Favorite Miyazaki Movie

Favorite Miyazaki Movie

  • Castle of Cagliostro

    Votes: 1 10.0%
  • Nausicaa of the Valley of the Winds

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Laptua: Castle in the Sky

    Votes: 1 10.0%
  • Kiki's Delivery Service

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Princess Mononoke

    Votes: 5 50.0%
  • Porco Rosso

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Spirited Away

    Votes: 1 10.0%
  • Howl's Moving Castle

    Votes: 1 10.0%
  • My Neighbor Totoro

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Whisper of the Heart

    Votes: 1 10.0%

  • Total voters
    10
R

Razilin

Guest
Original poster
"In order to grow your audience, you must betray their expectations."

-Hayao Miyazaki



"...And that's why he won the Oscar."

-Adult Swim



This man is the only reason why I still watch anime after the last four years of disappointment. So, which title's the one that betrayed your expectations and why?


For me, Princess Monoke.

Ashitaka is like a younger, archery-prone version of Gregory Peck. Hear me out: He's an incredible badass, but he never brags about it. He doesn't even fight all that much. He acts with integrity and purpose, always seeking the path of peace. He's also the wisest Miyazaki character so far (argument for Nausicaa taking that, but if she's so brilliant at botany, I'd argue she's more of an intellectual than a wise archetype). He's soft spoken, polite, competent. He's warrior, diplomat, and messiah all in one. Save the messiah part, that pretty much describes Atticus Finch: he's the deadest shot in Maycomb but never brags about it. He is a peaceful man who listens to all sides of the story, much like Ashitaka. He ends confrontations with that sexy Gregory Peck scowl. So yeah, Ashitaka is my favorite of the Miyazaki heroes.

The titular Princess Mononoke. This is what Pocohontas should have been, though I was very surprised how the normally anti-violent Miyazaki made such a firebrand for a heroine. I have to admit, out of the gallery of Miyazaki heroines, she's not the highest on my list. I still think Nausicaa is the iconic one of the bunch and an argument could be made that Ashitaka and San are basically Nausicaa split in two (the peacekeeper and the environmentalist; hell, Ashitaka's got Nausicaa's color scheme and San's powerset of being the equivalent of a D&D ranger).

When it comes down to it, I just like a good old adventure tale over slice of life. Though when it comes to slice of life, Kiki takes the whole damn cake: she's just such a sweet, responsible, mature kid. I really hope my kids end up even half as good and not-headache-inducing as that.
 
I liked Monoke but he could have dome more with the demon arm thing. Howl's the ending bitchslaps you out of nowhere and leaves you feeling cheated. Well it did me anyway.

Only other one I've seen is spirited away which was generally weird but still good to watch.
 
Howl's Moving Castle should not be NAMED Howl's Moving Castle, because it's not an adaption of the book, but rather it borrowed ideas from it and made a TOTALLY DIFFERENT STORY.

So that's why Vay feels cheated. XD The ending of the movie was totally WTF. READ THE BOOK! (Diana's #1 Favorite Book EVER.)


Anyway! Miyazaki's movies are always hit and miss with me. Some of them I really love, and some bored me to tears. Like, Totoro seems to be a favorite for everyone, but I hated that movied. x__x Very boring.


MY favorites are Whisper of the Heart, The Cat Returns, and Porco Rosso. XD
 
I like most of his works...IT'S ALL STEAMPUNK AND AIRSHIP STUFF. Porco Rosso is one of my favs though. I don't think I can really say which is my overall fave, though Ponyo probably would be the top.
 
I simply adore Sen to Chihiro no Kamikakushi. It had a lot of interesting magical elements and was gorgeous to look at. Yubaba made a really cool villain and it wasn't as outright freaky as Princess Mononoke, but really it's a rare thing for me to dislike a Miyazaki film. I voted Spirited Away but Laputa was a very close second.
 
Porco Rosso, Mononoke, and Nausicaa for me. <3
I love the planes and airships in Porco Rosso and Nausicaa, but nothing compares with the grim-dark of Mononoke.
 
Mononoke-Hime is my favourite, too.

And, I'm with Vayder on doing more with the demon curse thing the boy had. I was sad that we didn't get to see what happened with that.
 
I was torn between Nausicaa and Princess Mononoke - seeing all the votes Princess Mononoke got I'm rather disappointed in myself for not clicking Nausicaa.
 
I rewatched the dub versions of Whisper of the Heart and Castle in the Sky.

So Castle: I knew that Mark Hamill was voicing Muska, but it didn't really hit me until I realized on this re-watch....he's using his fucking Joker voice! The just made all of Muska's scenes with Sheeta so much more...squicky. Its the freaking Joker, minus that iconic laugh. But oh man, it was like rape-voice meets rape-face.

Whisper of the Heart: My favorite country song ever (ie, real country, none of that modern pop jive), and I liked both the John Denver and Olivia Newton John versions. Not so much the Japanese version in the credits, but yeah, I was totally singing along to Take Me Home Country Roads in the opening.
 
I liked the Nausicaa of the Valley of the Winds manga better than I did the movie. Both are written by Miyazaki but it feels that the manga had more thought put into it and is much darker. While the same themes are presented in the Princess Mononoke film the manga is bad ass and depressing at times.
 
Nausicaa. For the moment when she discovers her father is dead and goes berserk on some people's asses. Totally caught me off guard.