I've been watching anime for about 20 years, but for one reason or another, I've always avoided the Studio Ghibli films. Partially because I've focused more on longer-form series over movies, but in larger part because of hype-aversion. The movies have been built up as this pinnacle of anime, so I've always feared that I wouldn't enjoy them as much as I felt I was
supposed
to. In fact, the only time I did see a Miyazaki movie (his pre-Ghibli movie, The Castle of Cagliostro), I wasn't a fan. Perhaps I would have enjoyed it more in a vacuum, but after binge-watching a bunch of Lupin, I couldn't get over just how different it was to the show I was used to.
Well, I've decided it was finally time to just ignore all expectations and watch through as many Ghibli films as I can, and if CE cares, share my thoughts about each one here. My goal is to get through one per night, but if time permits, I might be able to squeeze in a second.
#1 -
Grave of the Fireflies
I was going to start with a double-header, pairing this with My Neighbor Totoro, as it was when it originally released, but I didn't get started until late last night, so I had to settle for a downer with no upper. Now, despite all the hype surrounding his movies, I've actually managed to stay blind to the theme/premise of all of Miyazaki's films, so outside of a few movie posters and a promise that this was supposed to be a sad story, I didn't actually know what I was in for until it started. Once I realized it was about orphans of war, I kind of knew where it was headed.
That said, this movie was a perfect example of the journey being more important than the destination. It didn't matter that I could see the aunt being a selfish bitch ahead of time, or that it would end with both children starving to death, it was more about Seita's struggle to just keep his sister happy during impossible conditions. It would have been easy to just depict the aunt kicking the children out, but it was far more impactful to have Seita personally make the choice to leave, just so his sister wouldn't have to be around an emotionally abusive person. It takes strength to give up the "certainty" of a roof and food for mental stability. Though, let's be honest, with the aunt taking more than she was giving, that safety net was really just an illusion.
(Also, fuck her for telling Setsuko that her mom was dead)
The VO of Setsuko was also really well done - those giggles reminded me of my niece when she was young, which just made it hit harder. They did a good job depicting the few moments of joy she had, despite the tragedy all around them. They also ended the movie on just the right note. I feel that a lot of films nowadays would have tried to force an extra act, showing the final days of Seita before he died in the train station, but they made the right call to not stretch it out.
I had a few more paragraphs typed up after I watched it last night, but I didn't want to bring current events into this "Current Events" watch-a-long. Suffice to say, the movie definitely holds up well 30+ years later. Children starving because of war isn't something that only exists in a time capsule. We are actively seeing aid trucks getting blown up.
On a brighter note, movie #2, My Neighbor Totoro tonight!
https://i.imgur.com/MUJCZY9.png
My Personal Backlog (I might have a problem) - https://i.imgur.com/prW4j12.png