Suzume is the latest animated feature from Makoto Shinkai, which follows a successful series of movies in his filmography, like The Garden of Words, Children Who Chase Lost Voices, and 5 Centimeters per Second.
Y'know, I've harped on this in a prior blog post but it still bugs me. Before watching
the spectacular film Your Name back in 2017, 5 Centimeters per Second was the only Makoto
Shinkai film I'd seen before. And while I've seen '5 Centimeters' two times
now, I still don't remember a single thing about it. In doing some research
for this article, I read the plot and I still don't remember this film. I'm
not sure what that means. I mean, it's a film by Makoto Shinkai, so I'm sure
that the visuals were amazing, the characters relatable, and the story
multi-faceted. I've got it on DVD but I'm not sure what a third viewing
would do for me. It's only an hour long, so wouldn't be a bad thing to watch
it again, but I find it odd that I can remember details about some really
obscure animations, however this one gives me so much trouble. I didn't even remember that I had watched it two times when I wrote that blog post in 2017. Now that I've reviewed the reference blog post, the really
odd thing is that I remember mentioning not remembering watching the film to
a friend, and then going on to watch the film with him--but I still don't
remember the film itself. Here's the trailer for '5 Centimeters'.
Nope. Don't remember any of it. The thing that spooks me about the idea of rewatching it
for a third time is what if I walk away not remembering anything about it--even
with all the information I now have regarding the characters and plot? I have to admit though, due to the nature of memory being so nebulous it's almost more interesting to me to know the reason why it's so difficult to remember watching this film. Hrm.
Oh, yeah. Suzume...
Well, it's a Makoto Shinkai film, so, as I said earlier, the visuals, backgrounds, and character animation, you know they're going to be spectacular. And this film did not disappoint. The story is about a girl who meets a young man on the way to her school and she quickly gets swept up into a supernatural plot to stop massive earthquakes in Japan. The layer beneath the metaplot is the young man trying to explain to her the nature of reality all while she is coming to terms with tragedies in her own past. For me though, it really wasn't the supernatural/sci-fi elements of the story that roped me in, it was the human elements: those relationships that develop between the characters as she races against time across Japan. Those interactions are the really interesting elements of this film. Those alone make Suzume worth a second viewing.
In the pantheon of Shinaki's films that I've seen, I'd put this one as better than Weathering with You but not as good as Your Name. I do recommend watching this movie in the theaters while it's
still there--a large format screen really allows for one to absorb a lot of visual detail that you'll miss on a television screen--but be sure to see it when it comes to streaming platforms or
DVD/BluRay. While I didn't have enough of an emotional connection to "Weathering" to want it in my DVD collection, Suzume is one of those that I just might pick up when it hits the stores.
Sword Art Online - Progressive - Scherzo of Deep Night
It's not always easy to find a series that inspires loyalty as a consumer, especially due to the length of time that transpires between seasons of an animated show since production times are usually longer for an animated series as opposed to live-action. It's really easy to find yourself drifting away from the shows that you loved during the down-time between seasons as you're drawn away by the next big thing. But occasionally you find that show that pulls you in and keeps you coming back season after season like clockwork. For me, Danmachi is one of those shows. Ghost in the Shell is another. As is the Venture Bros. and Rick and Morty.
Sword Art Online also falls into that category of one of those long running shows I keep returning to season after season, movie after movie. I've watched SAO ever since it started back in 2012. Went to see the first movie in the theaters, twice -- the first time in the original Japanese with English subtitles, the second in the English dub version. I've watched the spin-off show Gun Gale Online and I've kept up with the more recent movies. I've also rewatched the first story arc ("Aincrad") a couple times. So. Yes, I'm officially a fan of the show.
Now, I will admit that I haven't watched the latest story arc, titled SAO:Alicization and SAO:Alicization - War of Underworld. As it's about a total of 47 episodes and had a break in the middle between parts one and two, I made the decision to hold off until the entire story arc was released. And as both 2022 and early 2023 have been has been filled with good shows, it made the waiting rather easy. As we're nearing the end of the Winter season, I'm expecting to get back to SAO in the Spring and hopefully ration those episodes out over a couple months.
Sword Art Online - Progressive Aria of a Starless Night
Well after the show's timeline moved forward, two movies have since been released: "SAO - Progressive - Aria of a Starless Night" and "SAO - Progressive - Scherzo of Deep Night" (released in 2021 and 2022, respectively). These two films held a lot of interest for me as they told the first season story from the perspective of the female main character, Asuna. So they're using these feature-length movies to flesh out the backstory and provide a lot more depth and motivation to her character. Danmachi did this with a spin-off series (Sword Oratoria) that followed the "Sword Princess", so I was interested in seeing how the writers of SAO tackled the challenge of telling a story from another main character's perspective.
Now, while I love how they're expanding her story, it does take place in a period of time where you already know the fates of the primary and secondary characters. One of the difficult things about making movies that are inserted into an earlier season of such a long-running show like SAO is maintaining a level of peril for the main characters. At the time these two movies are released, we already know who lives and who dies in the Aincrad story arc. To combat this, the creators added a couple new characters (Asuna's real-world friend Misumi "Mito" Tozawa and the information broker "Argo the Rat"). In doing so, the creators imbued them with real purpose for being in the story and then let us wonder if they were going to survive -- since they weren't featured in the original story arc.
The nice thing that the writers did with these new characters is they were scripted in such a way that them not being featured (or even mentioned, really) in the Aincrad story arc until now makes logical sense. And if they survive to the end, it still makes sense why they wouldn't be featured in the television series. So having these extra characters never feels like a form of deus ex machina.
In the end, both Aria and Scherzo tread the well-worn paths of fighting minions and boss monsters in the game but the story is kept fresh by the inclusion of additional character development, political intrigue, and enough screen time devoted to the new characters to make you really care for them and their outcomes. By the time the movie was over, I was hoping not just for a third feature, but also left with the desire to go back and watch the entire Aincrad arc once more before diving into the current Alicization story arc.
This past weekend, I had the opportunity to see Wolfwalkers, the new film from Ireland's Cartoon Saloon.
It's been a while since I've seen a movie in the theater--so long in fact that I don't even remember what the last one was... Weathering With You down in Ann Arbor, maybe? It was back in March I think, right before the lockdown. Anyways, about two Summers ago, I had saved up enough money to buy a nice larger-format-screen television with a speaker bar and hadn't gone to theaters much since then.
Nowadays, the theater experience isn't one that I look forward to what with people talking on their phones (or to each other) and the high prices that theaters charge for tickets and concessions. But, there are some films worth braving the crowds for and they're usually films that GKIDS brings to the theaters, in this case through Fathom Events. So I went online and bought my ticket, then drove to the Celebration Cinema theater on a blustery Sunday afternoon. Turns out, out of all the people in my city, I was the only person who came to the theater that day to see this film. Their loss.
Some random thoughts I had while walking to my car afterwards:
Eleven dollars for a bottle of water and a medium popcorn. Yeesh.
During our screening, the directors introduced the film along with a
short 'making of' video that showcased some of the talent working on the
film. Was a really nice addition to the experience.
I loved the lush backgrounds in this film as well as the shots where they made the whole city look like one of those European tapestries hanging in a museum.
Liked the sketchy feel to the characters. It takes us back to the days when animation cel Xerography was introduced to the industry in Disney's short film Goliath II.
This 'sketchy feel' did lead to some interesting shots where you could see the lines that outlined the heads of Mebh and Moll over their flowing red hair. It left me wondering if this was a stylistic choice or a digital ink-and-paint accident that made it into the film.
The music in this film was beautiful, especially the "running with the wolves" song, and it really enhanced my enjoyment of the movie.
Loved the backgrounds in this film.
The motion and body language that the animators chose for Mebh and Robyn revealed their internal characters brilliantly, and provided a very nice contrast between the two girls when they were on-scene together.
By the end of the film, I wasn't certain who the filmmakers hated more: the English or Protestant Christianity. Seriously, I'm Irish and Scots on my father's side of the family and there were a number of scenes with dialogue and actions in this movie that left me feeling really uncomfortable.
I think the downside of the incomplete education that we receive here in the States is that I went in not knowing a lot of the historical context of 1600's Kilkenny, so some of the characters' actions and reactions were difficult to process. Both Brendan and the Secret of Kells and Song of the Sea were more... broader in their appeal, a lot more approachable to an international audience.
There were two cute "Easter egg" references to Cartoon Saloon's earlier films Brendan and the Secret of Kells and Song of the Sea that I caught, so keep your eyes and ears wide open or you'll miss them.
The ending was kind of predictable, but it did leave you with a good feeling as you walked out of the theater. Had some nice messages on family and forgiveness.
If you look closely at Mebh's hair, you can see what I mean by the outline of her head.
All-in-all, this film is another solid performance for Cartoon Saloon and directors Tomm Moore and Ross Stewart as well as producers Nora Twomey, Paul Young, and Stéphan Roelants. And while I didn't like it as much as I did Brendan and the Secret of Kells, it was still an enjoyable film that showcases the massive animation talent that is working today in Ireland, Belgium, and France.
Y'know, as a rule, I don't like dogging films. Offering constructive criticism? Sure. But flat out telling people not to see a movie? That's really rare for me.
You see, I understand better than most how difficult it is to bring a film from concept to screen. Sometimes compromises must be made due to money or production time or dictates from on high by the suits who control the purse strings. Sometimes, even though you have a decent concept, you end up becoming a victim of your own previous successes.
And while the animation in the film was decent enough and I liked the concept -- a group of firemen who are called upon to stop mutated pyrokinetic humans from burning down the city -- however, everything from the story to the characters personalities and character designs to the frenetic camerawork to the plot twists all looked like they were lifted from Studio Trigger's previous hits: Gurren Lagann and Kill la Kill.
Galo Thymos? He was Kamina from Gurren Lagann. Aina Ardebit? A cross between Ryuko Matoi from Kill la Kill and Yoko Littner from Gurren Lagann. Lucia Fex? Nonon Jakuzure from Kill la Kill. Vulcan Haestus? Ira Gamagoori from Kill la Kill. Even the whole climax of the film felt like it was ripped from the final episodes of Kill la Kill as they battled the villain on a big ship. They even got the same voice actress who played Nonon Jakuzure (Mayumi Shintani) to play the exact same voice stylings for Lucia Fex.
Needless to say, the whole film really disappointed me as I walked out of the theater feeling like 'yep, seen it all before and done much better in the originals'.
And I felt the same way with the ending of Satoshi Kon's Paprika with it's overt parallels to the ending scenes of his earlier series Paranoia Agent, so it's not a problem unique to Studio Trigger.
I honestly got the impression that Promare was a film where the studio was pressured into making a feature and tried to take elements that they thought were successful in their other hit series and combined them to make something that they hoped would speak to the die-hard Studio Trigger fans.
I'm still in Studio Trigger's corner and I do look forward to their next production (BNA: Brand New Animal, due out in April 2020). But, I'm sorry to the Studio Trigger fans who like me enjoyed Gurren Lagann and Kill la Kill, I just can't recommend this movie. You're better off spending your time going back and watching episodes of Little Witch Academia.
I like to support theaters around town that show anime or non-mainstream animated films. Now that Video-to-go has closed their doors and the future of Shuto Con is in doubt, support for animation here in Lansing is flagging. Though even before, Mid-Michigan was pretty much a cultural wasteland with regards to animation. Even though Lansing Community College has an Associates degree in animation and Michigan State University has an animation minor, you'd think that there would be a much bigger animation scene, but no. In order to see some of the more popular animation releases from overseas (and Canada) you have to travel to Detroit or Grand Rapids. It's a sad state of affairs but it is what it is. You can't make people care about the things that are important to you. All you can do is get your message out there as loudly and as widely as possible so that like minded people will find your events -- and hopefully encourage more people to discover your interests.
Which brings us to two of the local theaters: Celebration Cinema on the South side of Lansing and Regal Cinema on the West side of Lansing. For years now, these two theaters have done more to bring in animated films than others in our area. And even though I'm usually one of about six or seven people in the theater during the one (or two) exclusive screenings, their efforts are appreciated. With the bleak winter sapping my will to go outside, two movies made me make the trek through the snow this past January.
The first was Modest Heroes, the second release by newly founded Studio Ponoc. This entertaining trilogy of animated shorts was created by the studio who brought us the anime adaptation of Mary and the Witch's Flower last year. And while 'Mary' really didn't speak to me, Modest Heroes ended up being the anthology film that I wished Studio Ponoc had released first.
In the spirit of anime anthologies like Robot Carnival, Memories, and Genius Party, Modest Heroes is a series of unconnected short stories but with a theme that unites them all--that theme being spelled out in the title: everyday people rising to meet extraordinary challenges.
Summarizing the three stories:
"Kanini & Kanino" is the story of a pair of water faerie brothers who struggle for survival in their river home after their mother departs to give birth to the next generation of water faeries.
"Life Ain't Gonna Lose" is the story of a boy dealing with a deadly allergy to eggs and how he rises to face the challenges of an environment that is innocuous to the rest of us but lethal to him.
And lastly, "Invisible" tells the tale of an office worker who is so overlooked by the people around him that he literally becomes invisible. When a near-death experience leads him to question his worth to the world, he is suddenly confronted with the question: can a nobody like him rise above circumstance to become a hero?
Invisible
As with the initial offering from Studio Ponoc, the animation in Modest Heroes was first rate. All three stories were interesting and the characters were engaging. I'd recommend this anthology to anyone who loves short films.
Kanini & Kanino
Best of all, after the screening, they played a video where Yoshiaki Nishimura, the film's producer, discussed the origins of these three shorts as well as the importance of making short films--especially when you're a studio that makes feature-length films. Hopefully, that video will make it into any future DVD releases.
The second film that came to Lansing was the re-release of Koe no Katachi (A Silent Voice)--billed as the Shape of Voice for English audiences. Produced by Kyoto Animation and initially released in Japan in the same year as the mega-hit your name.,A Silent Voice was brought back by Fathom Events and distributor Eleven Arts to North American audiences for a two-night run: one for the English sub and one for the English dub version.
The night that the film was to be shown in Lansing, the polar vortex hit Michigan with a vengeance, yet I still made the run to the Regal Cinema (along with three other people). Eh, the snowplows were out and my car has both wide tires and traction control. Unfortunately, the Regal Cinema had decided to close for the day because of the cold and the snow. Dejected, but understanding the reason, I trudged home -- though I wish they had posted the closing on their website, social media, or on their answering machine. Would have saved me the drive. Within two hours, I received an e-mail from Fathom Events which included a refund for the ticked I purchased online.
Still, I wanted to see this movie. It had done exceedingly well in the Japanese box office even against the your name. powerhouse and had won multiple awards, so I figured it was worth my time. So I went online and discovered that there was a Kyoto Animation channel on YouTube with the English sub version of the movie uploaded. I went on to watch the film eight times over the following week. Well, as fate would have it, it wasn't an official Kyoto Animation channel and it's been pulled down by YouTube due to copyright infringement -- and rightly so if it wasn't an official channel. Fortunately for all of us who like to watch films AND make sure that the original content creator gets our money, Shout Factory is releasing A Silent Voice on DVD and BluRay on April 2nd in both English sub and dub formats (it will be a part of my collection... oh yes, it will!).
However, if you can't wait until then, you can whet your appetite by watching the trailer below. In preparation for the DVD release, be sure to have a box of tissues handy. As I said, I've watched this movie eight times (yes, that amounts to a little over sixteen hours of my life -- sixteen hours well spent) and I got choked up every time I watched it (aargh... gak... the feels...!).
This film is a story about personal struggle and redemption. When the arrival of a deaf girl disrupts the social balance of a middle school classroom, she becomes the target of bullying by the other students and complete indifference by the teacher. However, when the bullying is called out by her mother, one of her tormentors becomes the scapegoat for the actions of the entire class. Flash forward several years. The kids are now in High School and former bully Shoya Ishida is now a social outcast shunned by his fellow students, crippled by social anxiety, and haunted by the memories of his past actions. It is during this period of time that he decides to track down Shouko Nishimiya and make amends to her before ending his life.
Main character Shoya Ishida - Note the people surrounding Ishida,
with the x's representing his inability to look at people face-to-face.
I won't go into any more detail than the above because this is really a movie that should experience. There's a lot of nuance in the story and it's a lot more complex that you would initially think as it delves into the Japanese concept of redemption and doesn't shy away from the causes of bullying. This is a 'shades of grey' script that explores its concepts from multiple perspectives using the lives of well developed characters to provide a richly textured, multi-layered look at flawed people struggling to deal with the consequences of their actions.
In the end, both films are well worth your time. I highly recommend watching both when they are released on DVD or streaming services. A Silent Voice is being released on April 2nd through Shout Factory. Modest Heroes was acquired by GKIDS for North American distribution, but no word on a DVD release as of yet.
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1. Modest Heroes images are from the press kit found on the GKIDS website and used with permission. 2. A Silent Voice images are from the press kit found on the Fathom Events and Eleven Arts websites and used with permission.
I watched "Padak: Swimming to Sea" this past weekend on Amazon Prime. Such a beautiful and touching yet sad film. Highly recommended viewing but make sure that you have a box of tissues handy! If you liked Watership Down and Plague Dogs, then this is the film for you.
The film itself is about a Mackerel who is captured and sold to a restaurant on the docks. So she, and the other fish in the tank, try to survive without being eaten by the customers. But as Padak was not from a fish farm, she remembers what it was like to live in the ocean and tries to rally the other fish into escaping their tank while they still can!
Padak came out a year after the second most successful Korean animated feature film: Leafie, A Hen into the Wild so there's some similarity in the themes but it's it well worth the time (I actually liked Padak better than Leafie). And like Watership Down and Leafie, Padak does not shy away about how life (and death) can be short and brutal for animals -- and thankfully, just like the other films mentioned in this post, Padak is honest and unflinching without pushing the boundaries just for the sake of being gruesome or for shock value. If you've ever cleaned a fish (or watched a fish being prepared for a meal), you know what to expect -- and it ably sets the peril that the fish face as they must decide to either await their fate or risk escape.
Now, as it's been six years since its initial release in South Korea, I don't see Padak getting an English dub and wide release to the American market (the sub version was released to online services in 2016). And I "really" don't think that it plays to the tastes of an American audience that is still heartbroken over Bambi's mother dying over seventy-five years ago, so there's no telling how long it'll be up on Amazon Prime. Watch it while you can!
Coincidentally, I bought a region-free DVD player this weekend, so hopefully, I can find a legal copy of Padak with English subtitles as I think this film would fit rather nicely in my collection.
Oh, one last note: on Amazon, they just call this film "Swimming to Sea".
* Blogger's note: updated post on 4/9/2020 to correct some erroneous information: the first fully Korean animated feature film was A Story of Hong Gildong released in 1967. Leafie was the second Korean animated feature film to break the 1 million ticket sales barrier after Hong Gildong with over a full 2.2 million tickets sold.
I miss the Waterloo Festival for Animated Cinema. It was the only festival in the world dedicated to feature-length animated films. Being a three hour drive away in Waterloo, Ontario AND held annually the weekend before Thanksgiving, it had become a favored tradition every Fall that I would use to close out the festival season -- and it would allow me to see some animated features that I would never get the chance to see otherwise. Unfortunately, the WFAC did not survive the economic downturn and in 2013, closed their doors forever.
This loss has left a vacant place in my heart as during the five years I attended, some of the best anime I've ever seen was at WFAC: Redline, Genius Party, the first two Evangelion relaunch films, and the Anime Mirai presentations of Pretending not to see and Li'l Spider Girl.
So, during the last two months of the year, I try to find some animation to feed my soul as the cold and dark winter months can wear on the psyche something fierce. Starting in 2014, this usually meant finding something at the Detroit Institute of Arts, usually on my birthday. Last year, my friend Chelsie was in town (she's teaching English in Japan and was home for the holidays) so I took her to see Boy and the World at the Detroit Film Theater -- which, for some odd reason, the DFT is showing again this year on December 31st. Having already seen the visually beautiful yet gut-wrenchingly sad story of Boy and the World (twice), I looked for something... else.
Mamoru Hosoda's Mirai wasn't showing anywhere that I could get to in time as I can't make it to Ann Arbor's State Theater to see a 6:30 p.m. movie after work. No big deal, I wasn't really very interested in seeing it to begin with, but the beautiful draftsmanship and cute story would've made a nice diversion, after all, Hosoda's film Summer Wars was well worth the hours I've spent watching it over and over.
So I continued my search -- which was quickly rewarded by the Internet. As it turns out, GKIDS was showing the documentary film Never-Ending Man: Hayao Miyazaki at the Lansing Mall's Regal theater on Tuesday night at 7:30 p.m. Being only twenty minutes away, I would have more than enough time to get there after work.
The trailer had described this documentary as a man from a (almost) bygone era of hand-drawn animation in Japan struggling to find a place in an industry being taken over by CG animation -- if there even was any place for someone like him anymore.
I walked out of the theater over an hour later with the realization that, having been a professional animator for twenty-one years now, I think I got far, far more out of the film than the rest of the people in the audience.
When I arrived, I was the only person in the theater. Would've loved a "private screening", but it was not to be. Over the course of a half-an-hour, while I tried to ration my five dollar bottle of water (that anyone could get for a buck at a grocery store or a service station), people started to drift in. I could hear them talking about their favorite Miyazaki films and which one was their first. And as the pre-show slideshow displayed the Ghibli Collection of BluRay and DVDs now for sale on the GKIDS website, they counted off what films they had seen from the completed Studio Ghibli library.
And that was par for the course for this documentary. I would look around occasionally, taking note of the blank stares of the people around me. And when the show was over, no one got up and left. As I (and the couple next to me) left the theater, still no one else moved, no one said anything. They just stared at the front of the theater with the 'Fathom Events' logo splashed across the screen. Just out of curiosity, I stood outside the theater door and played with my smartphone for several minutes until people started to drift out. The comments I heard were the same as before the movie: their favorite Miyazaki film, what Ghibli films they had seen, etc.
Note how Miyazaki has his pegs at the top of
the page and flips his pages from the bottom.
As I said, this film was more about Miyazaki struggling to figure out if his career was finally over -- if there was anything left for him to do in an industry that is rapidly embracing CGI over hand-drawn animation. And as the septuagenarian used his short film Boro the Caterpillar to explore the current state of CGI animation, and if he himself could adapt to the new paradigm, he was also exploring the idea if he should fade away into the sunset or rally his strength for one last film.
Preliminary sketch of Boro with watercolor
Throughout the doc, they didn't shy away from the many facets of Miyazaki. we saw glimpses of the "Perfectionist Miyazaki" and the "crotchety old man Miyazaki", neither of whom had any difficulty speaking his mind. But we also saw the heartbroken Miyazaki as he counted off friends and colleagues that he wanted to work with again but couldn't because they had died. It was these glimpses into both the working and the personal life of Hayao Miyazaki that took him from the realm of "Miyazaki the legend" and showed us the real humanity of Miyazaki the man.
Using a plant to puzzle out the film's setting
As an animator, this documentary was a glorious look into the process of how an animation legend creates such visually spectacular and beloved films. I often found myself wishing that they'd held a shot on Miyazaki's storyboards a little longer or spent a couple more minutes looking over his shoulder as he drew keyframes for Boro the Caterpilar by hand -- easily outclassing the 3d animators who were tasked with the monumental job of translating Miyazaki's vision into a 3d modeling and animation program (animators will be amused at the scenes where he repeatedly points out the problems with the caterpillar's motion and sends the poor 3d animators back to the "drawing board" to try again). It was this facet of the film that I think the rest of the audience missed. Not that it was a step-by-step look into the Studio Ghibli production pipeline, but there were subtle little nuances in his process that I'd like to see again.
Trying to get Boro's motion right
My only complaint about the documentary is that they didn't show the Boro the Caterpillar short at the end of the show. I understand that 'Boro' is being saved for screening at the Studio Ghibli museum, but since we saw this short film in varying states of production during the documentary, that would have been a nice payoff. No, the big payoff came right before the doc started when they announced that Miyazaki would be working on another feature-length animated film.
Later on in the show, he stated that he'd rather die working on a film than die being bored at home. Both Osamu Tezuka and Satoshi Kon died before finishing their last projects. Let's hope and pray that Miyazaki doesn't suffer such a tragic fate.
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1. Theater photo copyright Charles Wilson 2. All other photos and videos copyright GKIDS/Studio Ghibli/NHK and used with permission.
I have sort of a love-hate relationship with anime cons. On the one hand: I've been watching Godzilla movies and anime since the early 1970's when all they had on t.v. was reruns of "Speed Racer" and the first runs of "Battle of the Planets" and "Star Blazers". So anime has been a large part of my life throughout my entire life. On the other hand, "cosplay" kind of creeps me out. Being at a convention to meet a voice actor who's work you have admired for decades while teenage kids wearing extremely revealing costumes are bouncing around you, acting in character, is a really uncomfortable situation for a middle-aged man to be in. Occasionally, you'll meet some kid or college-age student who is a little more mature than the rest and can hold up their end of a decent conversation. But most times, it just leaves you feeling icky when you realize that the attractive girl wearing the bikini top and hot pants, who just asked you why you're not in costume, is actually young enough to be your daughter. And as the months move from Spring to Summer, and the temperature rises with the seasons, the costumes get more revealing and I get more and more uncomfortable. As it takes place in June, I go through a lot of soul-searching before making the decision of whether or not I should attend JAFAX.
'Pinkie Pie'1
ShutoCon was a touch more more bearable this year than last. Even though the weather was warmer, it appears that 'My Little Pony' is now the big thing. Basically, the outfits are far less revealing when all you need is a monogrammed t-shirt and skirt paired up with a bright pink wig and a 'horsie-ear' headband.
It being the second year for ShutoCon, I was determined to ignore my social anxiety and attend the only "animation" convention in Lansing--and I use that term lightly, though not in a negative fashion mind you. ShutoCon caters to a wider audience then just the folks like me who are all about the art of Japanese animation. At this convention, you'll find a plethora of cosplayers, people who study the Japanese language, aficionados of the Gothic Lolita fashion, artists who create Japanese-inspired artwork, people who are interested in Japanese food and culture, as well as those who just want to do some shopping for Japanese-themed products.
'The Samurai' 2
Personally, fortune smiled on me in the dealers room as I found a long out-of-print DVD that I've been searching for since the mid-nineties. Yes, I could've picked it up for the same price (when you include shipping) from Amazon.com, but for the life of me, I couldn't remember the name. Sadly though, the dealer who was there last year with all the 6" Godzilla figures didn't have a booth at ShutoCon this year. Sometimes you're stuck going the Amazon.com route even when you want to support local businesses.
Sushi Charm
At the cons, I try to support local artists as well as local businesses and this year I found perhaps the cutest artist ever in my fifteen plus years of going to conventions. 'Tasty Peach Studios' is an artist working out of Indiana who creates cutesy little chibi-themed characters. As I stood there and felt the saccharine overdose starting to make my teeth hurt, I quickly bought a little sushi charm and walked away before the sugar coma fully set in. While I'm not really into the 'moe' scene, I have to admit that, if I had a daughter, I would be spending way too much money with Tasty Peach. As it is though, Christmas shopping for my sister's niece is going to be a lot easier this year! Her work is actually a pretty fascinating study of character design so I put a reminder in my notebook to chat her up at JAFAX and see how well her designs would make the translation to animation.
However, shopping wasn't the main reason for attending ShutoCon. As the convention organizers brought in two of the four voice actors that I suggested in 2011's "who should we get for next year" forum, I wasn't going to miss an opportunity to have Richard Epcar and Mary McGlynn sign the 'Ghost in the Shell: Innocence' poster that Crispin Freeman autographed for me last month at Con Ja Nai.
Me and Richard 'Batou' Epcar
To put it plainly, Richard Epcar was the man. I'm not sure what ShutoCon paid him to appear at the convention, but they sure got their money's worth. For three days, he made himself available for several autograph sessions, gave multiple lectures and Q&A sessions, and was always ready to put his arm around a fan and pose for a photo while telling a funny story or giving career advice.
Over his sessions, Mr. Epcar covered a lot of ground including how to become a voice actor--not just for anime, but for animation in general--his career history, how he got into voice acting, and how he got into directing and screenwriting. Additionally, he ran a hilarious out-takes show for the 18+ crowd where it was one video clip after another of voice actors flubbing their lines or being silly and inventing their own lines. I especially enjoyed how he talked about recording the recent unabridged Doc. Savage audiobook 'White Eyes'--which I purchased from him for this year's twenty-hour roundtrip drive to the Ottawa International Animation Festival.
Mary "Major Kusinagi" McGlynn
At one of the autograph sessions, I had a nice conversation with Mary McGlynn regarding our mutual enjoyment of 'Millennium Actress' and our sadness over the tragic death of Satoshi Kon. In addition to discussing her career and handing out advice, an accomplished singer, she even sang an accapella song from her upcoming album. Much like Mr. Epcar, Ms. McGlynn was all about the fans and was always ready to hand out advice, pose for a photo, or answer a question while rushing through the hall to her next session.
One thing I do regret though is not going to the rave. Luckily, since I was volunteering to check badges down the hall from the ballroom that night, I did get to hear some of the music at a level that wouldn't damage my hearing. A made a mental note to keep an eye on Greg's website for its relaunch and check it for upcoming performance dates. Given that I've already lost a small range of hearing due to some serious acts of stupidity at loud concerts during my younger years, I probably won't ever be front and center at a D.J. Ayers show in the future. But considering how much I enjoy electronica, I'd love to just hang out sometime, outside the main hall, and enjoy the music without having to bump into the sweaty little kids with glowsticks, dancing in the ballroom and making the same mistakes with their hearing that I made in the past.
Cons, better with friends. 3
In the end though, despite whatever anxiety I may feel over sharing anime cons with younger generations, I consider myself lucky to have been old enough to be a part of all but one major wave of anime hitting the shores of America. I wasn't there for Astro Boy and Tetsujin 28, but I've been around for and been a part of everything else since then. It almost makes up for having to suffer through a decade of bellbottoms and Disco.
Update 4/30/2012: ShutoCon just got Greg Ayres's contract in the mail today. Looks like I'll have the chance to hear him jam at next year's rave after all!
Footnotes: 1. Photograph copyright 2012, Paul Gordon. 2. Photograph courtesy of Amazon.com. 3. Photograph copyright 2012, John Collins of Weird Review.
So there I was, braving the cold Michigan winter weather (with a transmission that was having problems), on my way to Ann Arbor where Crispin Freeman was presenting a lecture on anime at the University of Michigan Anime Club's annual 'Con Ja Nai' meeting. For those of you who don't watch much anime, Crispin Freeman is an American voice actor best known for playing Section 9's non-cyberized detective "Togusa" in the anime series 'Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex' as well as the constantly beleaguered "Kyon" from 'the Melancholy of Haruhi Suzimiya'.
While I freely admit that one of the reasons I was driving to Ann Arbor was to have Mr. Freeman autograph a poster from Sony's North American DVD release of 'Ghost in the Shell: Innocence', I was very interested in hearing him discuss his theories on anime story/genre development through his Anime Mythology series. In this case it was his presentation: "Giant Robots and Superheroes." Basically, Mr. Freeman's presentation detailed his theories of why the American and Japanese mythos have developed on parallel yet radically different paths--his theory being that the core religious beliefs of the region have shaped the cultural outlook reflected in their media. For example:
Region: United States of America Major Religions: Christianity/Judiaism/Islam Mindset: Good vs. Evil Result: Superheroes
Region: Japan Major Religions: Shinto/Buddhism Mindset: Restoring Balance to the world Result: Robotic Avatars
After presenting the premise, he then delved into the core beliefs that mark each religion, followed by examples from each region's media which illustrate how the core beliefs have shaped and influenced the development of storytelling within said media.
Rather than try to paraphrase Mr. Freeman's lecture further and risk misstating his ideas, I present the following video which explains Mr. Freeman's background and expounds upon his lecture series and the ideas within.
This was one of those presentations where you feel like you're a very thirsty man drinking from a firehose--there was so much information being presented it was hard to take it all in. On the one hand, you're dealing with the disconnect of seeing a person whose voice you have associated with another face(s). On the other hand, you're sitting through a lecture that fascinates you and is presented by someone who not only knows his material backwards and forwards but also is a polished speaker. I've never been able to copy notes and pay attention to a speaker. Maybe it's because dyslexia runs in my family, maybe I just never learned the skill. Fortunately, I had an acquaintance with me who is very skilled in note-taking which allowed me to focus all of my attention on Mr. Freeman's lecture and still have the benefit of material to review later on while I'm waiting for him to finish writing and publishing the book he is currently composing on this subject.
There are currently five lectures in his Anime Mythology series. If you're at all interested in anime, and more importantly the multi-faceted thought processes and cultural idiosyncrasies that compose their engaging stories, then I highly recommend taking an afternoon out of your schedule to listen to Crispin Freeman. After hearing the first lecture in his series, I'm already keeping an eye out for his next local appearance so I can hear the rest.
I only have two minor issues about "Kung Fu Panda 2". So, I'm going to get them out of the way before the rest of the review.
First: there was a little too much of 'Jack Black' bleeding over into Po's performance. Black's screwball mannerisms and witticisms can be pretty funny and they do add a certain humanity to Po's character.(1)But sometimes it's just a little too much. (2) So, I feel that adding in too many of them runs the risk of the viewer getting tired of the Black-isms really fast especially when some of them either aren't funny at all or are out of place. It kind of reminded me of the second live-action "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" movie where it was clear that they were hamming it up due to still being on an emotional high from the commercial success of the first film. I guess I just don't want to be abruptly pulled out of the fictional world that they've created--I want to see "Po" not Jack Black playing "Po". A minor quibble to be sure, and certainly not enough to spoil the rest of Jack Black's very solid performance, but it was there nonetheless.
The second issue is that the first quarter of the film seemed kind of muddled. Like they knew where they had to go in order to get to the main conflict, but needed to eat up some screen time with Po and the Furious Five so they could catch up to the background events that were taking place at the same chronological time. Once they reached the city? Man it was on and it stayed on until the end of the film! And there were lots of lovely little Easter eggs: like hearing Jean Claude Van Damme do the voice acting for Master Croc.
I absolutely loved how they expanded upon the relationship between Po and his adoptive father (Mr. Ping--expertly voiced by James Hong) and revealed questions about his past that had lain dormant in Po's heart. Like "Despicable Me", the "Kung Fu Panda" franchise is a giant advertisement for adoption--and in both cases, they work spectacularly! Another thing that I really loved is how they gave a little more screen time to the Furious Five--it made them more than just a part of the background vehicle for Po (a common complaint that I heard about KFP1, even though I personally don't agree with it).
Yet another thing that DreamWorks got right was taking time to develop the villain's character, motivation and backstory. One of my pet peeves is when villains are little more than cardboard cutouts. Okay, the super powered alien race is attacking the planet. Why? What's their motivation? Why would they travel halfway across the galaxy just to pick a fight with a technologically inferior race of beings? In both KFP1 and 2, the villains make sense. Tai Lung and Shen, though they don't get as much screen time as the rest of the cast, have clear motivations and reasons behind their actions. Yes, the reasons may be simple: revenge against a perceived wrong from a parental/authority figure. But the single minded way that the characters pursue their goals coupled with the backstory revealed to the audience fleshes out their character and taps into that deep dark part of everyone who has ever been denied something that they believed was rightfully theirs. Even though their actions and motivations may be morally wrong, we can identify with the villains on some level. And that identification helps take them from the realm of just being a MacGuffin for the hero and plants them firmly into the realm of being an actual character who struggles against the hero in their attempt to achieve goals that are as real and as logical to them as the hero's goals are to the hero.
After that, there's not much else to say: the character animation, backgrounds, sound and voice acting were all top notch--and after both KFP1 and HTTYD, I really expected nothing less. Once again, DreamWorks shows that they are capable of giving Disney/Pixar a run for their money!
I'm going to leave you with the following video of the ending credits for Kung Fu Panda 2. This is one of the unexpected treats that we're seeing more and more in animated features: lavishly animated credits that are as beautiful and as artistic as the main film. Bravo to DreamWorks for continuing this tradition with KFP2!
1. To see an example where the 'Black-isms' work really well, review the scene in "Kung Fu Panda" where Po is trying to climb the stairwell and get into the temple!
2. To see an example where too many 'Black-isms' overload an otherwise solid performance, watch the often touching and brilliant film "Shallow Hal".
I don't think that there's any way I can give an objective review of "Tron: Legacy" as the original "Tron" was the quintessential film of my youth. Back in 1982, my father took me to see "Tron" at the Meridian Mall East 4 theatres. The movie "Tron" is one of the main reasons why I became a computer animator--yes, there have been other inspirations over the years--"the Mind's Eye" series of films, for example, along with countless Anime and Disney films--but "Tron" remains the first.
I went into the movie theatre cold. Rather then read previews and look over spoilers, all I did to prepare for Tron: Legacy was listen to the Daft Punk soundtrack and read the graphic novel that describes what happened in the period of time between the first "Tron" and "Tron: Legacy". I have to admit, no matter how much I enjoy Daft Punk (and how excited I was to hear that they were doing the soundtrack), when I actually heard what they produced, I was uncomfortable, partially because it was so different from their "Interstellar 5555" album--"Tron: Legacy" has a much more heavy industrial feel when compared to the pop/disco/dance club feel of their earlier work.
So, knowing that there was no way that the sequel could ever live up to any expectations due to the impact that the original has had on my life, I was free to experience "Tron: Legacy" as more of a stand-alone film.
All-in-all, it was a good sequel. Like all sequels, it has its flaws. But the positives outweighed the negatives. I would have liked a little more time on the game grid, a story that was a little more solid, and even though it was handled very well, I don't like 3D films. But the acting, visuals, VFX and animation were very good. I liked the '80's culture references and the soundtrack fit the movie perfectly (the Daft Punk cameo was amusing).
I think that the original Tron was a roller-coaster ride because it broke new ground. But by the time "Tron: Legacy" screened, we'd already been through "Ghost in the Shell", "the Matrix" films, and "Technotise, Edit and I"--really, we've been set up to be a little deflated with that 'been there done that' feeling. That's kind of why I feel that if they made the script just a smidge stronger, it would've made a really big difference. But in the end, I feel I got my money's worth out of "Tron: Legacy". I'll go see it again several times before it leaves the theatres and Disney is guaranteed a DVD sale from me next year--I just hope they put a ton of 'making of' features on the disk. :)
'Tangled' left me feeling like I was watching an olympic class swimmer holding onto the edge of the pool because he's scared of venturing out into the deep end.
I really enjoyed this movie, really enjoyed it--except for the the song-and-dance numbers. They seemed too forced and just didn't fit the mood of the film. Everything else was spectacular--story, voice acting, animation, sets, character design, everything! Like 'Princess and the Frog,' when Disney stuck to the story, I was hooked! However, as soon as someone started singing and dancing, I was bored out of my skull.
I hope Disney makes money with 'Tangled' and I hope they make more films, but I really hope that they return to my personal favorite period of time in their cinematic history: when they broke out of the "Disney mold" and made films like 'Atlantis,' 'Emperor's New Groove,' and 'Lilo & Stitch.'
One thing worth mentioning, something that I don't think is coming through clearly in my review, is that I'm not anti-musical. There's definitely a place for the 'Rogers and Hammerstein' animation--Disney has already proven that (which, for me, started with the 'Little Mermaid' since I don't remember seeing the pre-80's Disney films in the theatre). But just like comedy, song and dance numbers are difficult to pull off well--as anyone who has watched 'Anastasia' and 'the Swan Princess' can attest to. Both were cute films with relatively engaging stories, but the song and dance numbers either didn't seem to fit or lacked a certain spark.
The only song number in 'Tangled' that I thought was seamless was when Flynn and Rapunzel are sitting in the boat right at the time of the lanterns being launched. And I didn't have a problem with the dance scene in the marketplace (don't remember if anyone was singing during that dance number). All the other song-and-dance numbers felt jarring. Honestly, it felt like there was someone in development with a stopwatch, counting time between scenes with dialogue and scenes with story progression who was just waiting to say "okay, we've hit the five-minute marker. The quota for non-singing dialogue has been met, it's time to throw in a dance number." I felt the exact same way with 'Frog Princess' but didn't think much of it at the time due to the fact that I don't like Jazz. It wasn't until I saw 'Tangled' and had the exact same problem while watching the film that I realized there was a marked difference between Disney's older films and their current efforts. And I'm not exactly sure where the transition starts since I haven't seen 'Brother Bear' or 'Home on the Range'. As this transitioning issue is rather difficult to articulate at the moment, when 'Tangled' comes out on DVD (and I add it to my collection), I think I'll do a side-by-side comparison with 'the Little Mermaid' to see if I can pinpoint exactly what is bothering me about the recent Disney musicals as compared to their older films.
Based on the trailers and the spoilers, I went into "Megamind" expecting to be disappointed. As I've probably mentioned before, Dreamworks films are really hit-or-miss for me (a similar experience to Disney's dry spell back in their early 2000's, "Home on the Range" era). However there was a lot in this film that was very likable. There were very few pop-culture references or excretory jokes. And though I'm not a big Will Ferrell fan, he gave a solid performance as Megamind that didn't seem influenced by his SNL or film performances, but rather was a new character he created just for this film. The animators at Dreamworks know their craft, so the modeling, animation, and special effects were done well. The timing on some the dialogue versus the mouth positions looked a little off in some scenes, but after seeing the same thing in Disney's "Bolt", I'm wondering if that's just a quirk of the sound system at the theatre. After "Kung Fu Panda" and "How To Train Your Dragon", I didn't really expect anything less from the animation--which leaves story. This story had some really nice surprises in it. While at the surface, it's a redemption story encapsulated in the Superman mythos. But if you dig deeper, it's really a morality tale warning us that what we want isn't always what's best for us--sort of a "it's the journey, not the destination" idea--or maybe just a fulfillment of the old adage 'God punishes us by giving us what we want.' In reality, He's probably just trying to get us to grow as human beings, but that's a discussion for another blog.
The only thing that fell flat was the overreliance on music. Some of it worked, since it highlighted Megamind’s pompous attitude. But it got old really fast. And the dance number at the end left me wondering if they didn’t know how to end the movie so they threw in a dance number. I was squirming in my seat when they did this with "Despicable Me", but at least there, it kind of made sense in the greater context of the film's previous scenes. Here, it just feels awkward and out of place.
Other than those two quibbles, I thought it was a very fun movie. Liked the character development. Thought the fish was very amusing. Enjoyed David Cross's voice acting. And really enjoyed the relationship dynamic between Metroman, Megamind and Roxanne. Don’t know if I’d go see it again in the theatre, but will probably pick it up on DVD.
By day, I'm a mild-mannered forensic animator, but during evenings and weekends, I work on my own animated films and various artistic endeavors for clients. I'm a graduate of the Rochester Institute of Technology's M.F.A. Computer Animation program and a current member of ASIFA, MATAI, and the Toronto Animated Image Society.
Building upon the 2008-2009 project for the NY MET and Bard Graduate Center, I am currently animating gold-and-silk needlework stitches and managing lesson webpages for an online course presented by Dr. Wilson-Nguyen for her Thistle-Threads Historical needlework website.
