| 1. | (4 posts) | Nausicaa - Name that Injury |
| 2. | (28 posts) | Keeping Negative Reviews? |
| 3. | (2 posts) | Pippi and Panda Go Panda |
We looked at 82 posts by 46 different contributors.
Not too many threads this week, but that just makes my life easier <g>.
Spoiler warning!
Akira asked, "When Nausicaa discovered the dying Rastel among the burning wreckage of the Torumekian ship, she rushes over to Rastel to tend to her. . . she notices something on Rastel which horrifies her, and prompts her to re-button the dress. . . I have been puzzled over exactly what Nausicaa saw on Rastel that shocked her so."
Noah Selsby replied, "whatever it was, it was obvious that she was not going to recover. Be it bones poking out of her chest, insects gooing, or fungus, the pathos of her expression and the slow re-buttoning of the shirt is far more powerful image and anything Miyazaki could have shown us for the very fact that it leaves it up to our imaginations and it is the reaction that he intends us to concentrate rather than the gore..."
A thread that started last week but really blew up this week. Shun Chan summerized the topic, "Should Nausicaa.net retain or remove negative film reviews? Should Nausicaa.net collect or ignore negative film reviews?" That simple question spawned basically the entire week's conversation ^_^. Most posters wanted all reviews kept as is, Russell Watanabe made a good summary, "Nausicaa.net collect all the reviews it can find, good or bad. The site doesn't really help anyone by "protecting" them from a bad review, and in return, it loses a bit of its integrity. . . Reading reviews is not only about seeing if the movie is good or bad, but also about rating the reviewer (for competency and similarities in taste). So, a bad rating in a review is a useful tool for the reader. An incoherent review is also useful in its own way." Sharon Westfall added, "I see Nausicaa.net as a house for *all* things Ghibli, be it positive or negative. While I don't mean letting trolls have a field day here, I don't think we want to look like an infomercial either."
Michael Johnson wrote, "Thank you, everyone, for making your opinions known. If there are no significant objections, let us consider this thread closed." Well, people weren't quite ready to drop the thread.
Scott Ryan wrote, "What is the logic behind continuing to publish an opinion that not even the writer of this opinion still agrees with? What is to be gained from potentially misleading a new comer to the site? After all, maps, encyclopedias, and almanacs are updated periodically. Shouldn't nausicaa.net be, as well?" Joe Monson replied, "To show that opinions can change. To show that people may not understand or like everything the first time they see it, and then after having had time to digest it and maybe see it a few more times, they can change their minds about it."
Scott's main objection was to Charles Solomon's Laputa review, "I called Solomon's review incoherent, not because I disagree with what he was saying, but because I have no idea what he was talking about. Reread his review and see if you can muster 51% confidence that he saw anything more than the tail end of the movie. . . if enough people agree with me that the review reads like someone's golf game ran long, I think it should be unceremoniously tossed on the scrap heap."
Ryoko Toyama dug up Solomon's revised view of Laputa, "in his article about Mononoke and Miyazaki, published in LA Times on Oct. 24, 1999, Solomon called Laputa as "rollicking adventure"." A standalone article he wrote in 1999 further shows his change of heart, "Inspired by Jonathan Swift's "Gulliver's Travels," "Castle in the Sky" (1986, in Japanese with English subtitles) offers an intriguing vision of steam-powered rocket travel in the late 19th century. Sheeta and Pazu, an orphan girl and boy, outwit a government official and sky pirates to reach Laputa , the last of the floating islands that once orbited Earth." This proved satisfactory to all parties and the thread ended on a peaceful note.
Shun Chan provided the entire 1999 article and another anime article Solomon wrote.
Paolo Valladolid wrote a small review of Panada Go Panda, but the interesting part of the thread came from his mentioning, "I dug her Dola hairdo." Ryoko Toyama put a lighthouse on that statement, "someone made a very intelligent comment on Dola's past. He (or might be she, I forgot) said that Pippi (Longstockings) grew up to be Dola, as Pippi always wanted to be a pirate. Panda Kopanda was made after the plan to make a "Pippi" TV series was canceled. The staff members who were gathered to make "Pippi" made "Panda," and Miyazaki-San and Takahata-San recycled some of the ideas they developed for "Pippi." Mimiko's design was very similar to the design of Pippi. (see http://www.nausicaa.net/miyazaki/nonmiyazaki/#pippi for Pippi design.)"
David Mankins and Paul Meyer reported (almost at the same time) that the subtitled version of "Castle in the Sky" will be shown in LA on October 22. Tragic Lad passed along info on the Japanese Animation Festival taking place September 23rd - October 15th in Toronto - several Studio Ghibli films will be shown. Joe Curzon noted that the Japan Centre in London (couldn't you tell from the spelling?) is overflowing with Ghibli swag. Chi Chung Tse wrote up some notes on "My Neighbor Yamada". Justin Leach saw that Miyazaki has been nominated for an Annie. Steven Feldman and Mike Arnold informed everyone of Yasuyoshi Tokuma death, he funded almost every Studio Ghibli film. Someone bought a Teto plushie for $360(!) on eBay.
Moving is a pain in the. . . back. Next issue should be Saturday - I think. Watch the frontpage for details.