Could someone clarify the difference (if any) between
anime and manga?
He could probably do that anyway. He hadn’t really gotten much in the way of superstrength yet, and I don’t think he had much difference in the bow’s draw from the opening.
Plus, when Hayao Miyazaki turns on the gore, he turns it on all the way.
Magna is printed matter (to put it crudely, comic books) while anime, is well, animated (tho borrowing many style elements from magna. Note that there is a WIDE assortment of magna (mystery magna, secretary magna, romance magna, probably vetenarian magna)
Brian
Well Ashitaka(sp?) did look surprised when he first took a head off,he looked down at his arm IIRC.
I like Mononoke, but it’s still one of my least favorite Miyazaki/Studio Ghibli films. I enjoyed Spirited Away quite a bit more. My major complaint was that Mononoke was rather preachy, although not quite to the same extent as Pon Poco.
Very beautiful film, though. Wish he’d do another straight fantasy some time…
Count me as another that loved Sprited Away much more. San was a little too cold – I had a hard time sitting through Mononoke. I haven’t seen his other movies yet, but I saw Spirited Away in the theatre and it’s one of the very few movies that really upset me (in a good way.)
Ask, and ye shall receive…
Miyazaki is busy with a film version of Diana Wynne Jones’ Howl’s Moving Castle which should be an exploration of many of the same themes as Spirited Away, for those who know the book - transformation, growing up, the edifice as character, moral greyness, I can’t wait - a great choice for him to do, I think. It’s a modern fantasy classic, even if often buried in the teen section.
Nausicaa.net section
Nausicaa.net, BTW, is a great resource for more on the man and his films - Nausicaa was my favourite Miyazaki film before Spirited Away- now that’s my favourite film of all time, and all genres.
I loved Princess Mononoke. Pon Poko was good but it dragged and got to be really odd when the testicular super powers started in. Spirited Away is by far my favorite film by Miyazaki. Shinto seems to be used as a large base for the films of his that I have seen, that and the distinction between good and evil being the motivation behind the characters (though I think that is true with a lot of anime).
Oh, they wouldn’t have the… the… um… the… guts? for it 
is there an echo in here?
Well, speaking for myself and my large group of anime-loving friends, even though we probably qualify as “anime snobs,” we don’t have a problem with the term Japanimation.
And there’s nothing crude about calling manga comic books; that’s pretty much what the word means, after all. Anime is to manga as animation is to comic books. Sometimes one is inspired by the other, and sometimes vice-versa, and sometimes there is no relation.
I’m looking forward to that one already. I just saw the Cat Returns (yes, I know, it’s Ghibli, not Miyazaki) a few weeks back and I’m already jonesing for more. 
Then again, even if I had no idea who Miyazaki is, I’d be sold on the film. That concept art of the castle is really, really cool.
Well, the whole testicular powers thing is very much a part of Japanese folklore about tanuki. Japanese audiences didn’t bat a eye at that stuff, while Western audiences would probably shy away from it. Thus, the odds are high that Disney/Buena Vista probably won’t be releasing that one outside of Japan.
As for Shinto being the basis of his films, of the Miyazaki/Studio Ghibli films I have seen, I’d say four out of fifteen of them have strong Shinto elements in their premises (My Neighbor Totoro, Pom Poko, Princess Mononoke, Spirited Away).
(And if I were truly an anime snob, I suppose I would have typed in the romaji names of those films instead of the English…) (^_^)
“that and the distinction between good and evil being the motivation behind the characters (though I think that is true with a lot of anime).”
Actually I think it’s the opposite. Moral ambiguity is a hallmark of most of Miyazaki’s films and a lot of anime as well. I think only Castle in the Sky, among his films, has a conventional villain.
Also I don’t think the criticism of “preachiness” is accurate. Many people think that Mononoke is an ecological film but you could just as well argue that it’s about the virtures of industrial development; one of the most beautiful scenes is the introduction to IronTown: the town, the people and the workshops. I think one of the strengths of the film is that it doesn’t take sides between the humans and the animals and shows the good and bad sides of each.
Robu Sensei,
I read somewhere that many Japanese were down on Studio Ghibli because of the whole rose-tinted DVD fiasco? Also there apparently was some disappointment with the Cat Returns? Is that true? Did the Oscar reverse this?
CyberPundit:
There is a (class action?) lawsuit in progress against Buena Vista Home Entertainment over the red tint in Spirited Away, but it’s progressing slowly. BVHE says that Studio Ghibli is responsible for it, and the studio has said that there’s nothing wrong with the disc. Oddly, when the movie had its first showing on broadcast TV, it still had the red tint.
However, none of this seems to have really affected the public’s perception of Studio Ghibli. (And the Academy Award certainly didn’t hurt things, either, of course!)
As for The Cat Returns, it wasn’t a blockbuster hit like Spirited Away or Mononoke, but then it was never expected to be one, as far as I can tell. It was much more of a light entertainment than an epic story. The DVD topped the sales charts when it was released back in July.
I loved Princess Mononoke, I’ll watch Spirited Away soon in the cinema.
One thing that amused me in Mononoke was how the heads and arms and everything, even when taken off by an arrow, fell down with a straight line.
No jagged bloody extremities, but they’re gone swift and straight.
Has anyone seen Grave of the Fireflies? I caught it on IFC or Bravo long ago, and I remember it being fantastic.
Its a story of two children orphaned by the bombing during WWII, trying to survive on the streets of Tokyo, IIRC. Really touching and great.
It’s already available in the US on DVD. And Canda, I assume.
I saw Princess Monoke, when it came out, and thought it was really good. Bought the DVD when it came out, put on the shelf between Ghost in the Shell and Akira. Then I bought Spirited Away unseen, on the strength of the word-of-mouth, and was absolutely floored. So I ran out the next day and got Castle in the Sky, and… I was underwhelmed. It had some great moments, but it seemed to be a very typical anime movie. Although, for all I know, that’s because so many other anime movies cribbed from it. Probably, I would have enjoyed it more if I had seen it before I’d seen Monoke and Spirited Away.
It’s also about twenty years older than Spirited Away–you have to keep that in mind. You might also want to give Kiki’s Delivery Service a try–you’ve seen everything else that’s out over here, save for the Sherlock Hound tv series and Castle of Cagliostro (highly recommended).
“Has anyone seen Grave of the Fireflies?”
Sure. I consider it another masterpiece but slightly below Mononoke. Incidentally the third mastepiece produced by Ghibli is also by Takahata: Only Yesterday. These are the three best animated films I have ever seen. In addition to being great films in their own right they extend the boundaries of what animation can tackle. This is especially true of Only Yesterday which is a realistic drama which could easily have been done by live-action but where the animation enhances the mood of the film in all sorts of ways.
“So I ran out the next day and got Castle in the Sky, and… I was underwhelmed”
Yes IMO it’s one of Miyazaki’s two weakest films(along with the Lupin film). It’s still quite enjoyable though (like the Lupin) and it says something about a director when you can say that about his worst films.
For a different style of animation, try Fantastic Planet. More of illustration than paint, and with some very memorable elements.