| 1. | (6 posts) | I Demand More Lupin! |
| 2. | (11 posts) | The Meta-Meta Mononoke Thread |
| 3. | (4 posts) | "Sen" Themed Books |
We looked at 41 posts by 30 different contributors.
Back in a jiffy! Luckily this week turned out to be a light one.
Thomas Chen inquired, "i told her that i have often read about lupin in the mail and there are anime out about him by miyazaki. can anyone please tell me if those anime are available in the US and with US subtitles?"
ARKBAN replied, "The only other Lupin films besides "Cagliostro" I've seen release in US is "The Mystery of Mamo". . . and "The Fuma Conspiracy" (found at a mall out in the middle of nowhere, and had obviously been on the shelf for a few years). . . Also if you look for Lupin his name has several other spellings: Lupan, Rupin, Rupan. (The dubbed copy of "Fuma Conspiracy" is titled "Rupin")."
Captain Comic added, "There was also "The Legend of Gold of Babylon" from Animeigo. They're the folks who did "Fuma". And both are still available from their website, Animeigo.com for five bucks, subtitled. As noted above, Animeigo is the group that called him "Rupan"."
As always, visit the Nausicaa.net Lupin pages for more information.
Chris Meadows tossed in a few interesting tidbits, "there are two Lupin characters. The Arsene Lupin in the Monkey Punch/Miyazaki works is actually Lupin the Third, a descendant (and unauthorized derivative work) of the original Arsene Lupin whose adventures were chronicled by early-20th-century French author Maurice Leblanc. . . That being said, Lupin III is in most ways a worthy successor to his esteemed ancestor (though the styles of the anime and the Lupin novels are totally different). . . For more info on the original Lupin (and Nighthood, the Canadian animated series about him), including links to some e-texts, check out Anna Exter's page"
Some people watching from Michael Kerpan, "We currently have a Japanese high school student staying with our family for a couple of weeks. Although a Ghibli fan, he somehow managed to NOT see Princess Mononoke. Last night, we watched PM, and his eyes were glued to the film. He pronounced it now his favorite movie. . . We told him that, were it not for Princess Mononoke, he wouldn't have been our guest -- since it was the earth-shaking exposure to PM that set off our family's still-unchecked Japanomania. "
Robert Ondra shared his "sharing the gospel" experience, "When I was at college last year, we were fortunate enough to have Monoke-Hime play for a while at our local theater. . . convinced about 8 of my friends to see it, my roommate Chad being one of them. . . I doubt that any of them (no offence) would known an anime if it hit them in the head. Well, they liked it, some even loved it. In fact, later in the year, some of Chad's friends came to visit us (him) and he borrowed the DVD from someone else in my hall and had them watch it too!. . . Mega Side Note: It took me three tries before I got through the whole movie without making a bathroom trip. That's a long movie!"
Michael Rieper added his experience showing PM at Syracuse University, "I got a group of 10 people to come with me (probably to shut me up). Not a one could be considered any kind of anime fan. Everyone was impressed (are we surprised?) with the film. Here is a sample of responses:
"I couldn't believe how dark it was, compared to other animated films. That was awesome." (This one promptly borrowed my copy of "Grave of the Fireflies"). "Alright Riep, now I get it [presumably my obsession]." "Can I borrow the soundtrack for my film project?". . .
My question is, does all this prove PM is the best choice for introducing Miyazaki, and to a larger extent anime in general, to a predominantly college male audience? I think Nausicaa is a good choice also but PM just looks better and has a real WOW factor. For the young'uns I usually use Kiki since it's the one that turned me on to Miyazaki and the for the parents I bust out Grave, if they don't mind being depressed.
Geoffrey Scull tossed in, "I live in Toronto, Ontario (about a 5 hour drive from Montreal) and managed to get my girlfriend, two best friends and a coworker to accompany me to Montreal for FantAsia. . . Everybody loved it. My girlfiriend, who had seen Laputa 3 or 4 times before in Japan, said that this viewing had had the biggest emotional impact on her so far. I was trying to pay attention to the music, to see if I could tell how much it deviated from the original, but I kept getting caught up in the story. If I had a DVD or even the Disney dub VHS of Castle In The Sky, I would make everybody I know watch it."
Michael (Kerpan) wrote back to the other Michael's query (on PM), "I think it is certainly a great introduction for teen-age (and near teen-age) boys. When my children reach college age (too soon, for the oldest), I will be able to provide an updated opinion. ;~}"
He also gave his picks for first showings, "I'd say that Panda is best for the very young, Totoro is best for 1st through 3rd or 4th grade, Kiki for the next age group. . . If a subbed version of Whisper of the Heart was available, I'd say it would be a great intro for middle school girls. Laputa and Casgliostro might be besty for middle school boys (though one of my middle-schoolers immediately developed a crush for Nausicaa). College age kids might not be old enough to (fully) appreciate Only Yesterday yet. I would think Grave of the Fireflies ought to be a great choice for serious film students. . . I am still waiting for an adequate supply of "innocent victims" for Yamadas -- but I can't see how anyone (from 6 to 90) wouldn't love it."
Chris Kuan delved into the mind of the average teenager, "Given the stereotypical tastes of the modern older adolescent, I would think so. It has the most action (not to mention Miyazaki's version of a BFG :-) ), and the love interest is not too icky. His other films might be too romantic for hip yoofs."
Lauren Worth agreed, "I would have to agree that most college males would enjoy mononoke based on the feedback I've received. I think of course it could also be appreciated for it's beauty by a more sentimental crowd. I was very impressed by the reception a "fantasy" movie received from a predominately white "rich kid" crowd. . . this kind of group general doesn't respond well to any thing in the whole sci-fi/fantasy category but overall, the movie received a great reception"
Amy Wilson indoctrinated her family, "My husband and I recently introduced our neices and nephews to "Totoro". Their ages range from 2 to 18 - and they all had exactly the same reaction to the film - eyes glued to the set and mouths open! The true picture of facination....... it was lovely."
Mike Arnold noted, "On Monday I went book shopping. The new issue of Comic Box is all about Sen"
Ilan Nguyen filled in the details:
It contains many texts, of quite various level of interest and quality (in their form), but among them, you can find :
Atsushi Fukumoto wrote a related book message, "Recently published booklet "SEN TO CHIHIRO" WO YOMU 40 NO ME (Kinejun Mook, Kinema Junpo-sha, ISBN4-87376-574-9, 1524yen) is a sort of review feature. In first interviewed article, Tachibana Takashi is summarising the loose points of the story. There are some interesting interpretations of the movie in other articles. Recommended."
David Mankins spotted a news article with bits of information about Studio Ghibli's next film. Clyde Adams noted a Japanese "Sen" site with some (forthcoming) English content. Marc Hairston is loosing his mind. Barbican Festival subbed or dubbed? Inquiring minds want to know. Juan Llamas spots Heidi in Spanish.
See you next week!