One of my many interests is anime. I've watched them since the days of Pokemon and Dragon Ball Z. However now days I prefer a more serious form of anime, along the lines of Elfen Lied. Serious, cerebral, and contreversial anime draws me in like a misquito to a bug light.
Recently, I watched a few anime movies. (Don't ask where I got them) Here's what I thought on the first:
Spirited Away
Directed by Hayao Miyazak
This movie is about a little girl who goes on a journey of self-discovery. It begins with her in the backseat of her parent's car. They are apparently moving to a new community. Her father is driving, and goes up to a mysterious tunnel. The little girl, Chihiro, is apprehensive as to what dangers might be in this tunnel. In a strange sequence of events, they all discover an old abandoned theme park. The two parents find a stand that has hot food and begin to eat viscously. Once again, Chihiro is apprehensive and does not eat with her parents.
From there, the story goes into an 'Alice in Wonderland' type journey. I won't give away anymore of the plot, but what I will say is that this was an excellent film, especially for the light-hearted humor and subliminal messages throughout.
The biggest problem with this anime is the same with Alice in Wonderland; it's hard to follow at certain points. It can be very frustrating to not be able understand what is going on, especially when you invest time to watch the movie. One other issue that I had was the music. The tunes in Spirited Away are sub-par at best. Perhaps I'm just use to masterpieces from anime's like Cowboy Bebop, but I digress.
This movie's strength is obviously the creative imagination of Hayao Miyazak. Some of the scenes were absolutely breathtaking in their beauty and originality. I only wish he could have figured out a way to meld this creativity into a more concise, understandable plot. Nonetheless, the movie is very interesting and easy on the eyes as far as picture goes.
Overall, this movie is about a 9/10. Those with open, imaginative minds will want to see this for sure. For children, I recommend 100%. If you are neither of those, give it a try anyway. You may be surprised.
*Up next, the review of the anime thriller "Akira".
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