Family Friendly

A Timeless Trivia Night: Gensmak Brings Generations Together for Fun and Nostalgia

This is probably my favorite moment that I recorded from our first playthrough of “Gensmak! A Trivia Game For Every Generation.” At the end you see our youngest member, our older friend’s daughter, successfully answer a question from decades before she was born and impress us all. You can see the smiles and cheers and high-fives. And this was all authentic. I had no idea how the crowd would react or how much we would all truly love the game. You can see more gameplay clips on my YouTube channel @GeekySweetie read more

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Artbook Review: The Art of The Secret World of Arietty

Studio Ghibli The Art of The Secret World of Arietty Artbook
Studio Ghibli The Art of The Secret World of Arietty Artbook

I received this book for free in exchange for a review. My thoughts and opinions are my own.

This large, beautiful hardcover artbook is a must have for any Hayao Miyazaki or Studio Ghibli fan. Within its pages lies a treasure trove of not only gorgeous artwork, but also a behind the scenes look at the work that went into creating The Secret World of Arietty. This book is very high quality. Its large oversize format makes it excellent for laying on your coffee table or bookshelf and its presentation is so inviting that your friends won’t be able to resist picking it up and scanning through the pages. Its an excellent conversation piece, as well as a great asset for a collector’s own private and personal collection.

With this review I struggled if I should include pictures, and if so how many, and which ones to include. I wanted you to see the beautiful artwork and the commentary from the artists at Studio Ghibli but I also wanted to not reveal too much as to avoid spoiling the surprise and excitement of reading the book for yourself. So I selected 3 or 4 images showing concept art and notes from the team. It’s also important to know there are many beautiful full color art pieces in the book as well, including some that spread across both pages. I just felt the concept art was far more interesting as we don’t get a glimpse of that by simply watching the film.

By far, my favorite part of the book is all of the commentary and interviews with the staff of Studio Ghibli. It’s easy enough to fill a picture book full of sketches and doodles, but what I really enjoyed was reading about how the film all came together, the various changes that were made to characters and settings within the anime, and getting a sense for what the artists feel about their finished creation. It was quite fascinating, especially reading it as someone working as a full time artist myself. I can really appreciate the team’s dedication and passion and I think that passion really shows through in the final product (both the film and this gorgeous artbook).

Studio Ghibli’s “The Secret World of Arietty” is based on a popular children’s book, The Borrowers by Mary Norton. This book has entertained children for several generations. But it’s also a book (and film) that can be enjoyed by the whole family, young or old alike. My grandmother told me that it is her favorite book, she told me she first read it when my mother checked it out of the library. I too read the book when I was younger, and I also enjoyed many other film and tv adaptations and similar books and movies and tv series such as The Littles and The Indian in the Cupboard.

The Borrowers and The Secret World of Arietty give you a glimpse at a hidden world right under our noses. The Borrowers are a tiny race of miniature humans who live in our walls and gardens and live off of things we waste or take for granted. If you ever notice a button or a needle is missing, you can bet it’s been “Borrowed”. Of course the human world presents many dangers to Arietty, she must be careful to not be discovered by the humans who could capture her and keep her as a pet or science experiment. At the same time she must be aware of her surroundings at all times. She could get swept away by just a small trickle of water, or mistaken for a mouse and gobbled up by a cat, or crushed underfoot by a horse and carriage. Arietty is of course not afraid of the human world, and instead intrigued by it. She finds the human world fascinating and impossible to resist. Especially when she meets and falls in love with a human boy who is equally fascinated by Arietty’s world. The story teaches us that even though our lives may seem dull and mundane, that all it takes is a change of perspective to be reminded how wondrous life truly is.

Just as life is wondrous and full of adventure, so too is the official artbook, “The Art of The Secret World of Arietty”.

You can buy “The Art of The Secret World of Arietty” Artbook here: https://www.amazon.com/dp/197470033X

Buy the Borrowers complete set of books here: https://www.amazon.com/Complete-Adventures-Borrowers-Mary-Norton/dp/0152049150/

Buy the DVD or Blu-Ray of the Secret World of Arietty here: https://www.amazon.com/Secret-World-Arrietty-Two-Disc-Blu-ray/dp/B005LAIGXM

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Lu Over the Wall

Lu Over the Wall Yoake Tsugeru Lu no Uta Full Length Standalone Anime Movie Review

Title: Lu Over the Wall

Japanese Title: Yoake Tsugeru Lu no Uta

Genre: Slice of Life, Fantasy

Length: (Approximately) 2 hours feature length film (Also after the credits it says that Lu and Seiren will be back in “The Real Lu Dawn Greeting Song”) Maybe hinting at a 2nd movie (or TV series?) (or could just be a music video or musical or something else). Though the end seems unfinished and seems

Studio: Science Saru and Toho

Where to Watch: Gkids Licensed this anime a few weeks ago, and it seems from this page they are trying to generate interest for a US theatrical release. https://www.gkids.com/films/lu-over-the-wall/

Geeky: 2/5 – The animation is odd. Coloring is very “Flat” The faces are not very detailed and the clothing and character designs are a bit simplistic. – I’ve read that the creators wanted to go for a “pop art” style. It’s different from most anime. I don’t think it’s bad. Some of the character designs look like American comic strips in the sunday newspaper. The music and voice acting and story telling though more than make up for the unusual art direction. There’s not much if any action, but I still feel this is an anime that can be enjoyed by both guy and girl geeks.

Sweetie: 5/5 – This film made me cry, mostly from heart warming moments, although it also has its share of sad touching moments too. There are many cute and crazy characters, and the upbeat music and tempo of the anime make it very cute. If you like Studio Ghibli’s Ponyo, I’m sure you will enjoy this as well!

Overall: 40/45 89% B+ “Very Good Anime For Girls”

Story: 10/10 – I loved the story in Lu Over the Wall. A village makes a living from fishing and making umbrellas. Legend tells us that mermaids roam the seas near the village and that they eat humans. Some of the elders of the village have even witnessed their loved ones being bitten and dragged into the sea by merfolks. It also says that music will lure the mermaids closer to the shores, so music is mostly forbidden. Our 3 heroes are highschool (or maybe middle school?) students who meet in secret to perform in a band. They aren’t very good, but they have fun. One day their music lures one such mermaid into their life. – Are the rumors really true that they eat humans? Or are the mermaids simply misunderstood? Some people want to respect and revere the mermaids in fear of a powerful curse. Others want to exploit the mermaids for profit thinking it will bring tourists and opportunities to their quiet village. What fate will befall the mermaids and the villagers? Will they come to understanding, or are they destined to be enemies?

Characters: 10/10 – The characters are very cute. There’s even merdogs in this film! Lu is adorable and child like and sweet.

Artwork: 3/5 – There are cute characters as mentioned above, but the art style is just so different from most mainstream anime that it is a bit distracting at times.

Music: 5/5 – There are a number of vocal and instrumental songs. My 2 favorites are Lu Dawn’s Greeting Song and the Song Kai sings to Lu at the end (not sure of the name).

Voice Acting: 5/5 – the voice actors in Lu Over the Wall put a lot of emotion into their performances, both when singing and acting.

Overall: 40/45 89% B+ “Very Good Anime For Girls”

Other Anime You May Like:

Ponyo

Nagi no Asukara (Review Here)

1975 Little Mermaid by Toei Animation

1980s Saban’s Adventures of the Little Mermaid

Beck Mongolion Chopsquad

Nana

Aishite Knight

Mermaid Melody Pichi Pichi Pitch

Mermaid Scar

Mermaid Forest

Full Moon Wo Sagashite

Kodocha (Review Here)

Fancy Lala

Orenchi no Furo Jijō

My Bride is a Mermaid

Namiuchigiwa no Muromi-san (Muromi-san)

Umi Monogatari: Anata ga Ite Kureta Koto

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KH1.52.5HDRemix

Kingdom Hearts 1.5 and 2.5 HD Remix PS4 Videogame Review

14 Year Old Sora in Kingdom Hearts 1
14 Year Old Sora in Kingdom Hearts 1

Title: Kingdom Hearts 1.5 and 2.5 HD Remix

Platform: PS4 (note this release combines various Kingdom Hearts games originally found on the PS2, GBA, Nintendo DS and 3DS)

Genre: Action Roleplaying Game ARPG

Publisher: Disney + Squarenix

Where to Buy: $49.99 on Amazon (at time of this writing)

Overall: 68/80 85% B “Very Good Game for Girls”

Geeky: 3/5 The games have fun gameplay, good graphics for the age of the games, and a great soundtrack. However, the Disney segments can be a bit too kiddie for some more serious gamers, and although the entire series is about the juxtaposition of light and dark, the light hearted disney characters can sometimes take away from immersing yourself in the deeper darker story of Sora and his friends.

Sweetie: 5/5 – This game is cuteness overload by combining well loved Square and Disney characters. It also has a surprisingly deep, relatively dark (for a Disney product at least), and mature storyline, which evolves and grows deeper and darker from game to game as characters grow and evolve.

Gameplay: 10/10 Kingdom Hearts is an action RPG. You play as Sora, a young boy who dreams of leaving his home town on a tiny island. When the game begins you are asked to choose a weapon. You may choose between shield, sword, and magic wand. You’re also asked which weapon you will give up. This allows you to customize your fighting style to match your preferences. You’ll also be asked a few questions. These questions do not have any significance on the story, but they do have a large impact on how quickly you will level up throughout the game.

A tutorial will give you a taste for how combat is in each of the games. You can run, jump, push and pull objects, climb, and use your chosen weapons as you chain attacks, dodge, defend, and parry to take down your foes. Enemies will drop small glowing orbs which can offer XP or sometimes restore health or other benefits. You will have to run around and touch the drops, because they do not get added automatically.

After settling into the game, you are allowed to freely explore the island, interact with NPCs, and engage in several minigames, such as fighting or racing with your friends on the island. You will see many familiar faces from both Squaresoft and Disney franchises.

Fairly early in the game, Sora gets his wish of leaving the island, and the rest of the game is played through traveling between different worlds, each representing a key franchise from Disney or Squaresoft. There are numerous battles to fight, areas to explore, sidequests, mini games, and hidden goodies. In fact, to find everything, across all games will take you almost 300 hours (and you’ll be awarded with an extra ending in each game). There’s plenty of content here to sink your teeth into, even for the most seasoned of gamers.

The action based combat is fun and snappy, while the mini games and interaction with a wide variety of characters gives you a break from the hack n slash combat, creating a well balanced game that equally values action as well as adventure.

Story: 8/10 I find it jarring at times how the story jumps between worlds, and I sometimes cringe at some of the Disney characters (and I consider myself a Disney fan! But it can really take away from the story, just when things are getting interesting to flash back to Goofy or Donald, especially with their well known silly voices and all). This can all make the story less immersive. However, at the heart of the story, you have a coming of age tale and a love triangle between 3 best friends. You watch throughout each game as Sora and his friends evolve and grow and change and how their friendships and relationships change as well. The story from each game is directly related from one game to the next. We’ve already watched Sora age by 2 years (and gotten a glimpse at a very young Sora as well). When Kingdom Hearts 1 starts, Sora is 14. By the end of Dream Drop Distance, he is 16. Many speculate he will be 16 or 17 in Kingdom Hearts 3. We witness Sora’s changing emotions as he transitions from adolescence to young adulthood. The main theme song in Kingdom Hearts 1 even hints at this with the lyrics of the chorus stating “Don’t get me wrong, I love you, but does that mean I really have to meet your father? One day when you’re older you’ll understand what I meant when I said No, I don’t think life is quite that simple.” Those lyrics perfectly describe the relationship between Sora and Kairi. An innocent love, a boy who still quite often views love/girls as “gross”, and a boy embarrassed by his emerging feelings of love for Kairi. And we witness not only how friendship can grow to love, but also how platonic friendships can change to rivalries when two boys love the same girl. The depths of both Riku and Sora’s love for Kairi is perhaps the best thing about the story.

I recently picked up Kingdom Hearts 1.5 and 2.5 HD Remix. I had played the original KH1 and KH2 on Playstation 2 but that was over 12 years ago now. And I had not played the other side games.

Every game in Kingdom Hearts is connected, and contains the same 3 characters, Riku, Kairi, and Sora, and the story gets deeper and more complex as the games go on as more is revealed building upon back stories and prequels and sequels and spin off games. It can be intimidating for someone new to the franchise to pick up the games now with almost 15 years of games to catch up on.

Many people recommend the following order to play the games in to get the most out of the story:

Kingdom Hearts 1 (1.5 remix)
Re: Chain of Memories (1.5 remix)
Kingdom Hearts 2 (2.5 remix)
358/2 Days (1.5 remix)
Birth By Sleep (2.5 remix)
Re:Coded (2.5 remix)
Dream Drop Distance (2.8 remix sold separately)
0.2 Birth By Sleep – A Fragmentary Passage (2.8 remix sold separately)
X Back Cover (2.8 remix sold separately.)
Unchained X (free mobile game, available separately)
Kingdom Hearts 3 (sold separately – coming soon)

So you will need bare minimum to purchase 3 games

Kingdom Hearts 1.5 and 2.5 HD Remix
Kingdom Hearts 2.8
Kingdom Hearts 3

And optionally download and play Unchained X on your cell phone.

Some of the “games” above are actually “cutscenes” because they could not emulate the nintendo DS “touch screen” on the PS4. So each of these nintendo remakes are movies which reuse old, and add new cutscenes to tell the story.

You can alternatively purchase and play these Nintendo games separately. But you should be fine with just the cutscenes from an understanding the story standpoint.

Characters: 10/10 I really enjoy watching Sora and friends evolve, age, mature, and change over the course of multiple interconnected games. I also really do enjoy seeing favorite characters thrown in from Final Fantasy and Disney. It’s a strange mashup but it works surprisingly well. If you are either a Disney or Squaresoft fan you will love the cast of characters in these games.

Graphics: 7/10 – Taking into consideration the age of the games, I think the graphics are beautiful and memorable. They are vibrant, full of color, detail, and fun. The character designs blend Disney’s whimsy and charm with Squaresofts more stylistic approach. Sora also reminded me of a brunette Cloud wearing Mickey’s big “clown” shoes. The bobble headed appearance of the characters, makes them cute, but it’s almost a bit too juvenile, given that even when we first meet Sora and friends in KH1, they’re already teenagers. I feel like they look like Precious Moments dolls, and about 7-10 years old because of the proportions of their heads to bodies. — Luckily, the artwork does improve in later games.

Take a look below:

Sora from Kingdom Hearts 1 (Does he look 14 to you? Not even close in my opinion).

Sora from Kingdom Hearts 2 (He is supposed to be 15 here, looks about right.)

Sora from Kingdom Hearts 3 (Speculated to be 16 or 17 here) (meh this design is alright, I expected to see something like Final Fantasy XV quality here. There are very few details in the hair/face and almost no shading on the clothing, it just looks kinda flat/plastic-y… not what I’d expect from a PS4 title. He does look a tiny bit more mature, slimmer face, etc.)

Music: 10/10 I’m a big Utada Hikaru fan, and I love the opening theme “Simple and Clean” – as I mentioned, I feel the lyrics foreshadow the coming of age story and changes that our little island buddies are about to experience. She also sings “Sanctuary” the opening theme of Kingdom Hearts 2. And it has been confirmed that she will also be involved with the opening for Kingdom Hearts 3. My favorite Utada Hikaru song though will always be “First Love”. The Japanese versions of the tracks are also quite catchy even without knowing the lyrics or understanding Japanese. The background music is also fitting and full of adventure and wonder.

Voice Acting: 6/10 – The voice acting is definitely hit or miss for me. Some characters I think are perfectly cast, and others way off mark. Some give pretty convincing performances, while others are too overdramatic and/or the opposite, lack any feeling or emotion in the deliverance of their lines. The iconic Disney characters also can tend to annoy and detract from the story with their overly cartoonish voices for which they are so well known.

Replay Value: 9/10 Although the games are linear, there are multiple games in this “bundle”, and each game has a secret ending, usually only uncovered for completing all side quests, or playing on the hardest difficulty settings, which will take you around 270 hours total according to How long to Beat. Even if you don’t want to go for the secret endings, you’re still looking at over 130 hours of gameplay just for the main stories of each game. For just $40something, that works out to around 30 cents per hour of entertainment. Therefore your return on investment is quite high in this title, even if you might only play each of the games once.

Overall: 68/80 85% B “Very Good Game for Girls”

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Heart of Crown Anime Deck Building Board Game and Video Game Review

Heart of Crown Boardgame and PC Videogame Review

Update: 12/21/2017 – The developers of the PC version of Heart of Crown reached out to me via email and wanted to provide support for some of the issues I encountered, as well as to let me know about new features that are underway, such as full screen mode (currently in the beta client), and a tournament that will take place next year to celebrate the international release of Heart of Crown. They also wanted to let me know that there are (text based) chat rooms available on the Discord server (and I’ve adjusted the score for community based on that feedback). Overall, it is encouraging to see an active Dev team who seem to really care about improving the game and connecting with the community. 🙂 I hope they continue to work on polishing up the PC version of the game, but as I said already in my original review, yes the game has issues, but at the price point of $19.99 (at time of this review) it’s a great game and still a lot of fun, and a worthy purchase.

Original Review Below:

I recently picked up both the board game and steam versions of Heart of Crown, a kawaii anime deck building card game. I love the artwork and the theme of the game (multiple princesses vying for the throne). It reminded me a lot of one of my favorite anime (RE:Zero) so I was instantly drawn to this board game when I attended the Pittsburgh Steel City Comic Con 2 weeks ago. (although I actually purchased this one from the large game store, Mr. Nice Guy Games, at the mall nearby the convention center). And then a few days after that, the PC game released on steam, so imagine my excitement having only just heard of Heart of Crown days prior and being hyped by my new kawaii gaming find. As you will learn in this review, I am happy with both purchases, but each has it’s own unique pros and cons. Find out which version of Heart of Crown is right for you in the reviews below.

Gameplay Explanation:

The gameplay is simple, although it can be confusing at first, and both the manual included in the boardgame, as well as the hidden and horribly confusing tutorial in the PC game, make this gameplay seem much more complex than it actually is.

I will try to briefly describe the gameplay, please bear in mind my experience with this title is still limited to just a handful of play sessions.

To understand the gameplay we must first understand the different card types. Largely these consist of one of the following:

Princess Cards – these cards are available for purchase once you reach 16 points. There are 6 different Princesses in the base game (maybe more in various expansions). Each princess has unique abilities, some passive (always in effect) and some that you can activate during your turn. These abilities may give you advantages such as viewing your draw pile, drawing extra cards, forcing opponents to discard a card, or so on.

The objective of the game is to choose a princess whose ability matches your play style and then “back her” by acquiring points to put her on the throne. I’m not in front of either version of the game at the moment, but I believe the amount needed to back a princess is 21. (might be 20 or 25, somewhere in that range).

When this happens, a “coronation ceremony” will occur. At this time, any other players take one final turn, and if able to do so, may also back and crown a princess. If no other players can put a princess on the throne, you win. However, if another player also gets enough points to back and crown a princess the game enters sudden death where the first player to reach 30 points wins.

But how do you get points you ask? That’s where the other cards come in handy.

Territory Cards: these cards grant you coins (think of it as taxing your people for living in your lands). Coins are used to purchase items from the common shared area known as the market place. Note that cards obtained from the market place go to your discard pile. This is rather quirky and different from most other games I’ve played where they would automatically go to your hand or your draw pile. When you reach the end of your draw pile, your discard pile gets shuffled and becomes your new draw pile, allowing you to finally use the cards you have purchased. Coins may also be spent to activate abilities on some cards.

Action cards – these cards have abilities that affect you or other players such as declaring war to lower their points, or forcing them to discard a card, or allowing you to draw more cards, or take a card from the market place.

Character Cards – these cards all feature a different character, such as a duke, maid, etc. who will grant or sometimes subtract from your total points value. After you have backed a princess, you can play these character cards by placing them under your princess card.

There are also 2 special mechanics in this game.

Keeping Cards: 1 is the ability to “keep” up to 3 cards in your hand by placing them over your kingdom cards (territory cards that were used to back your princess) you cannot keep a card greater than the point value of the territory cards holding it. But by keeping a card, it allows you to use that card on a later turn instead of automatically discarding it at the end of your turn when you would normally discard all of your cards.

Chain Cards: The other interesting fact is that you can chain cards together, some cards have a yellow arrow. This means you can play another card. This is most commonly seen on territory cards.

Putting it all Together:

So the basics of gameplay go like this, draw your cards, play territory cards to get coins, then choose cards from the market place that go to your discard pile. As you run out of cards in your draw pile, the discard pile gets shuffled and turned into the new draw pile, and you may get lucky and draw the cards you purchased from market. Once you reach 16 points, choose a princess to back by carefully considering her special abilities. Continue to play territory cards and purchase more cards from the market – you’re likely going to be looking for cards to increase your point total. Be the first person to reach enough points to crown your princess. Other players may challenge you, so be ready to be the first player to reach 30 points and win the game, or win automatically if no one else can crown their princess after one more turn.

 

Score Card:

Board Game Version

Overall Score: 52/80 65% “D” “Average Game for Girls”

Geeky: 1/5 – the anime theme and cute girls are the only “geeky” thing here. There is little to no strategy involved with this game, no customization, no legacy, no story, no complexity, no hidden things to explore, etc. Just a straightforward, simple, cute family friendly game with great artwork.

Sweetie: 5/5 – And that great artwork is enough to score it a 5/5 on the sweetie meter. Combine that with the theme of the game, a game about princesses, and you have one of the cutest games ever.

Breakdown:

Value for What’s Included: 7/10 – You get a lot of cards, with gorgeous high quality art work, a beautiful box to store the game in, and a lengthy detailed full color glossy manual. However, that manual can be confusing and overwhelming to new players. There is no play mat, card sleeves, tokens, figures, or other goodies, but I still think overall, I feel satisfied with what was included at the $40 price point. Note there are expansions you can buy that add new cards and new features as well.

Initial Learning Curve: 5/10 – setting up the first time and learning what to do can be frustrating. But once you jump into your first game, it really isn’t so bad. Therefore, the learning curve difficulty is somewhere in the middle. It may turn off some casual gamers, but is still simple and friendly enough for family game night or to introduce to your non-gamer friends.

Gameplay: 7/10 – it’s simple, short and sweet. Most games take under 20 minutes to complete. There is a nice variety of cards, from abilities, to characters, and plenty of opportunity to interact with other players. However, the game length is quite short and there’s not much complex or exciting / enticing to help enhance replay value. I think this game will be fun once or twice a month, but don’t see it being a “weekly game board night” staple, when other games offer greater replay incentives and more for even the most seasoned and veteran gamers to discover on multiple playthroughs. Still, if you have young kids, or a significant other who is obsessed with “the kawaii life” they will love this cute little anime game. I bought it simply because I love how cute it is, and I’m not disappointed!

Artwork: 10/10 – I love the artwork, for me it really sold me on this game – Picked it up in a board game store I had never visited before, and had not heard of the game, and bought it simply because of the cute anime girls lol.

Interaction With Other Players: 4/10 – I feel like this is solidly in the middle somewhere. There are plenty of action cards and abilities to play against your friends. But it’s not as social as let’s say cards against humanity nor as encouraging of attacks and alliances as say Munchkin,

Fun: 7/10 read more

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My Neighbor Totoro Anime Review

My Neighbor Totoro Ghiblifest 2017 Anime Movie Review

I went to see My Neighbor Totoro subbed last night as part of the 2017 GKids Studio Ghiblifest. The theater I went to seemed to have a fairly good turnout for the show, but not as popular as the theatrical SailorMoon Release which I reviewed here (dub) and here (sub)

Still it is nice to see anime getting more coverage in theaters. I drove almost an hour to go see Totoro, but it was still closer than the nearly 2 hour drive I made (twice) to go see Sailor Moon. It’s also awesome to see old anime like Totoro from the 80s and SailorMoon from the 90s finally on the big screen!

The excitement of seeing such childhood favorite films on the silverscreen inspired me to want to do a review for Totoro today.

Also be sure to check out the Studio Ghiblifest home page, there will be other Studio Ghibli films in theaters all summer long, with the next one being Kiki’s Delivery Service on July 23 (dub) and 24 (sub). I like Kiki’s Delivery Service so much, that I might just go to both of them :).

Onto the review:

Title: My Neighbor Totoro

Studio: Studio Ghibli

Release Date: 1988

Genre: Slice of Life, Adventure, Fantasy

Geeky: 2/5 This film is beautiful to watch, even now, 20 years after its initial release. But plot wise, this is a very slow moving film, slow and uneventful for almost the entire film, and then insanely rushed in the last 10-15 minutes of the film. Actually the ending feels really disjointed from the rest of the film and you can read about that under the Conspiracy Theory below. The languid plot and ending that feels out of place make this a hard film to like, unless you’re watching it for the beautiful backgrounds and cute characters. Systematically though, I can’t give it high “technical” points due to the poor writing.

Sweetie: 4/5 Like most Ghibli films, this is super charming with a lot of heart. It depicts every day life of two little girls living in a new home in the forest with their father as they wait for their mother to return from a hospital. The girls encounter magical creatures, and those creatures are super adorable to boot. Blending slice of life in traditional Japan in a quiet countryside rural village, alongside the mystical and fantastical secret world that only the girls can see, and all the new magical friends they make, this tale is full of sweet cute moments sure to appeal to anyone looking for a kawaii cute family friendly and feel good anime. — It loses one point because there is no plot or character development. Unlike other Ghibli films, this one just never seems to get off the ground or accomplish much.

Story: 6/10 The story is a slice of life look at the life of 2 very young girls. Their mother is sick in the hospital with some unexplained illness, and their father has just decided to move the family to a new home in the country, thinking the fresh air from the trees would be good for his wife once she returns back home. While exploring their new surroundings, the two girls stumble upon a magical creature which they dub Totoro. Their father says Totoro is a very old forest spirit, and the father, along with Totoro, teaches the young girls to love and respect nature.

Characters: 9/10 The real reason to watch this show is because all of the characters are cute, unique, heart warming, and funny. Not just the adorable Totoro and his friends, but also the human children. The anime puts a lot of work into making us like and care about the girls and their father. In fact, the entire film, until the very end, is just day to day stuff that the girls find exciting about their new home, or sharing loving family moments with their father. — That said, unlike most Ghibli films, there’s really no character “development” the characters do not change much at all throughout the movie. This, combined with a very slow moving plot, makes the anime feel slow and sleepy at times.

Conspiracy Theory: If you’ve already seen the film, here’s something you may be interested in reading. There are spoilers below here, so proceed at your own risk.

[spoiler]

By the way have you heard the conspiracy theory that Totoro is actually a Shinigami and that the girls both die in the film? After watching the film again last night, this seems likely. Studio Ghibli denies those rumors and has even gone as far as asking fans to please stop talking about it.

A Shinigami is angel of death, often appearing to children who are about to die and taking comforting forms such as animals etc to help children cross over. Look at other anime such as Full Moon Wo Sagashite and how “cute” the Shinigami appear there. One of the Shinigami in Full Moon Wo Sagashite is even a white rabbit and there is a very old folk tale / superstition about white rabbits. It says if one appears in a village where someone is very sick, that person is sure to pass away soon. This same superstition is also tied to another superstition that says if you say “rabbit, rabbit, rabbit” (note 3 rabbits) on the first and last day of the month, you will have good luck. And in the movie, there are 3 Totoro (who look very much like rabbits to me). Also the Totoro could be symbolic of the girls and the mother themselves! Mei says there is one GREAT BIG Totoro, a “little” Totoro, and a “tiny” Totoro. The big one could represent the mother, the little one the older sister, and the tiny one the young sister.

Even though Studio Ghibli wants these rumors to end, they just won’t die. And with the re-release of the theatrical movie, we can be sure more and more people will be looking for these clues and debating about if Totoro is actually the god of death.

Most of the film is very cute and innocent, with not much going on. It’s a slice of life about 2 little girls living in a new home with their father in the country side. They go to school, pray at the shrine, play in the forest, and take baths and have dinners with their father. But the ending of the film is just so dark and creepy and weird compared to the rest of the film; for me the biggest clue is when the nanny asks Satsuki if it is Mei’s shoe. Satsuki tells her it’s not, and she does this very quickly without even really looking at the shoe. When she tells her this, the old woman’s face is NOT one of relief (Thank goodness Mei is still alive), but one of sadness, there’s even a tear in her eye, and disappointment (in Satsuki not being able to face reality and accept the death of her sister.) the Granny tries to stop Satsuki from looking for Mei, but Satsuki runs off anyways.

From there, the last 10 minutes or so of the film, feel dark and different. As the sun is literally setting in the film, and time is running out to find Mei, everything begins to get really demented looking.

The catbus even explicitly SAYS he’s going to the GRAVE as his next stop to FIND MEI.

In the end, when the girls are in the tree, the mother in the hospital looks out the window and says she could have sworn she saw her children laughing in the tree, but the father cannot see them, despite them all being right there at the same time.

The film takes place in Sayama, and there was a real life murder/suicide with 2 school aged sisters. The young sister is kidnapped and murdered, and the older one goes to find her, but upon discovering that she has already been murdered, the older sister takes her own life / blames herself. And in Totoro, Mei is the younger sister who “disappears” and Satsuki is the older sister who goes to look for her. Satsuki also blames herself (she had yelled at Mei earlier).  Also this murder took place in the month of May and the girls are both named May: Mei and Satsuki (Japanese word for May).

Then there’s the references to Billy Goat’s Gruff. In the fairy tale, there are 3 goats trying to cross a bridge. “Crossing a Bridge” is pretty universal for crossing over into the afterlife. And in the fairytale, it is only when all 3 goats are together that they can cross the bridge. And in Totoro, the three “goats” would be the mother and the 2 girls. The billy goat’s gruff is referenced countless times in the film, peering over the bridges, the story books the mom used to read, and even Totoro’s name is some variation of the Japanese word for troll (supposedly, I dunno what that word is, but it was a trivia thing before the show started asking how did Totoro get his name, and it said it was because Mei mispronounced the Troll from her story book). There’s even a SERIOUSLY VERY CREEPY goat near the end of the film who tries to take Mei’s corn. And in the billy goat’s gruff, the goats get safe passage across the bridge by yelling very loudly. When in Totoro, the Totoros and the Girls scream loudly as they fly around with Totoro, etc.

And if Totoro can be seen by children, why do none of the other children see Totoro or the Catbus when the girls are flying around, they even fly right past the boy that likes Satsuki, and she says “I guess no one else can see us”.

And all throughout the film they keep saying how their house is haunted and everyone is afraid to go inside it, etc.

Lastly, people say that in the final scene, the girls have no shadow when they had shadows in all the rest of the film. Though I think this was maybe just an error or oversight on the part of the animators.

Anyways, it is an interesting theory. It does ask the audience to discount the last 2 minutes or so of the film where the girls return home and are greeted again by the Granny and other children in the village. But aside from that, everything else fits this theory.

[/spoiler]

End of Spoilers.

Artwork and Animation: 10/10 The backgrounds are lovely and all of the character designs are imaginative, quirky, and cute. Totoro has become so iconic that he is now the mascot for Studio Ghibli and known around the world.

Music: 10/10 I don’t really love the opening song. However, I do super love all the background tracks throughout the film. The ending theme is also catchy.

Voice Acting: 10/10 The two sisters are adorable and precocious. They give very believable performances with a lot of energy and enthusiasm. Totoro’s well timed animal sounds are quirky and cute. And the father and mother both sound very sincere and loving. Granny sounds old and slightly scary, but also warm and loving as well.

Overall: 51/60 85% B “Very Good Anime for Girls”

PS: If you enjoyed Totoro also check out Wolf Children and My Summer with Coo

My Neighbor Totoro Ghiblifest 2017 Anime Movie Review Read More »

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Wolf Children – Anime Review – Feature Length Anime Movie – Anime Film – Family Film

geeky

As of today, Wolf Children is my all-time favorite anime “movie” (feature length, stand-alone film). I must’ve watched it 20 times or more by now. If you love Studio Ghibli films, you’ve got to check out Wolf Children. It’s not a Ghibli film, but it feels like it should be one. It has the same things that make Ghibli films so endearing. A heart warming tale of a family and a coming of age story, which in the end has an important message or two to leave with the viewer.

In this case, Wolf Children drives home a message about loving your children, no matter who they choose to grow up to be, a very important message for any parent to embrace in this day and age. You cannot change your children. Some day they will grow up and leave home, and all you can do is try to raise them with love and kindness and hope they make the best decisions for themselves. You don’t have to agree with their decisions, but you need to realize they are their own person. And also in a family with multiple children, you will find that each child is unique and needs handled differently.

Title: Wolf Children

Genre: Family, Supernatural, Fantasy, Drama, Slice of Life

Studio: Madhouse / Studio Chizu

Release Date: 2012

Where to Buy: You can get the DVD and Blu-Ray Combo Pack on Amazon for $19.99 here http://www.amazon.com/Wolf-Children…

Geeky: 5/5 

Sweetie: 5/5 

Overall: 42/45 93% A- “Excellent Anime for Girls”

Story: 10/10 As I mentioned above, Wolf Children is a family film, about learning to let go and accept your children even when they aren’t “perfect”. Wolf Children explores these concepts without cramming them down your throat through use of anthropomorphism (giving human like qualities to animal characters). Ame and Yuki, the two wolf cubs of our story, were born out of love between a human and (what could best be described as) werewolf. Tragedy strikes when their father cannot resist his urge to hunt in order to provide for the new family, leaving their mother alone to raise the two cubs. She is unable to even go to a hospital for the birth or have any help because she is not sure what would happen if they were born as wolves instead of humans. As the cubs grow they begin to cause problems for their mother with her neighbors due to the thin walls in the apartment and their constant howling. So the mom decides to move her cubs to the country where they can be happy and be themselves and not have to worry about the neighbors. Eventually as the cubs grow they go through many changes. The girl wants to be more human and go to school. The boy is more shy and avoids humans. He prefers to learn from nature and the animals of the mountains where they live. The mother at first struggles with her children’s independence, wanting to always keep them safe and protect them, but eventually throughout the movie, the children continue to grow, and the mother ultimately realizes she must accept that they are capable of making their own decisions.

Characters: 9/10 Not gonna lie, Yuki’s exuberance as a puppy really got on my nerves – I had a tough time liking her character at first. But – when I think about it, isn’t that how puppies in real life are? They are destructive, curious, hyper, over excitable, etc. AND her exuberance was a nice contrast from her brother who was very frail and timid. Their differences were highlighted nicely and it made each of their characters stand out more. I also enjoyed the mother and her love for her cubs and dedication to doing anything it took to ensure their happiness and giving them the freedom to become who they wished to become. The character growth and development is also a key highlight of this anime. Yuki goes from that mischievous pup, to someone who wishes to be more mature and lady like, while Ame becomes strong willed, independent, and more adventurous. Watching that change and evolution is really one of the best parts of this anime; It’s like watching them grow up right before your eyes.

Artwork: 4/5 There’s nothing “wrong” with this artwork, in fact it’s “damn good” – I just would have liked them to have explored their own art style, instead of drawing so much inspiration from Studio Ghibli. That said, while it does borrow a lot of Ghibli, it is still beautiful – especially the backgrounds. The character style has a hint of realism, and lots of fantasy and charm as well. It’s also sure to be a hit with any furries out there.

Music: 5/5 Wolf children has a very emotionally moving and touching soundtrack that adds to the sentimental feeling throughout the film. This film really tugs at the heart, and the music I think played a big role in creating that immersion and highlighting many of the key scenes of the film

Voice Acting: 4/5 I didn’t really like Yuki’s voice actress. I dunno why. I just didn’t. I do think it fit the character, but it made it even more annoying and painful for me – Her voice actress captured her spirited, spunky personality – which to give her credit, is exactly what she was supposed to do, but it just grated on my nerves. Everyone else was also perfectly cast and delivered powerful and emotional performances that helped bring their characters to life.

Overall: 42/45 93% A- “Excellent Anime for Girls”

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