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Miyazaki's Howl's Moving Castle


eriku

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Maybe I've been in the dark, but this is the first trailer I've seen for Miyazaki's latest film, Howl's Moving Castle. Can't wait to see the fansub! B))

http://www.tzone.org/~llin/clips/Howl_NTV_clip2.mpg

Shorter clip here:

http://www.tzone.org/~llin/clips/Howl_NTV_clip.mpg

In other Miyazaki news, the next three R1 Ghibli DVDs, although delayed a few times, are now set for release on February 22. There has been a change in the linup, though, and poor Totoro has been replaced by The Cat Returns. So on February 22nd next year I'm going to be writing out a big ol' check for:

Nausicaa

Porco Rosso

The Cat Returns

At $29.99 each it's going to take a nice bite out of my wallet. Well worth it though.

Edited by eriku
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Its weird that miyazaki has changed his usual style of young-female-protagonist into...urmmm....old-female-protagonist.

Interesting.

Actually....

::::::::::SPOILER::::::::::: (To some)

The protagonist, Zofi, is a young girl (18 I think) who gets a curse put on her that turns her into an 'old woman'. She then sets off to lift the curse and thus begins the film. B))

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Wasn't there almost a year between the Japanese and US releases of Mononoke and Spirited Away? Maybe with this one they now realise how well Miyazaki films do over here and will release it sooner. Doesn't it seem like the US studio could have been doing their English dub at the same time it was going through post-production in Japan?

Either way, we're sure to see a fansub of it before an official release. B))

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  • 6 months later...

Yeah...the movie got release early this year in Japan and arrived in Hong Kong over the Easter holidays :rolleyes:

I went and saw it and I must say it is quite good, perhaps not my favourite Miyazaki work but heard others saying that it is much better than his last movie, Spirited Away!

Anyways, just my two cents but nevertheless it was an enjoyable two hours :)

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Yeah...the movie got release early this year in Japan and arrived in Hong Kong over the Easter holidays :rolleyes:

I missed it when it was shown in HK, but I'm guessing it was probably dubbed into Cantonese with no English subtitles (as usual for Japanese cartoons in HK), so not much point in me watching it as my Cantonese is extremely basic. Just gonna have to wait for the inevitable US DVD in about 5 years time :( .

Graham

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Guest Bromgrev

The Cat Returns has just opened in cinemas in the UK, not that I'll be going to see it. I bought the Ghibli Collection DVD a few years back, and it's not that great. I expect it will be a long wait for the Moving Castle to get its UK release, as usual ... :angry:

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i would also recommend this movie. saw it a few months ago and was totally entertained. i also finally went to visit the ghibi museum in mitaka. that was so much fun too.

oh, zofi = sophie

Never been inside, but I've been up to the entrance. You have to book tickets in advance, so I'll probably never get the chance to go.

No loss, though. I've already been inside the replica Catbus that they have in Nagasaki (outside Glover Park) so that's enough for me. ;)

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Opens here in Minneapolis on Friday. I saw Spirited Away here on opening night and was surprised at how many Ghibli fans there were. People applauded the Ghibli logo (Totoro) at the beginning just like Star Wars fans applaud the Lucasfilms logo. Friday is going to take forever to get here.

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Thanks for the info, Grand Cannon. I will probably watch it at Kendall Sq.

BTW, Graham, I believe the HK version DVD's of Studio Ghibli films usually contain English subtitles, so no need to wait for US version.

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The Cat Returns has just opened in cinemas in the UK, not that I'll be going to see it. I bought the Ghibli Collection DVD a few years back, and it's not that great. I expect it will be a long wait for the Moving Castle to get its UK release, as usual ... :angry:

They should just bury The Cat Returns. I think it has negative value to the studio's overall goodwill.

Stamen: Where/How can I see Howl's Moving Castle? The dub will hit Bay Area Landmark theaters soon. They only say the sub is set for Seattle at the moment but I expect that to change. I mean, that wretched Steamboy showed in SF and San Jose in dub, so Howl's shouldn't have any trouble.

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Stamen: Where/How can I see Howl's Moving Castle? The dub will hit Bay Area Landmark theaters soon. They only say the sub is set for Seattle at the moment but I expect that to change. I mean, that wretched Steamboy showed in SF and San Jose in dub, so Howl's shouldn't have any trouble.

I saw that page but I couldn't make heads or tails of the information presented to me. Now I see. Thanks.

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Just saw the movie tonight. Have mixed feelings about it.

What I like:

Like any other Miyazaki's films, the visuals were as usual stunning, and the attention to details was, in my opinion, better than that of Pixar (the secret garden was absolutely beautiful). Call me old-fashioned, I still prefer traditionally hand-drawn animation. I think the character design of the heroes/heroines were also more mainstream this time around. There was a sense of wonderment throughout the entire film. I was definitely not bored.

What I don't like:

The first half of the film was interesting, but the plot got murky in the second half. I'm sure Miyazaki had a message that the film tried to get across, but in the midst of all the things going on, the message somehow got lost.

That being said, I still highly recommend the film to all Miyazaki fans. It's not your typical Japanese anime that deals with overdone themes such as artificial intelligence trying to take over the world. There were no clear villains, and best of all, it featured an 80 year old lady as your heroine.

If the next Macross series features an 80 year old Minmay, would you watch it? :D

Edited by Ivan
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Is it me, or does Howl's Moving Castle seem like a retelling (in its own way) of Baba Yaga and her magical hut? Or at least it appears to have elements of the Baba Yaga myth, minus the fact that Baba Yaga was a cast-iron b*tch.

Interestingly enough, I saw a lot of comparisons of Sen to Chihiro to Baba Yaga.

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Saw it on Tuesday and loved, loved, loved it! It's been a while since I've watched Nausicaa, Porco Rosso and Mononoke, but I think Howl's might be my second favorite Miyazaki film right behind Totoro. I need to get me one of those cute Calcifer plushies now. :lol:

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I'm gonna try and see this one in the theathers but I don't know just yet. It was nice that I actually saw a trailer on TV about it though! Gives me hope that a local showing will happen.

Oh and Baba Yaga is a Russian myth/folk tale, but is also found in the eastern parts of Europe.

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Despite that it wasn't mentioned on any websites, even local websites, Howl's Moving Castle was playing at a local art theatre. The Girlfriend and I woke up early today and went out to catch it.

Really, it's rare that you walk into a movie with high expectations and find them exceeded. I've heard complaints about the story becoming murky, but I really don't find this to be the case, myself. If anything, the story remains focused on the main characters, and does not let itself become distracted by less important matters to the story. However, it is true that this movie has a more complex story than your typical Disney fare, with their clear cut heroes with few to no flaws, and their villains with no redeeming characteristics.

If this isn't my favourite Ghibli movie, then it at least ranks highly.

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Out of curiosity, has anyone's theaters been showing the original Japanese dub of the film? I remember when Spirited Away came out there were some theaters showing it with the original dub. I'd love to see it in the theater with the Japanese audio rather than waiting for the DVD.

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