Pom Poko
Synopsis:
In modern Japan, Tokyo is expanding and considerably reducing animals' habitats, including those of the tanuki (raccoon-like creatures). What humanity doesn't know, though, is that tanuki are intelligent creatures, that can talk and even walk on two legs with the power of transformations! To secure their survival, the two combating tanuki clans join forces against mankind in a war they dub 'Pom Poko'! Humans are a difficult adversary, though... can the tanuki open mankind's eyes to the beauty of nature, before their homes are replaced by yet another suburb?
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My Neighbor Totoro
Alt titles: Tonari no Totoro
- Movie
- 1988
Satsuki, her younger sister Mei and their father have just moved to their new home in the countryside, where grand adventures await them. One day while playing outside in the garden Mei encounters a small creature and decides to follow it. After chasing it through the bushes Mei eventually finds herself at the base of a large Camphor tree and as she drops through a hole in its roots, she lands on the stomach of a large, sleeping forest spirit named Totoro. The two sisters befriend the gentle spirit and are soon introduced to a world more fantastical than they could ever imagine, from playing with soot spirits to meeting a Catbus, to flying through the air and even making the trees grow. However when Mei disappears, Satsuki must call on the help of her new friends if she wants any hope of being able to find her sister...
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3 people think you'd like this because...
add recBoth Pom Poko and Totoro show a sad lesson about how the creatures of the old world (with gods, miracles and magic) leave this world, little by little, because of population growth. None of the grown up humans believe in ancient gods; only pure souls like children can see them and once more believe in them. Sadly they don't have the power to stop the urban development, and when they will grow up they will think about the magic they believed was only a result of a child's imagination.
My Neighbor Totoro and Pom Poko are very similar in many ways; they are both based in nature, involve super sweet animals and creatures and magic, and are about creature and human interactions.
Two very enchanting journeys await the viewers of these films. Leave behind everyday life with all its hustle and bustle, building, working and other concerns, and enter the magical worlds that exist just outside the perception of the human mind. Whether you choose to meet the Tanuki, the magical and very intelligent creatures from Pom Poko, or the Totoro and Catbus from My Neighbor Tototro, you are about to discover that magic and fantasy still exist even in our modern human world.
On first meeting them, you might not know whether to be afraid of these charactes or in awe of them. Yet it soon becomes apparent that these creatures are of good heart and will use their powers in the pursuit of what is right. However, it is not all happiness and fun, as both stories have a more serious side to them - Pom Poko with the building of housing on the Tanuki's spiritual lands, and Totoro with the concerns and worries of moving home, being without a mother, and having to take care of each other as a family. In order to save the day, both Totoro and the Tanuki will have to conjure up something a little special.
Princess Mononoke
Alt titles: Mononoke Hime
- Movie
- 1997
With the rise of the Iron Age in feudal Japan, man and nature grow increasingly at odds. As mankind infringes more and more into the kingdom of the beasts, many of the elder animal gods begin to succumb to their rage, cursing themselves as they lash out at rural and urban settlements alike. When a young Ashitaka, hero of his village, is imparted with one of these curses after slaying a crazed god, he forces himself into exile to prevent further harm to his village. As he ventures out into the world, however, he discovers just how dire the straights have become - with man and beast ready to break into all out war, his curse becomes the least of his problems. As both sides teeter dangerously on the side of outright slaughter of one another, Ashitaka sets his own problems aside and, using his charisma and honor, seeks to quell the hatred before it gets beyond repair - but will he be in time or is he simply delaying the inevitable?
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add recIt's not just that both movies from Studio Ghibli, but both also focus heavily on the message that we should be careful with our environment. Both anime also make heavy use of mystical animals and spirits. Both deal with the actual fight of the animals vs the humans who are destroying their homes.
In Princess Mononoke the humans play a direct role. In Pom Poko the view is fully from the mystical animals' perspective, and humans do not really have a pivotal role (other then being the ones invading and destroying their homes).
The raccoons in Pom Poko and the ancient creatures in Princess Mononoke try as hard as they can, in their own ways, to fight the humans who are slowly invading their lands. Both stories are a bit sad and thoughtful and both focus on the hope that the old world full of nature powers won't be lost.
Grave of the Fireflies
Alt titles: Hotaru no Haka
- Movie
- 1988
With their father serving overseas in the Navy towards the end of the World War 2, Seita and his younger sister Setsuko are living as normally as they can. One day during a firebomb raid on the city their mother suffers fatal wounds and the two siblings' lives are turned upside down as they go to live with a relative. After suffering the cruel treatment of their aunt, who makes it clear that their very presence is a nuisance, Seita and Setsuko decide to leave and go to live in an abandoned bomb shelter. With no one else to rely on, Seita and Setsuko try their hardest to live from day to day. Though when food becomes ever more scarce and no one is willing to sell what little provisions they have, life for the pair is increasingly difficult. Then when Setsuko falls ill, Seita begins to realize just how fragile life is...
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add recFrom power struggles to trying to live, every action we take has a direct effect on everthing and everyone around us. To some, it goes unnoticed; but to those effected, its devistating. Both view that aspect of reality through two differnt scenarios and two differnt styles. Thier situations might be differnt but thier pain is the same.
Porco Rosso
Alt titles: Kurenai no Buta
- Movie
- 1992
Sometimes those who hate themselves are those doomed to survive where others fall. In the case of Porco Rosso, it manifests as being cursed to resemble a pig. In the air he is unmatched though, and in the face of fascism he spits most contemtuosly. Perhaps his humanity can be redeemed, or perhaps not, one would have to watch, would they not?
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add recWithdrawn from human life, perhaps shocking in appearance to those that see them, both the Tanuki of Pom Poko and Porco Rosso must rise to the challenge for a most noble cause. A fearsome and dangerous enemy has risen against our heroes of both stories, and so they must quickly overcome any feelings of shyness and use their intelligence and immense heart to win through and protect those things most precious to them.
Some beautiful and spectacular scenery is on offer in both films, from sweeping views of islands and seas to lush forests and busy cityscapes, yet they all have in common a depth of color and vibrancy that will fill up your screen. As the films progress, the initially unusual and perhaps repulsive main characters slowly open themselves up to those around them, and become to us much more loveable characters than you would have earlier thought they ever could have been. Yet still, the world of man will struggle to accept the feelings, wishes or rights of these unusual creatures. In the end, daring and courage are required if our heroes are to be triumphant.
Legend of the Forest
- Movie
- 1988
Set to Tchaikovsky's Fourth Symphony, Legend of the Forest is a voiceless tale of human encroachment into the forests and its furry and feathered inhabitants. With only a chainsaw, one man will destroy families and lives for his own selfish gain, and the citizens of the forest will never be the same. Join the varied cast of birds, trees, squirrels, gnomes and fairy folk as they struggle to survive in their dying homeland...
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add recPompoko and Mori no Densetsu are very similar, as in both of them, forests are destroyed and animals take the initiative to save their territory by their own means. In Pompoko, this takes the shape of Japanese folklore and fantastic abilities, whereas in Mori, the story stays more realistic.
