The Studio Ghibli (JP) Discussion Thread

[Zen_Amako]

I thought Arietty was a lot better than Ponyo or Howl's Moving Castle. The story is a bit lightweight compared to Spirited Away or (especially) Princess Mononoke, but it's very entertaining and the characters are very likeable. The animation is, of course, gorgeous. This was an expensive import, but it was worth it.

[j_Diz]

Is ghibli going to be releasing Cagliostro as part of their collection ever? I know its not a ghibli film technically, but i'm not sure who owns the rights to it. They just added it to Netflix streaming and the video looks better than the dvd copy i saw while still having the proper opening credits sequence. They did squish it down to 2.35:1 ratio which isn't correct afaik though.

Also Has anyone seen the anime "Horus Prince of the Sun" or whatever its called by Isao Takahata? That was added to netflix streaming also.

[MJW]

Originally Posted by j_Diz

Is ghibli going to be releasing Cagliostro as part of their collection ever? I know its not a ghibli film technically, but i'm not sure who owns the rights to it. They just added it to Netflix streaming and the video looks better than the dvd copy i saw while still having the proper opening credits sequence. They did squish it down to 2.35:1 ratio which isn't correct afaik though.

Also Has anyone seen the anime "Horus Prince of the Sun" or whatever its called by Isao Takahata? That was added to netflix streaming also.

I'm not sure about Ghibli releasing it, but I'd like to see this title on Blu-ray in the US eventually. I have no idea who has North American distribution rights though! I was in contact with Manga UK on Twitter (Manga released the film on DVD in the US) and they told me to ask Optimum Films about it?

The Blu-ray release seems to be slowly making its way around the world; it was first released on BD in Japan on 12/3/08 and just the other day in France (6/22/11). Here's hoping it makes it to North America one day!

[manicsounds]

Originally Posted by j_Diz

Is ghibli going to be releasing Cagliostro as part of their collection ever? I know its not a ghibli film technically, but i'm not sure who owns the rights to it. They just added it to Netflix streaming and the video looks better than the dvd copy i saw while still having the proper opening credits sequence. They did squish it down to 2.35:1 ratio which isn't correct afaik though.

Also Has anyone seen the anime "Horus Prince of the Sun" or whatever its called by Isao Takahata? That was added to netflix streaming also.

I absolutely love Prince Of The Sun. An incredible piece of work. I have the UK DVD, under the title "Little Norse Prince", and although I think it would be great to have it in HD with additional extras, I don't see Toei releasing it anytime soon.

Cagliostro was released in Japan, but in 1080i and without extras. avoid.

[j_Diz]

So no one can comment on the French release of Cagliostro? I guess it was released this week, funny coincidence i guess. I assume its Region B.

[GC Riot]

Got my Arrietty today! Too bad that I work nights this week though, don't want to watch it in the morning, so I guess I'll have to wait for the weekend. Something to look forward to then though

[crystal_sun]

I don't think it was better than Ponyo. I love the soundtrack of Arrietty, but the ending was a HUGE disappointment in my opinion. Is there a part 2 coming out?

Originally Posted by backslashio

Acquiring this Borrower Arrietty movie now, I'm not waiting till 2012!

Hopefully its better than Ponyo which I found extremely disappointing. I wish Miyazaki would continue the slightly more mature attempts

[j_Diz]

Its too bad that Miyazaki's career has to end, but I too would love to see him go back to his roots. I've mentioned this countless other times, but I would love him to return to the world of Nausicaa. He already has multiple volumes worth of material that would make a fantastic, epic film, I'm sure. But I kind of would love it if he instead came up with a new story.

At the end of the final volume, it was made clear that Nausicaa's story remained unfinished. I would love to see the movie take place at the point when the world has fully regenerated but mankind is unable to survive because they did not adapt or evolve, their lungs need a modicum of the poisons in their air and Nausicaa made the choice to destroy everything in the shuwa crypts that would revive the race of humans that did not have the altered genome. It would be the perfect antithesis to the original's post-apocalyptic story, where now the world is perfect and beautiful and the people cannot survive there because it is too pure.

Edit: Of course this would imply that Nausicaa is dead because that was meant to take thousands of years right?

[Kalmi]

Originally Posted by Zen_Amako

I thought Arietty was a lot better than Ponyo or Howl's Moving Castle. The story is a bit lightweight compared to Spirited Away or (especially) Princess Mononoke, but it's very entertaining and the characters are very likeable. The animation is, of course, gorgeous. This was an expensive import, but it was worth it.

Just watched Arrietty last night and I have to agree with Zen Amako here.

VQ and AQ on this release is really something special... even if you compare it to Ponyo.

I thought the animation was best that i have encountered on any anime... really a feast for the eyes.

If you are thinking of pulling the trigger on this release... do it and you won't be disappointed.

[manicsounds]

The sound design of Arrietty is amazing. The heightened sounds of little things like the refrigerator hum or even the sound of 'emptiness' in the ears of the 'borrowers' is so well orchestrated, that it was quite an experience in the theater. Haven't watched to the disc yet, but I assume it is well replicated.

[stobbart]

I thought I would skip this release but it is getting such positive feedback on here I just may have to pull the trigger

[wesslan]

Gonna watch it this weekend, can't wait. Celebrate 4 weeks vacation

[toddly6666]

NEW YORK CITY members:
PM me if you want to know where the Arrietty blu-ray for is selling for $29! I know a store that is selling it in the city!

[manicsounds]

Originally Posted by toddly6666

NEW YORK CITY members:
PM me if you want to know where the Arrietty blu-ray for is selling for $29! I know a store that is selling it in the city!

Why not just say where it is here or in the bargain forum? Is it some shady place or something? $29 seems too low to be the real thing....

[wesslan]

Brand new movie for $29 when retail is over $82? Sounds indeed to good to be true.

[Sidewinder]

Those prices are just insane, 82$ for a damn Blu-ray? It isn't even a CE or anything. I'll wait for the UK release.

[wesslan]

Yes it's very expensive but the only way to get the movie this early. Always liked the japanese discs also since the quality is top notch. UK is a good middleground sometimes but some movies like Laputa tend to get DNR on UK discs and that I won't support.

[GC Riot]

Well, I have to say this really surprised me. The attention to detail and how Ghibli animate the smallest and what would seem like the most unneccessary of details is astonishing. It's a beautiful and touching film, the soundtrack is lovely and as has been mentioned, the sound mix is fantastic. They really nailed the feeling of how small and insignificant you'd have to feel being that small. I'd definitely give this my warmest of recommendations. Another homerun for the Ghibli library!

[Snowcrash]

Some of you could be interested to know that few french Bluray of Ghibli will be soon released in September 28th.
Unfortunetaly all of them won't get any english subtitles I guess. But this is not a bad deal for Nausicaa since you get it in US for few months now.

Click on the picture to got more details.
- Arrietty


Combo DVD + Blu-Ray


- Nausicaä


- Laputa


- Yamadas

[stobbart]

My copy of Whisper of the Heart shipped today from Yesasia.....I am so excited for this title