New Studio Ghibli TV Series Coming Next Month!

Studio Ghibli, is releasing a TV series based on a Swedish fantasy book titled, Ronia the Robber's Daughter, or Sanzoku no Musume Ronja, in Japanese. The series is set to air next month during the Fall TV season. Unfortunately, as you can tell from the teaser trailer above, the animation is not going to be Ghibli's usual stunning 2D work, but rather mediocre cel shaded 3D animation, which is becoming all the more common. Hopefully the actual series will look better than this teaser, because a few 3D animated anime like Knights of Sidonia and Nobunaga Concerto have actually been very good. Animation aside, maybe Sanzoku no Musume Ronja will actually be good. Regardless, I intend to watch and review it along with the other series coming out this Fall. What do you think of the teaser and Ghibli making a TV series? Please comment below and let me know, and also check back tomorrow for my review of Noragami.

Also, if you are new to Studio Ghibli's work, you can check out an excellent overview by my friend Jamie by clicking here.

If you want to contact us or have any questions please send an e-mail to johnstarslayer@gmail.com.

The Wind Rises Review

In conjunction with my review of Frozen, which you can read here, here is my review for the other film up for Oscar nomination, The Wind Rises.

The Wind Rises, the last film by critically acclaimed director, Hayao Miyazaki, the founder of the famed Studio Ghibli. 

The film follows Jiro Horikoshi, the man responsible for designing several of Japan's airplanes used during World War II, most notably the Mitsubishi A6M Zero fighter. It follows Jiro from his childhood to the role he played in designing the machines of war. 

Directed by: Hayao Miyazaki

Genre: Drama, Historical drama,

Release Date: July 20, 2013

Running Time: 126 minutes

MMPA rating: PG-13

The Good: Beautiful animation, Well realized characters, Effective romance, Well paced, Strong English dub, Controversial themes discussed, Stunning dream sequences, Intriguing message, Believable character flaws, Brilliant score,

The Bad:

Plot: 8.4/10- Using the art of animation in a biographical film is an intriguing idea that turns out to be incredibly effective. While Miyazaki has openly admitted that the personal life of Jiro is mostly fictional, the actual history of the aircraft designing is fascinating, although history in general interests me. 

The Wind Rises is one of Studio Ghibli's most mature films. While not the most violent, it is realistic for the most part featuring characters with real problems. Also, the pacing could be considered slow by some, but to me, the film was never boring or dull.

In Japan, The Wind Rises stirred up a lot of controversy in the way it portrayed the building of the aircrafts. Some criticized it for glorifying the creation of the war machines while other criticized it for pointing the wrongdoings of Japan for starting a war. To me, the movie effectively portrayed how one man's attempt to create something of beauty, like the airplanes, can be turned into machines of war by others. Another controversy is the amount of smoking in the film, and even though I am 100% against smoking and tobacco of any kind, people back in the 30s and 40s smoked a lot, so it is an accurate representation.

Characterization: 8.5/10- Being one of the only Miyazaki film to feature a male protagonist, Jiro Horikoshi is portrayed effectively. 

He has believable character flaws, yet he is likable enough for the audience to attach to the character during the film, and the romance towards later portion of the film with Naoko is probably the best romance of any Ghibli film. It was compelling without being too sappy or overly dramatic. While the other characters are likable enough, very few receive much character development.

Acting: 8.7/10- Normally, the both the Japanese and English dubs are roughly equal, yet in The Wind Rises is a bit different. In Japanese, Hideaki Anno plays the main character Jiro. 

Anno is best known for creating the infamously popular Evangelion franchise, but The Wind Rises is his first voicing role aside from a few cameos and parodies. Unfortunately, Anno's performance is often flat and lacking in emotion. On the other hand, Joseph Gordon-Levitt in the English dub is superb with a very subtle and nuanced performance that makes his version of Jiro more compelling. As for the rest of the cast in both Japanese and English, they are all top notch without a weak member among either cast with Emily Blunt being the standout best of the supporting actors. 

Art Style: 9.9/10- While one might expect a film more grounded in reality to be weaker in the animation department, The Wind Rises might be the most visually appealing film from Studio Ghibli to date. The character designs for male characters are vastly improved compared to other Ghibli films, while the female ones are as pleasant as always. However, the fluidity of the animation and the background animation in general is where the film truly shines. From the highly detailed planes and houses, to the stunning dream sequences, the animation is utterly amazing, especially in HD. Additionally, the animation provides The Wind Rises an advantage over many other biographical features since the animation always keeps the movie visually interesting even when the story may begin to drag.

Soundtrack: 9.8/10- As expected with Joe Hisaishi's work, the score is simply magnificent. It is sweeping, enchanting, and utterly bone chilling when it needs to be. Only John Williams crafts better orchestral music than Hisaishi.

Humor: N/A- While there are a few scenes of humor, The Wind Rises is a mostly serious film.

Non-Otaku Appeal: The Wind Rises is the exact opposite to virtually everything that the western audiences considers animation to be. It is a mature biopic about a man that happens to be brilliantly animated, and if that is what you want, then, by all means, it is a great film for anyone to watch.

Entertainment Value: 8.3/10- While not the most entertaining Ghibli film, The Wind Rises' characters and historical story were more than enough to hold my attention.

Overall: 8.6/10- Overall, The Wind Rises is one of Studio Ghibli's best efforts with the most personal story since Whisper of the Heart. Few directors could have given us a better swansong than Miyazaki did with The Wind Rises. 

Closing comments: Despite my surprise by how solid of a film Frozen was, The Wind Rises is an unquestionably superior film (at least for adults) in most respects, and the Academy should be ashamed that it lost. However, I am can understand why casual viewers would prefer Frozen.

Recommended for: Studio Ghibli fans, Miyazaki fans, Drama fans, Animation fans, Historical fans,

To read more of my anime reviews, you can click here.

The Wind Rises Review by Rick

Also, if you have reviewed this anime, leave a comment with a link to your review and I will post it here (providing it does not contain any explicit content).

If you want to contact us or have any questions please send an e-mail to johnstarslayer@gmail.com.

Frozen vs The Wind Rises: You Decide

Frozen and The Wind Rises, the two most highly regarded animated features of last year, and at the Oscars this past March, they dueled for the Best Animated Feature Award. While Frozen might have won the Oscar, is it really the best animated film of last year? Today you, the reader, will decide which film you think should have won the Oscar, and on Monday and Tuesday I will post my full review of both films so that you will know what my opinion of which film should have won. Of course, many readers probably have yet to see The Wind Rises, and if that is the case, just vote for Frozen, or go watch The Wind Rises. Now let the battle begin!

In this corner we have the fourth highest grossing film of all-time, Frozen! From Disney Animation and directors, Chris Buck and Jennifer Lee, Frozen is a fantasy musical, and since I am sure almost everyone has seen the film, a plot summary is unnecessary. 

Across the ring we have the final film from legendary director Hayao Miyazaki, and one of Studio Ghibli's most recent features, The Wind Rises! The Wind Rises follows Jiro Horikoshi, the man responsible for designing several of Japan's airplanes used during World War II, most notably the Mitsubishi A6M Zero fighter. It follows Jiro from his childhood to the role he played in designing the machines of war.

Which do you prefer? Is there another animated film from last year that you think should have won? Or do you abstain? Please comment and check back tomorrow for my review of Frozen followed by my Wind Rises review on Tuesday.

If you want to contact us or have any questions please send an e-mail to johnstarslayer@gmail.com.

Whisper of the Heart Review

Whisper of the Heart, the all too often forgotten Studio Ghibli that might just be one of their best to date. 

Unlike the majority of Studio Ghibli's work, Whisper of the Heart is not set in some fantastical realm. It does not even have any fantastical elements and while some might be disappointed by this, it actually results in one of the most involving and personal works from the studio to date. 

The film was directed by Yoshifumi Kondō and the screenplay was written by Hayao Miyazaki. It was said that Kondō was set to take the lead over at Studio Ghibli, but due to aneurysm, which could have been caused by excessive working, he died with Whisper of the Heart being his only Ghibli film, and it still remains one of the Studio's best in my mind.

Directed by: Yoshifumi Kondō

Genre: Drama, Family, Slice-of-Life, Anime, Animation,

Release Date: July 15, 1995

Running Time: 111 minutes

MMPA rating: PG

The Good: Likable characters, Perfect use of slow pacing, Excellent renditions of "Country Roads" (English and Japanese), Well executed story, Violin music, Great soundtrack,

The Bad:

Plot: The following plot summary is copied from Wikipedia.com.
Shizuku Tsukishima is a 14-year-old student at Mukaihara Junior High School, where she is best friends with Yuko Harada. Living in Tokyo with her parents Asako and Seiya, as well as her older sister Shiho, Shizuku is a bookworm and is keen on writing. During an ordinary evening, she looks through the checkout cards in her library books. She discovers they have been checked out by Seiji Amasawa. Over the next few days, Shizuku encounters a young man, later revealed to be Seiji, who often annoys her.
Finding a cat riding a train, Shizuku follows it to discover an antique shop run by Shiro Nishi. In the shop is a cat statuette, "The Baron". After Shizuku returns home, she learns from Yuko that Sugimura has inadvertently upset her, as he does not know that Yuko likes him and instead has been having a crush on Shizuku herself. Sugimura's actions cause an argument with Shizuku, who eventually turns him down.

Watch the movie to see what happens next.

Plot: 9.3/10- Whisper of the Heart's plot is simple yet effective and deep in its own way. It is about a 14 year old girl named Shizuku, and it is basically a coming of age story. For those aspiring writers reading this, there will likely be a lot that you can relate to with the film, and while I am not a writer of fiction, as a writer of non-fiction, there was plenty for me to relate to as well. Also, while possibly slow at times, the pacing was perfect for what the film wanted to accomplish. Throughout the nearly two hour run time, never did I become bored or disinterested.

Writing your first story: Something that a lot of people I know can probably relate to.

With Ghibli movies in general, they often have some a few moments that seem overly and unnecessarily childish and corny, which really annoys me, but Whisper of the Heart never actually had that problem. Even though it was about kids, the movie is one of the Studio's more mature films because it never seemed like it tried to pander to a younger audience at any point.

Despite having some minor problems with some of Ghibli's other work for not having enough conflict, Whisper of the Heart does not necessarily have a lot of conflict, yet it works because it has a well told and story with well developed characters. For those not familiar with Japanese culture, a few aspects of the plot might be difficult to grasp, but the English dub does help with that issue. Also, the route the movie takes never felt predictable.

Characterization: 9.2/10- While not the most memorable character ever, Shizuku is a very well developed and realistic character. She has real problems, and many aspects of her story seemed as though it could actually happen. Seiji, while not given a lot of screen time, is good character for what is required of his character. The old shopkeeper, Shiro Nishi, is one of my favorite characters from the film because of his likable grandfather type personality.
The movie does have some romance, and while romance between characters of this age typically annoys me, since it is animation, I did not have a problem with it. Sometimes the movie borders on sappy or corny, but the movie even pokes fun at that, so it was not a big problem for me.

Acting: 9.0/10- While not perfect, the English dub is very strong and well done. Unlike a lot of other Ghibli dubs, the main actress was not age accurate, but it is not even noticeable during the film. Everyone takes their roles seriously and there is not a single overacted line in the film. The Japanese lead voice actress is closer in age to the character, and as usual, there is nothing negative to say about the Japanese audio. Basically, go with whichever you prefer.

Art Style: 8.7/10- Even compared to some of Ghibli's previous films, Whisper of the Heart's animation is not quite the stunning spectacle that we have come to expect from the Studio. However, the lack in animation is not particularly a notable negative since the film only requires the simplistic style. Additionally, the background art for the film is still unquestionably fantastic.

Miyazaki even managed to fit in some flying through a dream like sequence, despite the real world setting

Soundtrack: 9.0/10- While not on the same level as Joe Hisaishi's work in other Ghibli films, Yuji Nomi's score perfectly suits the film. Being that the violin is my favorite instrument and that one of the characters is an aspiring violin craftsman, there is some really great music utilizing the violin.

In the film, Shizuku writes an alternate translation of John Denver's song "Take Me Home, Country Roads," and the tune to that song is brilliantly used throughout the film in the score, as well as recited a couple of times in the film to great effect. In the English dub version, the characters sing an alternate version of the song, and in the Japanese dub, the characters sing the song in Japanese, both of which are well done renditions. While I am not the biggest fan of Denver's work, "Country Roads" is a song that I often heard ever since I was a kid because my family liked it, so being familiar with the song made me enjoy that aspect more.

Humor: 6.9/10- The film is not a comedy by any means, but the film's few attempts at humor hit the mark nonetheless.

Non-Otaku Appeal: Aside from Ghibli's standard animation style, there is nothing that should prevent non-fans of the genre from enjoying the film, because the movies does not contain anything weird or strange.

Overall: 8.7/10- Overall, Whisper of the Heart is an excellent film that hits every mark; there is virtually nothing negative to say about the film. While many viewers will not find the film nearly as enjoyable as I did, if you are a Ghibli fan, or an aspiring writer, you should at least give the movie a watch.

Closing comments: Typically, this genre of film does not tend to appeal to me; Whisper of the Heart, however, is an exception. It works so well that I cannot help but give it praise. Yoshifumi Kondō's one and only Studio Ghibli before his death remains one of my favorite from the studio thanks to the effective story and likable characters.

Please remember to check back tomorrow for my review of the anime classic, Clannad.

Recommended for: Writers fans, Studio Ghibli fans, Animation fans, Anime fans, Slice-of-Life fans,
To read more of my anime reviews, you can click here.

Thanks Mariah Martinez for highly recommending this underrated gem, you can read her review of the film by clicking here. 

For yet another opinion of the film, you can read Ian's review over on Banon's Roar! by clicking here.

Also, if you have reviewed this anime, leave a comment with a link to your review and I will post it here (providing it does not contain any explicit content).

If you want to contact us or have any questions please send an e-mail to johnstarslayer@gmail.com.