MR Nausicaä

This week, let's look into what is considered the first Studio Ghibli movie (though it isn't!)
If you want to check out my previous reviews, follow the Ghibli-Marathon tag or simply click over the above picture!

Considered by many, a classic of the Japanese animations - for both fans of anime or not. Let's review Miyazaki's big independent debut...

Movie: Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind 
Directed by Hayao Miyazaki
Release date 1984
Genre Anime/fantasy adventure
Country Japan

Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind is a post-apocalyptic animated filmd written and directed by Hayao Miyazaki, and produced by his long time friend and co-animator Isao Takahata, who had both been trying to launch their own anime studio for years.
Tired of all the usual commercial and cheap productions Japan had been producing for years, he experimented making movies for larger audiences with more mature content and serious production values.

The story of Nausicaä was actually based on a manga going by the same name, drawn and written by Miyazaki. Serialized from '82 to '94. it is about a princess from small kindom that is then brought into a war between empires. She tries to seek the coexistence between these different nations why preventing the humans own selfishness and ambitions from destroying nature in the process.
The movie is actually the adaptation (more or less) of the first chapters (2 of the 7 volumes).

Nausicaä is therefore an adaptation of a manga...which itself was originally inspired by the character Nausicaä from Homer's Odyssey. This character served as basis for Miyazaki's story. The daughter of King Alcinous, trying to bring back peace in the middle of a imperial war amongst nation.

But back on the movie itself, shall we?

The film tells the story of Nausicaä, a young girl, princess and fighter from the "Valley of the Wind" who gets involved in a struggle  between empires.

But let's start at the beginning first.
The story takes place a 1000 years after an apocalyptic event, called the "Seven Days of Fire", it was a cataclysmic war that destroyed both the planet's civilizations and ecosystem.
Now, there are Toxic Jungles all over the world, also called the Sea of Decay, where the air is toxic and there lies giant insects, the result of various evolutions and aberrations, nature's answer to man's destruction.

Nausicaä lives in this Valley of the Wind that is a place relatively protected from the toxic spores thanks to the air coming from the ocean.
A wise and mysterious man who lives there from time to time, called Master Yupa, is searching for the "Man in Blue", he who will unite the people back with nature. To help him out, Nausicaä goes on exploration, searching from jungle to jungle and beyond the desert for this mysterious savior.
She uses this flying glider, a Möwe, to move around.

Nausicaä is actually sort of able to talk to these giant insect creatures and would love to see peace returning to the world..
She is particularly found of the "insect kings", the Ohmus/Ômus (depending on the version of the film).

One day, a giant airship crashes near the Valley.
Nausicaä notices it and tries to rescue a little girl she sees aboard.
The villagers soon find out it is the princess Lastelle of Pejite.

Which brings war to the peaceful village.

The war is still going between various rival kingdoms. A military flying ship from the Tolmekia (/Tolmek/Tolmèque) Empire comes around.

Nausicaä discovers an embroy of a Giant Warrior in the first crashed airship - which are dangerous weapons created by man from the old war.
Lastelle was actually trying to destroy the monster, these embryos need to be destroyed!

But the empire Tolmekian wants to resort to what originally destroyed the world in their conflict against the Dork Empire.
The Princess Kushana and General Kurotowa invade the valley for the embryo...

Meanwhile, Nausicaä finds out the jungle is actually toxic because of what people did to the ground, plants actually grow in water beneath the sand and jungle.

The Tolmekia kingdom tries to use an ancient weapon too soon, to fend off from an Omhu attack...
Nausicaä must stop the Tolmekians from killing these insects, the survival of the planet depends on it!

Let's simply say it, Nausicaä is a gorgeous looking animated movie, with great animation quality, an amazing atmosphere and feel, a mature tone, fantastic orchestral music compositions and a great story to boot.

Miyazaki and his very competent staff did the impossible, made Japanese animation relevant again and popular worldwide with both fans and critics alike.

The movie's production was done in a record time of under 10 months (!!!) for a budget of about 1 million $USD, which at the time was a lot and without precedent.

It helped establish the Studio Ghibli, which would be the home of various other Miyazaki and Takahata films for the following decades. That is why it actually is often considered part of Ghibli's filmography and legacy.
It went on to win several prizes and breached  various records of the JKapanese box office and worldwide as well.

Originally Tokuma Shoten wanted to turn Miyazaki's Nausicaä manga into a movie, but Miyazaki preferred to take the occasion to do so himself. It was then released by Toei on March 1984.

There's a lot of Takahata as well as Miyazaki in this movie.
It really is a joint effort to launch their Studio Ghibli.
There's a lot of inspiration both brought in from their previous productions. Be it from Lupin or Horus. Mostly esthetically.
And as fantastic as it is, it is a story of characters before anything.
Ghibli's first leading female heroine, a model for generations to come.

Overall, it is a must see, simple as that.
Beautiful gorgeous looking, great and entertaining.

It's a movie for all, all ages and wherever you come from. It's an universal kind of story.
People fighting for peace, people raging war, nature being ignored and caught in the middle.
Environmentalist and meaningful.

But please, I will add this to this conclusion, please don't watch the butchered US translation from the late 90s - also re-released on DVD for some reason.
Avoid the version of the movie translated under the name Warriors of the Wind at all cost!!
It was heavily edited and modified to be more "manly" and less "girly" as stereotypical 80s American cartoon companies would have put it. Avoid this release!!

Anyways, Nausicaä is a must watch!

I give it:

2.5 / 3 DonPatchis!

MR Gauche the Cellist

Time for one more anime movie from the pre-Studio Ghibli years!

This time, let's see a radically different genre of movie, once more from sensei Isao Takahata.

Movie: Gauche the Cellist
Directed by Isao Takahata
Release date 1982
Genre Anime/musical
Country Japan

Gauche the Cellist.
What a unique movie this one is!

Sometimes called "Gorsch the Cellist" or "Goshu the Cellist" depending on the translation (though I prefer the original "Gauche" name better).
This little movie - and by little I mean, slightly over a mere hour -  is based on a short story by Kenji Miyazawa. Easily one of the most popular Japanese writers/poets. A great influence to both Miyazaki and Takahata, who based several of their works on his storytelling.

There's been literally dozen adaptations of this story, including several movies.
This one's the adaptation Isao Takahata wrote for the screen and directed himself in the early 80s.

This is the story of Gauche.
Gauche is a cellist who lives in a small town in some unidentified part of the rural Japan of old.
He's also part of a small local orchestra, The Venus Orchestra.

Gauche is having some problems at the rehearsals.
He's a good musician, with a great technique, but his work lacks heart and spirit.
While he struggles daily there, the conductor tells him he needs to add some emotion when playing. Devoid of that, the music can be as good as he tries..there's simply no solid foundations beneath his sound.

During the course of the next four nights, Gauche is visited each time by a talking animal (a cat, a cuckoo, a tanuki, and finally a mother mouse and her son).
The animals seem to only annoy him at first, the cat only wants to heard a song. But then he starts to learn something every night, the cuckoo practice scales with him. And enjoys himself, like when he's accompanied by the tanuki's little drum. And accept playing as more than just practice, when he helps the mice while playing a rhapsody.

The animals teach something about himself, playing music from the heart...
Will Gauche be ready for the big concert at the end of the week?

Gauche is a very unique sort of movie.
More Fantasy (for an American comparison) than your usual generic animes.

It took Takahata and his crew ~5-6 years to produce this little hour-long movie.
This one was done at the Oh! Production's studios.
It's a beautiful looking and sounding story. And no doubt a timeless film.

Visually, it's gorgeous, and holds quite easily to this very day. The beautiful painting-like landscapes, colorful backgrounds with noticeable brushstrokes make it come to life.

The music, by Michio Mamiya, breathes life into this production.
The various rehearsals sound like rehearsed music.
There's various interesting pieces throughout the movie. Be it Beethoven's Sixth Symphony (and important influential figure in Gauche's life) or some other more obscure little cello pieces.
The "Tiger Hunt in India" piece Gauche plays..
And it ends on a beautiful Pastoral symphony when he's at peace at the end of the day.

Overall, easily one of the most underrated and sadly too often overlooked master pieces from Isao Takahata.
Gauche becomes a better musician with his interaction with the small animals that visit his home.
It's a story about music.
The various steps of learning. Trying at first, learning, working hard, and once all this his mastered, acquiring emotion through it.

One of my personal favorites to be honest.

It's more of a naturalism story compared to other movies from Takahata.
As his late work, there's some tragedy as well as some comedy.
The talking animals are never quite explained or understood (in Gauche's mind, for real..in the end it has no importance, only what Gauche experienced does).
A sort of meditative musical film.

Sadly this is one of the harder movies to find around.
There's been one English-based release (and a rare French release like mine, seen above).
It is now under Ghibli's name in Japan, so there's still hope for a new release (it will be easier for outside Producers to export it now).
Though you can just as well get one of the Japanese copies, they're all subtitled in English. (not that dialogues are that important here)


I give it:

3 / 3 DonPatchis!

MR Jarinko Chie

...And here's one more entry for my Studio Ghibli Marathon reviews!

This time one of the lesser known movies, but an important one nonetheless!
Yet another movie directed by (then-future) Studio Ghibli's legendary Isao Takahata.

Did it disappear into obscurity due to its quality? Is it any good? And More importantly, what's it about?....

Movie: Jarinko Chie aka Chie the Brat in English
Directed by Isao Takahata
Release date 1981
Genre Anime/comedy
Country Japan

Jarinko Chie was originally a very popular manga series by Etsumi Haruki pre-published in the pages of the magazine Manga Action from 1978 to 1997 (!) and has been collected in the form of a series of 67 volumes.
Which, by the way, was one of the longest manga series until not that long ago.

The title roughly means "Chie the brat".
(though as you may note, my copy's called "Kié" instead of "Chié", because it's a French release and)

Isao Takahata decided to adapt this episodic manga into a full length feature with an animated studio at Toho, and Yōichi Kotabe and Yasuo Otsuka as chef animators.

It is the story of this little girl Chie, in a heart warming movie than contains both comedy and more serious elements.

Not your daddy's little girl so much, heh?

Chie is the "most unfortunate girl in Japan".
She is about 8 years old. Her parents just got separated.
By day, Chie has to go to school, study on her own and take care of the bullies from class. The rest of the day, she manages her father's own little restaurant on her own.

You see, her father Tetsu is a big goof. He spends most of his time fighting other people or spending his all of his savings on games.
That is why Chie's mom leaved him actually. Tetsu isn't a very present dad nor a very responsible adult. He doesn't take care of his daughter much and has never been able to hold a job for long.

One night while taking care of the family business, Chie helps a little stray cat that starts hanging around afterwards...

This might all sound sort of depressing and all...but it is actually a very funny story, with some very personal signature touches like what you'd expect from a Takahata movie.

More like little skits put together than anything sporting a real overarching story.
The characters, as cartoony as they faces might be, feel real. "Complete."

The art style, in the pure style of classic 4-koma mangas (comic strips), is very caricatural. Characters have huge noses, big square jaws, giant ears... It helps defines them and recognise them in a glance.
This animated movie actually mimics and captured the art style of the original manga perfectly.

Over the various little "plots", the characters develops. The dad decides to give Chie more attention, Chie opens up to her father as well and even the random thugs/yakuzas they meet got their own change of hearts with the contact with this "little brat".

Unrealistic situations and cartoony characters..but a real heart beneath it all.

The cat(s) even have their own whole side story, culminating in an epic final confrontation at the end.
They walk on two legs, talk, can kick some serious butts...and it all comes down to family ties, honor and maturity.

Chie continues to see her mother behind Tetsu's back.. She misses her and would have preferred to stay with her...
A strange turn of events give the parents a chance to become a family again...

It is a very sweet (everything turns out for the better!)  yet rooted in the reality of many children. Not exclusively in Japan.
The story is set in Osaka, which is a nice change from the usual Tokyo from most of these sort of movies/animes. There's a different, friendlier and more open culture. (Tetsu's police officer friend comes to mind) Even the bad guys aren't that bad in the end..

The music composed by Shinsuke Kazato, even if simple, is nice and memorable.
The theme song is particularly catchy and comes at various points under different styles.

Overall, it is a very nice movie.
The animation didn't age that much and it's fast pace enough to feel fun and fresh today as well.

It might feel like a bunch of stories glued together, but there's some character development as well.

It is sadly very difficult to find. Your only choice might be to import a copy of the DVD.
I've only come across online the Japanese DVD (which has English subtitles anyway) and a very rare French release. (which I ended up ordering from the publisher!).

The movie was a modest but success enough.
It was then followed by a 64-episode TV series by Tokyo Movie Shinsha. With Takahata working on it as chief director. Followed then by a sequel series of 30 episodes itself.

Worth a look for Ghibli or Takahata fans!

I give it:

2.5 / 3 DonPatchis!

MR The Castle of Cagliostro

Let's start off this year with a whole new review!
This time I would like to offer you yet another entry in my long running Studio Ghibli Marathon.

This yet another "Ghibli-esque" movie from the pre-Studio Ghibli era. Taking you this time in the late 70s...

Movie: Lupin The III: Castle of Cagliostro also simply known as The Castle of Cagliostro
Directed by Hayao Miyazaki
Release date 1979
Genre Anime/adventure
Country Japan

Castle of Cagliostro is one of the earliest features around Lupin III, it is actually Lupin's 2nd movie adaptation.
Released only a mere year after the first one, The Secret of Mamo.
It was co-written and directed by Japanese animation master Hayao Miyazaki and originally one of his biggest projects to date.

Lupin 3 was at first a manga created by Monkey Punch (pen name of the mangaka Kazuhiko Katō).
It is about this international thief called Arsène Lupin The Third who is, yes, the grandson of the fictional character created by Maurice Leblanc.
Due to copyright issues and trademarks, Lupin has been forced to go under various other names depending on the translations and years they've been released.
Depending on the movie/TV series you'll see you might find him under the names: Rupan III (recent materials), Edgar (like most of the French releases, like mine picture above), Wolf or even Vidocq IV (true enough)!
For the sake of simplicity, I'll just use Lupin, ok?

In his adventures Lupin III is often accompanied by other thieves and criminals-for-hire and finds himself in very dangerous and often random situations.

Meet our heroes!

This second film takes off as our main character is pulling off a job in a casino in Monaco.

Lupin II and his acolyte Daisuke Jigen, a mercenary, barely make it outside the premises...
As our heroes escape in their famous Fiat 500, Lupin notices they actually stole fake money that has been spreading all over the world since a dozen of years or so...

Lupin convinces Jigen to attack the problem at its source and go after the people that have been spreading this fake money around.
Their journey takes them to (the fictional) Cagliostro, somewhere in mid-Europe.

But as soon as they reach their destination, trouble follows them quickly and they find themselves having to protect a girl from being kidnapped....

You'll never find a more well-mannered Lupin anywhere else!

Long story short, Lupin ends up having to rescure this princess, Clarisse, from the clutches of the evil Count of Cagliostro.
They find themselves in peril against the overwhelming forces of the Count's elite assassins, so Lupin call in some exterior help. The ronin Goemon Ishikawa XIII is quick to answer to his friend's.
And the head of an Interpol anti-Lupin task force, Inspector Koichi Zenigata finds the steps of Lupin leading him into the castle as well.
Meanwhile, international criminal Fujiko Minewas already way ahead of everyone else on the quest for the hidden treasure the Castle of Cagliostro hides beneath its underground...

As you might get from this crazy plot, it sort of goes everywhere but stays pretty focuses at the same time.

This movie's a fun adventure with lots of twists and turns around each corner.
Miyazaki based the movie around several Arsène Lupin stories actually. The movie uses some plot elements and alludes to La Comtesse de Cagliostro an original Lupin story from Leblanc, as well as taking some inspiration from La Justice d'Arsène Lupin by Boileau-Narcejac (mostly the forged money aspect, which concerned fake Francs during a WW1 era Germany in the original) and Maurice Leblanc's The Green-eyed Lady.

Aesthetically though it's totally a Hayao Miyazaki movie.
The tone of the movie makes it stand out amongst the various other Lupin 3 productions. From using Miyazaki-esque backgrounds and settings (the nature, the colorful realistic country, the castle..) to the plot itself.
As such, it features a much simpler and gentler Lupin & co. Even keeping Jigen aside I presume is a way of having less of the usual gun ho action on screen (and Goemon's even less present, barely making an appearance for fans simply). Though I must say Zenigata's perfectly in-character.
Also this is probably the movie were Miyazaki's influences can best be seen represented in the animation, particularly the 1952 classic French animated movie The King and the Bird (Le Roi et l'oiseau) from which Cagliostro takes a lot of cues from the castle's design to various designs, shots and animations.

Finally a note for the musical aspect.
The music here was composed by series regular Yuji Ohno, which perfectly captured the movie's tone and atmosphere in sound. The score is simply epic, fitting for such a crazy adventures featuring lots of chasing around and action, as well as some deeper emotions and more serious scenes too.

Overall, a fantastic movie!
Fans of animation, Ghibli, Lupin III or simply adventure films, don't miss this one out!

This Toho production helmed by Miyazaki at the top is one of the classic film features from the master of animation I can't recommend enough!
It can also work as a great introduction to the crazy universe of Lupin II (even if you'll call him Wolf, Edgar or Rupin III!).

A must watch, fun for all ages!

I give it:

2.5 / 3 DonPatchis!

MR Panda! Go, Panda!

And here's another review for my "Studio Ghibli Marathon"!~

Some nerds would love to nitpick, and scream at their computer screen saying "this isn't a movie! it's an OVA/OAV!!" well, check out my tags, notice my "OVA" tag? Good. Okay, now calm down, sit, relax and enjoy....

Movie: Panda! Go, Panda! also known as Panda Kopanda which means Panda, Baby Panda (as most non-English releases correctly translate the title - see my own copy above!)
Directed by Isao Takahata
Release date 1972
Genre Anime/comedy
Country Japan

After working together on Horus at Toei animation, Yōichi Kotabe, Hayao Miyazaki and Isao Takahata started working on another feature in 1972.
This, instead of making a full theater feature, for budgetary concerns which was still a problem for them at the time, they decided to work on a smaller, and shorter, project.
This time it was going to be an OVA, that is, simply a direct-to-video feature (which aired on TV nonetheless).

Hayao Miyazaki created the concept and wrote the film, that Isao Takahata directed in the end.
This time the movie has more noticeable "Miyazaki" flavor, every detail, character and aspect of the plot clearly contains his very own touch.

 Panda! Go, Panda!

The "movie" that we call nowadays "Panda! Go, Panda!" is really two smaller short features, two OVAs.
Both run for around ~40 minutes, which back to back can sort of be seen as a proper movie...kinda...

The story is about Mimiko, a little girl without parents, who lives with her grandmother in a little hometown.
One day, her grandmother has to leave her alone for a trip. But Mimiko is full of ressources and has no problem staying all by herself, being quite enthusiast and responsible at home.
When she comes back to her house later, situated in the middle of a bamboo forest, she finds there a baby panda sleeping outside.
Pandy (in Japanese Kopanda or Pan-Chan or even Panny in some US releases) joins her inside the house and they quickly become friends.
They're joined by his father, Papanda (Papa Panda), whom Mimiko ends up inviting as well!

A very strong bond is born amongst these three, and in the spur of the moment, they decide to become a "real" family, Papanda serving the role as the father she never had.

Mimiko continues to write to her grandma every night.
The next day, she goes to school and Pandy decides to follow his new "mom" there. But the lil' panda ends up getting chased by everyone....
Day turns to night, Mimiko continues her dialogue with her grandma through another letter.
The following day, trouble comes to visit this unusual family as the local Policeman wanting to check on Mimiko freaks out when he sees two escaped pandas over there. He calls in help and the local zoo is alerted someone found their lost panda family.
Our little family went for a walk, but loses Pandy down a hill, into a river. The police come to aid them as well as the zoo keepers. Mimiko and Papanda have to save him!!

In the end, both pandas return to "work" at the Zoo only now they can leave after hours to live happily with Mimiko at home...

Panda! Baby Panda!

The second short is called "The Rainy-Day Circus".
This one has a sort of different tone, more adventur-ysh. It was originally released a year later, with a brief recap of the original one when it aired in theaters in front of a Godzilla feature. (true!)

One night, our happy family is visited by what comes like a strange duo of burglars. In what seems to be a direct reference/spoof to the fairy tale of The Three Bears, our "burglars" find the chairs, dishes and belongings of our trio, tiny, normal sized and huge stuff from Pandy, Mimiko and Papanda!
...When the three decide to surprise their intruders, who get scared and run off...
But continuing this allusion to the tale of Goldilocks, Pandy finds out someone sat, ate and is sleeping in his bed. It's a baby tiger escaped from the Circus in town!
This Tigry (Tora Chan or Tiny in the US) quickly becomes fast friends with Pandy.

Trouble arise the next day, but all is well as Mimiko gets free tickets for the show for her, Pandy and the Papa Panda. But a big storm arises over night which floods most of the town...
Mimiko and her family go to check on their new friends at the Circus, stuck in the middle of nowhere on the train!
They help the animals, start the train by accident, which go off rails...

The seeds of various future Ghibli features grew from this film!

This movie original hit Japan at the height of the panda craze which started in the early 70s.
When a pair of giant pandas had been given to Japan by China at the Ueno Zoo, when everyone there was in love with pandas. What some refer to as the "Pandadiplomacy".

This movie marked one of Miyazaki and Takahata's first biggest success, when they could really let go outside the restraining format of TV series (though not exactly like later on, on theaters, with budget and more time on hand).

Both these two adventures are very well animated, simple yet quite fun.
The music was composed by Masahiko Satō, it's a very dynamic and entertaining soundtrack. The main theme "Mimi chan to Panda Kopanda" is super catchy. ("Panda Kopanda Kopanda-!!")
Both features where done at the Studio Tokyo Movie Shinsha.

Overall, it's a very fun "film"!
While Horus was clearly one of the first animated films for a more adult audience, with a complex storyline and characters, featuring a various range of emotion, Panda! Go, Panda! was produced with children in mind as its principal audience.

But it still is a good heart warming movie for "older" Ghibli fans! The movie is full of fun little tidbits fans will enjoy.
It is principally a Miyazaki film more than a Takahata one. Simply because of Miyazaki's input throughout both features. As such, there's the seeds to many of his later films. Like a known fact, your earlier debuts often leave a mark across your whole life and later work.
The most evident being on Totoro. Papanda shares many of his traits, including his basic design, animations and even a bit of his personality (though Totoro isn't as eloquent). Both even share a little "playing music" scene which doesn't play a big role in the movie and is quickly overseen.
The second feature was also sort of reimagined in the recent Ponyo.
The flood, in which the village gets trapped beneath the surface, is almost identical in both movies. A violent storm arise while in the middle of a meal. The next morning, the rain has stopped and both character's world in the two movies is invaded by water. Our heroes leave aboard a boat to help their friends... The theme, the narration, the way it is directed is more than similar!
Our heroine even served as template for a later anime series, Heidi, Girl of the Alps.

Speaking of which, the movie isn't without some influences as well.
Before making these two features, Miyazaki searched for a really long time after Horus to adapt Pippi Longstockings into an anime movie.
It came really close to be their second feature, he had a lot of interest in the character (the title was going to be Pippi Longstocking, The Strongest Girl In The World ). In 1971 they traveled to Sweden to research for the film (they even went to Visby, the principal location from the 1969 live series) and asked the permission to the creator, Astrid Lindgren...who finally refused. The project was canceled...but not dead!
Besides some storyboards and concept (see here, here and here), the rest that was saved from that production ended up being used in Panda! (such as Mimiko, a redesigned Pippi)

There's also other references, like the Policeman sharing Lupin 3's design (an anime series Miyazaki worked on for a very long time), even being voided by Lupin's official voice actor (in all of its movies/tv series usually), Yasuo Yamada.

But it is also a Takahata movie afterall. And since the stories are quite short, the way our heroine's introduced and other characters as well is through little details in everyday life.

Anyway, it is a great movie, moreso for Ghibli fans and children alike!

I give it:

2 / 3 DonPatchis!