Reviews - by Ian - May 25, 2011 - 19:54 Europe/London - Be first to Comment!
Studio Ghibli is known world wide for producing some of the best animated films in recent times, even western animation studios Disney and DreamWorks have pull inspiration from this film studio. Let’s also not forget that it tends to be Disney who releases all of the dubbed versions of Ghibli films – which his probably why the dubs are actually of a good quality. Even 25 years ago this studio was producing classic films and one that is often forgotten about is Laputa: Castle in the Sky. That is, until now as the team at Optimum Releasing have decided that this classic film is to be re-released in Blu-Ray and the re-release really goes to show how amazing the film is, considering it was made a quarter of a century ago.
Laputa is set in a parallel world, where huge sky ships, sky pirates and sky crime is something that occurs on a daily basis. Humans have dreamed of being in the air since the dawn of time, the ability to fly is a wish that many have and in this world whilst the ability for a human to fly does not exist, flying cities are believed to have existed in the past. Yet, it’s been such a long time since people lived in the sky, in large floating cities, that people have chalked the idea to legend and are now content with living on the ground. Yet, airships are still used by a large number of people and it’s in an airship where we find our heroine, Sheeta.
Sheeta is being held against her will in a huge airship by what looks like pirates and manages to free herself from her captors. Unfortunately, by freeing herself she ends up falling through the sky and tragically looks like she’s going to die in the first few minutes of the film. However, something bizarre happens and a small stone she wears around her neck prevents her from dying by slowing down her speedy descent to terrafirma. She luckily manages to find herself in the arms of Pazu, a young boy who works in the mining town that she finds herself in. As he’s young, naive and somewhat nice he looks after her and takes her back to his to rest after her ordeal.
It doesn’t take long for Pazu to find out what’s going on with his new young friend, Sheeta and in mere moments the pair are good friends and he’s protecting her from the people who are after her. He manages to confuse the group of professionals and takes Sheeta to a fatherly figure in the town. He manages to escape from the town and go to ground. In the mines of his town, the pair learn the truth about the stone and the mystery behind Sheeta’s magical stone.
It’s very easy to enjoy Laputa, it’s not a tale with any overarching storylines, there’s very little talk of the environment or trying to make the viewer think about the real world. It’s a nice and gentle tale that many adults could easily tell their children, it’s got the familiarity that most European fairy tales have and this could be possibly be because Miyazaki was arguably influenced by Gulliver’s Tales and many other staple European tales. This coupled along with the obvious influences of Northern England and Welsh mining towns of the late 20th Century make the film aesthetically very pleasing and comforting on the eye. Watching some of the cobbled streets in the main town in Laputa makes you feel like there should be Corrie’s music playing in the background.
Of course, it’s impossible to talk about Laputa without mentioning the inevitable, the Castle in the Sky. Many who saw Miyazaki’s Howl’s Moving Castle before Laputa will see two very distinct similarities. However, what needs to be noted is that neither film has anything to do with one another and in the original novel for Howl’s, the ending is nothing like the way that Miyazaki portrayed it. Yet, it’s the continued feeling of man to want to escape from the shackles of gravity and fly away from everything that makes the ending of Laputa as poignant as it is.
The Blu-Ray release of Laputa Castle in the Sky is something that is pure, visual perfection. The transfer between DVD to Blu-Ray makes a significant difference to the way the film is presented and it looks as good today as any modern anime release. This is something to really shout about as it’s a 25 year old film!
Final Verdict
9/10
Laputa: Castle in the Sky is an amazing film, a truly brilliant piece of work that’s oft forgot, but easily on par with the rest of the major Ghibli releases.
Anime News, News - by Ian - March 1, 2011 - 18:20 Europe/London - Be first to Comment!
It’s been widely reported that two Studio Ghibli classics, Laputa Castle in the Sky and My Neighbours the Yamadas are to be released in Blu-Ray in the UK on the 9th May. This is due to Play.com putting the Blu-Ray edition of the films up for sale; however, at this moment in time there is no formal confirmation of this.
The UK release for Optimum’s films website currently does not confirm if this is correct and at the time of writing Optimum Releasing were unable to confirm the date’s accuracy. However, Play.com are often correct with their release dates of anime releases, so it’s highly likely that these dates are correct.
Update – 1st March 2011
Optimum today confirmed to News-Anime that Play.com is correct and both Laputa and My Neighbours the Yamada’s will be available in the UK onl Blu-Ray from the 9th May 2011 and will be confirming the full details alongside packaging information very shortly.
News - by Ian - May 4, 2010 - 11:22 Europe/London - Be first to Comment!
Sky Movies recently published a list of 50 Anime Films You Must See, I’m guessing that they can’t say before I die, just in case it affects their stock. Anyway, more importantly than that, the list is actually a very comprehensive list of interesting and varied anime from across the years. From the usual Studio Ghibli fare, straight through to Angel Egg and Tekkonkinkreet.
The list is available here.
Now the question begs to be asked, will Sky ever actually show any of these movies and if they have in the past, will they show them again? Angel Egg on national TV – I doubt it somehow.
News - by Ian - April 4, 2010 - 21:55 Europe/London - Be first to Comment!
Finding anime on TV is always a rare thing, so when it’s noticed early enough it needs to be shouted about. Normally if it’s on the day News Anime will only announce it on Twitter or Facebook as it’s normally when we’ve actually flicked through the TV and found it ourselves showing.
This time around; however, there’s two anime films on and they are:
Pokemon 4 Ever – Celebi: Voice of the Forest
Ash Ketchum and his faithful companion Pikachu travel to an island to investigate especially rare species of Pokémon and the legendary Pokémon Celebi. Team Rocket manage to get themselves involved and Celebi, Ash and co get taken on a long adventure.
Channel: BBC2
When: Friday 9th April at 1230 (Dub)
Tales From Earthsea
The Studio Ghibli adaptation of Ursula Le Quin’s Earthsea series, Sparrowhawk the wizard must attempt to battle half of the world to try and save it from disaster.
Channel: Film4
When: Sunday 11th April at 1250 (Dub)
If any of you ever find any anime films that we’ve not told the world about, please let us know by going to the “About” page and filling in the contact form or messaging us via Twitter or Facebook.
Reviews - by Ian - March 28, 2010 - 16:10 Europe/London - 3 Comments
Even three lustrums ago Production I.G was a forced to be reckoned with. It takes a long period of time to become recognised and at this point Production I.G were nearly a decade old. It was during the fateful year of 1995 that Production I.G released a new film, directed by Mamoru Oshii, based on the hit manga by Masamune Shirow – Ghost in the Shell.
Over the years Ghost in the Shell has managed to achieve the legendary status that is normally only granted to films from Studio Ghibli. The popularity of Ghost in the Shell in the past fifteen years is such that a sequel was released nearly a decade later, Ghost in the Shell Innocence, although not a direct and before that the anime series – Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex. To further prove the popularity of this show, Ghost in the Shell 2.0 was released in 2008. GitS 2.0 is a re-release of the original GitS film, but it has been entirely reproduced, from the digital scenes right through to the voice acting and soundtrack.
It’s some years into the future, in a world that looks essentially the same as our own today. The major countries in the world still exist, political turmoil still exists and the corporate and public backstabbing that occurs through all companies and governments have intensified due to the revelation of new technologies. In these government agencies, there are an increasing number of people who used to be human and are now part cyborg with only parts of their humanity remaining – mainly their consciousness, which is referred to as the Ghost.
Two of Japan’s top agencies although to the public appear to be working together, are actually bitter enemies and only keep the façade up to ensure that the status quo is maintained and all out warfare doesn’t occur. However, they are equally as suspicious as secretive as each other and this is seen from the very first scene in the movie. Our heroine, or even anti-heroine as many would argue, is on a stakeout mission where she has to kill one of the contacts of Section 6, which she manages to do with ruthless efficiency.
It doesn’t take long for some of Section 6’s plans to go a bit astray and Section 9, the section where our heroine works, finds out and sends out the team to find out why Section 6 have access to robotic technology that they have no need for. Whilst they investigate Section 6, some truly incredible information falls into their possession around Ghosts and Ghosts evolving from nothing – something that was once thought of as impossible as part human part android people.
Unfortunately Ghost in the Shell 2.0 does not wrap everything up nicely, there’s a huge cliffhanger and this leaves a lot open to interpretation. Naturally this leaves the viewer desperate for more – a sign of a truly great film.
The characters are all clear and distinct, with plenty of questions raised on the morality of creating people and interfering in the human body and there’s loads of character development from the two main “androids”, something which a lot of anime manages to miss. The film itself is very grungy and has echoes of cyberpunk from the very start. However, this does not mean the film has been done on the cheap, or looks cheap, the backgrounds and characters are well drawn and the colours – although dark – are distinct and accurately reflect the mood of the film.
The voice acting of the English cast is brilliant, with all of the characters completely distinct and recognisable even when not looking at the screen, which is a very rare occurrence. The acting of the English voice cast is also top-notch with affection, sadness and melancholy being expressed with truth. The Japanese voice cast are also amazing, as is the actual soundtrack to the entire film.
Ghost in the Shell 2.0 is going to be contentious for many fans, those who saw the original or the Special Edition a few years ago will notice some significant differences in the films that they are watching. 2.0 has a lot more CGI, with some scenes entirely redone and unfortunately some of the CGI scenes jar painfully with the original drawn scenes that it sits next to, it’s more than just a juxtaposition, it’s a little off-putting. However, the rest of the upgrades are perfectly done, the majority of the scenes have been improved with more distinction in the characters and with more effective colours. Between the original and the remastered version the colour palettes have changed significantly as well, there’s a lot more orange and lighter hues than the original blue and greens, this update is done very well and doesn’t jar or look out of place with modern anime – although the original colours give the film a different feel.
» Final Score
9
The original film is going to be many people’s favourite; however, for sheer quality of transfer and the gentle revisions made in most places simply lift the quality of this film’s visual up a few levels. With a great storyline that grabs the viewer and a cast that’s the best in recent times, it’s a must have for all anime fans.
Reviews - by Ian - March 16, 2010 - 17:10 Europe/London - Be first to Comment!
Thirty-eight years ago a new fad was sweeping the nation of Japan, a somewhat surprising fad considering the origin. Pandas. Yes, China had generously donated a panda to a Japanese zoo in an attempt to increase their political and social ties and in the process the Japanese population went into a frenzy. Then Panda! Go, Panda! arrived and sent them all into overdrive.
Panda! Go Panda! is an early work of Hayao Miyazaki and Isao Takahata, which predates Studio Ghibli and the pairs more famous works by many years. However, the early signs of the pair’s creativity and artistic style is very dominant throughout the film itself.
Calling this production a film is a bit of a stretch though, it’s more like a collection of extended episodes from an anime sewn together with a common theme – pandas. Not that this is a bad thing though. In the original release there were a few follow up episodes; these have all been threaded into one extended DVD with three episodes.
From the off it’s clear to see that this is not only early anime, but is also early Miyazaki work. The character designs, while distinct, lack the finesse of more recent films; however, his style has clearly been developed from this early work. This is clear to see from the resemblance between Ponyo and Mimiko for example. The pair’s work has also become famous for paying an incredible amount of attention to the scenery and being surrounded by nature, this style and theme is apparent throughout all of Panda! Go, Panda! as one is able to tell simply from the name of the feature.
The basic premise of the story is that a little girl- Mimiko has been left on her own to tend to a home whilst her Grandma goes away in Tokyo. Mimiko is a very young girl, so immediately the thought of someone of that age being left alone does strike a chord of disbelief; however, Mimiko is a very capable young girl who manages to see her Grandma off and goes home to find she’s got intruders in the house. Before she can really comprehend what’s happened, there’s a baby Panda in her home who she decides to care for with the passion of a Mother.
Mimiko is still of school age and decides to take Panpan to school with her, which understandably causes a riot as they don’t believe Panpan to be a Panda but another creature that needs attacking. Mimiko manages to secure Panpan and takes him back home only to be met by a giant Panda, Papa Panda. Mimiko takes this all in her stride and decides that they will become a larger-than-life family with a human “mother” and two Panda’s for relatives. The rest of the stories continue in a similar vein, and it’s clear that this story is a precursor to the more internationally famous Pippi Longstockings and Totoro.
Panda, Go Panda! is available in both English and Japanese. The English dub is well done, considering it’s got no Disney backing unlike the majority of Ghibli works, although Papa Panda does have a very strange, almost Jamaican imitation style voice. The subtitles are well placed and the overall quality of Panda, Go Panda! is top-notch. Considering this title is older than the majority of the people who will be watching it and as it’s clearly a “cash-cow” to try and grab some cash from a passing fad the actual animation quality and transfer to DVD is brilliant.
» Final Score
8
Panda, Go Panda is an amazing piece of work, for fans of Ghibli who want to see what the lead directors were up to before the creation of the Studio this DVD is a must and as it’s been out for a while now it’s going to be cheap to pick up. For people looking to try and emulate the “Spirited Away” experience, it’d be best to look elsewhere.
News - by Ian - December 2, 2009 - 09:00 Europe/London - 1 Comment
As part of Film4′s continued commitment to airing Anime in the UK and as part of their War Season, today at 2340 the Isao Takahata classic will be airing. Grave of the Fireflies is a well known and much loved Studio Ghibli classic, but rather than focusing on the usual happy, nature elements that many of the Ghibli collection does, Grave of the Fireflies is a hard hitting movie about war time and post war Japan.
Grave of the Fireflies
“Animated drama set in Japan toward the end of WWII. Two children fall on hard times as a result of the war, and try to go it alone
Hailing from Studio Ghibli, home of Hayao Miyazaki (Spirited Away), Grave Of The Fireflies is a sophisticated, deeply moving film, adapted from Akiyuki Nosaka’s 1967 semi-autobiographical novel by Isao Takahata.
It concerns the fate of two children, struggling to survive in Japan toward the end of the Second World War. Using the device of the protagonist narrating the story after his death, it’s unequivocally tragic – but it’s also potentially one of the most powerful war movies ever made, showing suffering not just from the perspective of the Japanese (unusual for Western audiences reared on US WWII fare), but also from that of non-combatant children. They’re explicitly lambs to the slaughter, young lives cut off before their time. In fact, visually, the fireflies of the title are comparable with falling firebombs, but in symbolic terms they’re analogous with the children – they shine brightly and die all too soon. ”
Airing:
2nd December 2009 – 2340
This harrowing film is a must watch for those who haven’t seen it just yet. So get your recorders going or stay up late and watch this show tonight.
News - by Ian - November 25, 2009 - 17:11 Europe/London - 1 Comment
Manga Entertainment are becoming known for securing the rights to some older anime and selling it in the UK, this has been especially noted with the old Miyazaki classic: Panda Go Panda!. Today it has been announced that they have secured the rights to another pre-Ghibli Miyazaki work – Sherlock Hound.
Sherlock Hound
“Written and Directed by Hayao Miyazaki (Spirited Away, Howl’s Moving Castle) during his time at Japan’s largest animation studio, TMS. Before he went on to create Totoro and Studio Ghibli, Miyazaki captured a whole generation of childrens’ imaginations with his retelling of the Sherlock Holmes mysteries using a loveable cast of canines. For the first time ever in the UK, all 26 episodes of the cult toon classic are collected into one deluxe box set.
“Sherlock Hound”, released as either Famous Detective Holmes or Detective Holmes in Japan, is an anime based on Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes series where all the characters are depicted as anthropomorphic animals, the majority dogs, though Holmes is a fox and his enemy Professor Moriarty is a wolf. The show featured regular appearances of Jules Verne-steampunk style technology, adding a 19th-century science-fiction atmosphere to the series. It consists of 26 episodes aired between 1984 and 1985.” – hmv
Available:
1st February 2010 – 5 Disc Complete Set
This classic Miyazaki series retells the famous Sherlock Holmes story as friendly dogs and is an easily accessable and adorable series. You can pre-order this now from hmv here.
Source: Manga Entertainment’s Twitter Feed
News - by Ian - November 21, 2009 - 13:53 Europe/London - Be first to Comment!
By their own words, the Barbican is “The Barbican Centre is the largest multi-arts centre in Europe, featuring art, film, music, theatre, dance and education all under one roof and under one creative direction.”. As such they are well known for being a bit more diverse than the average cinema and arts centre and this year we have reported multiple times about their extensive anime and asian film viewings.
Luther to this, Barbican announced on Thursday that the Studio Ghibli feature film, Ponyo will be getting additional viewings due to public demand and very happily they are also planning and confirming a few events for early 2010 as well.
Ponyo
“The greatest living film animator and storyteller, Hayao Miyazaki transforms The Little Mermaid fairytale into Ponyo, a magical and universal cinema experience that shines so bright all else seems grey. Ponyo is a little goldfish with a girl’s face who escapes the underwater home of her sorcerer father to explore the surface. She is discovered by Sosuke, a 5-year-old boy living on the top of a cliff by the sea. As Ponyo grows closer to Sosuke, her desire to become fully human strengthens. Screening in the original Japanese language version with English subtitles.”
Screening:
21st November – 1100
29th November – 1730
Two additional screenings are being held on the below dates that are subtitle only screenings.
Screening:
26th November – 1800
28th November – 1730
Mai Mai Miracle
“Adapted from Nobuko Takagi’s autobiographical novel, Mai Mai Miracle is a magical time-travelling adventure. Set in a town in the southwest of Japan in 1955 where nine-year-old Shinko and her new school friend Kiiko share a love of history. When they discover Shinko has an ancient family link to a legendary Japanese province, their imaginations take over and they explore a world which existed a thousand years before. Is it possible for daydreams to become reality?”
Screening:
26th November – before 1800
Mai Mai Miracle will be shown before Ponyo on the 26th November and will be introduced by the co-author of the legendary Anime Encyclopaedia – Helen McCarthy.
Evangelion: 1.0 You Are (Not) Alone
“Shinji Ikari is sent for by his estranged father, Gendo at the beginning of the film. As he wanders around the town, which has been shut down over an emergency announcement, he is caught in the crossfire between the U.N. army and the fourth Angel. Rescued by Lt. Colonel Misato Katsuragi, Shinji is brought to Tokyo-3 and NERV headquarters, where he is pressured by Gendo, NERV’s Supreme Commander, into piloting the Evangelion Unit-01 against the Angel because the other Evangelion pilot, the mysterious Rei Ayanami, is too injured to do so. After the initial fight, Shinji is taken in by Misato as her new housemate and enrolled in middle school. The film portrays Shinji’s attempts to “settle in” with his newfound life alongside Misato, Rei, and the other characters while continuing to defend Tokyo-3 and the world from the coming Angels.” – Thanks Wikipedia
Screening:
26th January – 2030
On top of the above confirmed dates, we should also expect to see Astro Boy and The Sky Crawlers in the early months of 2010.
News - by Ian - November 24, 2008 - 15:54 Europe/London - Be first to Comment!
Studio Ghibli is one of the few anime producers who have managed to make it to the “big time” and managed to not only gain international success, but widespread appeal from the standard viewing public. Owing to this, they are getting more and more coverage on the 24 hour a day film channels. This means more publicity for anime and the chance of other studios emulating the same success. FilmFour have always been a staunch supporter of Studio Ghibli, and in December they are further opening more slots of Ghibli films to air.
Their December schedule to date is:
02nd December – 1300 – Pom Poko
04th December – 1435 – Whisper of the Heart
09th December – 0205 – Graveyard of the Fireflies
15th December – 0130 – Only Yesterday
15th December – 0330 – Little Norse Prince
18th December – 0150 – Pom PoKo
18th December – 0345 – Whisper of the Heart
Source: FilmFour
News - by Ian - November 20, 2008 - 15:32 Europe/London - Be first to Comment!
Hayao Miyzakai, the legendary anime creator and man behind Studio Ghibli has recently hit out against one of his industry’s most famous fans – the Japanese Prime Minister: Taro Aso. The conservative PM has tried to soften his gruff image by claiming he understands the anime and manga culture in Japan and across the world.
However, Miyazaki has said that there’s no need for him to advertise his love of manga publicly:
“I think it’s a shame. It’s something that he should do secretly, I feel a big contradiction as what we are doing may be depriving children of their power,” he said. “But I want to continue this job, believing it is also a happy experience that a child has an unforgettable movie. Nationalism stems from the belief that multi-ethnicity causes problems of the world. We learned from the last war that the town we love or the country we love can always turn into something bad to the world. I believe we must not forget what we learned,” he said.
Source: Yahoo News
News - by Ian - November 13, 2008 - 20:58 Europe/London - 1 Comment
Studio Ghibli is a legendary anime movie studio, so legendary that it’s recieved Oscars and many nods in the past as well. As they’re so popular many of them appear on TV at random times on various channels. In the past FilmFour have always been very good with anime films, and this trend is continuing. In the month of December there are two different films showing, those films and dates are:
2nd December – Pom Poko – 1300
4th December – Only Yesterday – 1450
There are no confirmed details as to whether it will be subbed or dubbed, but either way they are great films and worth the watch.
Source: Anime UK Forums
News - by Ian - October 11, 2008 - 13:36 Europe/London - Be first to Comment!
Granny climbing a hill.
The oscar nominated, Howl’s Moving Castle is an incredibly popular movie from the studios of Studio Ghibli, and although it’s now four years old the National Media Museum of Bradford, in the North, are hosting a screening of this epic film.
The dates of screening are as follows:
- Sat, 25 Oct – 10:30 at Pictureville Cinema
- Sun, 26 Oct – 15:15 at Cubby Broccoli
- Tue, 28 Oct – 16:00 at Cubby Broccoli
- Fri, 31 Oct – 12:30 at Cubby Broccoli
Tickets are available online to reserve here. So if you’re in Yorkshire, you’d better get moving.
Source: Anime UK News
