NYICFF 2010: Oblivion Island, Waiting for Cotton Gaiden.
March 24, 2010
As a person who tends to be absent minded I get a certain amount of dread whenever I cannot find something and wonder if I have lost it forever. So I acutely understand the pain and loss of losing track of something precious. But I think that it a universal misfortune that everyone has faced at one time or another. Oblivion Island taps into this feeling while tying it into a fantasy adventure story that uses Japanese myth to tell a tale of friendship and the bonds of family.
I wasn’t very interested in Oblivion Island, but really I don’t know why that was. I had heard of the film, but not really gone out of my way to learn more about it. The real draw in the end was that it is by Production I.G. And considering the fact that you shouldn’t look the gift of a film festival in the mouth, I ended up with a ticket to the last-minute-added showing.
The opening scene is a young girl named Haruka being read a picture book while visiting her sickly mother in the hospital. The story is about foxes who take things which people no longer appreciate. We then fast forward to Haruka in her teens. Haruka notices that the mirror her mother gave her, who has since passed away, has disappeared. In trying to find the mirror she follows a fox named Teo back to his magical homeland. Teo decided to help her find her missing mirror so he can get rid of her before everyone else realizes he has let a human discover their world. But they soon realize that in the world of Oblivion Island the mirror has great power and its new owner will not give it up easily.
The plot is steadfastly simple, we are taken in by Haruka’s adorable child-self and the very relatable plight of looking for something that was once important only to find it has disappeared from neglect. The world of the Kitsune, who are really all kinds of strange looking creatures who just wear fox masks, is colorful and vibrate with life. The looming evil a foot, which doesn’t ever get a good grip on just what it is doing, adds some stunning machine and battle moments. As the teen Haruka encounters this strange otherworld, she regains not only lost items, but lost feelings and memories as well. However, as the story goes on the connected feeling from the beginning moments is neglected and you never truly feel the what is displayed, you merely see it.
NYICFF 2010: Mai Mai Miracle, I am the great pretender!
March 11, 2010
The New York International Children’s Film Festival is a place I like to experiment and quite often go into movies without much knowledge of them. I guess it comes down to the fact that for many of these films, this may be the only chance to see them, especially on the big screen. With a number of films this year being anime, I was feeling even more of an itch to squeeze in as many screenings as I could. Something about that big screen adds a lot to the experience, at least for me. So with that in mind I went to see Mai Mai Miracle where literally the only thing I knew about it was that it was from Japan.
Mai Mai Miracle follows the ever-imaginative young Shinko in a small, somewhat rural town, of a post-WWII Japan. Thanks to Shinko’s grandfather she has become fascinated with the town’s 1000-year-old history so much so that she often has wild daydreams about it. When shy Kiiko moves to town, Shinko’s curious nature leads her to befriend the quiet girl and the two become fast and inseparable friends. Through the make-believe world that Shinko shares with her, Kiiko starts to come out of her shell, and soon the little town is a place of joy where each day is spent in laughter and adventure. But, as many stories about coming of age do, some sad and very real problems invade their little piece of paradise. Mai Mai Miracle is a story of friendship, history, dreams, and growing up which really and truly feels like the perspective of the young.
When I heard that Hosoda’s plans for his next film were in the works, I was truly excited. Afterall, The Girl Who Leapt Through Time instantly became a favorite or mine, and not one that I will soon forget. So basically after hearing “He is making something, and it is called Summer Wars,” I promptly tuned out any information thereafter. Something made me want to jump in blindly, to be completely caught unaware by this next film. And truly I went into the theater with no knowledge of the plot and having only seen the poster for the film. Going in really on faith alone that it would be amazing seemed to really stimulate my imagination so you dear reader may want to turn back now and enjoy that same feeling. Though there aren’t any spoilers here, even the analysis of Summer Wars characters and themes seems like I’m telling you too much if you haven’t already experienced it.
A question I often hear is “Who is going to be the next Hayao Miyazaki, Satoshi Kon, or Mamoru Oshii? Who is going to be the next reliable anime director that people can expect quality films from?” The worry is that as the great anime directors of today retire there will be no one to take their place. I will say with full confidence that Mamoru Hosoda is a name everyone should be watching as a worthy successor to the great anime directors of the past and present. His outstanding work on the 6th One Piece film and The Girl Who Leapt Through Time had caught my eye in the past. And Summer Wars has solidified him as a director I shall go out of my way to research and keep an eye out for what he is doing next.
Ongoing Investigations: Case #073
January 29, 2010
On the advice of Sheentaku I decided to give Baka to Test to Shokanju a chance since he said it seemed right up my alley. I can’t say that the Internet has utterly figured me out just yet. The premise is that after students take the entrance exam for Fumizuki Academy the score get get places them in classes A though F. The lower the class your are in the worse the facilitates are with the A class having the newest fanciest of everything and the F class has everything that is about to collapse. The classes can use an RPG battle system to defeat other classes and switch rooms with them. So the F class declares war on the rest of the school with the two main characters being their trump cards. Akihisa Yoshii, the main guy is a punching bag for Minami Shimada the tomboy is is clearly in love with him. Mizuki Himeji, the main girl is just sort of a genius Hyatt but not any more interesting than that. The trap, the pervert, and the rest of the school seemed standard character types. Yuuji Sakamoto looks like me might be interesting but I am sure they will under use him. Also Minami was way too violent for no reason for me to get into her character. I never disliked any part of the show unlike say The Familiar of Zero but it also never drew me in or made me laugh.
This past weekend with some friends in toe I went to the Tatsunoko VS. Capcom event being held at Nintendo World in NYC. Usually at these little gatherings you can get a copy of the game early, but not so this time around. Though you could win a copy by beating out everyone else in the game tournament. Of which there were tons, or atleast I think there were, maybe they were all just in line for the autograph and poster as seen above. In any case, talk about packed! Luckily we caught glimpses of the game as we were waiting in line. I am happy to report many people playing as Joe the Condor (as they should be!) who is basically the reason I want to play this game myself. Actually I was happy to see everyone really playing an array of the hefty cast. I did get to play for a minute at the end where I doubled up with Joe the Condor and Viewtiful Joe and promptly got trounced by Gold Lightan! Looking forward to this release so I can try again.
