| 1. | (3 posts) | New Miyazaki Watercolor |
| 2. | (25 posts) | Miyazaki's view of Animism and Humanism |
| 3. | (4 posts) | Manga and MML |
| 4. | (5 posts) | Nausicaa and On Your Mark |
| 5. | (11 posts) | Model Kits |
| 6. | (7 posts) | Studio Ghibli Tours |
We looked at 93 posts by 46 different contributors.
Issue #2 is here, enjoy.
Marc Hairston saw a watercolor on the Studio Ghibli site but wondered, "The url is www.ntv.co.jp/ghibli/sennokami/index.html I have no idea what "sennokami" is, so can someone identify if this is from "Chihiro" or something else?" Tom Wilkes replied, "Yes, it's from _Sen to Chihiro no Kamikakushi_. The URL you gave is the official page for the new movie. ("sennokami" likely comes from _Sen no Kamikakushi_, the version of the title preferred by producer Suzuki-san"
Nausicaa.net has an unofficial info page for Miyazaki's latest project
A doozy of a thread, those not familiar with Princess Mononoke or the Nausicaa movie and/or manga should probably skip to the next topic.
Andrew Osmond opened with a couple of points,
The recent praise of the Nausicaa manga brought me round to thinking about one of the oldest problems arising from Miyazaki's work. This is the underlying conflict - or what appears to be a conflict - between humanism - the belief that human life is the most important life - and rival philosophies like animism and certain kinds of environmentalism, which articulate a 'global' perspective wherein all life, irrespective of kind, is equal.The thread sprawled out from the above, Deborah Goldsmith didn't see a conflict, "Why is there a conflict? Humans are part of the natural world, too. Since there is conflict between all living creatures, finding a balance is a natural, practical approach to take. It's really a matter of how much value you assign to humans and to non-humans. If you value both, then you have to find a balance." David Mankins (or a friend) chipped in, "A friend likes to respond to questions like this bugs-or-people choice with the reply: "Your question is too small". By this, she means that the answer lies outside the question, in the real messiness of the world that has been abstracted away when one poses the question in the terms one does. That is a notion that I think Miyazaki would understand."
...
But I can't help wondering... are Miyazaki's later works also 'copping out'? Sometimes, I can't help thinking the only way Miyazaki could have properly addressed the issue would be through an openly didactic scene, in which (e.g.) Nausicaa is given the _direct_ choice between shooting, say, a human child or an Ohmu larva, or Ashitaka having to choose between a 'divine' wolf-cub and a Tatara-ba villager. It's the kind of thing an SF writer would put in, I think.
...
I wonder if Miyazaki has _ever_ fully acknwledged the conflicts in his position and if this isn't, perhaps, the one fatal flaw in his work.
(Hey, end on a provocative note!)
The concept of 'balance' cropped up in form or another in many replies, to which Andrew responded, "Which takes us back to the problem in Mononoke - what happens when this 'balance' causes _us_ more suffering? The world described by Jiko Bou early on - of hunger, misery and natural disasters - is a world in a 'better' state of ecological balance than the one created by Eboshi. But that observation would mean little to Eboshi, or the numerous people she helps." After several responses the thread stalled due to the off-topic direction it was going - Gilles Poitras closed with, "The choices offered in MH (Ed: and Nausicaa) are not clear cut, there is alot of moral ambiguity, kinda like life."
Noel Vera started off with:
Finished the manga last weekAfter some comparisons against other sci-fi/fantasy works and authors he switched to the topic of On Your Mark, "it was very hard for me to watch it. It's only seven minutes long, but knowing it's Miyazaki's farewell to his heroine...good thing I had my daughter on my lap; her eyes were glued to the screen. She couldn't look back and see her father quietly making a sodden mess of himself." He concluded with, "There has to be a clinic or program somewhere for people like me..." Sharon Westfall answered:I've been meaning to post my reaction to it but I CAN'T. I've
just finished a thousand-page manga, a work of thirteen years,
and I can't sum it all up in one lousy post.
There is... it's called...The Nausicaa manga comes highly recommend by yours truly. Besides the Totoro and Kiki's videos, it's Miyazaki's most easily obtainable work in English. I've compiled a list of the cheapest sources on my wish list. Well, it's not really a wish list anymore since I own some of the stuff listed, but it should prove a useful reference. Go for the Box Set, the price is a tad higher, but the wraparound box is a beautiful way to store the volumes.
The Miyazaki Mailing List..Where all us Miyazaki fanatics around the world congregate... Welcome home, Noel..<g>
Lee Amizadai had a few questions about Noel's message, "Mizayaki's farewell to whom? Now, this is getting interesting. Could someone tell me a bit more about OYM? Noel responded, "The controversial answer is: Nausicaa. People don't all agree, but seeing the video, I think I subscribe to that theory. It just fits too perfectly for me." David Mankins added, "Marc Hairston has a nice essay (mentioned here in the last couple of weeks) that outlines the theory that OYM is Miyazaki's 'release' of the Nausicaa character[1].
[1] http://utd500.utdallas.edu/~hairston/nausicaa_lecture_3_p1.html
(My reaction, on reading this essay, was that it was a theory that was "too beautiful not to be true".)
Lee also asked about English lyrics for OYM other then the one linked from the FAQ, but got no bites. On a semi-related note could someone take a stab at translating this song list from Brass Fantasia II?
Jenni Kusakabe inquired, "Does any one know of a reliable store that can be accessed on line that sells Nausicaa model kits?" Several stores names were tossed around, Animenation received differing viewpoints, Vance Palodichuk successfully bought the "Nausicaa riding Kai" model, while Robin Casady said they were out of an unspecified Nausicaa model. For those willing to venture overseas, Hobbylink Japan carries all four Nausicaa models (along with the flapper from Laputa), search for "Nausicaa" or "Valley" to find all the kits.
Christian Link wrote, "I'm not positive about the current supply, but I used to sell the 4 different Nausicaa models for $8 each plus postage." Starshipmodeler.com has a review and guide to the assembing/painting the Gunship model.
David Athay pondered as many have at one time or another, "I was wondering if anyone knows if it is possible to tour the actual studio." Ryoko Toyama replied, "The official web site of Ghibli (http://www.ntv.co.jp/ghibli/) has a FAQ in Japanese. It says, "We don't offer a tour of our studio. We are sorry."" Heck, I'd be happy rummaging through their dumpster looking for cels. One person did get through however, "Ghibli does not offer a tour to anyone. Though their production diary said that once a French guy just dropped by and wanted to see Ghibli, and they gave it to him."
Michael Unverzagt added an interesting tidbit, "Hm, I wonder if this was Yves (Ataru). He went to Ghibli and met Takahata and Suzuki last Feb... If so, he's not French but French speaking Swiss :-) When he wrote it to me, I didn't know that it is practical impossible to visit Studio Ghibli. Well, in that case he took his chance and won ^_-;" There's a virtual tour of Ghibli available for those unable to see it personally. Or check out some photos Michael Johnson took of the Studio Ghibli building. A Studio Ghibli museum is currently being constructed, the planned opening is October 2001.
Emru Townsend asked June Foray about her role in "Warriors of the Wind" (the hacked dub version of Nausicaa), but she had forgotten. He sent her a tape to jog her memory, so next week we should know for certain if Rocky the Flying Squirrel really was the voice of Nausicaa (err... Princess Zandra). Jorge wrote up a review of the Spanish version of Princess Mononoke. A trailer for Mononoke is supposedly on the DVD of "The Mighty Peking Man" due out May 23rd. Panda! Go Panda!, created by Miyazaki and directed by Takahata in 1973 is scheduled for release this summer on DVD and VHS. My Neighbors the Yamadas was ranked #69 in a quarterly film magazine. Noel Vera posted a collection of messages centered around Nausicaa from Salon's Table Talk.
Eating too many Cocktail Peps don't do a body good. Buy the Nausicaa manga. Checkout the newly renovated webcam.
