I only got to my 5th and 4th before getting tired and stopping so here's the rest.
If you haven't read the previous post then its' HERE
3. Spirited Away
Well this would probably be number one for most people? And deservedly so...despite being 3rd for me. It won an Academy Award (? or some American movie award anyway) which then sparked a greater interest in Ghibli films in people outside Japan. It's a bit like a Japanese version of Alice in Wonderland, a young girl getting stuck in a dream like world, meeting quirky characters and customs. It's amazing how Miyazaki Hayao and his team can think up and bring to life such amazing ideas and worlds such as these time and time again, yet keep each one somewhat different and unique to each other. The Kaonashi (don't know what it's called in English) is a bit creepy but it's "Ah...Ah....Ah...ah..." phrase got stuck in my head and I impersonated it a lot when asking people to give me something lol. Anyway, this one is a masterpiece.
2. Kurenai no Buta/ Porco Rosso
You might fine this decision surprising? It's definitely not a typical answer you'd get when asking people what they're favourite Ghibli films are. Nevertheless it comes second for me, mainly based on how I seem to 'feel' like watching it more than the others most of the time. I think it may be because the main character is a male again. Usually, the lead is a young girl that has a long future full of dreams ahead of her, but on this film instead has an adult man/pig bounty hunter that flies around in a bright red biplane above the blue Sicilian seas. That alone equates to awesome in my books.
Aside from that though, while keeps the typical kind of Ghibli humour and warm atmosphere, it also has a melancholic or more 'grown up' undertone. The main character has a mysterious past (like how he became a pig), one seemingly of regret and guilt. They don't tell you exactly what happened in his past, but that just makes me want to know even more, and watch it again.
1. Princess Mononoke/ Mononoke Hime
Number one for me is Princess Mononoke. Although Ghibli usually sets itself in an olden day Europe type place or modern Japan, this time they did a story set in a mythical old Japan. I really like the styles and just the overall atmosphere of stories set in medieval Japan in general, but when Ghibli Studio's did it they added even more of that sense of eerie mysteriousness and magic. The characters are all great, the scenery is magnificent and soundtrack is epic. Comparative to others, it was also a lot more serious and dark too, which I like. Usually in Ghibli they have a more comedic, feel good atmosphere (which is also very nice), but I tend to prefer films like this. The action scenes are also exciting and breathtaking, even shocking, especially when some poor guys arms were torn off by a super powered arrow shot by the main character, Ashitaka. I also loved the monsters/gods that appear on this film, from the wild shadow monkey things that throw stones at people, the gigantic warthogs, the white wolves, right to the strange forest god that looks like a deer.
Just a wonderful film. Miyazaki Hayao and his partners at Ghibli are all unbelievable genius'.
Well that's my 3~1 of favourite Ghibli films. I noticed that all of my top five apart from one have a main male character lol. I didn't even realise until taking a look at the list again. I guess that shows it's pretty important for viewers to be able to relate to characters in stories for them to like it more.
Other films that I thought about including but ended up not were Howl's Moving Castle and Lupin the 3rd: Count of Cagliostro. What are your favourite Ghibli films though? I'm assuming that it will probably somewhat different to my selection.
Spirited Away was definitely awesome and too bad Howl's moving castle didn't make it on your list. I recently saw it and it was weird good. And I think I'll try watching Princess Mononoke - Ive seen the picture (you posted) a lot but never really considered it.
ReplyDeletePS Sorry I stopped visiting for months. College is crazy, but I'll continue visiting when I have free time! XD
Hey~ good to see you again! Hope you get through college fine.
ReplyDeleteYeah~, Howls Moving Castle was very close but I think the ending was a little strange so put it down a bit haha. You should definitely check out Mononoke Hime though! It's awesome!
i really liked mononoke hime too. its actually one of the main reasons i didn't like avatar. avatar had many elements which reminded me of mononoke hime, like the magic forest, military presence, and environmental team, and didn't do them nearly as well.
ReplyDeletehowls moving castle was so gorgeously detailed and animated, but lacked in the story department. i didn't really care much for any of the characters (except calcifer!) but this movie is always great eye candy regardless.
i agree with your list, more or less, except that i'd sneak in lupin the 3rd in there somewhere. i may be a little biased there though, because i love lupin III
Ohhh really? I haven't bothered watching Avatar yet to be honest haha. Although everyone was raving about how great it was I could kind of sense it was overhyped....
ReplyDeleteYeah that's also the reason why I didn't have Howl in the list too. Everything else about it was great though.
Ahhhh and Lupin that was another one that was close. It's not that important but I used to be told that I looked like Lupin when I was a small kid because I had long sideburns lol.
Avatar is overhyped (but at the same time I watched it in Spanish with too small English subs in a lousy bus lol)
ReplyDeleteAvatar can be summarize with the syndrom of diplomats.
When a embassy sends a diplomat on a specific country, it is for a limited amount of time (about 2
or 3 years) no more. This amount of time is enough for the diplomat to get used to the foreign country habits/customs. After that there is a rotation of diplomats because if they would leave the same diplomat too long on a the same country, the diplomat would start to be integrated too much into the foreign country and would start forgeting the priorities of his own country and probably be in favor of the foreign country because he wouldn't consider anymore it as foreign country but now like his own country.
(no idea if what I wrote wasn't too confusing)
Well, Avatar took this idea and mixed with some trendy ecological concepts.
I'm a big fan of Mother White wolf, she is so cute like a giant plushie!
I don't think I'll bother watching Avatar lol...
ReplyDeleteI think someone else told me about the diplomats not staying in countries for longer than 3 years but had forgotten so your explanation was very interesting. The difference is that the guy in Avatar was probably only there for a week or something. lol
Yeah~ I want to ride one of those wolves! I don't really think they're cute though! More like fierce haha. I think the main character's deer thing is cute though lol.