My neighbor Totoro (1988) vs the iron giant (1999)

[Slick_36]

Would you suggest that I watch them in order? I know they're all unrelated but to see his progression. I know HBO Max has most of them.

That's not a bad idea, but you might burn yourself out watching 10 movies in a short time, plus they can run pretty long for animation. I would suggest watching the trailers and going with whatever sticks out most to you. If the world pulls you in, that's where you want to be going in.

You could do pairs, like Nausicaä>Mononoke, Kiki's Delivery Service>Spirited Away, Howl's Moving Castle>Ponyo, though some will be harder to tie to anything else. I haven't finished them all yet myself, mostly missing stuff here and there in the middle.

If you really want to see his progression as an artist, it'll probably be when going back for a rewatch.

 

[THEfightsAREfixed]

all ghibli is pretty good but iron giant edges this one, the ghibli where theres a bunch of firebombing of civilians is intense

 

[Slick_36]

Princess Mononoke almost feels like a semi adaptation of the Nausicaa manga to me, he made the film relatively early in the Manga's run and carried on doing it between films until 1995. I think if you read that it does kind of explain his career, how the films became lighter whilst the manga became darker then the two elements merged when the manga ended and even stuff like Spirited Away and Howls that are nominally childrens stories did have a more horrifying edge to them.

I must admit I was never so into Totoro and Kiki never having watched them young(Castle in the Sky was the first thing I saw, indeed the first anime film I saw back in the late 80's on UK TV without knowing what it was for years) and not having kids myself but Porco Rosso maybe my favourite film by him, seemingly light adventure infused with a much more adult melancholy. The Ghibli films with quite low key drama in them from that era as well I think all work very well, Grave of the Fireflys, Only Yesterday and Whisper of the Heart.

That's what I was thinking! I bought the manga collection almost immediately after I saw the movie and learned the manga goes a lot farther. Still waiting on it to show up. The themes definitely seem to mirror what Mononoke dives in to from what I've heard, so I'm really excited to see that story in the world of Nausicaä.

Nausicaä the film is so focused in it's message, Mononoke was incredibly ambitious and complicated in that regard. Which honestly works when you consider the two worlds they're set in. Two hours to work with is a lot harder to pull off that kind of ambition compared to over 1,000 pages to read through. I'm insanely impressed what Mononoke pulled off, but Nausicaä worked perfectly as a film and the simplicity is a strength if anything.

I'm with you on the more kid friendly movies, I can appreciate them for what they are and I am glad I own them so I can show them to my kids when they'll hit hardest. I only watched a few minutes of Porco Rosso and I dug it, I really look forward to a serious viewing of it soon. I can tell it's going to be unique with real potential for me to relate. It's the only one I don't own on Blu-ray at this point, it's just hard to find in the wild.

 

[Slick_36]

all ghibli is pretty good but iron giant edges this one, the ghibli where theres a bunch of firebombing of civilians is intense

Grave of the Fireflies, by Isao Takahata. It was actually distributed as a double feature with My Neighbor Totoro. It's an 88 minute punch to the gut. I can only compare it to the Passion of the Christ. It's purposefully uncomfortable and might have fleeting moments of beauty, but it's oppressive in that you know it leads to tragedy. That's the whole symbolism of the firefly.

Like I respect it and think it's a great piece of art, but I would never wish to watch it even a second time. Apparently he made it as a message to Japanese teens who were becoming entitled and lazy, it utterly failed in whatever he was hoping to accomplish there. But I saw it as a great metaphor for the people of Japan in WWII, optimistic, prideful, misguided, and in denial of their situation. Self inflicted wounds that were direct consequences of their actions, but understandable when you know what led to them making those decisions.

Japan was a feudal farming country, thrust in to the modern world by an outside force, and they saw that you were either a colonizer or colonized. They were an adolescent nation compared to the established powers of the world, and desperate to prove they were just as capable as them even if they lacked resources and infrastructure. What they did was incredibly impressive, but tragic and futile.

 

[THEfightsAREfixed]

Grave of the Fireflies, by Isao Takahata. It was actually distributed as a double feature with My Neighbor Totoro. It's an 88 minute punch to the gut. I can only compare it to the Passion of the Christ. It's purposefully uncomfortable and might have fleeting moments of beauty, but it's oppressive in that you know it leads to tragedy. That's the whole symbolism of the firefly.

Like I respect it and think it's a great piece of art, but I would never wish to watch it even a second time. Apparently he made it as a message to Japanese teens who were becoming entitled and lazy, it utterly failed in whatever he was hoping to accomplish there. But I saw it as a great metaphor for the people of Japan in WWII, optimistic, prideful, misguided, and in denial of their situation. Self inflicted wounds that were direct consequences of their actions, but understandable when you know what led to them making those decisions.

Japan was a feudal farming country, thrust in to the modern world by an outside force, and they saw that you were either a colonizer or colonized. They were an adolescent nation compared to the established powers of the world, and desperate to prove they were just as capable as them even if they lacked resources and infrastructure. What they did was incredibly impressive, but tragic and futile.

yup total bummer prob not gonna watch again for a bit

 

[TheNinja]

Iron Giant for me...

never would I have thought a cartoon would make me bawl like a little bitch.

Iron Giant is awesome. But why did I cry so hard at a robot

 

[Plissken]

Totoro, both are excellent though.

 

[moreorless87]

That's what I was thinking! I bought the manga collection almost immediately after I saw the movie and learned the manga goes a lot farther. Still waiting on it to show up. The themes definitely seem to mirror what Mononoke dives in to from what I've heard, so I'm really excited to see that story in the world of Nausicaä.

Nausicaä the film is so focused in it's message, Mononoke was incredibly ambitious and complicated in that regard. Which honestly works when you consider the two worlds they're set in. Two hours to work with is a lot harder to pull off that kind of ambition compared to over 1,000 pages to read through. I'm insanely impressed what Mononoke pulled off, but Nausicaä worked perfectly as a film and the simplicity is a strength if anything.

I'm with you on the more kid friendly movies, I can appreciate them for what they are and I am glad I own them so I can show them to my kids when they'll hit hardest. I only watched a few minutes of Porco Rosso and I dug it, I really look forward to a serious viewing of it soon. I can tell it's going to be unique with real potential for me to relate. It's the only one I don't own on Blu-ray at this point, it's just hard to find in the wild.

Really I think part of what makes the Nausicaa manga interesting is that you get to see the creators own politics shift across the 12 years it was written, moving from more blue eyed idealism you see in the film towards a rather more nuanced humanist viewpoint by the end you see more in Mononoke.

Porco is perhaps easier to dismiss as being very light if you only see the opening of it, not that its still not very fun but really its a film were the nominal plot of the fued between a bounty hunter and air pirates really isnt what its about.

 

[Bacco]

I liked Iron giant, but Totoro win

Ghibli on general have just so many gems

 

[Derousey]

I got like 10 totoro stickers on one of my snowboards, I think the choice is obvious.

 

[elwani]

LOL anime. Watch American