[thechat] Next Anime Step?

[Erika Meyer]

Ron wrote:

>I have Princess Mononoke (Stunning), Spirited Away (Simply Outstanding),
>Kiki's Delivery Service (not up with the 1st two - but still pretty good fun),
>and Castle in the Sky (which I don't really care for very much).

of those above, I only have seen Kiki... I forget if you have kids 
(it sounds like you are asking for yourself rather than kids?)

  If you have kids, "My Neighbor Totoro" kicks ass, especially if 
you're into forest spirts that watch over children, stuff like that. 
This this wonderful cheshire-type cat that is also a bus... i think 
the animator is the same guy as Kiki and Mononoke....  of those 
movies you mentioned, which are not appropriate for children?

I would like that guy (what's his name?) to make a many many movies. 
Why don't we have animation with image and stories of that quality in 
the states?  Everything is so disneyfied here, yuck, blah.

anyway.

I like elements (minimalism, color, form) of traditional Japanese 
aesthetic but am no anime freak by any means... I also like the 
mystical element of traditional Japanese literature.

If you're inclined toward traditional literature I liked the 80's 
flick "Tale of Genji" based on the famous thousand year old novel by 
Lady Murasaki  (often considered to be the first novel ever written). 
The only version I've seen is subtitled.  Anyway, it's a classic 
novel and a bit relationship-drama (aka "chick") oriented, but there 
is action, too, for the guys, intense psychological stuff, ghosts, 
witches, things like that...  the animation is lovely and gives you a 
great visual of life in the courts of 11th century Japan.

Erika

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