Blandin - Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind

Image taken from collectionanimatedmovie.blogspot.com

The film of this week is Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind by the same director as the two previous studo ghibli films we watched, Hayao Miyazaki. Many of his films are well known around the world, even people who usually don’t know much about anime can recognize his style. His films usually teach a lesson or raise awareness to problems people may overlook carelessly. In my blog I will be discussing the two heroines in the films Princess Mononoke and Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind.

Image taken from geek-news.mtv.com

San of Princess Mononoke was raised by wolves and bonded with nature, calling it her true form. She does all she can to protect it from the humans that were destroying the forest her family resides in. Princess Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind also has a bond with nature. She cares for all living creatures and humans alike. She travels to the poisonous forest full of insects and interacts with them. When they are threatened she protects them as well as her valley. The people of her valley tend to examine things she brings back from the forest, yet they do their best to not disturb it.

Image taken from nausicaa.net

The two women do have differences in their methods of protecting their family and the environment. San is more hostile and is quick to kill any humans that step foot near or in her forest. Nausicaa tries to avoid all physical conflict. She did kill the soldiers that murdered her father, but she immediately regretted doing such a thing. She tries to resolve her conflicts with non-physical/non-violent methods as opposed to San usually attacking her enemies brutally.

Both interact with nature in unique ways. San was raised by wolves and speaks with the animals in the forest. She behaves like them at times it seems. The forest knows her and acknowledges her despite the fact she is a human. It seems the animals knew this, some did not mind while others did. Nausicaa interacts with nature with her insect charm and her personality. She usually tries to show the creature that there is nothing to fear (Teto bit her finger when they met, but when he realized she wasn’t a threat, he began licking the wound he inflicted upon her), or she tries to calm the Ohmu to keep them from being destructive.

taken from ghibli-gifs.tumblr.com

Aside from this comparison, I enjoyed the film Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind and it reminded me how humans can STILL cooperate with nature rather than being destructive. Humans were able to do so at one point before, it’s pretty sad how that rarely happens these days. 

side note: If you really loved the film as much as I did, you should consider taking some time to read the manga/comic of it. I haven't but I plan to do so.

Blandin - Ah! My Goddess

Image taken from feed92.photobucket.com

For Thanksgiving break, the feature film was the movie adaptation of Ah! My Goddess. The title had seemed oddly familiar to me yet I never watched the anime series this film is adapted from. I may actually look into though once I get some free time to do so. The film is very enjoyable and makes women feel important, while having men respect that rather than feeling like the weaker gender in comparison to strong women.

Image taken from myreviewer.com

The relationship of a power woman with an ordinary man is shown thoroughly in this film. Keiichi is an ordinary college student and the goddess Belldandy came to him one day granting him one wish. Ever since then, the two have been together, presumably inseparable just from the way their friends would speak of the two and the photographs shown in the album Belldandy stumbled upon. Regardless, most men would feel weak in his situation. Keiichi instead embraces his relationship with Belldandy with everything BUT negativity. He only has positive attitudes toward her, and she does the same in return to him. They have a strong bond together and he feels completely at ease with her. He trusts her fully. This is easily displayed when he lets the “amnesia” Belldandy do a test race with him. They succeed of course and more of her memories return. Their trust and love for each other is also tested at the end of the movie when they walk through the Gate of Judgment and pass through unharmed, something no other couple has been able to do prior to them. It shows they have a bond unknown by most, but pure at heart.

Image taken from karmaburn.com

Image taken from mania.com

With all relationships, jealousy does occur. Keiichi is not a bad guy, he was just set up and the situation looked bad because only pieces of the information where gathered. He discovered Morgan wounded at the Motor Club house and insisted he help take care of the injury. After patching her up she comes onto him and forcibly kisses him. Belldandy oversees this and runs off upset. Obviously this hurts her because she cares so deeply about him even after all the trouble she caused. Because of how she felt upon viewing the kiss she agrees without much hesitation to go through with the risky vaccine that may wipe her memories completely of Keiichi and all her friends. The two overcome this issue and reassured of Keiichi’s love despite the risk of her becoming a “blank slate” she goes through with the vaccine. It all goes haywire and both become pawns in this crazy virus scheme but they make it through in the end.

Image taken from ioffer.com

The movie was rather hard to follow and the book didn’t really help other than pointing out how women are in most anime. It explains the bond between the goddesses and the relationship between Belldandy and Keiichi but I do not get much else from it. The chapter in Samurai from Outer Space did give me insight as to why women are so prominent in anime, which was something I had wondered about for a while, but it did not help me understand the film better.

Overall, Ah! My Goddess: The Movie was enjoyable to watch, in fact I watched it with my boyfriend which made it even more enjoyable considering we usually comment about what’s going on during the movies/films. These comments usually help me come up with questions I may have about the films. The film was nicely done and conveys a strong message about trust and love. It is definitely a film that ends on a POSITIVE NOTE! Not all Japanese anime ends badly ya know. This isn’t the first time I came across this, but it lets me know not all things end badly.

Blandin - Princess Mononoke

Image taken from allpoetry.com

The film of the week was Princess Mononoke, which is the 2^nd Studio Ghibli film we have watched this semester. I’m not new to the Studio Ghibli style so without being told I was able to tell both this film and Grave of the Fireflies were from that studio. The first film I ever watched from them was Kiki’s Delivery Service and not so many ever since so I was not aware as to the wide variety of topics that are covered in their films. I thought it was mostly films aimed toward children… but after watching these two it seems to be more toward older kids.

Image taken from www3.arts.umich.edu

Regardless, this film actually had me thinking of Ferngully and Avatar while watching it because of the protection of nature theme. This film portrays more than just the beauty of nature; it exhibits the good and evil within everything, humans and animals alike. The main character, Ashitaka is given a curse of hatred from a demonized boar, though this character is not full of hatred, he does display evil from his curse and the fact others were killed on his journey in the process of protecting animals and people. Overall he is a GOOD character. He cares about everyone and tries his best to prevent hatred and spite. The people of Iron Town (mainly officials) nearly killed him yet he still helped them in the movie anyway when they were in grave danger due to the Forest Spirit’s rampage when searching for its head.  Or When Princess Mononoke (San) attacked him or shunned him various times, he still did what he could to rescue her from harm’s way. This eventually paid off though because she grew to trust him.

Image taken from freeforpsp.com

Lady Eboshi is another prime example of good and evil. Overall she seems to be a really good person. She took in lepers and prostitutes and treats them like normal people, not outcasts. She gave them jobs, food, and shelter. She is a caring leader to her entire town, but she is the main reason why the forest is distraught. Iron Town has been cutting down trees and mining resources to make their iron weapons. Any animals taken by gunshot become demonized as well. This was the case with the boar that cursed Ashitaka and what explains the iron lump found from its remains. He weapons bring darkness to the forest and even her own town. Due to her shooting off the Forest Spirit’s head, the entire forest died and Iron Town was destroyed. However at the end of the film when all the chaos was over, she seems to have learned a lesson from it all and wanted to thank Ashitaka for everything.

Image taken from absoluteanime.com

I think Princess Mononoke is an interesting film, not only does it teach you about the cycle of life, death, and rebirth, but it ALSO gives you a better appreciation for nature overall. At least that is how I felt after watching this film, although I had a great respect for nature prior to watching it.

Blandin - Grave of the Fireflies

Image taken from asiancinematic.com

The film of the week was Grave of the Fireflies by Isao Takahata, which is based on the children’s story of the same name by Akiyuki Nosaka. I must say this was truly a sad film. I had a few tears toward the end, but I felt rather depressed throughout the entire progression of the film. I probably would have cried a lot if it wasn’t revealed beforehand they both die anyway, but it was shown at the very beginning of the film to show this movie does not end happily. This also indicates that the entire movie happened as flashbacks, yet the way the film was structured does leave one a little confused if they do not pay close attention to the different ways the film works. The actual encounters, the memories, and the spirit world are all parts of this film and it is usually indicated with certain filters. The memories were the happiest ones, while the actual encounters had me thinking humanity can be so cruel at times.

Image taken from danielthomas.org

The movie does make you think more about what really happened during times of war, how civilians needed to find ways just to survive. It is extremely evident that the two children, Seito and Setsuko, did all they could to survive on their own despite the shortages in Japan at the time. It is tough for orphans to do such a thing. I notice many people talk about how Seito had to grow up so much at the age of 14, but Setsuko also had to do some growing up of her own, despite being only 4 years old. While Seito was away she tried teaching herself how to do things like sewing and cleaning. Of course she had to cope with the loss of her mother. So I would say both children had to take on so many responsibilities just to live. Seito of course did most of the work, but of course his sister needs the most help between the two. She can only do so much at her age. It is touching to see how well these two get along and work together in such harsh times. It as if their love for each other is what keeps them going. Being orphans alone didn’t give them reason to quit because they still had each other.  No I’m not saying Setsuko gave up, malnutrition is a serious issue and young children (along with elders) are usually the first to go when that situation occurs. So I believe she tried all she could, and her brother did all he could to help her. Unfortunately he was just too late. I’m pretty sure he spent majority of his money to give her a proper burial because he probably gave up the will to go on after she passed. He could’ve saved the money to buy himself some food to survive, but he cared more about his sister than himself, even after she died.

Image taken from rachelleandcinema.blogspot.com

The film does teach a lesson about mono no aware as well as the fact that siblings should appreciate each other because you never know when they’ll be gone. It made me think more about my relationship with my younger brother. We hardly fight nowadays, but we can talk to each other about almost anything and we help each other out. We were there for each other when we had to experience something similar to Seito and Setsuko when they were living with their aunt. Not exactly the same because we still had our parents, but we were still wronged nonetheless after all we had to go through with Hurricane Katrina.

image taken from pisceschick.files.wordpress.com

 I added this last picture because I found it interesting how they have the fruit drops cans in real life too!

Blandin- Harp of Burma

Image taken from houseofanime.org

The main short film of the week was Harp of Burma, though there is also a live-action film, the one in this blog is the animated version. Regardless both are based off the same children’s novel.  Some scenes from Letters from Iwo Jima were also shown this week. The topics discussed are death and other bad stuff in anime and Japanese culture in general.

The Japanese are more realistic about the universe when it comes to their views and what they depict in anime. They will touch on the bad side of things that Americans try to avoid showing or speaking of. For instance the Japanese will say the universe is not always fair, in anime a hero or any supporting characters may die from an unexpected source. The viewers may mourn the character and wonder why such a thing happened to them of all characters. Especially American viewers (although today we are more open with this after having been exposed to anime for so long already) because we usually see the evil characters suffering such a fate, not one of the good guys.

Image taken from Amazon.com

Suicide is also controversial. Some are honorable while others are pathetic.  It all depends on the reason for doing so. Killing yourself over lost love or failing an exam is the wrong kind. Suicide to help a mission or a nation or anything of a heroic sort is considered an honorable suicide. In Letters from Iwo Jima, the suicides were honorable because they were done in order to help their fellow soldiers and the country of Japan.  In Harp of Burma, it was a metaphorical “suicide” though more so a personal goal. Private Mizushima was a hero for many of his actions: Raising the moral of his troops or bringing together diverse people by simply playing his harp, as well as establishing a goal for himself to bury all his fallen Japanese “brothers” whose bodies were left to rot on the battlefield. His goal is mainly to burning peace to the dead soldiers due to the Shinto believe of what happens after one dies.

Both films demonstrate how respectful the Japanese are in the way they treat the dead or even a deceased enemy who received a note from his mother.  In general the Japanese are respectful toward each other to prevent chaos from erupting in Japan. It is a small place accommodating a large amount of people after all. I personally think America would be a better place if we all were as respectful as the Japanese are. I would probably feel safer whenever I need to go places alone compared to here where you always gotta be careful of your surroundings.

Image taken from usd.edu

I will say Japanese culture teaches us a lot about how people should be in “social morality”. They do not base their morals from religion, just upon interactions with each other. We base morals on religion which mean it does not apply to all of use considering some Americans do not believe in religion altogether. At least this way it would be linked to everyone whether they believe or not. And I am aware there are moral people just because that is the way they are, not based on religion or anything of the sort.  Which pushes the case that morality is within the person and not entire based on beliefs. 

Overall I respect the way the Japanese see life. They have an interesting culture at that, so I’m pretty sure by the end of the semester I will have learned a lot more from the Japanese lifestyle and anime.

Blandin- Identity in Anime

The film of the week was Ghost in the Shell, but the blog for the week regards this film, along with Akira and Perfect Blue, and what they teach us about personal and social identity. I will be honest; when I first viewed all these films without explanation I did not pick up on any of that. College has me so stressed out mentally that it is difficult to think these days, luckily the class discussions help me out in regards to that. Majority of the time those discussions help me piece together things in the films and I figure out other ideas. But I digress… this blog isn’t about my mental state, it’s about the films and their relation to identity.

Image taken from www.absoluteanime.com

The first film would be Akira. This film mainly had me traumatized from gore but the point of the film was how Tetsuo was kidnapped and the military tampered with his mind. He gained “god-like” psychic powers similar to that of the mutant Akira. When he gained his powers, his personality changed. This movie just reminds me of how some people become so nasty when they gain so much power, but of course he was just glad to be the “top dog” and not the “underdog” for once in his life. He took advantage of that beyond the fullest extent. This is more of how power can alter one’s identity into something they truly aren’t. Tetsuo seemed like a really decent guy based on the things revealed about his past in the film, just once he got a hold of all that power he completely changed. Money can sometimes do that to people as well. The whole idea is that power is the key thing causing the alteration. It’s rare that neither things can change a person, but possible. This film will probably always keep me in check about how “power comes great responsibility” so don’t just run amok and cause mass-murders when you gain ample amounts of money and power.

Image taken from amazon.com

The next film is Perfect Blue. This one was a complete mental nightmare. The aspects depicted are definitely realistic. Humans can have mental issues based on their surroundings.  Mima was completely normal before she got into the acting career and the people around her manipulated her identity. This film gives insight as to how celebrities are treated (maybe not ALL of them, but I’m pretty sure some have gone through something remotely similar to Mima’s situation). She had a stalker that followed her around and made a web diary all about her. He posted things that seemed like Mima was the one doing it. Her stalker created a “virtual Mima” that her fans would think is the real Mima. This is similar to what anyone could do on the internet really. The internet is a mysterious place, and we can’t control what occurs online. Also, the acting industry morphed Mima into something that was a complete opposite of her, a more adult image. Yet overall, Mima was not sure who she was in real life, the virtual world, or in the acting world.  Everyone around her controlled her identity in the media. This movie did have me think a little more about what I do on the internet. I became a little more aware of how horrendous the virtual world can be. How most people create a virtual identity of themselves that does or doesn’t always reflect who they really are. 

Image taken from mondocoolcast.com

The last film would be Ghost in the Shell. This film dealt a lot with the relation between humans and technology. It is in a futuristic setting which leads me to believe that our technological dependency now will eventually shape into a world similar to the one in this film. Hopefully it doesn’t happen in a bad way, but our world is nowhere near a peaceful planet.  Besides the violent nature of humans, technology could also turn on us. The population in this movie is probably half cyborg (or majority) and half human (maybe even less). With that divide, cyborgs question whether or not they are truly human or what is their true identity? In our world, humans wonder about their origins and identity. I just live through the day and enjoy my life as it is, because if I think too much I may miss what is right there in front of me.  Some people may be that carefree while others must ponder every aspect of their lives. I’m pretty sure no one knows who they truly are or where they came from if you’re speaking in a philosophical sense and not a literal one. The universe is a mystery, and may never be solved. So questions about origin may never be answered, or maybe there is no answer and things are just as they are. 

Blandin- Vampire Hunter D

Image taken from molleytanzer.com

 The movie of the week was Vampire Hunter D (1985). I would say it is like most action monster movies because there is a hero and a bunch of baddies he needs to demolish before rescuing the girl in trouble. It may not always be a female that needs rescuing but the stereotype of such movies usually portrays that. In other cases it could be an entire town, friend, or even family. The villains also range for human masterminds to demons of some sort… in some cases aliens. But I digress.

Image taken from banonsroar.com

The focus here is the movie Vampire Hunter D and the aspects of it that I found to be interesting. First off, the main hero is not ordinary. In fact, he’s a half breed because his father was a vampire and his mother human. I find it rather strange most anime or games I like tend to have a half breed main character. To name a few: InuYasha from InuYasha (half-demon), Dante from Devil May Cry (half-devil), and Yusuke from YuYuHakusho  (half-demon).  They all had human mothers, while their fathers were of the supernatural. Perhaps the Japanese loved adding these hybrids to their anime collections.

As far as vampires go, it depends really. I like the stories about noble ones and not so much the rampaging killers. It’s a better story when they have some kind of elaborate plan even if the main idea is one that resulted from boredom of living for thousands of years. The count in Vampire Hunter D wasn’t exactly randomly mass-murdering people, instead he selected one beautiful girl to I guess “have fun with” and dispose of her when he grows bored of her. This displays the perverted aspect of vampires. In some novels I’ve read about vampires, they considered themselves to be of noble blood and held manners, while any humans they transformed would just become mass-murders with no sense of self-control.  In very few cases, vampires with a “heart” tried finding alternatives to human blood… like animal blood or using blood tablets in water.  Sadly, it was rare to find any vampires that transformed into bats.

Image taken from awn.com

Image taken from nautiljon.com

As for the story in the movie, I thought it was entertaining.  D was a classic hero and his hand was just hilarious. Doris was the stereotypical damsel in distress, along with dressing in innocent colored clothing (though the style of clothing had an ultra mini skirt apparently). Count Lee was just all around odd. He had a block face, was all wrinkled, and just old in general… most vampires usually have a seductive appearance. He was quite the opposite, but not completely hideous I suppose. His face didn’t look decomposed or anything. His plan for entertainment was beyond weird. Marrying human females out of boredom… I’m pretty sure that is something I’ll always laugh about when thinking about the count. His daughter fits the usual description of what I see noble vampires to look like; though she was a half-breed like D so overall she wasn’t even a full vampire. She was a better person than her father though. Overall, it was an action filled movie, a little comedy. It was based around a horror theme due to all the monsters depicted in the movie. The plot itself was rather simplistic. I enjoyed it nonetheless despite the very few gory moments. I’m considering looking into the novels and manga whenever I have free time again.