Nippon Connection
Encourages Solidarity With Japan

 

 

Last Sunday marked the end of the
eleventh edition of the Japanese Film Festival Nippon Connection in Frankfurt.
Once again, the festival received an enormous reaction from the audience, and
more than 16,000 visitors attended well over 100 of the latest short and
feature films from Japan as well as around 30 accompanying events. After five
exciting days of cultural exchange, the last evening saw a sold out screening
of COLORFUL by Keiichi HARA and the award ceremony for the seventh NIPPON
CINEMA AWARD and the second NIPPON VISIONS AWARD, with more than 60 film-makers
and artists from Japan as guests. 

 

 

In the contest for the NIPPON
CINEMA AWARD, the audience chose the animation film ARRIETTY by Hiromasa
YONEBAYASHI, the latest production of Ghibli Studio, as the winner. For the
sixth time, the award endowed with 2,000 € was sponsored by Bankhaus Metzler.
Gerhard Wiesheu of Bankhaus Metzler declared the laureate and entrusted the
award to Takashi NISHIMURA, managing director of UNIJAPAN (an organization for
the promotion of Japanese film), in lieu of the absent director. The comedy WIG
by Renpei TSUKAMOTO also won the hearts of the audience and came in second,
while RINCO'S RESTAURANT by Mai TOMINAGA made it to third place.

 

 

The most promising film in the NIPPON
VISIONS section (formerly known as NIPPON DIGITAL) was awarded a jury prize in
cooperation with Japan Visualmedia Translation Academy (JVTA) for the second
time. The festival jury gave the NIPPON VISIONS AWARD to DOMAN SEMAN by
Go SHIBATA, an "essential cinematic assault", as the jury statement
explained. Jury members Tom Mes (midnighteye.com), Maggie Lee (Hollywood
Reporter) and Rüdiger Suchsland (FAZ, Filmdienst) also made a special honorary
mention of DOOR TO THE SEA by Reiko OHASHI. The Nippon Visions Award will
enable the director of the winning film to produce a subtitling for his
following project and thus find an international audience again. As
representatives of JVTA, Kyotake ISHII and Nami ASAKAWA gave this award to
Takashi NISHIMURA too, who acted as trustee for both winners.

 

 

At the award ceremony, festival
coordinator Marion Klomfass also introduced the new program team for Nippon
Connection 2011. After the withdrawal of festival co-founder Holger Ziegler,
and also of Alexander Zahlten and Christiane Borchert last year, Marion
Klomfass, Petra Palmer, Dennis Vetter and Atsuko MORIMUNE (Tokyo) were
responsible for the film program while Hannah Bohr and Jasmin Rolli developed
the concept for the Nippon Culture program.

 

 

In view of the current situation in
Japan, Nippon Connection 2011 was dominated by solidarity and exchange. The
sales revenues of the HELP JAPAN! party on Saturday were entirely donated, a
tombola and further donation options at the festival center increased the
amount to help earthquake and tsunami victims in Japan. Moreover, every sold
movie ticket added 50 cents. 

 

 

Nippon Connection also reacted to
the latest incidents in Japan by adding special events dealing with the
problematic aspects of nuclear energy. Director and anti-nuclear activist
Hitomi KAMANAKA visited the festival and presented her two documentaries
ROKKASHO RHAPSODY and ASHES TO HONEY, trying to raise awareness for the dangers
of nuclear energy. In the following conversations with the director, many
visitors took the opportunity to learn about the Japanese perspective of the
current situation. 

 

 

With a total number of 102 short and
feature films presented this year and more than 16,000 visitors, Nippon
Connection is the biggest Japanese film festival outside of Japan. Once again
the festival was patronized by Mrs. Eva Kühne-Hörmann, Hessian Minister of
Science and the Arts, the General Consul of Japan in Frankfurt, and Prof. Dr.
Dr. Matthias Lutz-Bachmann, Vice President of Goethe-University Frankfurt. For
eleven years Nippon Connection has been organized on a voluntary basis by non
profit Nippon Connection registered association. 

 

 

The festival team is already looking
forward to next year when it will be: Youkoso! Welcome to the 12th NIPPON
CONNECTION Film Festival!

JRPG swansong for aging handheld.

Handheld action RPG Solatorobo: Red the Hunter arrives on the DS on 1st July, publisher Nintendo has announced.

Developed by .hack studio CyberConnect 2 and a sequel of sorts to 1999 PSone adventure Tail Concerto, you'll take control of a teenage "anthropomorphic dog" called Red Savarin and his robot Dahak as they endeavour to kick giant mechs out of the floating islands of the Shepherd Republic.

Featuring character design by animé veteran Nobuteru Yuki and animation by Studio Ghibli collaborators Madhouse, the game features over 70 quests to complete and an estimated 20 hours of gameplay.

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Oh. My. God. Someone has gone and made a compilation of Studio Ghibli theme songs played by metal bands! Someone's been tapping into my dreams again!Coroner Records is really proud to announce the upcoming release of a new album of extreme metal covers of Studio Ghibli songs entitled "Princess Ghibli".The project called "Imaginary Flying Machines" (from the title of a short film written and directed by Hayao Miyazaki, which is exclusively shown daily at the Ghibli Museum) puts together bands from Europe and Japan (Disarmonia Mundi, Blood Stain Child, Destrage, Living Corpse and Neroargento) that reinterpret 12 very famous songs taken from the films produced by Studio Ghibli, bringing the soundtracks that have made ​​dream many fans of Miyazaki in a new musical dimension, more aggressive and faster, without ever...

Overview: When Joe Hisaishi’s name is mentioned, the first thing that may come to mind is his work with Studio Ghibli, and, more specifically, with Hayao Miyazaki. Hisaishi’s music has an immersive quality, one that draws the viewer into Ghibli’s gorgeous visuals and Miyazaki’s spellbinding stories, bringing the films to life. While his collaborations with [...]

Coroner Records has just released Princess Ghibli, a collection of 12 heavy metal covers of classic Studio Ghibli movie theme songs. European and Japanese musicians including Disarmonia Mundi, Blood Stain Child, Destrage, Living Corpse, and Neroargento reinterpret familiar Ghibli tunes from films including Laputa, Totoro, Kiki, Nausicaa, and Ponyo. The album is distributed in Japan [...]

Metal-themed Studio Ghibli cover album on sale this week

• A recycled keyboard bartop, fit for any geeky home - Unplggd
• The Rolls Royce gets an electric engine - Dvice
• Studio Ghibli theme songs get a heavy metal cover - The Mary Sue
• Worth a Thousand Words tells you what it takes to blog - Urlesqe

Coroner Records has issued the following announcement about releasing an album of Studio Ghibli metal cover songs: "Coroner Records is really proud to announce the upcoming release of a new album of extreme metal covers of Studio Ghibli songs entitled 'Princess Ghibli.' The project called 'Imaginary Flying Machines' (from the title of a short fi... Read More/Discuss on Metal Underground.com

Now, this replica of the house from the lovely Studio Ghibli film Kiki's Delivery Service may look sizable, but trust us, it isn't. In fact, it doesn't even come assembled What you're looking at is actually a very intense, detailed papercraft, and if you actually make stuff like this, you're insane and awesome and I admire you.

This 1/150th scale papercraft is now open for pre-order through Hobby Search and will set you back ¥4,142 (about US$48). Sure, it's a little pricey for a paper project, but look how it comes out in the end. Now,if you can actually build this thing and make it look like this, let us know, because I really want to see that happen.

[Pre-order through Hobby Search]

Question: I’m really surprised Disney’s not bringing over these co-productions here. You’d figure we’d at least see the Stitch shorts by now. Answer: After Disney negotiated a deal with Tokuma Shoten in 1996 for American distribution rights to select Studio Ghibli anime productions, Disney didn’t immediately expand its venture into anime. In fact, fifteen years [...]

Gather 'round Studio Ghibli fans! It was just announced by the legendary Japanese animation studio, as reported on Anime News Network (via SlashFilm), that their newest feature-length film is an adaptation of Chizuru Takahashi and Tetsurō Sayama's manga Kokuriko-Zaka Kara (see Wikipedia). Directing will be Goro Miyazaki, son of legendary Ghibli co-founder Hayao Miyazaki, who directed their 2006 movie Tales from Earthsea (watch the trailer). Studio Ghibli is already hard at work on this and The Borrowers, as they say Kokuriko-Zaka will actually hit theaters in Japan next summer, plus the official website just went up. The story is set in 1963, a year before the Tokyo Olympics, and follows the coming of age of an ordinary high school girl named Komatsuzaki (seen above in artwork from the website) in Yokohama, a harbor city near Tokyo. Her sailor father went missing after an accident, and her photographer mother often goes abroad ...

Ni no Kuni: Black Mage (DS)
Professor Layton studio's new RPG is a monster of animation, but latest Monster Hunter is a monster seller.

1980 manga gets Studio Ghibli treatment

Studio Ghibli RPG Can't Beat Monster Hunter in Japan IGN Professor Layton studio's new RPG is a monster of animation, but latest Monster Hunter is a monster seller. by Anoop Gantayat Monster Hunter Freedom 3 ... and more »

Gamasutra

This Week In Sales: Ni no Kuni Reaches Our World, Nintendo Games See Holiday Bump Siliconera A number of Nintendo games actually saw a significant increase in sales over last week, owing to the effect the holidays traditionally have on Nintendo ... Studio Ghibli Game Takes 2nd To Monster Hunter Portable 3rdKotaku.com all 5 news articles »

Level 5 and Studio Ghibli collaboration Ni no Kuni hit the Nintendo DS in Japan this week. It appears to have done many favors for the DS overseas, but it was still Monster Hunter Portable 3rd in first place. More »

Studio Ghibli Game Takes 2nd To Monster Hunter Portable 3rd Kotaku.com Level 5 and Studio Ghibli collaboration Ni no Kuni hit the Nintendo DS in Japan this week. It appears to have done many favors for the DS overseas, ... and more »

Goro Miyazaki, the son of master animator Hayao Miyzaki, will direct a new film for famed company Studio Gibli. The picture will adapt the 1980 manga Kokuriko-Zaka Kara by Chizuru Takahashi and Tetsur? Sayama. Goro Miyazaki has made one other film for Studio Ghibli: the poorly-received Tales From Earthsea. The poor reception was due to the fact that the film is thin and not particularly compelling; add the weight of expectation based on the fact that the director is the son of one of the world's greatest animators, and there were very high expectations the film had no ability to meet. But will his second film be a further slump, or a sophomore score? The story, according to the Anime News Network [1], is set in 1963 and is about "the coming of age of an ordinary, pigtailed high school girl named Komatsuzaki in Yokohama, a harbor city near Tokyo. Her sailor father went missing after an accident, and her photographer mother is frequently going abroad for work. Her family now runs a lodging house The manga recounts Komatsuzaki's everyday life of "laughter and tears" with two boys — a school newspaper member and the student council president." There's a website for the film here [2], and the project is in the final stage of storyboarding, based on a script by Hayao Miyazaki and Keiko Niwa. This is a manga that Studio Ghibli has been looking to adapt for some time and is part of the first stage of Studio Ghibli's current five-year plan to make three films by young animators before moving into a period of epics, which presumably will include a new film from the elder Miyazaki. [1] http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2010-12-15/ghibli-adapts-kokuriko-saka-kara-manga [2] http://www.kokurikozaka.jp/

Level 5 / Ghibli RPG sales still not enough to unseat Monster Hunter.

Ni No Kuni, the collaboration between Professor Layton developer Level 5 and anime darling Studio Ghibli, has sold 170,548 copies in its first week on sale, according to the latest figures released by Media Create (translated by Andriasang).

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(11 votes - 5 comments - 241 views)
'Ni no Kuni' being developed by Level 5 working closely with Studio Ghibli.

This branch of RPG might not be my thing, but they did a stunning job of having you play the anime (or so it appears).

via http://www.buta-connection.net/galeries/galeries.php?cat=Le%20chateau%20ambulant&gal=Posters&pic=poster1.jpg

Ni No Kuni, the Nintendo DS title from animator Studio Ghibli and Professor Layton developer Level-5, is out in Japan. Those outside The Land of the Rising Sun are out in the cold. This video might make things all better. More »

Ni No Kuni , Level 5's forthcoming RPG created in collaboration with legendary Japanese animation house Studio Ghibli, has secured 600,000 initial DS retail orders in Japan, according to CEO Akihiro Hino.

Gamasutra

Ni No Kuni, Level 5's Collaboration With Studio Ghibli, Secures 600k Initial ... Gamasutra The figure was revealed at the Nintendo DS title's launch event; a PlayStation 3 version of the game, titled Ni no Kuni: Shiroki Seihai no Joo launches next ... Studio Ghibli Game Will Animate Japanese SalesKotaku.com Level-5 Ships 600000 Copies of Ni no KuniNintendo World Report Level 5 Ship 600000 Copies Of Ni No KuniSiliconera Just Push Start -VGChartz all 9 news articles »

In this post I wanted to show my love and appreciation of the magnificent Studio Ghibli who have been making some of my all-time favourite animations.

6 Vote(s)

Image: http://www.gamasutra.com/db_area/images/news2001/31950/kuni.jpg Ni No Kuni, Level 5's forthcoming RPG created in collaboration with legendary Japanese animation house, Studio Ghibli, has secured 600k pre-orders according to CEO Akihiro Hino. The figure was revealed at the Nintendo DS title's...

Today, the Nintendo DS game from Professor Layton developer Level-5 and My Neighbor Totoro creator Studio Ghibli goes on sale in Japan. How's it going to do? Well, how do you think it's gonna do? More »

Gamasutra

Ni No Kuni, Level 5's Collaboration With Studio Ghibli, Secures 600k Pre-orders Gamasutra Ni No Kuni, Level 5's forthcoming RPG created in collaboration with legendary Japanese animation house, Studio Ghibli, has secured 600k ... Level-5 Ships 600000 Copies of Ni no KuniNintendo World Report Level 5 Ship 600000 Copies Of Ni No KuniSiliconera all 7 news articles »

Studio Ghibli Game Will Animate Japanese Sales Kotaku.com Today, the Nintendo DS game from Professor Layton developer Level-5 and My Neighbor Totoro creator Studio Ghibli goes on sale in Japan. ... Level-5 Ships 600000 Copies of Ni no KuniNintendo World Report Level 5 Ship 600000 Copies Of Ni No KuniSiliconera 600000 Orders For Ni no KuniJust Push Start VGChartz all 5 news articles »

By: Anthony Barlow, Amos Ngai, Jeff Clemens, Erla Clemens

It’s hard enough shopping for a woman, let alone one that’s in tune with their geeky side.  We here at GamerWok will try to decipher some of that mystery this season with gifts that wow even the most intense Ms. Geek!

R2D2 Swimsuit: $85.00 USD @ BlackMilkClothing.com

“Exactly what it says on the tin”. It’s a women’s swimsuit with an R2D2 design. Credit to Jonah Matranga for pointing this out. It’s a little pricey and not very wintry, but it’s great for any ‘Ms. Geek’ out there. 

 

Hell-No Kitty T-Shirt: $18.95 USD @ SplitReason.com

The cliche Hello-Kitty is flipped on its head and pissed off in this original design.  It’s cute and girly but still has a little bit of an edge for the girl geek.  Any geek loving girl would love a tee under the tree featuring their favorite kitty…with a rocket launcher!  

 

Totoro Ladies Tee (and other Studio Ghibi designs) $24.99 @ ThinkGeek

Classic Japanese animation characters with abstract designs makes for one awesome gift!  This and a lot of other Ghibli or Japanese Character shirts are always awesome. They have everything a girl geek needs: Japanese characters, they are cute and different.

 

Star Trek Enterprise Pizza Cutter $24.99 @ ThinkGeek

Who wouldn’t want to cut their pizza with the original USS Enterprise?  If the geeky girl in your life is a fan, she will appreciate the novelty and endless “to boldly go…” jokes.  Great novelty gift and an original at ThinkGeek!

LOLCats Colleckshun: I Can Haz Cheeseburger $9.99 @ ThinkGeek

Everybody loves teh kittehs.  A fun gift full of cute cats and laughs.  Even dog lovers can’t resist!

Griffin SLAP Flexible Wristband Case for 5th Gen iPod Nano $24.99 @ Griffin

So you bought into the Apple iPod Nano 5th Gen.  The world’s smallest multitouch iPod turns out to be a gift that can keep on giving with the addition of one of these colourful and totally retro slap bands!  Not only can they be a protective and easy way to carry your Nano, but it makes it into a pretty functional timepiece too!  Just don’t go dancing in the rain with it!

RPGFan

Some Ni No Kuni DS TV Commercials RPGFan Ni no Kuni: Shikkoku no Madoushi (The Jet-Black Sorcerer) for the Nintendo DS is set to hit Japanese retailers any day now.. and are its TV commercials ever ... This Week In Imports: That Studio Ghibli GameSiliconera all 2 news articles »

DS RPG gets biggest game manual ever?

Level-5's forthcoming DS RPG Ni no Kuni will come bundled with a fully-illustrated hardback that will serve as a reference guide to the game's puzzles.

Two new Japanese advertisements for the game, posted below, show how you'll need to refer back to the chunky tome in order to crack a number of the game's brainteasers.

The RPG, a slobber-inducing collaboration behind Dragon Quest IX developer Level-5 and legendary animation house Studio Ghibli, is out in Japan on 9th December, with a PlayStation 3 version due in early 2011.

Read more...

The Borrower Arrietty, is a 2010 the new anime film produced by Japanese animation house Studio Ghibli. Discover 45 Hires Pictures Here (http://itsartm.ag/cvWTXX) Image: http://www.itsartmag.com/features/arrietty/m-2.jpg (http://itsartm.ag/cvWTXX)

[Our thanks to film critic, music expert and GhibliWorld.com contributor Marco Bellano for this review of Studio Ghibli's latest: Karigurashi no Arrietty.]

The artists at Studio Ghibli are today accustomed to international acknowledgements. Since the Golden Bear awarded to Hayao Miyazaki in 2002 by the Berlin Film Festival, well deserved prizes and celebrative occasions have incessantly multiplied, sanctioning with formal honors a longstanding mastery in hand drawn animated cinema. The most recent token of appreciation came from the Rome Film Festival, which included in its 2010 program a rich retrospective dedicated to Ghibli features: a more than welcome event, that however might not stand today as groundbreaking as it would have less than ten years ago, when the circulation of these films in Western countries was decidedly scarcer. Actually, the Rome program did bring something new to the "conventional" way of celebrating Studio Ghibli, as aside renowned classics like Mononoke Hime (Princess Mononoke, 1997) or Sen to Chihiro no Kamikakushi (Spirited Away, 2001) it included films that are today not often seen on the big screen, like Isao Takahata's Omohide Poroporo (Only Yesterday, 1991) and Yoshifumi Kondo's Mimi wo Sumaseba (Whisper of the Heart, 1995), and even rarer titles, among which the documentaries Yanagawa Horiwari Monogatari (The History of Yanagawa's Canals, Takahata 1985) and Otsuka Yasuo no Ugokasu Yorokobi (Yasuo Otsuka's Joy of Animating, Toshiro Uratani 2004) deserve to be mentioned.

But the greatest novelty that the Rome Festival hosted was the first screening outside Japan of Karigurashi no Arrietty (Arrietty the Borrower): a film which is new not just because of being the latest installment in the Ghibli repertoire, but because it is the first real sign that what the Studio has artistically achieved is not destined to remain property of aging and multi-awarded masters, but can pass on to younger generations of intelligent creators.

The path to Arrietty started in the summer of 2008, even if a project about making a film out of Mary Norton's cycle of novels The Borrowers was something Miyazaki and Takahata fancied well before the foundation of Studio Ghibli. Producer Toshio Suzuki reported that the idea of recuperating this old project came almost suddenly to Miyazaki, as he realized that its theme would have fit well into the present situation of financial crisis: borrowing things, in Miyazaki's simple and disarming logic, would just be more convenient than buying, nowadays. But, economy aside, the story of little people living on what men do not strictly need would have also been a perfect way to deal with another important crisis: the one concerning the lack of young directors at Ghibli. Since 1995, many efforts have been made to find someone capable of standing up to Miyazaki's and Takahata's quality standards. The premature death of expert animator Yoshifumi Kondo, a mere three years after his directorial debut with Whisper of the Heart, put at stake the process of succession. While Miyazaki kept on directing, notwithstanding his repeated announcements of retirement, no relevant new personality emerged. So, when Miyazaki proposed the idea of Arrietty and the little people, open to interesting visual developments while being rooted in the Ghibli tradition of adapting classics of the Western literature for children, Suzuki decided to entrust with direction an already accomplished Ghibli artist: 36-year-old animator Hiromasa Yonebayashi.

The development of the production was closely followed by Miyazaki, who also co-wrote the screenplay with Keiko Niwa, and it shows: the visual appearance of the film is perfectly responding to the Ghibli canon. The clear and detailed character design, the carefully crafted backgrounds and even some staples of Miyazaki's way of animating, like the slow and airy motion of the hair of a character, in response to a sudden emotion, are there. And sometimes, one can catch fleeting but clear allusions to notorious shots from films like Tonari no Totoro (My Neighbor Totoro, 1988) or Gake no ue no Ponyo (Ponyo, 2008).

But these references and artistic debts do not prevent the film to find original ways of expression. They are, however, quite subtle. Apparently, this is just a gorgeously animated simple tale, about little people who live under the floor of a beautiful mansion in Koganei, Tokyo, surrounded by a vast garden. That was the house were the mother of Sho, a 12 year old boy, grew up, and it is now the place where Sho will stay, comforted just by the presence of the nosy housekeeper Haru and by his sometimes visiting aunt Sadako, while waiting for a difficult intervention of heart surgery. However, he will soon find out about the presence of the tiny guests of the house, who live by borrowing a few goods the humans do not need and by staying hidden. The lively 14 year old Arrietty, who had been looking forward for her entire life to accompany her beloved father Pod in a "borrowing" mission, gets seen by Sho at her first attempt. The incident worries Pod and his wife Homily, who understand that remaining in that house will now put their lives at risk. But at the same time, this is the beginning of a delicate relationship between Arrietty and Sho. The boy is gentle and quiet, but because of his sickness he has grown disillusioned and a bit cynical about life. In an important dialogue of the film, he directly tells Arrietty that the little people will eventually disappear forever, because of the mere fact that they are just three in a world populated by 6,7 billions of human beings. But thanks to the proud and strong-willed attitude of his friend, he will learn how even a fragile creature -like he himself is- can keep wanting to survive against all the odds. Yonebayashi's film appears as a new and soft-spoken embodiment of a theme really close to Miyazaki's sensibility: the right and duty to survive that living creatures have. In Karigurashi no Arrietty, no character says "ikiru" (survive) like Lana did, when she mentally shouted to Conan in a crucial underwater scene of Miyazaki's TV series Mirai Shonen Conan (Future Boy Conan, 1978), or as Ashitaka did when he pleaded to the fierce San in Princess Mononoke, a film whose promotional tag was precisely "ikiru"; or as princess Nausicaä did, when exhorting the people of a world slowly going towards an end, in the very last page of the 7 volume manga Miyazaki kept drawing for 12 years. However, the sense of Miyazaki's "ikiru" has surely been caught by Yonebayashi and it firmly pervades the story, even if it is expressed with quieter and less explicit manners.

It is because of these quiet "manners" that Karigurashi no Arrietty might seem, at a first glance, just a well crafted take on the Ghibli style, extremely respectful of the tradition it belongs to but devoid of Miyazaki's exuberant visual and narrative ideas. However, there is something that a second glance can reveal.

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It is something that emerges, for example, when Sho looks at the blades of grass in the garden of the house, towards the place where Arrietty is about to make her first appearance. To lead us from the world of Sho, the world of humans, to the little world of Arrietty, Yonebayashi just uses a smooth change of focus within the same shot. This is something extremely simple, from a cinematographic point of view: but it is not banal at all. The change of focus is not merely one of the many expedients that Yonebayashi could have used to bring us from Sho to Arrietty. It is exactly the only one that tells us about the connection between the two worlds, and about their coexistence, in a purely visual way, using the least possible resources to convey a maximum of meaning.

That change of focus is not an isolated occurrence in Karigurashi no Arrietty. It happens instead quite often, and it is accompanied by a series of other elegant ideas that contribute to a narration which goes on thanks to non-verbal features. For example, it is possible to remember how the director finds many effective settings that permit Arrietty and Sho to be harmonically present within the same scene, notwithstanding their very different dimensions. But, within these scenes, their reciprocal gazes meaningfully never meet at the same height until the last scene of the film. And, speaking of gazes, it is impressive how many mute interplays of glances Yonebayashi is able to orchestrate, by using the simple lines of the Ghibli character design to convey clear and refined emotive nuances. A couple of outstanding moments deserve to be mentioned: the silent humiliation of Arrietty while she has dinner with her parents after she was spotted by Sho and was told by her father to not tell her mother; or the terrifying calm glance of Sho when he witnesses the presence of Arrietty in his room, a glance that is counterpointed by the desperate attempts of Arrietty to find the severe but worried eyes of her father, in a slow choreography of subtle animations and silent replies that creates one of the best emotional contexts ever seen in a Ghibli film.

But it's not only a matter of visuals, as the one of Arrietty is not just a point of view, but also a point of hearing. Confirming a strong attitude towards non-verbal narration, Karigurashi no Arrietty has another point of excellence in sound design and sound editing. The towering shapes of armchairs, cupboards, fridges and sinks bring fear and amazement to Arrietty also because of the deep humming of electric engines working in the night, of the mysterious gurgling of the water inside invisible pipes, of the hidden crackles of the wood or of the overbearing and regular ticking of far away clocks. The impression of presence and the sense of scale that these sounds give to the action is impressive and fundamental to the way in which Yonebayashi constructs his miniaturized world. One may just regret that, within this artfully concocted audiovisual play, the music just does not find a right place. Cecile Corbel's score, in fact, shows too much that the composer is not a film musician but a folk singer: the musical cues are just instrumental versions of songs that sometimes play in the background, or that were featured in the Image Album CD of the film, without relevant changes in their structure and form. So, the relationship between the images and the music are often quite loose: meaningfully, the most impressive scenes of Karigurashi no Arrietty are the ones that do not feature music at all. Moreover, the music itself lacks the richness of inspiration and the authoritativeness of the styles of previous Ghibli composers like Joe Hisaishi or Yuji Nomi. Instead, it sticks with a generic "celtic" style, sometimes crossing the border of commercial pop music, that might be superficially appealing, but that does not offer more that suggestive sonorities and the cyclic repetition of melodies.

However, this is the only flaw that can bother the enjoyment of this work. In every other aspect, Karigurashi no Arrietty is a strong reassessment of the expressive power of hand-drawn animation. The moving and gentle narrative style of Yonebayashi might be less impressive than the one displayed in Miyazaki's wondrous worlds, or less cultured than the directorial touch of Isao Takahata. But it is, nonetheless, personal and effective. Yonebayashi's approach to animation seems moreover deeply aware of an important side of the Ghibli style, that a couple of years ago the animation director Kitaro Kosaka expressed with these words: «Ghibli films [...] show the world we passively live in from a whole new perspective. For example, we may have lost interest in blades of grass: however, I hope that someone, after having seen blades of grass in a Ghibli film, moving and transfigured by the detailed stylization of the drawings, will find a new pleasure in looking carefully when passing by a real meadow». What Yonebayashi accomplishes in Karigurashi no Arrietty is the artistic equivalent of a curious and passionate gaze at the world. It is enough to agree with something Miyazaki said, with relief, after the first screening of the film: «I felt a director appeared, at last».

Marco Bellano

Beloved animation house Studio Ghibli is set to announce a new production on December 15 - possibly a sequel to 1992 hit Porco Rosso.

The studio behind such classics as Princess Monokoke, Spirited Away, Howl's Moving Castle and My Neighbour Totoro already have two films on their slate, The Borrower Arrietty, and The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter.

Although a successful studio with critics and fans, the expensive animation process has led to recent fears that Ghibli would be unable to continue producing films.

This announcement seems like a clear indication that they intend to persevere, and will come as welcome relief for fans.

In a recent interview with Slash Film, famed Studio Ghibli director Hayao Miyazaki expressed his desire to follow up his 1992 box-office smash hit Porco Rosso - about an ace fighter pilot cursed with the features of a pig.

Speaking about the financial difficulties surrounding the studio, Miyazaki claimed that two successful films would mean that he could start work on his sequel.

With The Borrower Arrietty - an adaptation of classic tale The Borrowers - not in cinemas til next year, and The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter still in production it is too early to be certain of their success, but perhaps the films have done enough to persuade the money men to let Miyazaki loose.

When a studio as famed as Ghibli is desperate for a hit, they can do worse than giving their Academy Award-winning, box office record-breaking talisman the freedom to make his pet project.

The Borrower Arrietty will be released in the UK in 2011.

I love BluRay. I really do.
I used to love DVD back in the day and still like it a lot, but seeing an old classic like "Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind" in this high a definition is like seeing it for the first time again. Of course this film never made it anywhere near a Dutch cinema back in the eighties so I only knew it from DVD, and never had any idea how sharp and detailed this film had looked upon theatrical release. Well, that has changed and I SURE can make an educated guess now!

Because last month, Optimum in the United Kingdom released a BluRay edition of "Nausicaä". It's totally English-friendly but Region B locked, meaning only regionfree players and players in Europe, Africa and Australia-New Zealand can use this disc. There was a previous English-friendly BluRay edition released in Japan earlier this year (May) which was regionfree but that one also carries a typically Japanese pricetag.

Often considered to be one of Studio Ghibli's finest hours, this film was actually released before there even was a Studio Ghibli. "Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind" opens without the famous logo, not too surprising as Studio Ghibli was founded no sooner than June 1985. Which is more than a year after "Nausicaä" premiered and fully caused by the success of that film. It marked the first collaboration between Hayao Miyazaki, Isao Takahata and Toshio Suzuki, and they liked what they had done together.

This very fact makes "Nausicaä" and instant footnote in world cinema: if it hadn't been as good as it was, we might not have had a Studio Ghibli.
Perish the thought!

So what is the British disc like? Well, If you want to read negative reviews skip to a different article because I'm about to gush.

Koji Hoshino, President of Studio Ghibli, announced at the Rome International Film Festival recently that the next Studio Ghibli film will be announced on December 15, reports Collider. While it is still unknown whether this project will be helmed by…

Japan's Miyazaki looks to post-crisis world in animated film Independent A tale of friendship and sharing written by Japanese producer Hayao Miyazaki reflects the values of a new post-crisis age, the animated film's director said ... Studio Ghibli announcing newest anime project December 15io9 Studio Ghibli to Announce New Film on December 15/FILM all 3 news articles »

Good news for fans of Studio Ghibli, the Japanese company that has been the traditional home of master animator Hayao Miyazaki along with many other wonderful filmmakers. On Thursday at the Rome International Film Festival, the president of the studio announced that he will “announce Ghibli’s new work on December 15.” Why is this good [...]

Not yet clear who will direct next work

Spirited Away TrailerDisney's trailer for the Studio Ghibli film, Spirited Away, that came out during the 2002 American release. UPDATE: Many pe...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v0ebK-dEt3k

I feel bad for Time Travelers. It must suck to try to compete with an megaton announcement like the Ace Attorney/Professor Layton crossover. Still, the game is looking pretty incredible. I went into this trailer with no expectations, but came out with goosebumps. It's looking creepy, dramatic, and mysterious. More importantly, I already care about the game's main character, despite the fact that I don't know her name or anything about her. It takes amazing visual storytelling skills to pull that off. The haunting piano theme don't hurt either.

It really looks like Level-5 is slowly becoming the Studio Ghibli of game developers. Doesn't that sound like Joe Hisashi on the piano?

Press conference spills beans.

Renowned Japanese game-maker Level-5 has today properly unveiled the DS version of role-playing adventure Ni no Kuni, which is also on the PS3.

Kuni has attracted a lot of eyes for being designed by Studio Ghibli, the film house responsible for stylised animations Ponyo and Spirited Away.

Ni no Kuni DS will be sold with a magic book, reported Andriasang live from a Level-5 press conference. And it's this you'll consult on your travels to a Dream World. You see, the on-screen map will try to trick you with things that aren't real, so you'll need to compare what you see with the magic book to decipher the puzzles.

Read more...

You might've seen yesterday's divabot, the singing HRP-4C popstar. Using the same voice synthesizer technology, these cute-as-animals PaPeRo 'bots can sing the Ponyo theme tune, and take other requests. Have you ever seen anything as cute? [TokyoTek via PlasticPals] More »

Fans of Japanese animation would be familiar with the animation power house Studio Ghibli, who was responsible for modern classics such as My Neighbor Totoro, Spirited Away, Howl’s Moving Castle and Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea. This is the second items to be released by LOOPWHEELER for Ghibli capsule collection. The LWDRY Zip [...]

"Karigurashi no Arrietty" and other Studio Ghibli films will be screened at the 5th Rome Film Festival, starting later this month.

Four years ago I saw an animated picture that hit me the only way that, up until then, had been achieved by some of the best work out of Studio Ghibli and Pixar. It was a story of deep friendships and lost love told with the science-fiction plot device of time travel. That film was The Girl Who Leapt Through Time by director Mamoru Hosoda who, up until then, had only worked on the Digimon and One Piece franchises. Now, with his latest picture Summer Wars about a terrorist computer virus threatening an incredibly elaborate online world that's been so ingrained and relied upon for businesses, social lifestyles, and even government and state controlled occupations all across the globe, Hosoda is establishing himself as one of the premiere storytellers working in the arena of animation. Like The Girl Who Leapt Through Time the device of a social network/world revolving multi-functional business operations takeover by an unrelenting intruder works as a means to tell a more intimate story about a family with a very proud and tight-knit history struggling to hold it together in the twilight years of the family's 90 year old matriarch. Kenji, a very timid young outsider, is brought to the family's celebration of the 90 year old Grandmother's birthday by her granddaughter Natuski, who needed someone to act as her boyfriend in order to impress her family. A few slight (and by slight I mean considerably large) fabrications about Kenji's accomplishments and age notwithstanding he doesn't find out about her real intentions until he'd already won the role away from his friend - both of whom were already hired to work for the summer maintaining the Oz system (said online worldwide computer program being attacked) - and was already settled in for lodging.

Hosoda is back with another feature film and remembering the sweet little surprise that was The Girl Who Lept Through Time I was determined not to let his newest slip by. Hosoda is slowly turning into a certainty for quality work, Summer Wars only reinforces this position. He combines the two stretches of his earlier works to great effect and produces an anime that feels like the common denominator of all other anime out there while still coming off as a unique piece of work.

Hosoda started off directing the film (and several episodes) for the Digimon series. With The Girl Who Leapt Through Time he shifted gears and brought a sci-fi inspired rural tale. In Summer Wars he goes on to combine both elements within the same film, keeping both parts neatly separated but still coming up with a satisfactory mix. This is definitely the strong point of Summer Wars.

The start of the film introduces us to the world of OZ. In short, an alternative representation of our very own internet. There are some slight modifications, mostly the fact that all people are represented by a single avatar and travel more visually into the the realm of digital highways. But while the world of OZ might look more fantastical, many of the current capabilities of our internet are represented and the underlying social structures are pretty much the same as ours.

The problems start when the OZ network is hacked by an AI, taking over avatars of random people and feeding on them to become a more menacing entity. The only one who can save the network is a young scholar named Kenji, with the help of a family bearing an old samurai tradition. This family represents the more traditional part of the film.

Visually Hosoda has developed a very recognizable style. His characters are rather slim and don't feature too many detailed characteristics. There is little play of shadows and they are all drawn with a minimum of lines. This allows Hosoda to focus more on the animation itself which can be surprisingly fluid and spot on at times. Don't be expecting Disney-type fluidity but the actual quality of the animation is astounding. On top of that Hosoda still manages to grant his characters plenty of identity within his minimal approach.

The soundtrack features some nice tracks (there's one pumping electronic track in particular that stood out), though the appeal and power of the soundtrack is mostly limited to just that. It's not quite memorable or decisive for the atmosphere in the film. Voice acting on the other hand is strong and spot on. Those who fear squeaky, high-pitched voices can rest assured, the film goes far beyond the quality levels of TV-produced anime.

The rural scenes reminisce the work of Studio Ghibli. There's a quiet atmosphere running through them, capturing the spirit of summer by using lots of greens and blues and holding on to a very economic pacing. In stark contrast with those scenes lies the kitschy and colorful world of OZ. This part of the film is way more frantic and houses most of the action and fantastical elements. In some weird way it also reminded me a little bit of Patlabor 2, as Hosoda follows an approach to untraditional warfare which is very similar to Oshii's vision.

While the length of the film isn't a big problem, the ending does become a little cheesy. There's a bit too much pulling together and cheering for one common goal. It works the first time around but when it is all repeated shortly after the film loses some of its winning mood and starts dragging a little. The outcome isn't all that difficult to predict anyway.

Still, there is plenty to like here. Hosoda captures many elements of other anime films and blends them to an enjoyable whole. The art style itself might not be as detailed compared to more recent films, there is still plenty of attention to detail left to be discovered in Summer Wars. From the actual animation to the behavior of the little kids, running around with their DSes, Summer Wars will come off as surprisingly recognizable, especially considering the heavy fantastical layer put on top of the film. A good entry point for those who haven't had too much prior experience with anime.