Tell me a little about "Princess Monoke"--just the plot and stuff, PLEASE no spoilers!!! I've been trying to find it at the library and DVD rental place, but so far, no dice.
Thanks!

From Wikipedia:

quote:

It is a jidaigeki (period drama) set in late Muromachi period of Japan, and centers on the struggle between the supernatural guardians of a forest and the humans who consume its resources, as seen by the outsider Ashitaka. "Mononoke" (物の怪, "Mononoke"?) is not a name, but a general term in Japanese for a spirit or monster.

I liked Princess Mononoke, but not as much as some of Miyazaki's other films. I absolutely adore Spirited Away, and My Neighbour Totoro is great, too.

Princess Mononoke is your best bet! I agree with Viki, just tell your friends to quit showing you all the typical fangirl anime. I quit watching that junk because it was:

a.) An eyesore - the art is usually horrible
b.) The episodes repeat themselves continuously (After all, do you really want to hear what happened the last 80 episodes and only get to watch 5 minutes of THAT one? Didn't think so.)
c.) The storylines are so similar it's pathetic. Magic girl or guy/cat-girl/professional killer/samurai/ninja vs. the bad guys/dogs/ robots/monsters/etc., saves the day, gets the guy/girl. Sheesh.

Miyazaki also just has a way with movies. He tells a story and assumes you're intelligent (unlike all the others who come to the conclusion that you have the mentality of a string bean). Although I wouldn't necessarily recommend Howl's Moving Castle (you'll be gravely disappointed if you've read the book), all of the others are first class. ^_~

i like Howl's Moving Castle, although i did make sure i read the book second

I also like a lot of the 'normal' animie, not all of it but a hell of a lot of it.

yeah, there are re-occuring themes, but some of them are done better than others.

and in animie there are lots of styles of art!

its like all tv, there are a few gems out there, a bunch of good stuff, a multitude of junk.

however miyazaki is the best of all


*cartwheels out of thread*

quote:

Originally posted by mousefeather:
I quit watching that junk because it was:

a.) An eyesore - the art is usually horrible
b.) The episodes repeat themselves continuously (After all, do you really want to hear what happened the last 80 episodes and only get to watch 5 minutes of THAT one? Didn't think so.)
c.) The storylines are so similar it's pathetic. Magic girl or guy/cat-girl/professional killer/samurai/ninja vs. the bad guys/dogs/ robots/monsters/etc., saves the day, gets the guy/girl. Sheesh.

Well i wouldn't go so heavy on a whole genre mousefeather, i understand you were referring to 'all the typical fangirl anime', but now it seems a bit like tearing down a whole anime genre itself .
Like any thing you categorize with a 'tag' it means that necessarily there must be some recurring elements, so there's no point criticizing "bad guys/dogs/ robots/monsters/etc., saves the day, gets the guy/girl". Are you aware that most of these things you are citing, are at the same time the core elements of all modern fictional popular culture?
Even western heroes have such recurring themes. I mean is even quite a paradox discussing this point in a Neil Gaiman Forum...

Most of those anime elements you criticize are recurring in Miyzaki works as well. For instance his graphic style, like all the contemporary animation or comics illustration, is largely influenced (directly or inderectly) by Osamu Tezuka work. Though Miyazaki has a strong personal stoytelling style, maybe a more western approach, i don't think that even for 5 seconds someone watching mononoke would miss the fact that he's watching a japanese animation movie. Or so called anime.

I wouldn't turn this thread into a list of amazing japan/crap japan anime out there, but as any other thing, between all the mainstream low quality/predictable stuff, there are some amazing and brilliant works.

quote:

Originally posted by GMZoe:
Neil took the English translation of the script and adapted the words to both fit the animation and sound good

Which is why it's one of the few animes where I'm as happy to watch the English dub as the subtitled Japanese

I've been told that the anime for the award-winning manga Mushishi is really wonderful, although I have not yet seen it myself. And someone who likes the weirder, more whimsical elements of Miyazaki's work would probably enjoy Mushishi anyway.

- Cho