Princess Mononoke

Princess Mononoke is considered to be the remake of Miyazaki's earlier film, Nausicaa. I must say, it equally matches (and at some parts, surpasses) its predecessor. Although in both films, the characters learn to understand one another, Princess Mononoke's understanding leads to a bit more uncertainty. The ending of the film is definitly less of a joyful one as Princess Mononoke is not considered to be that much of a hero as Nausicaa is in her story.
Also, Princess Mononoke does not contain the same level of epicness as Nausicaa does, mainly because the latter is set in a post-apocalyptic world, while the former is set in a pre-industrialized world. Both films, however, contain enormous beings of destructable power.
This does not mean that Princess Mononoke is less of a film, or less entertaining than Nausicaa. On the contrary, I find Princess Mononoke to be a bit more enjoyable, mainly because of its contemporary style, fuller characters (Princess Mononoke shows more of her personality than Nausicaa does), and unsure ending. Nausicaa is much more similar to contemporary Hollywood cinema in that there is a legend, and the hero becomes the savior and everyone lives happily ever after. What's great about Princess Mononoke is that it follows anime/Miyazaki's style with a more floaty ending. It is difficult to side with any of the groups in conflict; they all have their faults. Therefore, in the end, instead of everyone winning, it's more like everyone going back to their own lives, trying to be more cautious of the other groups.
One of the main things that makes Princess Mononoke better than Nausicaa is that while Nausicaa is on the side of her people of the valley, Princess Mononoke is on the side of nature and the forrest. Nausicaa has less of a connection with the forrest and the insects (she is an outsider) compared to Princess Mononoke, who practically was raised by the wolves and grew up in the forrest. The different angle which the main character comes from strengthens the equality of the triangle conflict. Therefore, nature has a much more stronger siding in Princess Mononoke.
Animation, music, and story of this film makes it a must see out of Miyazaki's works.

9.0

Porco Rosso

I have to admit, Porco Rosso was one of Miyazaki's films that I've never heard of before. This is quite surprising actually, considering how entertaining it is and that it's one of my favorites. I really enjoy how Miyazaki contains groups that are considered to be "bad guys," like the pirates, in both Porco Rosso and Castle in the Sky, and show them having honor and "nice guy" personalities. It's a really interesting contradiction that makes the film fun to watch. It really reminds me of my favorite manga, One Piece, by Eiichiro Oda, which is also about pirates, but the main crew are good nature pirates. I wouldn't be surprised if Oda was a fan of Miyazaki while he was growing up.
Porco Rosso and Kiki's Delivery Service are both similar in the way how both the main characters of the film are generally accepted by the other characters despite their obvious differences. Onlookers aren't that shocked to see Kiki flying on her broomstick and everyone seems fine with Marco's pig-like appearance. It is pretty interesting how we, the viewers, accept these fanstastic phenomenons just by seeing how the other characters react to them.
Miyazaki's endings are hugely different from mainstream Hollywood films in that your not sure what really happens. Did Marco and Gina get together in the end? Or are they still living their lives as how they were before? This uncertainty that Miyazaki gives us, in my opinion, allows us to become more engaged in the film and feel more connected with the characters. We are given the opportunity to speculate how the story ends, hence, be a part of the film.

9.0

Kiki's Delivery Service

Yet again, another young, little girl with short hair. It seems as though Miyazaki has a fetish; but wait, this time, the girl has both parents, not only alive, but well too. This caught my attention as soon as Kiki's mother mentions the father. I thought that the radio was important to Kiki because maybe the father left it for her when he died, so I was really shocked to see she has a dad.
Miyazaki's characters are always independent, so it was only natural to see Kiki fly off to another town on her own. Even if it's only for a year, I find it hard to image a 13 year old girl moving to a completely new area and taking care of herself. The fact that Kiki is separated from her parents makes her similar to Miyazaki's other heroines, who have to fend for themselves. However, I must say that the inclusion of parents makes the film a much more reassuring and happy experience.
And I must say, this is one of my favorite Miyazaki films (which includes Howl's) mainly because it's one of the most feel good stories. There is no real conflict like in Nausicaa, which leaves for an easy viewing. Even though Jiji ends up not talking at the end, it's still reassuring, because cats aren't supposed to talk in the first place. Also, Kiki becomes generally accepted in her new town and gains a close relationship with Tombo. Jiji not being able to talk with Kiki also shows the maturity level that Kiki gains over the course of the film. + maturity = + assurance
And this film was released only 5 days after I was born!!

9.2

Totoro

I was a bit confused as to why some of my fellow classmates said that Totoro is deassuring and has no real plot. How exactly is the film deassuring? It's like one of the most assuring film by Miyazaki. The bright colors used, the young, innocent characters, and the cute monsters all contribute to the assurance felt at the end of the film. None of the characters die, and none of them get hurt within the story. The little girls seem to just grow and their happiness and care for their mother only makes the assurance stronger. You can't imagine anything bad happening to them and it's almost like you know Totoro won't let anything bad happen. That's why Totoro is such a popular mascot throughout the world: he's big, cuddly, and reliable.
As for the plot, the film does contain the general plot points of a typical film. It first introduces the characters and settings, the girls grow fond of Totoro, a problem arises (the mom is unable to come home due to sickness), the girls conflict with each other, Totoro helps solve the problem (through the catbus), and the girls makeup and realize their mother is alright. Although the story is not completely obvious, like a Disney animation is, it's all still there. Even though Totoro is a slice-of-life, with a touch of fantasy, it is a lot more complex then a typical Disney film. For example, in Disney's most recent animation, The Princess and the Frog, the main character starts off with nothing and ends up with everything she's ever wanted (a prince and a restaurant). In Totoro, the girls don't gain anything materialistic, but rather, a greater understanding for one another, as seen when Mei runs off to the hospital after seeing her older sister cry. The girls also become more mature. That's one of the big differences between Miyazaki and Disney: Disney usually centers stories around young adults while Miyazaki has a lot of young characters, who are prone to greater change, both physically and mentally.

8.6

Castle in the Sky

The one main thing that really stood out to me upon watching Castle in the Sky, was that Miyazaki really loves to use female protagonists. His female protagonists are all very similar: young (teens), innocent personalities, and short hair (eventually). Miyazaki's views on girls with short hair is very interesting. It seems as though he links short hair with assertiveness, control, and courage. Nausicaa originally has short hair, which matches her reliable character. She rides her glider and tries to take control of her own life. In Howl's Moving Castle, Sophie is, at first, not as strong as Nausicaa (at one point, she evens displays her dependancy through tears and begging); however, towards the end of the movie, Sophie grows and takes charge of a difficult situation. This happens only after she cuts her hair short and offers it to Calicifer.
Sheeta is almost identical, if not, the origin of Sophie's character. Sheeta is dependant on Pazu and never takes the lead. It is only after Muska shoots off her ponytails that Sheeta has the power to defeat her enemy. She does so by chanting the spell of destruction. In other words, long hair is the barrier for a girls true potential of power and just.

It is surprising how people miss the details that tell you alot about (and confirm your opinions of) the characters. The one part that I caught upon watching the destruction scene a second time was Muska's true intentions. Muska only allowed the heroes to have three minutes to themselves because he ran out of bullets. He probably thought that Pazu had a shell left in his cannon, even though Pazu didn't. By giving the children time, he also got time to reload. Muska probably thought that it'd end up as a shooting spree. This is why Muska is shown to reload and why he looked so shocked when Pazu threw down his gun. I mean, come on, would Muska, a guy who threatened to shoot off a girl's ears, willingly give time for his opponents to discuss? If Muska still had bullets left, he would've just shot and killed Sheeta, then shoot Pazu in the knee to make him immobilized and torture him for the location of the stone. Muska's scary aiming shown earlier proves that he could've easily done so.

8.7

Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind

As I was watching Nausicaa for the first time, I saw many similar characteristics in both story and characters compared to Miyazaki's later work, Princess Mononoke. Both films contain strong female leads and have a very similar conflict between nature loving people, war centered people, and nature itself. I found it very strange how Miyazaki borrowed from his own film, especially to this extent. It reminds me of remakes of films, such as Ocean's 11 and Sherlock Holmes, and how the remakes are generally accepted and enjoyed by the public, mainly because of the time gap between the original and the remake. Despite the similarities, Nausicaa is much more female lead centered than Princess Mononoke is, making it less of a mainstream film.
In Princess Mononoke, Ashitaka, the male lead, got a much bigger part in the story than did the boy in Nausicaa did. So much so, that I could even say to some extent that Princess Mononoke's main protagonist is Ashitaka. You can't really say the same for Nausicaa. Nausicaa is definitely the main character (I even forgot the boy's name). This shift in gender role/power makes Nausicaa so much more interesting.
Nausicaa is very complex, in that it has an animistic, religious, and scientific phase. The Tolmekians are narcisstic and ascribe omnipotence to themselves. The valley people respect the toxic forest and the creatures that live in it, making them religious in a way. Science is shown from what Nausicaa finds out about the Earth. Having all three different views in one film makes the contrast between phases visible. The film is really centered on omnipotence and who should receive it. It turns out that a balance of the three is needed in order to maintain peace. The people in the film should be powerful and work hard themselves in order to grow and thrive. The people should also treat the toxic forest with respect and in doing so, recognize the power which it contains. Science should not have omnipotence, but instead should be practiced and understood, just like how Nausicaa understood how the Earth is trying to save itself and it's inhabitants.
The film gives a lot of emphasis on the ohmu. The ohmu is similar to the forest god in Princess Mononoke, in that they both have their own song which plays whenever they are shown. Upon listening to it, I always get this feeling of a majestic palace or control and power, which is pretty much what the ohmu is. It is amazing how Miyazaki makes something so huge and creepy, into something peaceful and caring.

8.8

The Castle of Cagliostro

Even though The Castle of Cagliostro is one of Miyazaki's first films, it is still very entertaining with a bunch of different elements, including festive, nostalgic, and apocalyptic themes. These were all pretty obvious in the sequences shown in class: the opening scene of robbing the casino is festive, the flashback scene is nostalgic, and the destruction of the castle and the tidal waves are apocalyptic. What I found interesting is that at the end of the film, the heroes do not end up with immense fortune as what is expected. Instead, they leave with exactly what they had when they arrived, aside from new friendships and experiences. This "happy ending" is very different compared to mainstream American cinema where the heroes always end up with treasure at the end of the film. A perfect example of this would be National Treasure where the heroes obtained riches for finding the lost artifacts. In Cagliostro, even though Lupin "found" an ancient civilization, he had no desire to become rich from it. Perhaps this is just a difference in story, or it could be a difference in culture.

8.0