Last Holy Week, I had the chance to watch different Japanese Animated Movies. And I have to applaud the Japanese for their talent in story writing and animation. The movie plots are simple but the delivery of every scenes is captivating and even though the movies are ten years old the animation is very nice. So here are the list of the Japanese Animated Movies that I have watched.
1. The Girl Who Leapt Throughh Time (2006) - this is the story of Makoto Konno a school girl who accidentally acquired the ability of time leap. Makoto then uses this power to fix her small problems unknowingly affecting the lives of the people around her. The 2006 film is actually a loose sequel to the 1967 novel of the same name by Yasutaka Tsutsui
The movie was directed by Mamoru Hosoda and written by Satoko Okudera. The film was produced by Madhouse and distributed by Kadokawa Herald Pictures.
2. Princess Mononoke (1997) - is the story of Ashitaka, a young man who saved his village from a demon-boar, but upon doing so recived a curse on his right arm. Though he gains supernatural strength from the curse, it is slowly killing him. On his journey to find a cure, he met two very different women, San, also known as Princess Mononoke, a young woman adopted by the wolf goddess who is devoted in protecting the forests and Lady Eboshi, the leader of the Iron Town, who accidentally created the demon-boar by shooting it with firearms. Ashitaka then became involved between the conflict of San and Lady Eboshi.
The movie was written and directed by Hayao Miyazaki of Studio Ghibli.
Note: Mononoke in Japanase is a general term for Spirit or Monster
3. Howl's Moving Castle (2004) - an 18yr old girl named Sophie was cursed by a witch to became a 90yr old woman because of jealousy. In Sophie's quest to find for a cure, she came across the moving castle owned by Howl, and became the house cleaning lady.While being a house lady, Sophie learned the true character of Howl and her confidence and esteem also developed.
The movie is written and directed by Hayao Miyazaki of Studio Ghibli and based on the novel of the same name by Diana Wynne Jones. Though the title and plot of the movie and the book is the same, there are some key points in the novel that was not shown in the movie.
4. Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind (1984) - the setting of the story was set thousand years after an apocalytic war destroyed the earth and the soil was full of toxic that mutated insects and harms the human race. Nausicaa, a princess of the Valley of the Wind has the ability to befriends the insects must stop the kingdom of Tolmekia in destroying a Toxic Jungle that will put the world in imbalance.
The movie is written and directed by Hayao Miyazaki and was believed to be the beginning of Studio Ghibli.
5. Kiki's Delivery Service (1989) - Kiki left their home to train as a witch in a big city, together with her cat Jiji. In the city, Kiki learned that being independent is not easy so she decided to open up her own delivery service, using her ability to fly with the use of a broom. While being successful in her delivery service, Kiki powers to fly and speak with Jiji suddenly diminish and ultimately disappear, leaving her devastated.
The film was produced, written, and directed by Hayao Miyazaki. It was the first Studio Ghibli movie released under the Disney/Studio Ghibli partnership.
Here are other Japanese animated movies that I have not yet watched but is on my list of worth watching are:
a. Paprika - a psychological movie about the dream world.
b. My Neighbor Totoro - two young girls befriends a spirit known as Totoro
c. Akira - a story of a biker with psychic powers
d. Castle in the sky - story of a boy searching for a floating castle
e. Ghost in the Shell - sci-fi anime movie takes place in the future, where the whole world is connected by a global electronic network.
Some of the movies lasts for almost two hours so packed up some popcorns and enjoy watching.
