Or, to give its full translated title: Kazuo Oga: Ghibli’s Image Artisan: The Art Who Made Totoro’s Forest. This is a 75-minute documentary focused on Kazuo Oga, who has worked since the mid-1980s as an art director and background painter for … Continue reading REVIEW: Kazuo Oga: Ghibli’s Image Artisan (2007)
One thousand years after a global catastrophe, small pockets of humanity live on the fringes of a massive toxic jungle. Nausicaä (Sumi Shimamoto) is a princess of the Valley of the Wind. Her lands are invaded by the warlike Tolmekians, who … Continue reading REVIEW: Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind (1984)
En route to her new home, Chihiro reluctantly follows her parents through a decrepit tunnel and to an abandoned amusement park. When her parents begin eating a mysterious buffet of food left out at a restaurant, they are magically transformed … Continue reading REVIEW: Spirited Away (2001)
Japanese animation turns 100 years old in 2017. The art form initially flourished in 1917, as animators including Oten Shimokawa and Seitarou Kitayama produced short comedic films that ran for only a few minutes each. While the vast majority of … Continue reading “Trees and people used to be good friends” | My Neighbor Totoro (1988)
