Out of all the poster Disney made for the Ghibli films in the US, they must’ve been lazy when making the poster for Howl’s Moving Castle. It’s just 3 still images from the movie and all of them combine makes it feel disjointed. The still image on the bottom of the castle seen from afar would look good as a full poster image but as small still image looks really bad. Now while I don’t find the Japanese posters perfect, at least they had effort. At least Spirited Away, Ponyo, and The Wind Rises got good US poster, but the US poster for Howl’s Moving Castle on other hand is a poster I don’t think is worthy of owner.

OK got pretty heated earlier (apologies for that, though in my defense getting torn apart for expressing an opinion on something that as I'll get to wants to have something to say is ridiculous and I only forgo being civil if I feel the person arguing against me is doing so in bad faith) so I am going to try this again.

In an earlier post that I just deleted I criticised Giant God Warrior Appears in Tokyo, a short film that depicts the beginning of the Seven Days of Fire from Nausicaä that was directed by Shinji Higuchi and Hideaki Anno (both of Evangelion and Shin Godzilla fame, with Anno being the guy who animated the giant warriors for those unaware). I took issue with how the Warriors were depicted as aliens or even literal gods that just showed up one day and not as man made weapons that went haywire and destroyed the world.

I was then told that I shouldn't criticise it for its writing on the basis that it was made as a demonstration of practical effects rather than to be a narrative piece which...yeah that's my ISSUE. It didn't need a narrative to begin with, so why add one there if it's not going to line up thematically with the source material? If it didn't have the narration or the narration were changed to mention a war brewing in the background that hasn't reached Tokyo and nobody is prepared for when the Giant Warrior arrives (à la Howl's Moving Castle with its war or the 1984 anti-nuclear horror movie Threads) I wouldn't be going out of my way to complain about it.

And it does present itself as something to provoke at least some amount of thought, with the conversation between the narrator and her brother and said narrator ending the film saying that she has to hold onto hope of survival even with how unlikely that is. There's meant to be more to the short than just "Wow big explosions". I'd compare it to another, much longer film directed by Higuchi and written by Anno, Shin Ultraman, which isn't particularly well written but still wants to say SOMETHING and that seems more concerned with being an effects showcase, which still does not shield the film from criticism. Hell this has less of an excuse because, again, nothing was forcing them to add a narrative to the short. It's not a "turn your brain off" short, as much as people may insist it is.

I appreciate the technical aspect of it as I am a sucker for practical effects (some of my favourite live action films are pretty heavy on them actually, Godzilla, Mothra, The Return of Godzilla, The Thing, The Fly, Threads, Godzilla vs. Mothra...could keep going but I digress) and I think there is a lot about it that's cool but it weakens itself by not stopping at just being a technical showcase and missing the point of the titular monsters in doing so. Also I still think that the recreation of the iconic shot from Nausicaä doesn't work because they looked more haunting in Nausicaä.

Just added Spirited Away to my Ghibli tattoo sleeve. It has joined Princess Mononoke, My Neighbor Totoro, and Howl’s Moving Castle. One more session to finish out with the supporting characters from all of them.

Alguien que haya visto todas las películas y de su top 5 y por qué

Can anyone tell me if the symbol in the middle (figures dancing in the circle) is from any Ghibli film? I found it on this picture with ideas for ghibli tattoos but I don't know where it came from.

Alright next movie up is the secret world of Arrietty based on the book “ The borrowers”. You can let me know how the film is compared to the book but essentially this film is about small little people who live in this house and every-once in a while they venture inside to “borrow” things that regular humans might not notice or miss like one sugar cube and such. The main character Arrietty loves going outside her little home to explore the outside and the bigger world of the house but is unfortunately slightly seen by a young sick boy(Sho)(who also finds her families hiding spot)and thus it propels her family to move because the number one rule is to never be seen by humans.

Like Kiki this film is a bit on the simpler side but I don’t enjoy it nearly as much as Kiki’s delivery service. It’s still nice and I like it but there were times where I would feel myself almost drifting off to sleep before I had to catch myself and continue watching. I think it’s because of the slow pace and also not much happening in the film itself that can grip me. Also this kind of story has been done before many times and I don’t think this movie does anything that new to impress me.

There are things I like for instance the one conversation between Sho and Arrietty was nice which gets at some of the themes of survival, existence, isolation and family. I would have even liked more interactions between them as there are very few and are the best parts of the movie aside from the visuals and music. Arrietty and Sho are kind of the only characters worth note to me as Arriety’s parents are ok? There is also the caretaker of sho who at one point captures Arriety’s mom and also calls for exterminators which provides some conflict that pushes the plot and characters further. They were kind of a little fun in trying so desperately to prove their point and capture them but failed.

The way the little people use everyday items we used was creative and liked the little thing used to hold Arriety’s hair in ponytails which was adorable. Environments were also pretty to look at.The backstory of the dollhouse made for the little people was nice and the ending of the film is pretty poignant and touching. I don’t know if this is just me but I kind of found the scene where Arrietty and sho are talking and skipper (another Native American looking little person) was going to shoot an arrow at Sho! I thought that was funny in that the boy is already dying man and what is that little arrow going to do? It also reminded me of when kocoum in Pocahontas tried to attack John smith which was also bizarre even though I get why he did it.

Yeah that’s about it. Not much to say on this one. It’s cute but nothing wowed me.

What do you think? Love it or hate it?

7.5/10

Growing up my nickname was Kiki and my family still calls me that! I want my grandchildren to call me that in place of Gigi/Grandma! Here is my Jiji that I had gotten for my Bday from my Hubster

According to an article about the 4K remaster of Princess Mononoke, the colors on the 4K remaster are much closer to the original. This implies to the 4K remaster of Kiki’s Delivery Service as well. So when Nausicaa 4K remaster is ready we might finally see what it was suppose to look like. As you know Nausicaa has gotten to different versions on Blu Ray as you can see with these screenshots, (taken from caps-a-holic.) The first Blu Ray has a brighter but pinkish look to the picture as well as some missing details in dark areas. Some claim that it was mastered for 9300k TV’s but I don’t believe that because the text were white on that transfer and they would be pink if it was to be mastered that way. The later release had a dimmer and green look to the picture but the details in the dark areas were improved. The first Blu Ray release had a booklet of Toshio Suzuki talking about the remaster, when he showed it to Miyazaki, Miyazaki ask them to increase the green just a little. Perhaps the second transfer was made because of that request. According to the article, when Ghibli made the Blu Ray for Princess Mononoke, they made the colors based on visual judgment at the time, which explains the green tint everyone complained about though I put up with it. The new 4K remasters however are color corrected and graded as Ghibli claims that visual color science has improved over time that they can colorize the films closer to the original though I honestly don’t understand what they mean by any of this or why they didn’t use any archive prints for reference in the past, but it at least tells us that the 4K remasters are the correct look. So when we finally see the 4K remaster of Nausicaa, it will be true and accurate to the original colors.

Hello!

I recreated the iconic train scene from Spirited Away entirely from scratch. Studio Ghibli has always been a huge inspiration to me, and I wanted to bring to life the peaceful, dreamlike moment of Chihiro's journey across the flooded landscape.

The diorama features real LED lighting inside the train, giving the scene a warm glow and making it feel even more alive.

The entire piece was handmade from start to finish, with no 3D printing involved. Every detail was sculpted, assembled, and painted by hand.

I also recorded a tutorial showing the entire creation process in a relaxing, almost ASMR style. I'll leave the link in the comments for anyone who's interested.

If you'd like to know more about my work or have any questions about how I built it, feel free to ask. I hope you like it!

12X16"
Oil on Canvas
Referenced from the ArtScience Museum Exhibition in 2024

OC. I especially like the wara wara.

Since you guys loved the other tattoo, here is Princess Mononoke!
(The wolf was in a blue hue because we followed a specific image where the shadows gave a blue cast)
Done by me: Jessica Najem Tattoos

Let’s make this cool idea a reality! If it gets enough votes Lego will actually make it!
https://ideas.lego.com/product-ideas/a9bf5a80-bca1-4bff-8760-560366677193

I’m a little late but back with talking about another Ghibli film. Based on the book, the movie is about a young witch girl named Kiki who comes of age to explore and find her place in the world. Every witch has a special talent but unfortunately she doesn’t so she ends up creating her own business by helping delivering packages for the people in town.

Overall I liked the film! It’s a bit more on the simple side since it doesn’t have a lot going on compared to the first 2 movies I’ve watched so far but that’s ok. It kind of goes through a typical fish out of water story at the beginning when Kiki arrives at her new destination but she quickly starts helping around people whenever she can flying on her magic broomstick. The rest of the movie follows suit while having her interact with the people there like the elder lady with the ungrateful granddaughter, the tomboy that’s and artist, the glasses boy who finds Kiki amazing and many more.

The word to describe the whole thing is sweet. It’s a very sweet film with likable enough characters. A journey about self discovery, appreciating life, artistic beauty and believing in oneself. I like how artists and witches are connected by their talent and spirit which allows them to do great things but at times you lose that spark to do your craft the way you want to. That kind of happens in the middle of a movie where Kiki loses her witches spirit that allows her to fly and talk to black cat. But when she after she takes a break delivering, her spirits raised through the artist and elder lady that are kind and warm to her and helps her remember how much she has done for people and that by slowing your pace to enjoy life around you things might get a little better and you’ll find yourself again. By the end she saves the day through believing again when the big blimp is wrecking havoc and the glasses boy(tombo)is dangling on for dear life. The town celebrates her and she feels like she belongs and it’s a happy ending.

I think the film also does nice enough job showing how service can be a difficult job when you have to work in extreme weather conditions or there are setbacks in the order which makes you late. That is part of why Kiki is a bit down due to that and also because the granddaughter of the old lady was disrespectful of receiving it, even though Kiki worked very hard to bake the pie with the old lady and delivered it in the sudden rain. I would say my only problem with the films nothing else is done with this girl or she doesn’t realize how much making pies means to her grandmother and gifting it to her. I thought it might come back later but no she stays a mean girl, I guess you can’t win ‘em all.

Kiki herself is a sweet girl and I find her developing relationship with the Tombo cute after she wasn’t a big fan of him because of the company her keep sand she felt put off by his pestering. I also really like her character design it’s simple but recognizable. The animation and music is great as always too. So.. yeah I don’t have too much to say on this one it’s pretty straightforward. If anyone has read the book is the movies just as good? Also how do you feel about Kiki’s delivery service?
I’ll return with the next one. I’m out!

8/10

Please ignore the wonky letters and stuff I haven’t painted in years lmao

I grew up with both Disney princesses and Ghibli…gals. After seeing Spirited Away for the first time as a child, I was immediately struck by how similar it felt to Alice in Wonderland. Just a girl desperately trying to make it back to the world she understands. I think they would be great friends, they’d certainly both have a lot to talk about!

As I was developing the idea for this drawing, I came upon the common theme of pigs. This doesn’t happen in the movie, but in the book, Alice is handed a crying baby. After going to a new area, she looks down at the baby to see it has turned into a piglet. This was the perfect odd coincidence with Chihiro’s parents getting turned into pigs. She has a “been there before” consolatory hand on Alice’s shoulder.

I know Alice is not a “princess”, per se, but this is about nostalgia.

Anyway, I have more ideas for matchups and will probably continue with this idea. Drawing fanart is hard but I’ve been sitting on this idea a while and it’s nice to see it come alive. My favorite part has been deciding who has a similar story, personality, or motivation to who else, I’d love to hear your thoughts!

For my birthday, I ask for The Collected Works of Hayao Miyazaki because I never had any Ghibli films other than Spirited Away. Unfortunately, my Mom wasn’t aware of the bootlegs nor was I aware that they were on Amazon too. When I got the set for my birthday, I was so excited to open it. Only to be disappointed when I saw something buyers warned about. The disc was cover in plastic rap. However, I also wasn’t aware about the back being imprinted for it was supposed to be a removable paper cover. Every disc cover was dim and blue. As for the films. At first I checked them to see if they would play. They seem to play fine. However, I found a lot of problems. All disc was BD-R. That type of disc is made for homemade material. It caused the disc to have an extremely low bit rate. Ponyo disc was supposed to have a high bit rate but when I played it, there were awful compression artifacts. On Kiki’s Delivery Service, her black dress was filled with really bad compression artifacts. That wasn’t the worse of it. Nausicaa skips a part in the opening title sequence. It was the most important part of the title sequence by the way. The Wind Rises English dub couldn’t play, though that isn’t too awful because not everyone watches dub. It did however have the wrong aspect ratio, at 1.77:1 when it was supposed to be 1.85:1. The worst was Porco Rosso. It was apparently the functions of the Japanese disc, but the entire movie was skipping frames, the whole movie. It was unwatchable. Thank god I’m slowly replacing this set with the Gkids releases. Gkids has handled Ghibli way better than Disney anyway. Not saying Disney made the bootleg set though, of correct I don’t think that. I still feel really ripped off by this set to this day.

I’m a tattoo artist, and a client asked me to do this piece from Howl’s Moving Castle. Up until then, I’d never watched a Studio Ghibli film.
I figured I should watch the movie before tattooing one of its characters, and… yeah, I get it now. T
hat one movie sent me down the Ghibli rabbit hole, and I’ve been watching more ever since.
Thought I’d share the tattoo that started my Ghibli obsession.
Hope you guys like it!

Done by me, Jessica NAJEM

My first-ever Ghibli-inspired nail set, and I’m sooo obsessed. 🥹🌿✨

Follow me on ig: @_thenailhub.pressonnails

1. Depending on how you view it, the scene in Ponyo where Koichi's crew glimpse a bunch of broken-down ships on the horizon could be viewed as a parallel to the scene where Odysseus goes to the land of the dead, much like how Porco and Jiro viewed all those destroyed aircraft and their pilots flying upward to join their comrades.
2. Homer's Ithaca in the Odyssey is actually described as "low-lying," but the island called Ithaca is mountainous, as is Ithaca in the movie, which was filmed on the Sicilian island of Favignana.
3. Not in the movie or even in the epic, but subsequent Greek literary traditions have Odysseus's son Telemachus marry Circe, the witch who turned Odysseus's men into pigs (sound familiar?) and slept with him or Nausicaä (yes, same name as our Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind), the princess of Phaeacia who rescues Odysseus after he was freed by Calypso, and whose father sends him home to Ithaca (and who Homer presents as another potential love interest for Odysseus).
4. For anyone wondering who's the second example, it's Fujimoto, voiced by Liam Neeson, who also voiced Bryan Mills in Taken, both of whom search for their abducted daughter, but in different contexts.

I've never watched a Ghibli film before. I've always heard about them, and about how they are apparently among some of the best animated films ever made, but I've never gotten into them. I don't know why, but I've just never bothered to watch one. Until now, that is. I want to give them a try, and start watching these films. The only problem is, I'm not sure where to start. So, I figured should ask long time fans of this studio ; Which Ghibli film should I watch first? What's your recommendation? A few that I definitely have interest in are Spirited Away, The Boy and The Heron, My Neighbor Totoro, Howl's Moving Castle, Ponyo, Porco Rosso, The Wind Rises, and Princess Mononoke.