Search

2009-04-20

Deep Thought

This blog is now three years old. How did that happen? And when does this start paying?

10 comments:

Daniel Thomas MacInnes said...

Well, thank you so much, Natalia. It means a lot that you've supported me and this blog. I'm always working hard to make this the definitive resource for all things Ghibli.

Geoff N said...

Happy Blogday! ;)

I only discovered your blog back in the Fall of 2007. I can think of no better compliment then to say after reading a couple posts, I immediately accessed your archives going back to your first post and read everything you ever posted up until that point...in about a day.

I had known about all that was Ghibli before hand, but I was starved in having someone to discuss it with. In fact, without your blog, I'm not sure if I would have looked into more of the pre-ghibi stuff, (especially Takahata's earlier films) so for that I thank you.

Fortunately, I now have a girlfriend who loves Studio Ghibli films, although not as much as I do, haha. Clearly she is a keeper eh?. Although, her first Ghibli experiences precede mine with her having seen Totoro, Kiki and Laputa as a kid.

Cheers on all your work, here's to the next year!

Daniel Thomas MacInnes said...

Girlfriend who loves Ghibli? Hot diggedy damn, that's good enough for me! If she's also into video games, then you need to get that ring - and fast.

I'm glad to be able to share the history of these great filmmakers. I remember how frustrating it was for me to learn anything, when I began by slowly downloading movies from peer-to-peer programs. Oh, yes, I was so thrilled to have a collection of Studio Ghibli movies that no one in the US had ever heard of, but there was virtually nowhere I could go to learn.

Two websites have always been essential to me. The first is Nausicaa.net. I'm sure everybody is familiar with them, even though they have since moved on. The continue with a Wiki page which is updated occasionally, but the torch has now been passed to newer sites like Ghibli World and Conversations on Ghibli.

The second is Ben Ettinger's Anipages. He's the preeminent scholar on anime history, and everything I've learned about the pre-Ghibli era of the '60s and '70s comes from him. Ben has also turned me on to such classic anime as Night on the Galactic Railroad, Belladonna, Goku's Big Adventure, Mind Game, and, of course, the Toei Doga films.

At least it's much easier for someone starting out today to find what they can about this history. And it's humbling to realize just how far I still have to go. Eventually, however, I do expect this blog to fully include everything from the Miyazaki/Takahata canon. And, heck, maybe Americans will finally get to see all of it on DVD or Blu-Ray.

Geoff N said...

I wouldn't say she is "into" video games, but she has nothing against them. She actually said she would like them more if not for the fact she is "awful at them". (her words, haha) But her opinion on them is good enough for me. =)

Her genre's of choice are Racing Games and Platformers, because, in her words again, "they're easier to play and don't require a lot of complex button pressing". This has led her to love the game "LittleBigPlanet". (I think it also has to do with the fact you get to customize and accessorize your sackboy, haha)

Nausicaa.net was definitely something I read back in the day when i first became interested in Ghibli. Ghibliword.com is a great source of info like you said and they don't seem to let anything slip through the cracks. Also, I have taken a look at Anipages from time to time, it is a fun read.

As for the films you mentioned, Night on the Galactic Railroad I saw through torrents and I really liked it. Some other lesser known ones that I liked are "Like the Wind, Like the Clouds" (which I remember you discussing in the past) and "Junkers Come Here".

Question, have you ever heard of the film Piano no Mori? (Piano Forest) It was released in 2007 and was nominated for a bunch of awards in Japan in 2008. A subbed version of the film is on Youtube, I'd definitely say it is worth a look. It was produced by Madhouse, who have handled all of Satoshi Kon's films, as well as "The Girl Who Leapt Through Time"

Daniel Thomas MacInnes said...

Thanks for pointing me towards The Piano Forest. I think I may have heard of it once a while ago, but it's since been forgotten. I watched some scenes on YouTube, and agree that it's an exceptional film. I'll definitely be posting that movie here on the blog.

Doug said...

I too have visited Anipages as per your recommendation Daniel, and I think there is a wealth of info there. He obviously knows what he's talking about and puts alot of love into his blog. But its frustrating to me because he talks about all these films that I can't see.
1) Because I can't afford to get all of them if they're available on dvd and/or
2) I don't have the time and bandwidth and know-how to download them if they're available. Much of my experience with torrent sites has been negative to say the least.

Daniel Thomas MacInnes said...

Yes, I can appreciate how challenging it is to build your DVD library of these movies. It's doubly hard if you import from Japan, because the discs over there are so outrageously expensive. Are you really willing to pay $45 for a DVD?

Fortunately, a lot of the anime that remains far away is available as fansubs. I'll remember to put the fansub links back on the blog. The sites I linked to are good ones, and you can trust them. But it always helps to be careful when dealing with the intertubes.

Philip Daniel said...

Veteran Ghibli art director Yamamoto Nizo directed a TV film in 2007 at Nippon Animation (WMT, Conan, etc) entitled Miyori no Mori (Miyori's Forest). It was aesthetically very attractive, but I personally couldn't sit through the entire runtime. A matter of personal taste, I suppose. Something about it was too "anime" for my liking. I should give it another go, it's been several months already and I'm probably in the right mindset now to enjoy it fully. I'm sure you'd enjoy it, though.

I recommend you watch Oga Kazuo's 2006 directorial debut, "Taneyamagahara no Yoru" (Night of Taneyamagahara). Much better than Gedo, even though it does not come with English subtitles. It's actually available on rapidshare (which is how I came to see it.) Here is the link: http://rapidshare.com/files/163018595/Night_of_Taneyamagahara.rar
It's based upon a Kenji Miyazawa play with a mountain as its subject. Very animistic and also naturalistic (like a Takahata film).

I have not seen Piano no Mori, but as a musician in the Western Art Music tradition (I hate the word "classical", it refers to a particular musical style of the mid-to-late 18th century Enlightenment, goddamnit), I'd probably enjoy it a great deal. Thank you, Geoff, for mentioning it.

Eishagishi said...

Just wanted to say "thank you" for your continuing efforts with this blog, and of course for sharing your ongoing thoughts on all things Ghibli. I've been reading here for the past couple of years and have greatly enjoyed it.

Though I'm a big fan of Japanese cinema in general and of Studio Ghibli's films in particular, I'm not one to have or to write meaningful commentary about it. I'm just a technical guy - a projectionist and theater/screening room tech that "knows what I likes when I sees it" - even if I can't really articulate why. That's why I'm so happy to find people who like the films I like, and can say why.

All that I can say is that somehow these films move me in some way - they make me think, they make me feel, and sometimes they make me remember. They all make me feel that it was worth the time and effort to find and see them (sometimes again and again and again), let alone the time and effort it takes to show them properly on a big screen (when I get the chance to do that!). Hollywood product generally doesn't do that for me anymore, and hasn't in years.

Also, I'd like to say "thank you" for mentioning nausicaa.net as an essential. I'm sure all the people of Team Ghiblink appreciate reading that. Regarding the nausicaa.net wiki page, all I can say is, we're not dead yet. It's true that quite a few of the founders of the original nausicaa.net are now inactive or have moved on, but there is still a small but slowly growing group of established and new volunteers that is carrying on with the project to port the website's content over to the current wiki site. I'm one of the new ones that tries to move at least something every day... at least every day when I'm not working a real job (as is happening a lot this summer dangit!).

Being a techie, I mostly move the mundane stuff, like the lists and descriptions of Ghibli-related goods that were or are still available for each title - anything that requires "thought" I leave to those capable of expressing that. ^_^ But I do invite Ghibli fans to take a look at the "To Do" and "Recent Changes" pages of the wiki to see what we've been up to lately.

Again, thanks for the mention and for this blog. Don't know when the money's supposed to start.Gambarou ze!

Jaa,

Paul (Eishagishi)
Otaku wa tsurai yo!

Daniel Thomas MacInnes said...

Wow, thanks! I had to check my email to find your comment - a blog post from April. This has been my busiest year yet, tha'ts for sure. I do enjoy it.

Nausicaa.net was the #1 Ghibli site in America for many years. I poured through that site religiously for years, learning as much as I could while working my way slowly through the movies. I'm glad the GhibliWiki is moving forward, and I hope you guys can chronicle everything.

My one request is that you make everything easy to reach and it's all organized easily. I suppose this humble blog is my way of fulfilling that role.

Feel free to steal whatever you need from this site. Don't forget Ben Ettinger's Anipages, either, especially for the history.

Oh, and one final request. Let's get all the Ghibli Freaks to turn out this weekend en masse! Make it a party day or something. Just have as many anime fans turn out on Saturday and Sunday in as large numbers as possible. Last weekend was for the parents and the kids. Let's show 'em how much clout we really have. What do ya say?

More Ghibli Blog Posts To Discover