Ponyo

"Ponyo" is not my favorite film made by Studio Ghibli, but saying that is like saying, "It's not my favorite of this group of BEST MOVIES EVAR."

Sosuke is a boy who is sometimes more mature than his mother. He doesn't cry when his father stays out working for a few days, and at the age of five, he already knows how to signal complete sentences on a beacon light to passing ships.

Ponyo is a goldfish who wants to be a human. Her presence in each scene gives the audience representations of pure joy, pure love, and pure confidence. I wish I could be like Ponyo!

The movie is basically a retelling of Hans Christian Andersen's "The Little Mermaid."

( Spoilers! )

I guess my main critique of the movie is that the plot moves a bit slowly, but I happen to like watching scenes in Ghibli films that simply show the characters functioning in their houses, or quietly sharing a meal.

In conclusion....go support quality anime movies being played in American theaters! Ponyo made a good showing this weekend, but you can help it! I think that this is the most widely-released anime film in the U.S. in terms of how many theaters it's playing in.

And if any of you are looking for good entry points for anime, I highly recommend beginning with films made by Studio Ghibli (Spirited Away, Howl's Moving Castle, Princess Mononoke, Whisper of the Heart, Porco Rosso, Kiki's Delivery Service, etc.)

Linkspam

Jim Doyle will not seek a third term.
I think everyone who reads my blog is aware of my political leanings, despite the fact that people who are actually affiliated with my party refused to hire me because at one point, I was an unpaid intern for the other party. I'm pretty much over that (except that I still think those people are stupid), and I still don't regret what I did, because I've never been a fan of Doyle. I basically agree with everything in the RPW's press release.
No matter how it relates to me, this gubernatorial race is going to be a shit show.

A blogger calls for more manga by Ai Yazawa to be licensed in English, and I can't agree more!

For anyone looking for the best Terminator fanvid ever, watch this one, which debuted at VividCon a couple of days ago.

An interesting post about an East/West difference in expressing emotions through the face in comics. In manga, the eyes are used to express emotion, whereas in U.S. comics, it's the mouth. The article even points out the difference in emoticons used on the Internet, with American teenagers using :) and :( while Asian teenagers use ^_^ and ;_;

In disturbing historical notes, a link via badgerbag: Rosemary Kennedy's Lobotomy. If you don't believe the blog, check Wikipedia! That shit is for real.


OMF, the SyFy SciFi Channel is going to air the anime version of Naoki Urasaw's Monster. Link! SUCH A GOOD PLOT. PLEASE WATCH IT, MONDAY NIGHTS.*

*Hopefully the dub is good, and hopefully SciFi won't edit it down so they can insert 10 minutes of commercials per 30 minute programming slot, and I'm not 100% sure why the SciFi Channel chose Monster, as it is not actually science fiction, BUT I'LL TAKE IT.