Studio Ghibli Craze Pt. 2

I remembered that last year I wrote about the Studio Ghibli's animated movies that I've enjoyed in my post Studio Ghibli Craze, and then noticed that I haven't really finished writing it, since there are more movies that I have seen and enjoyed. And so, here comes the second part of it...for me to share with you. :)

google image

Kiki's Delivery Service (1989)

Kiki is a young witch whose mother is the resident herbalist in the village where they live. Ever since she turns 13, Kiki always waiting for the chance to go out of her village as it is the witch's tradition that when a witch turns 13, she has to travel for a year for training to become a resident witch. So, finally Kiki settles herself with her black cat Jiji at a nice town by the sea. Although having a hard time at first, she finally finds a friend and shelter in the home of a cheerful baker woman, Osono. To support herself, Kiki has to make use of her skill and since she only knows how to fly with her broom, although not proficiently, she finally decided to become a delivery girl (by flying), while stationing herself in Osono's bakery. In the meantime, a young boy named Tombo took a liking to Kiki as he is interested in aviation (and so interested in Kiki's ability to fly) and also because Kiki is a different kind of girl. After encountering a bad experience with some of Tombo's friends, Kiki's ability to fly and speak with Jiji suddenly disappear, causing her to feel down. Another friend of Kiki, Ursula, invited her to stay at her forest cottage, and after being there and through Ursula, Kiki's spirit becomes a little bit uplifted and she believes that after a series of things that turned wrong, she would find a new purpose that she can work on and probably from there she can get her powers back. One day, an accident occurred where Tombo is involved, and driven by her strong will to save him, Kiki finally recovers her flying power and able to save Tombo in the nick of time. Afterwards, Kiki becomes the hero of the city and finally settles there for good to continue her practice.

In this movie, the characteristics of being independent and having a strong will to overcome life obstacles are perhaps the main things to learn, especially for young people. Good things doesn't come easy, eh .. And also, if you dream to do something, you can realize the dream if you work hard enough. This is shown in Tombo's persistency in inventing a kind of flying device from a bicycle, because of his dream to fly. An inspiring movie. For note, this movie is loosely based from a novel by a Japanese author, Eiko Kadono.

google image

Howl's Moving Castle (2004)

Ohh....I watched this one many times haha. Maybe because of the romantic element? Or the voice actor for Howl is so kakkoi..haha. Anyway, this movie is also based from a novel of the same name, from a British author Diana W. Jones.

Sophie, is a young hatter, who I think, feels insecure of herself because of her plain look with brown hair (but I consider her as very cute) compared to her mother and her sister who's considered prettier than her ( imagine..blond hair and blue eyes). Anyway, as she's on the way to visit her sister who works at a bakery, she encounters 2 soldiers who try to hit on her but then saved by a mysterious guy. However, as the guy escorts her, they are followed by some blob men (got the name by the English subtitle though...) and to avoid them, the guy suddenly rise up to the air with Sophie and start walking on air to safety. Once Sophie gets back to her house, she's visited by the Witch of The Waste. It seems that the blob men are servants of the witch, and the mysterious guy before is actually Howl, a young wizard whom the Witch is trying to find. The Witch casts a spell on Sophie, changing her into an old woman. Sophie is terrified at first but then slowly cherishes her old form as it makes her feel less insecure. Sophie somehow feels that her old form frees her from being scared and self-conscious, even makes her feel more cunning than before. And so, Sophie run away from the city until at the mountains where she saves a scarecrow with a turnip head and encountered Howl's moving castle.

And that is the beginning of Sophie's journey that leads her into meeting other magical characters. Inside the castle are Howl's himself, a brilliant but insecure young wizard, Calcifer, a fire demon who keeps the castle moving, and Markl, a boy wizard in training. The story has several other subplots that all intertwined very nicely to create a wholesome magical fantasy story. Somehow, apart from the love that grows between Sophie and Howl, the wizards and witches, and the war that occurred because of a missing prince, all plots in the story, there's something to be learned as well.  

  

My Neighbour Totoro (1988)

google image

My Neighbour Totoro is like the cutest movie filled with cute and adorable characters. Two young sisters, Satsuki and Mei, very active girls indeed, moved to a modest house in the countryside with their father, who is a professor, to be near to the hospital where their mother is treated from an illness. At the new house the sisters encountered 'dust bunnies' and forest spirits called Totoro. The main part of the story centered around the girls' encounter of the forest spirits and how the spirits responded to the girls innocent and honest behaviours, in helping Satsuki finding Mei after Mei gone missing. What I love about this movie is how the animation is full of texture, bringing the feelings of softness and comfortable, as I would love to roll around inside the Catbus and hugging or lying on the big Totoro for real. I also like to see the portrayal of father-daughter relationship in this movie as the girls' father, sportingly, kindly and lovingly treated his daughters well and with respect. A heart-warming story. 

google image

The Borrower Arrietty (2010)

I just watched this recently. Yup, it's kinda new. The story is based on a Mary Norton novel, a British author, where it dwells about a family of little people called The Borrowers as they borrow things belonging to the humans for a living. The plot revolves around the Clock's family, who live under the floorboards of a house in the countryside. One day, the father, Pod, takes his 14-year-old daughter, Arrietty, on her first borrowing trip. However, while trying to 'borrow' a tissue paper, Arrietty was accidentally seen by a human boy, Sho, who happens to be staying in that house (his aunt's house) while waiting for his heart operation (he has heart condition since birth). Although not seeing her very well, but the fact that a human already know of their existence in the house, Arrietty's family plans to move to other place, as it is a rule that the little people should never been seen by the humans, obviously, for their safety. However, Sho is a kind boy, and later on, both Sho and Arrietty do meet and have conversations. Unfortunately, the budding relationship between the two is sensed by the housekeeper Haru, who, unfortunately feels that the presence of the little people is annoying (she thinks of them as thieves, while on the little people's view, they are just 'borrowing' things that the humans would not miss, such as a single cube of sugar, a piece of tissue paper or a pin). In a sequence of events, Haru found the Clock's house and kidnapped Homily, Arrietty's mother, and locked her up in the kitchen store. Although Sho helps Arrietty in finding her, Arrietty's parents really think that they should move away to someplace new. Although both are sad, Sho and Arrietty parted well. From their short relationship, Sho, who at first almost feel helpless with his with dying condition, feels a lot better after knowing and seeing Arrietty's fight for survival.

The animation is very brilliant in colours, vibrant, very detailed and full of textures. I am somewhat amazed by the animated perspective of the human world from the little people's viewpoint. The flowers, the leaves, even the things in the doll house inside Sho's room, everything is detailed to perfection. And it is very interesting to see how the Borrowers make use of the things in the house as their tools. I also love the music at the start and the end of the movie, it seems ethereal. The movie is simple but very nice.

So, there they are...another 4 movies produced by Studio Ghibli that should be enjoyed by everybody. They are heart-warming, inspirational, enjoyable, fun and makes you feel good. Enjoy.