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| Arietty's Family: Me. The Racoon: all those bills I need to pay. |
Today's blogpost is a little different, in that I'm going to review a couple of anime films that I've watched recently. I've taken film classes back when I was in college, and I actually enjoyed the task of reviewing films. As such, when asked to do a short review on a couple of movies I saw just last week, I took up my pen and brushed the rust flakes off this old blog.
The two films are definitely spanning the decades, the first being the 1986 film Windaria and the more recent Ghibli film The Borrowers Arietty from 2010.
Windaria
Windaria (
Windaria: Tales of Fabulous Battle - 童話めいた戦史ウインダリア) is the tale of two city states that have lived in peace for a long while. One day, an incident involving an attempted sabotage of an above-water city wall starts tensions between the city states of Itha, a matriarchal society who lives in a city similar to New Orleans, and Paro, a militaristic patriarchal society with a desire to go to war with their neighbor. The plot is a convoluted mess that surrounds the main character Izu, a guy who lives in the Village of Blossoms located somewhere between the two cities. The movie ends with the destruction of Itha, and the loss of everything Izu holds dear through his own foolishness. The characters feel like PCs from a tabletop game where the players have just learned what roleplay is, and as such are very mechanical, very unfeeling.
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| I found what Shirou was doing before his work on Fate/stay night. |
The movie is dated, having been released in 1986, and to be honest, the techniques used in the film are among the high points I give. You definitely get an idea of 80's anime, especially if you haven't seen films like Terra e, or the great 80's epic Ginga Eiyuu Densetsu. It's a great film for studying the techniques and artistic styles of that time period.
That being said, I couldn't stand the pacing choices within the film, the most flagrant of issues being throwing an insert song in a place with zero movement. I understand your need to illustrate the "romance" between Parovian Prince Jill and Ithan Princess Ahnas, but that insert song felt forced and was very jarring.
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| That wasn't the only thing that was jarring about their relationship. |
While I am happy that the technology and art have not dated too badly, and are actually pretty good, the convoluted pacing within the plot and unbelievably poor choices made by the characters make it hard for me to rate it higher than a 4/10. Watch it for the techniques used, not for the story or the characters.
The Borrowers Arietty
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| Absolutely gorgeous scenes, masterfully done. |
The Borrowers Arietty (
The Borrower Arietty - 借りぐらしのアリエッティ) is a coming of age film about the realities of change, based on the Mary Norton novel "The Borrowers". The story revolves around Sho, a boy whose imminent heart surgery has him just about bedridden in his Great Aunt's old house, as well as Arietty, a pixie-like tomboy who is a "Borrower" (借りぐらし) as she calls her species. When Sho sees Arietty on her first borrowing, it causes a chain reaction that involve the kidnapping and rescue of her mother, the moving of Arietty's family, and the coming together of two unlikely beings. The ending is bittersweet, with Sho making friends with Arietty, but the two are forced to part -- it's the Borrower way, to move when seen by the "human beans", which is the term the Borrowers have called humans in general.
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| The scale of how large the human world is for the Borrowers is immediately apparent. |
Ghibli has always been a quality movie studio, and this specimen is no different. The bright, colorful backgrounds are reminiscent of Makoto Shinkai's recent films (actually, I suppose Shinkai's recent films are more Ghibli like if I really think about it), with vibrant greens alongside muted browns and greys. The background music is light and airy, reminiscent of the Borrowers' freedom and lifestyle. The animation technique is stunning, with detail given to little things like wind moving within the plant life that grows on the house of Sho's Great Aunt.
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| Again, another fantastic shot that juxtaposes the gargantuan boy against the tiny Borrower girl. |
All in all, it's a light film with the ability to tug at the heartstrings at the end. While it's no Place Promised or 5cm/Sec, it's still a great film to watch with friends and family. My favorite portion was when Arietty went with her father on her first Borrowing. The work involved to illustrate the amount of adventure found inside the walls and floorboards of a house is quite impressive. 8/10 -- A great film.
In Closing
Well, that was enjoyable. I'm still getting my initial data together for the first real content post over at
my new personal finance blog -- check that out closer to the end of the week.
Until next time.
