Studio Ghibli Craze...

I first watched an animation production of Studio Ghibli (SG) when I was a teenager. However, at that time I didn't know the existence of SG. It was Laputa. Many years later, I watched Spirited Away and loved it. Still I didn't know about SG. In fact I didn't remember when did I know about it. SG has produced numerous brilliant animation since 1985. What I love about these productions is the story, and the theme for some of them, because there's a certain theme which I never found in any animation. The creativity, the imagination. Remarkable. Even for the earlier ones when there wasn't any digital imaging or high-tech process. When I found out that my niece have the compilation DVD of SG productions, I was struck with joy and borrowed it, of course. My, there's a lot more good stuff I haven't seen, I realized later. So, all of the followings are the "good stuff" that I have enjoyed so much viewing....

Grave of The Fireflies (1988)

Grave of The Fireflies

This is the first film that I watched. And my, it was really touching. Usually we see animations as something of fun, hilarious and interesting. Well, this one is really interesting...but sad. It is a heavy emotional depiction of individual struggle in war-torn zone. The era is at the end of WWII in Japan. A tale of two orphans, a boy (Seita) and his younger sister (Setsuko) and how they had fought with their lives to stay alive after their parents were killed in the war. The two ended up staying over at an aunt's house, who was kind at first but after some time, when the war was prolonged and the food was rationed, the aunt became hard on them and resentful. Feeling that they were no more welcomed, Seita and Setsuko found shelter at an abandoned bomb shelter and made it as their house. The story ended tragically and I was teary-eyed at the end. There's no propaganda or ideologies in this film, just plain strokes of images telling a story of the aftermath of war to ordinary, simple people.

Ponyo (2008)

Ponyo

This story is very cute indeed. It is about a fish-girl (it's referred to as goldfish in the film) who is very adventurous. On an outing with her overly-protective father under the sea (who was once a human but said to be frustrated with human's attitude in contaminating the sea, he transformed himself to be able to live under the sea), she escaped to see more of the world but got 'tangled' in a mishap that landed her near the house of a cute 5 year old boy named Sosuke. The two just clicked together. Sosuke named her Ponyo. After that, it was an adventure when the father started to look for Ponyo and succeeded. But Ponyo was strong-willed to be with Sosuke that she escaped again, bringing together a massive tsunami that engulfed the island town where Sosuke lives. A lot more adventures as Ponyo transformed into a girl, Ponyo helped Sosuke to find his mom after the tsunami and the finale where it depended on Sosuke's feelings for Ponyo, that if he really loved Ponyo, she would stay as a girl and live with his family, but if he couldn't accept her, she'd return to the sea. One curious matter is that, unlike in other stories where children normally call their parents "otoo-san" (father) and "okaa-san" (mother), Sosuke calls his parents by name. A little odd there, I think. But a lovely story, love knows no boundaries...and forms, isn't it?

Spirited Away (2001)

Spirited Away

I think this movie is well-known by most people, since it had won an Oscar for Best Animated Feature. This fantasy story is full of adventure and good lessons to be learned as it tells the story of Chihiro, a girl, who reluctantly followed her parents into an abandoned amusement park as they found it when they were lost in the way to go to their new house. In a string of events, her parents turned into big, fat pigs and Chihiro was left alone to save herself and her parents. In her adventure, Chihiro would encounter many kinds of characters in many forms of creatures. Topping all that is Haku, a mysterious boy, and Yubaba, a kind of sorceress who runs a bathhouse for gods and goddesses. There's a lot of fun elements in it and we would see Chihiro's transformation from a sulky, whiny and timid girl into a brave and courageous girl with a big heart. There's no true protagonist in this film, since all of them changed for good after meeting Chihiro...(well, I couldn't speak for Yubaba..). Haku is 'kakkoi' (cool)! 

The Cat Returns (2002)

The Cat Returns

Another amusing fantasy-adventure feature where the main character is Haru, a shy and modest teenage girl who were sort of 'emotionally tortured' by her feelings towards the most popular boy at school, who seemed to already have a girlfriend. A courageous act of saving a cat from a traffic accident, led to a series of dumbfounding events afterwards. The cat was actually Lune, a Prince in the Kingdom of Cats. After promising to repay her kindness, Haru found herself treated to cattails, catnips and...mice! The King of the Kingdom, however, has bigger ambitions and wanted Haru to marry his son. Haru was then adviced by a 'beautiful voice' in the air to look for a big white cat who can lead her to the Cat Bureau, where she could find help. The big fat cat was Muta, and although complaining all the time, he did bring Haru to the Bureau where they met the Baron, a really 'cool', debonair male cat. Haru was kidnapped anyway, but Muta, Baron and their bird friend, Toto went to the rescue. They landed inside the kingdom where Haru changed little by little into a cat. Here, the message is to stay true to oneself for as Baron told Haru, the more she lost herself in the world of cats, the more cat-like she'd become. Then the challenge of maze ensued where they have to escape to the portal to go back to human world but the King was adamant in keeping them. Finally, it was revealed that the Prince had never intended to marry Haru. Later, some matters were revealed as who was the 'beautiful voice', who was the person (...or cat) that Lune would like to marry, and who were Muta and Baron. They finally escaped although their effort was nearly broken by the 'crazy' King. After the event, Haru returned as a more confident girl and didn't matter about her the boy of her crush anymore.

Whisper of The Heart (1995)

Whisper of The Heart

Oh, a lovely teenage romantic love story. Tsukishima Shizuku is a bookworm and reads voraciously. She frequents the library and borrowed lots of books from there. One day she recognized the same name in the library card for most of the books that she had borrowed. 'Amasawa Seiji'. It seemed that the person is also a reader as he borrowed many books before Shizuku. So, Shizuku started to wonder and fantasized about how would the guy be. At about the same time, she had a few encounters with a boy who enjoys teasing her with insensitive remarks and made her feel irritated. Anyway, one day, while following an interesting cat, she came across a cool antique store owned by an old man and there she saw a doll of a cat, which is the same as the Baron cat in the "The Cat Returns" (if you watch the previous movie before this one, you'd definitely recognize it) But in this movie, there's no magical fantasy, the doll is just a doll. Shizuku is totally mesmerized by the kind old man, the doll and his store. To cut long story short, the boy is actually the grandson of the old man, and he IS Amasawa Seiji! Before that she learned that Seiji is talented in crafting violins and playing it. Even his grandfather has a three-piece band played together one evening with Shizuku on the vocals. The story revolves so much on the song 'Country Road'. What's interesting is that the two fall in love but very modest with their feeling and just reflect their feeling through indirect conversation. Another interesting point is how love make them feel inspired by each other to find their callings in life. And how sweet the meeting at the end...aahhh, cute love.

Ok, I haven't finish watching all movies in the compilation. Maybe afterwards, I'll find more movies to my liking. Until then, I enjoyed so much the above ones that I watch some more than twice. Great entertainment!