Steven Spielberg may be my favorite Film Director even though none of his films make my Top 10

I don't really have a definitive top 10, but I have a relatively strong top 4 and a pretty solid pool of potential top 10s and even my top Spielberg film I currently have trouble seeing as likely to make it.  Before I started getting super into Anime letting it dominate my favorites of everything, and watching other stuff I hadn't seen before, there was one Spielberg film that was in the running, Jurassic Park.

You might think "how can that even be possible?" but you see only Spielberg is consistently above average while also having a large output.  I haven't even seen all his films, but I've seen only one I can call bad, Temple of Doom, everything else would if it was on MAL get at least a high 8.

Now I'm not saying my top ten films are directed by people who balanced that out with a ton of crap.  I'm someone relatively easy to please so my "average" includes a level of praise other people might only give to a 8 or 9 out of 10.

Most theatrical Pokemon films have the same director, only one is in my top 4 but none of them are bad movies.  They're just mostly stuff I'd never recommend to someone not inherently into Pokemon.

All three of Christopher Nolan's Batman movies are among my all time favorite movies, one is still in that top 4 group, another had been a potential top 10 but has slipped down thanks to all the Anime.  But I have zero interest in his non Batman movies.

I've seen 6 Miyazaki films, one is in that top 4 and another is strongly in my top 9 of at least specifically Anime films.  But without the extraneous circumstances that made ToD Spielberg is not capable of making a film I find as dull as The Wind Rises.

Even when watching a Spielberg film in a genre or with a premise I don't care about I can still go "this is a an expert film maker".

If you think Hook is proof Spielberg can make a bad film, I sentence you to watch this Video Essay.

Final #MahouShouJune & #PrideMonth post

Hugtto! Precure episode 21 was a pretty good episode with a pretty unexpected ending.

Katana Maidens episode 21 was also pretty good.

I watched episode 9s for both LOTGH and Steins;Gate 0, they were good but nothing major to comment on.

I finally watched Serial Experiments Lain, which was pretty interesting.

Howel’s Moving Castle was pretty good.  It has Lauren Bacall, Billy Crystal, Christian Bale and Crispin Freeman in it.

In conclusion.  I didn’t watch as many LGBTQ themed Anime as I could have or should have this month.  But I’m glad I made the effort, I enjoyed quite a few that I might not have tried otherwise.

Of course my interest in this topic was not limited to this month.  Going into July I intend to continue watching more of things like Symphogear.   I’ll post more about my Summer Anime ambitions in early July.

Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind is still my favortie Miyazaki film.

I have only seen four.  But those four are the primary ones that interest me Genre wise.  And further I consider Nausicaa my favorite Anime film, period.  In fact it remains the best even if you include only one of the qualifiers calling it Anime implies, it's my favorite feature length theatrically released Animated movie, and my favorite Japanese movie.

Basically, it's The Dark Knight alone that prevents it from being my favorite movie period.

Now Miyazaki is not someone about whom it's common to say he peaked early.  (Nausicaa was his second feature film, first that is fully his original creation).  In fact some films common for people to cite as their favorite were after he was supposed to retire.

Every Miyazaki film I've seen I've given at least a 9 on MAL, that means I think it's Great.  So there is no insult in my placing a Miyazaki film below Nausicaa.  But Nausicaa speaks to me personally in a way few things are able to, and is the only Miyazaki film to make me tear up.

The primary film some are compelled to compare Nausicaa to negatively is Princess Mononoke.  I gave Mononoke a 10 on MAL, I posted about it twice on this blog already.  The breath of subjects it touches on may make it the movie I'll talk about more often on this blog.  But I still don't get why to others this film seems to spoil Nausicaa for them.

Unshavedmouse said because he saw Nausicaa after Mononoke, Nausicaa felt like a dress rehearsal for Mononoke.  Miragephan said on the Neotaku podcast that she hasn't seen Nausicaa yet because JesuOtaku called it an inferior version of Mononoke.

My confusion at this perspective has less to do with my finding Nausicaa better but more to do with my not seeing these films are even that similar or comparable.

My love for Nausicaa starts with the fact that it's a story that played out the Messianic Archetype with a female character.  The title character is not a Messianic Archetype in Princess Mononoke, nor is she the main character.  If any human in Princess Mononoke is a Messiah of some sort it's the male MC, who I just recently called the Superman of Anime. Among other things, that difference should make Nausicaa the preferable film for Magical Girl fans, Princess Mononoke isn't magical, she's Tarzan.

I think a lot of people are just seeing another Miyazki film named after a "Princess" and with an Environmental message, and deciding there is only room for one. (Cue someone to make fanart of them in a Steel Cage Match.)

Mononoke easily comes off the most Disney like of all Miyazaki films, which might explain why it's Unshavedmouse's favorite.  But I think some Weebs prefer it for being about old timey Japan.

While Nausicaa is more like a Star Wars film that never goes into Space.  So it's perhaps telling that I've been into Star Wars longer then I have Anime.  Remember, Nausicaa is the Hidden Fortress to TFA's ANH.

The Superman of Anime

To quite Unshavedmouse's review of Princess Mononoke.

"Ashitaka is probably the most purely moral hero of any movie I’ve reviewed. He’s utterly selfless, kind, compassionate, fearless, unprejudiced, polite, respectful to both men and women and only uses violence as an absolute last resort. He sounds like he should be as boring as a workaholic mole but he’s actually a very compelling protagonist thanks to Miyazaki’s skill as a storyteller and also the fact that the dude is a STONE COLD BADASS. Yeah, I said he only uses violence as a last resort. But when he does, shit gets resorted, yo (I don’t know what I’m talking about)."

In fact lots of people have said this about the character before me.  The character seems like the ultimate Jesus-Kun, Such a character should come off as annoyingly bland and perfect, especially when they're a Cis-Het Male.  But Miyazaki makes the character work, as do the Actors who have voiced him.

What's interesting is how strongly I agree with this aspect of how others review this movie, even though I didn't quite think of it on my own as I watched it (what I knew about the movie going in was mostly people talking about Lady Eboshi).  I started the movie accepting this male lead as I waited for the women I'm watching it for, and found myself increasingly enjoying his presence.

Superman is a notoriously difficult character to get right.  I get crap online constantly for being just okay with Zach Snyder's take, much less saying I prefer it in many ways to Donner's.  But rest assured I still think we are far from having the ideal Superman movie, animated or live action.

A lot of Snyder's haters have been pointing to the MCU's Captain America as a not official Superman character who shows how to do Superman right.  I enjoy those films and Evans performance, but I'm not that impressed.

So once again, as I often have over the last couple years, I find myself turning to Anime for the answer.

Before I saw Princess Mononoke a few days ago.  The main Anime character I would point to and say "That's how you do Superman right" is Yuki Yuna, the title character of Yuki Yuna is a Hero, why?  Well for starters read the title.  That Anime is one of my favorite anime, the most underrated of the 20tweens, the dawn of the new golden age.  And probably my personal favorite Magical Girl Anime.

Why she's like Superman comes up interestingly enough when the show is criticized, when people complain that there isn't enough of a reason for Yuki Yuna's drive to be a Hero.  Essentially the exact same thing as the "Superman is unrelatable" nonsense.  She wants to do good for the sake of doing good, if you can get behind that you're probably a Superman fan, if not, then stick with the Bat.

Speaking of the Magical Girl Warrior genre.  I have compared Sailor Moon to Superman in terms of creating a new genre.  But as far as comparing a Magical Girl as a character to Superman as a character, none beats Yuki Yuna.

But Superman comes in variations, they all have the same Origin (Kara no Kyoukai reference), but are a little distinct.  Yuki Yuna is somewhere between Christopher Reeve and the early Post-Crisis Superman, Michael Baily's favorite version of Superman, and possibly also mine based on the overall quality of the Comics.  Which shows you can have a Superman as ideal as Reeve's even in a story that gets pretty dark.

I however am someone who prefers George Reeves to Christopher Reeve.  But even more then that, I want a return to Siegel and Shuster's Superman, who was called The Champion of The Oppressed.  And that is what I got from Ashitaka in Princess Mononoke.

And now, I notice how his colors seem to be Blue mainly with a little red and yellow.  And find myself thinking "was this similarity intentional?"  Was Miyazaki drawing on Western influences in his most aesthetically traditionally Japanese film?  I feel like there must be a Japanese mythical of folklore precedent for a child raised by Wolves, but I haven't found it yet, first and foremost being raised by a She-Wolf is a Roman thing. 

There is nothing new to Superman influencing Anime.  It is well known the original Fleischer Superman shorts were an early influence, the second one arguably created the Mecha genre.  They are in the Public Domain now, so they should be easy to find online if you haven't seen them.

For the record.  The Lex Luthor of Anime is Giovanni, the Boss of Team Rocket.  As he appeared in the first series of the Pokemon, the prologue of Mewtwo Strikes Back, and especially Mewtwo Returns where he finally truly got to shine.  Since 2006 I have been pointing to Giovanni as how to do a CEO Lex Luthor right.  And in 2016, I still feel the need to.

So I had basically finished structuring this post in my head.  When I remembered that the big Internet Meme is saying Goku is the Superman of Anime.  No, he is not.  Not even close.  Maybe in the creating a genre comparison where you could then also throw in Amuro Ray of Gundam.  But you're not Superman just cause your home planet blew up.

I just watched Princess Mononoke

If I had a time machine, and could arrange to have Akira Kurosawa direct a live action adaptation of an Anime with all the advantages of modern technology.  This is the Anime I would choose.  It's a 10, I recommend it.

There are a lot of analytical things I could say about this movie, others have said a lot already.  But the main thing on my mind right now is this.

It's set in medieval Japan (The late Muromachi Period, 24th through 16th centuries).  Of the different Human clans depicted in the movie, the one most ancestral to the primary population of modern Japan (the ones associated with The Emperor and Samurai), are the most villainous.

The might seem strange at first.  But we do the same thing in the English Speaking world, in works based on Arthurian Legend, where the Angles and Saxons are depicted as savage marauding pagan barbarians.  Or even more generally when the Vikings are depicted that way.

I've seen in some Disqus comments sections people being confused by Saber in Fate/Zero talking about Britain falling to ruin, since it looks to them like Britain is still there.  But the population of modern Britain mainly descends from people who were King Arthur's enemies.  They took over the island and started calling Arthur's people "Welsh" which meant foreigner in the Saxon language.  Then later we Anglo-Saxons traveled across the Atlantic and did the exact same thing to the Native American, massacred them, raped them, and appropriated their culture.

Similarly is how the movie actually refereed to the Samurai as "Samurai Thugs".  Not the opinion we're used to Anime having of Samurai.  But remember, the Samurai are often compared to European Medieval Knights, and plenty of modern Western Fiction sometimes acknowledges that they were really the Gangsters of their time.  Like in The Tudors and Game of Thrones.

Perhaps this is not an appropriate observation for a Western viewer of the film to make.  Though it would arguably take a Western perspective to make the comparison to the Saxons in Arthurian Legend.  I wonder what Gaijin Goomba would think?

Hayao Miyazaki has clearly been an influence on Video Games.

When I covered Nausicaa of The Valley of The Wind I talked about it's possible influences on Video Games.

Last night I watched 1986's Castle in The Sky., and I noticed more.  For one thing during the opening credits we see a Goddess in the sky blowing wind who looks a lot like how the Goddesses of Hyrule were depicted in the Instruction Manuel of A Link To The Past.

In fact the entire premise of Castle in The Sky could have inspired Skyloft in Skyward Sword, which was anticipated by the Sky Temple in Twilight Princess.

I also can't help but suspect Miyazaki's love of Air Ships helped inspire the popularity of Air Ships in Video Games, from Super Mario Bros. 3 to the Final Fantasy games.  The Airship idea was of course invented by Jules Verne, and the Airships in this film were more Verneian then the ones in Nausicaa.

People have commented before on Castle of Calgiostro being an influence on Spielberg for the Indiana Jones films.  This movie definitely felt like an Indy film at times.  Some people criticize how Castle of Cagliostro feels more like a Miyazaki films then a Lupin film, but this movie felt like it could have been a Lupin film.

Going the other way however, there was definitely a moment in Castle in The Sky where I went "Well Miyazaki definitely saw Empire Strikes Back".

It's a good film, I just gave it a 9 on My Anime List.

I've liked every Miyazaki film I've seen so far.  But I still doubt I'll get to all of them, for some the plots simply don't interest me.  But based on his track record so far, I'd say he's definitely worth checking out if any of those stories interest you.

My review of two Lupin The Third movies

Below is from a project I was going to do, possibly as a YouTube video, called "Top 5 Anime Films according to someone who hasn't seen many".  I've canceled that project for a few reasons.  One being I've seen more Anime movies now, enough to totally re-calibrate what that list would have been.

The section on two Lupin III films was all I ever actually wrote before abandoning it, and I want to preserve those thoughts somewhere (The top 4 would have been the Gundam 00 movie, The K-On movie, The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya, and Pokemon The 3rd Movie Spell of The Unown.)  The fact that I consider those two the best Lupin movies is possibly still dependent on me having not seen many, I recently saw Gold of Babylon which came no where near surpassing these, I may comment on it more in the future.  The biggest out of date detail is saying it's the only Miyazaki film I'd seen.  As you'd know if you're following this blog, I saw Nausuca and The Valley of the Wind at the start of June.

So, enjoy.

Number five is…. A tie between two Lupin III films, The Mystery of Mamo and The Castle of Cagliostro.  This will be the only tie on the list, but still it means I’m technically discussing 6 movies.  These are also the only Lupin films on the list, so they are also the best Lupin movies in my opinion.

My interest in Lupin III overlaps with my interest in the original Arsene Lupin and in French Pulp Fiction in general.  And now I shall reveal that these are not traditional objective consumer reviews, but my being analytical about why these films appeal to me.  

Both are perfectly stand alone stories.  But Mystery of Mamo may make a better entry point into the Lupin III mythos, since it was the first Lupin III movie and so definitely felt designed to be an entry point on many levels.  And Castle of Cagliostro has odd qualities that resulted in a fan theory that it may be the chronologically last Lupin III story.  

If you’re into the Lupin III saga mainly for Fujiko Mine then that would also make Mamo the preferred choice for you, she is very important to that story.  She is in Castle of Cagliostro, but is not the main love interest.  I do however quite like the fact that she never shows any jealousy towards Clarisse.

Mystery of Mamo’s other big advantage is having a more interesting main villain.  I can’t help but compare him to the character of Colonel Bozzo-Corona from Paul Feval’s Les Habits Noirs (The Blackcoats) series.  But that is probably just me.

Castle of Cagliostro is also currently the only Hayao Miyazaki film I’ve seen.  I have several of them on DVD but haven’t gotten around to watching them yet.

Castle of Cagliostro draws on specific classic Lupin stories more than most Lupin III stories do, a fact probably owed to how well read Miyazaki is.  The connections to La Comtesse de Cagliostro (available in English from BlackCoatPress as Arsene Lupin Vs Countess Cagliostro) are largely in name only.  The Lupin novel that fans of this movie really need to read, is unfortunately not easy to find legally in English.  It’s original French title which I’ll probably mispronounce is La Demoiselle aux yeux verts, the literal English translation of that title would be “The Damsel with The Green Eyes”, but the existing English translation is a volume titled Arsene Lupin Super Sleuth.  If you know Japanese or Korean it’s interestingly easier to find in those languages, if you know French it shouldn’t be a problem at all, everything LeBlanc directly wrote is Public Domain now.  The Clarisse of this film may be named after the Clarisse of the Cagliostro novel, but her personality and situation is more like the title character of the latter novel.  And there are other parallels too.

There is good reason this is often considered the best Lupin film, I might be the only person who thinks the Mamo film is equal to it.  It is a very well directed and beautifully drawn film.  It’s also been very influential in both Japan and the west.  The climactic final confrontation inside the top of a Clock Tower would be homaged in Disney’s The Great Mouse Detective, and in the first Clock King episode of Batman: The Animated Series.  I could have mentioned this in my The Mysteries of Gotham blog post, where I talked about how the roots of Batman directly or indirectly often go back to French Pulp Fiction.

The Force Awakens was inspired by Nausicaa of the Valley of The Wind

I just found this video on YouTube

And I can't believed I missed these parallels when I watched Nausicaa twice last month.

Some other vids on the subject.

The thing I need to say, even though I don't like sounding like a TFA hater.  Is that when I compare these movies, Nausicaa is way better to me, when I compare Lucas SW films to Flash Gordon or the Hidden Fortress, as good as they are I like Star Wars better.

Turns out there was a Homage back in Episode I also.

Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind

I've seen my second Miyazaki film now, and first Gibli film.

I watched the Dub, because I am an unapologetic Dub Scrub.  This Dub was dubbed by Disney so it doesn't have your typical Anime Dub cast.  Instead it has Patrick Stewart, always a treat, coincidentally I watched Logan on Thursday.

I just gave the movie a 10 out of 10 on MAL.

So during the scene where they explained the Prophecy of their expected Messiah the first thought I had about him being associated with the Color Blue was "kind of like Vishnu and his Avatars in Hinduism".  A few minutes latter I noticed "hmmm, our title character seems to be wearing Blue a lot".  Then I thought "why didn't that occur to me immediately, I'm a failure as a Feminist".

I was watching this movie because I was hoping for a Messianic Archetype with a female character type of story.  But I'm so used to being disappointed by stuff I hope will do well by it's female characters, that as soon as the people in the story assumed the Gender of their Messiah my brain got distracted for a little bit.

Now even if I watched a Sub I would probably have still needed to ask this.  But I'm wondering about the wording of the Prophecy, does the Japanese use more gender neutral pronouns here?

This movie has clearly been very influential.  It's influence on future Anime I'm sure has been talked about endlessly.  So I want to comment on other things.

First is Video Games.  I believe I'd seen this mentioned as an influence on the Final Fantasy franchise before.  The air ships, Talmecia rhymes with Palmecia, the environmental theme in general. There were even proto Chocobos. Since Breath of the Wild is still a current hot topic in Gaming, the Valley of The Wind itself looks kinda like a city visited in BotW.  And I'm pretty sure that little Fox like animal was a direct inspiration for Evee, a first generation Pokemon.

But what really took me by surprise, was when we finally saw the fully formed Giant Warrior.  First good look at it's face I went "The Anitmonitor, that's the Frakking Anti-Monitor, Marv Wolfman and Geroge Perez were while writing the single most historic Storyline in all of Western Comics, influenced by a Japanese Cartoon."  That is Awesome.

So, It's a movie I recommend.