as he has thins tendency to assist both sides. The thing is, the challenging side for him to help out ends up being San's - who we ultimately view as the "hero side". The exection of it is really quite interesting, and it shows the human side of the characters more than good vs evil. On top of everything, this title also holds with it some of the best English dubbed voice acting, animation with absolutely breathtaking scenery, a truly epic soundtrack that totally sets the mood, and a whole load of originality and imagination. The whole movie is almost like watching some fantastic dream unfold on the screen in front of you. Let's also not leave out the fact that this title is ballsy enough to throw in some pretty heavy blood and gore at time, along with some cursing here and there. For my money, this is the most epic Ghibli title of the collection so far. It runs approximately 2 hours and 15 minutes, has a solid PG-13 rating with good reason, and if anyone out there reading this thinks these films are childish just 'cause they're animated - please just give this one a watch. It honestly kinda blew my mind with how thoroughly good it was. Indeed, I'd recommend it before a lot of other big 'Ghibli' titles I've seen. If you're looking for an epic-scale Ghibli title to check out, it's right here! 5/5  Following along the line of some of Ghibli's lesser films (at least in my opinion) comes along 'Whisper of the Heart'. Another one that's just very basic in its overall plot, and though carries with it a sort of originality, it's still mostly just a tale of finding love, in the end. However, I have to admit to appreciating its overall execution.
This one tells the tale of a 14-year-old high school student named Shizuku Tsukishima (Yōko Honna/Brittany Snow) who has a bit of an obsession with fantasy books, and aspires to become a writer some day. Upon a regular trip to the library, she realizes that the majority of the books she reads have most recently been checked out by the same mystery man, known as Seiji Amasawa (Issei Takahashi/David Gallagher). Of course, Shizuku wonders who this guy is, and we can figure it out for ourselves very abruptly - he's the guy who keeps giving her a hard time when he passes by and teases her. However, the more charming parts of the movie lie in the relationship Shizuku ends up having with Seiji's grandfather, Shiro Nishi (Keiju Kobayashi/Harold Gould) who shows her around an almost fairy tale-like antique shop, and encourages her to sort of find the light within herself, based on following her dreams of writing. It's also within this antique shop that we find a statue of a cat called "The Baron" who, even I recognize, will eventually come back in 'The Cat Returns'. This is who she bases her story on, and much of the movie has to do with the struggles of being a writer just as much as it is about a love interest. Again, I consider this one to be a bit of a lesser film in the Ghibli collection, but it was definitely better than I expected it to be. It's just another charming little slice of life film, and if you've ever tried writing a day in your life, I feel that there must be something here that you can relate to on some level. Writing seems a hell of a lot easier than it really is. Unfortunately, director Yoshifumi Kondō passed away in 1998, and it's evidently known that he was largely being looked to, to succeed more famous Ghibli directors, Miyazaki and Takahata. Admittedly, a pretty worthy-sounding successor, in my humble opinion. This film had some beautiful backgrounds that give one a new appreciation for the beauty of Tokyo, and it's frankly an overall relatable subject for a lot of people. Though there's not much to it, it's another nice little film to check out on a Sunday afternoon. 3/5  Another Ghibli title that seems to meet general audiences somewhere in the middle, this is a delightfully strange, comedic, adventure-filled movie that's altogether a lot of fun - that is, if you can make it past all the raccoon testicles. And no, I'm not kidding.
Our story starts in Japan during the 1960s where a suburban development begins threatening the lives of the wildlife around it. In this case, the main focus is raccoons. Picking up several yeasr down the line, we see the raccoon tribes fighting amongst themselves for property, food, and other resources that have faded away drastically since the erection of New Tama (the suburban development in question). Eventually, these raccoons learn that they shouldn't be fighting amongst themselves, but waging war on the humans who have taken their land and resources away from them. This mainly consists of trying to scare them out of town due to the uncanny raccoon capability of shape-shifting. This movie has one hell of a range to it. Some moments are adorable, some are really quite serious, but the whole thing ends up being the age-old environmental message in the end. It largely has to do with development driving out wildlife. But I must admit that what I saw here was a much more interesting take on the concept as opposed to other movies like 'Avatar' and any other movie like it. This story consists of a rather original concept altogether, and I have to give it credit for what it manages to accomplish in the process. The end of the movie is kind of bittersweet, and all the way through the movie, we're shown interesting ideas - not the least of which is seeing just how far these raccoons can go with their shape-shifting. If you can find a clip, it's well worth watching these guys execute something called "Operation Specter' - and no, it's nothing to do with James Bond. All in all, I sort of meet this one in the middle though, as at about 2 hours, there's almost just too much going on here. That said, there's really no massive lulls of time between things. The film is paced well, and anything that may be considered a bit boring is quickly replaced by something really cool-looking, or something comedic. As mentioned before, there's actually quite a wide emotional range to this one. So, I can happily recommend this as one of the better Ghibli movies altogether. There's likable characters, there's unlikable characters, it can get a good laugh here and there, and I think "Operation Specter" is one of my favourite scenes in the Ghibli series thus far. Maybe it's due to me being such a Halloween/'Ghostbusters' fan, but that whole bit really spoke to me on a personal level, as odd as that may sound. This may not be at the top of everyone's list, and I'm not sure it's near the top of mine (yet) either, but I definitely had more fun with this one that a couple of previous titles. Check this one out for yourselves though, because if nothing else, there's still a bunch of raccoon testicles on the screen to discuss among your fellow Ghibli fans. 4/5  If I was to say I was expecting a whole lot of awesome from this particular Ghibli title, that'd be a bold-faced lie. I had never heard of it, no one ever talks about it. It's pretty much in the exact same vein as 'Only Yesterday'. It just kinda exists among the other more famous Ghibli titles as a stepping stone, so to speak. It's a little slice of life film again, and actually incredibly similar to 'Only Yesterday' in it's subject matter.
This time around we have the first one that I couldn't find at all in an English dub as well, which leads me to believe that it's just that "little" of a movie. Well-reviewed enough, but I get the impression it's the first title I've come across in this collection that almost no one seems to care much about. And you know, that's reasonable. Taku Morisaki (Nobuo Tobita) sees the likes of a familiar woman at a train station. As he arrives at the airport and boards his plane, we're told the story of what influences this girl had on his life in his senior year of high school. The whole thing sort of ends up being a take on a kind of love triangle story, and winds up being even more forgettable than 'Only Yesterday', if only because the concept is just as dull to wade through, but it's more or less repeated here. I'd almost have to say that for me, this is thus far the bottom of my list as far as the Ghibli films are concerned. Other than some more beautiful animation that allows our eyes to delve further into the overall breathtaking landscape that is Japan, there's just nothing for me here, unfortunately. And I've said it before and I'll say it again, you'd be VERY hard pressed to find BAD Ghibli animation. Upon doing a bit of homework on this one, I've also come to realize that this was Ghibli's attempt at making a relatively cheap film brought to us by some of Ghibli's younger staff members. Evidently, that was never repeated after the fact. Again, it wasn't horribly reviewed, but it does end up being perhaps the biggest throw-away for the collection (at least so far) based on it's sot of redundant subject matter - especially when we know that Ghibli is an incredible studio for overall originality. I'm glad I'm able to say that I saw it, but it's not even close to being a contender for my final Top 10 Ghibli films list (spoiler alert) at the end of all this. If you want a love triangle story, it can be found in about a million other films. I'd probably recommend 'Only Yesterday' a bit more than this one, if only because its concept came along first. It was bound to happen, but here we have my first Ghibli film that I just plain didn't like. 2/5  This is, so far, about the simplest title in the Ghibli series, in my humble opinion. There's really not much to it. We have a 27-year-old office worker who travels to the countryside to help with some harvesting, and the whole time she reminisces about when she was a child in fifth grade. That's about it. Meanwhile, in present day, you get the impression that there's at least a potential interest forming between our main character, Taeko (Miki Imai/Daisy Ridley) and a sort of organic farming nut named Toshio (Toshirō Yanagiba/Dev Patel). So, in fairness, not exactly up my alley for the most part. But that's not to say it's bad. It's just kinda forgettable to me.
What this movie does have going for it is a sort of nostalgia factor that has one sitting back and possibly reminiscing about events of their own childhood. Beyond that, as usual, the animation and overall scenery of the movies is just gorgeous. I was particularly a huge fan of the background scenery going on in this one among some other titles. But of course, it's never bad at all. There was just something about the way this one portrayed the overall peacefulness of the countryside, especially when it was taking place in present day. Add to that a rather touching ending overall, that just about any of us could relate to, and you've got a decent movie. My only problem with it is that, at least until the end, the storytelling feels just so basic and, if I'm honest, pretty dull at times. It was really just a glimpse into her childhood, with which she seemed to have an understandably rough time between school and family. But when we see how happy she at least seems in present day, it almost feels pointless. THAT SAID, and now that every Ghibli fan in the world may wish to murder me, it's probably just what it was supposed to be. There wasn't anything big going on here, it's just another one of Ghibli's "slice of life" films, and you do manage to get a little something out of the ending. At least I did. You just seemingly have to wade through a lot to get there. Thus far, I'd have to say this is the most underwhelmed I've felt about a Ghibli film. Not surprisingly, this also seems to be one of the titles no one really talks about. At least no one I know of. It's a neat little story, but most of the movie's charm lies in its beautiful artwork. Not a whole hell of a lot more. Even the characters were kinda dull to me. And it pains me to say that 'cause it's likely that I just couldn't find a way to relate to any of them, really. I'm SURE that to many, they're perfectly relatable. There's not much more to say about it. I seem to be a sort of 1-percenter here on my overall opinion, but to me it was a good 2 hours that easily could have been trimmed to an hour and a half at most. It just wasn't my favourite of the series so far, but it's not without a sort of charm, either. I dunno. It seems to be a title that I couldn't recommend to just anyone, but some may very well enjoy it, just for the simplicity alone. Again, not at all bad, just kinda underwhelming. 3/5 |
AboutAs anime is an all-around untapped resource for my viewing pleasure, I have decided to explore the Ghibli titles, one-by-one. It seemed good a place to start as any. I'll be focusing on these titles throughout the month of August. ArchivesCategories
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