Princess Mononoke (もののけ姫 / 幽靈公主

 Released Year: 1997

Directed by 宫崎駿 Hayao Hamazaki

Voiced by:

石田百合子 Yuriko Ishida as 小桑 San

松田洋治 Yōji Matsuda as 阿席達卡 Ashitaka

田中裕子 Yūko Tanaka as 黑帽大人 Lady Eboshi 

 Story: 

In Muromachi period Japan, an Emishi village is attacked by a demon. The last Emishi prince, Ashitaka, kills the demon before it reaches the village, but not before its corruption curses his right arm. The curse gives him superhuman fighting abilities, but will eventually kill him. The demon is revealed to be a boar god, Nago, corrupted by an iron ball lodged in his body. The village's wise woman tells Ashitaka that he may find a cure in the western lands Nago was exiled from.

Heading west, Ashitaka meets Jiko-bō, a wandering monk, who tells Ashitaka he may find help from the Great Forest Spirit, a Kirin-like creature by day and a giant "nightwalker" by night. Nearby, men are herding oxen to Irontown, led by Lady Eboshi, when they are attacked by a wolf clan led by the wolf goddess Moro. Riding one of the wolves is San, a human girl. Later, Ashitaka discovers two injured Irontown men, and sees San and her wolf clan; he greets them, but they ignore him and leave. He carries the injured men through the forest, where he encounters many kodama, and glimpses the Forest Spirit.

In Irontown, Ashitaka learns Eboshi has built the town by clear-cutting forests to reclaim ironsand and produce iron, leading to conflict with the forest gods. The town is a refuge for social outcasts, including former brothel workers and lepers, whom Eboshi employs to manufacture firearms to defend against the gods. Ashitaka also learns Eboshi is responsible for turning Nago into the demon. Eboshi explains that San, whom she calls Princess Mononoke, was raised by the wolves as one of their own, and deeply resents humankind.

San infiltrates Irontown to kill Eboshi, but Ashitaka intervenes, knocking them both unconscious. As he leaves the town carrying San, he is shot by a villager, and falls unconscious while heading for the forest. San awakens and is about to kill the dying Ashitaka, but hesitates when he tells her that she is beautiful. She takes him to the forest, and decides to trust him after the mighty Forest Spirit saves his life.

Meanwhile, a clan of boars led by the blind boar god Okkoto attack Irontown to save the forest. Eboshi prepares for battle and sets out to kill the Forest Spirit. Jiko-bō, revealed to be a mercenary, intends to give the god's head to the Emperor of Japan in return for protection from local daimyo lords; according to legend, the severed head of the Forest Spirit grants immortality.

In the battle, Okkoto is corrupted by gunshot wounds. Disguising themselves in boar skins, Jiko-bō's men trick the rampaging Okkoto into leading them to the Forest Spirit. San desperately tries to stop Okkoto, but is swept up in the corruption consuming his body. Moro attacks him and appeals to Ashitaka to use his love for San to save her. However, Ashitaka's infection is accelerated and San is also cursed by the corruption.

Eboshi beheads the Forest Spirit during its transformation into the nightwalker; corruption pours from its body, killing all life it touches as it searches for its head, which Jiko-bō has stolen. The forest begins to decay while kodama die. Moro, dying from injuries sustained in the battle, uses the last of her strength to bite off Eboshi's right arm. After bandaging Eboshi and convincing San to help him get the Forest Spirit's head back, Ashitaka and San follow Jiko-bō to Irontown, where they manage to return the god's head. Restored, the Forest Spirit falls into the lake, healing the land, and cures Ashitaka and San of the curse.

Despite telling Ashitaka how much he means to her, San decides to remain in the forest due to her resentment of humankind. Ashitaka will help rebuild Irontown, but tells San he will visit her in the forest. In gratitude for Ashitaka's efforts, Eboshi vows to rebuild a better town, and Jiko-bō decides to give up as he "can't win against fools." The forest begins to grow back.

 L² Scored: 7.5/10

L² Comment:

This is the epic animation of Hayao which has been the leading animation & movie in Japan until Spirited away & Titanic. Basically there is some moral behind the movie, it educated man to love and protect the forest as we have been doing too much damaging on it. As usual, a lot of weird thingy in this movie, but i enjoy watching it :)

Spirited Away 千と千尋の神隠し／せんとちひろのかみかくし

 Released Year: 2001

Directed by 宫崎駿 Hayao Miyazaki

Voiced by:
柊瑠美 Rumi Hiiragi as 荻野 千尋 Chihiro Ogino
入野自由 Miyu Irino as 饒速水琥珀主 Haku
夏木マリ Mari Natsuki as 湯婆婆 銭婆 &Yubaba & Zeniba

 Story:

 Ten-year-old Chihiro Ogino and her parents are traveling to their new home when her father takes a wrong turn. They unknowingly enter a magical world that Chihiro's father insists on exploring. While Chihiro's parents eat at an empty restaurant stall, Chihiro finds an exquisite bathhouse. She meets a young boy, Haku, who warns her to return across the river before sunset. However, Chihiro discovers too late that her parents have turned into pigs and she is unable to cross the flooded river, becoming trapped in the spirit world.

After finding Chihiro, Haku has her ask for a job from the bathhouse's boiler-man, Kamaji, a spider yōkai commanding the susuwatari. Kamaji and the worker Lin send Chihiro to the witch Yubaba, who runs the bathhouse. Yubaba gives Chihiro a job but renames her Sen. While visiting her parents' pigpen, Sen finds a goodbye card addressed to Chihiro and realizes that she has already forgotten her name. Haku warns her that Yubaba controls people by taking their names and that if she forgets hers like he has forgotten his, she will not be able to leave the spirit world. While working, Sen invites a silent masked creature named No-Face inside, believing him to be a customer. A 'stink spirit' arrives and is Sen's first customer. She discovers he is the spirit of a polluted river. In gratitude for cleaning him, he gives Sen a magic emetic dumpling. Meanwhile No-Face tempts a worker with gold, then swallows him. He demands food and begins tipping extensively. As the workers swarm him hoping to be tipped, he swallows yet another two greedy workers.

Sen discovers paper shikigami attacking a dragon and recognizes the dragon as Haku transformed. When a grievously-injured Haku crashes into Yubaba's penthouse, Sen follows him upstairs. When she reaches Haku, a shikigami that stowed away on her back transforms into Zeniba, Yubaba's twin sister. She transforms Yubaba's baby son Boh into a mouse, creates a decoy baby and turns Yubaba's bird creature into a tiny bird. Zeniba tells Sen that Haku has stolen a magic gold seal from her, and warns Sen that it carries a deadly curse. After Haku dives to the boiler room with Sen and Boh on his back, she feeds him part of the dumpling, causing him to vomit both the seal and a black slug, which Sen crushes with her foot.

With Haku unconscious, Sen resolves to return the seal and apologize for Haku. Before she leaves the bathhouse, Sen confronts No-Face, who is now massive, and feeds him the rest of the dumpling. Vomiting, No-Face chases Sen out of the bathhouse before returning to his normal size. Sen, No-Face and Boh travel to see Zeniba. Enraged at the damage caused by No-Face, Yubaba blames Sen for inviting him in and orders that her parents be slaughtered. After Haku reveals that Boh is missing, he promises to retrieve Boh in exchange for Yubaba freeing Sen and her parents.

Sen, No-Face and Boh arrive at Zeniba's house. Zeniba, now the benevolent "Granny," reveals that Sen's love for Haku broke her curse, and that Yubaba had used the black slug to control Haku. Haku appears in his dragon form and flies both Sen and Boh back to the bathhouse. No-Face unexpectedly shows itself as a very good spinner for Zeniba and accepts her proposal to stay as worker. On the way back, Sen recalls a memory from her youth in which she had fallen into the Kohaku River but was washed safely ashore. After correctly guessing that Haku is the spirit of the Kohaku River (and thus revealing his real name), Haku is completely freed from Yubaba's control. When they arrive at the bathhouse, Yubaba tells Sen that in order to break the curse on her parents, she must identify them from among a group of pigs. After Sen correctly states that none of the pigs are her parents, Sen is given back her real name Chihiro. Haku takes Chihiro to the now dry riverbed and vows to meet her again. Chihiro crosses the river and reunites with her restored parents, who do not remember what happened. They walk back to their car and drive off.

 L² Scored: 10/10

L² Comment: 

75th Academy Award Winner in Best Animation, Hayao Miyazaki has gone international with this film and even swipe the new record as the Best Selling Movie in Japan ever, beat down Titanic's record. Cool man~ this is the animation that no matter how many times u watch, u will still amaze on the storyline, the drawing and the idea of the whole thing. This is simply superb :) 

Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind 風の谷のナウシカ

Released Year: 1984

Directed by 宫崎駿 Hayao Miyazaki

Voiced by:

島本須美 Sumi Shimamoto & Alison Lohman as Nausicaä    
 松田洋治 Yōji Matsuda & Shia LaBeouf & 泰迪羅賓 Teddy Robin as Asbel     

 榊原良子 Yoshiko Sakakibara & Uma Thurman as Kushana    
納谷悟朗 Goro Naya & Patrick Stewart as Master Yupa    

Story:

One thousand years have passed since the Seven Days of Fire, an apocalyptic war that destroyed human civilization and gave birth to the vast Toxic Jungle, a forest swarming with giant mutant insects in which everything is lethal to humans. Scattered settlements exist wherever the Toxic Jungle relents. The Valley of the Wind is one such settlement. The Valley's settlers have a prophecy stating that a warrior "clad in blue and surrounded by fields of gold" will one day reunite man and nature.

Nausicaä, the agile, cheerful and peace-loving princess of the Valley of the Wind, has managed to befriend the Toxic Jungle. She explores the Jungle and communicates with its creatures, including the gigantic, armored trilobite-like creatures called Ohmu. She often travels on a compact jet-powered glider in order to find out about the origins of the Toxic Jungle, understand its nature, and even find a cure for both humans and the world.

One night, during a visit by the Valley's swordsmaster, Lord Yupa, a large fixed-wing cargo aircraft from the kingdom of Tolmekia crashes in the Valley. Nausicaä tries to rescue an onboard passenger, the wounded Princess Lastelle of Pejite, who pleads with Nausicaä to destroy the cargo before dying. The cargo is an embryo of a Giant Warrior, lethal genetically engineered bioweapons that caused the Seven Days of Fire. The invading Tolmekians seized the embryo and Lastelle. The Tolmekian plane, however, was attacked by mutant insects before it crashed. One of the insects then emerges unscathed from the wreckage and seems poised to attack the frightened villagers, but Nausicaä uses a small bullroarer to create a high-pitched tune that helps calm it and after mounting her jet-glider, guides the insect out of the village to safety.

The next morning, Tolmekian troops, led by Princess Kushana and Officer Kurotowa, subjugate the Valley and secure the Giant Warrior embryo, killing Nausicaä's sick father in the process. Kushana plans to mature the Giant Warrior and then use it to burn the Toxic Jungle, even though history warns of fatal consequences. Her father's death drives Nausicaä berserk and she kills several Tolmekian soldiers before the fight is halted by Yupa. Kushana announces her decision to leave for Pejite along with five hostages from the Valley and Nausicaä. Before they leave, Nausicaä's master discovers her secret garden of jungle plants. According to Nausicaä, plants that grow in clean soil and water are not toxic. The jungle's soil, however, has long been tainted by man.

Kushana and her detachment never reach their destination, as an agile Pejite interceptor obliterates the entire Tolmekian wing before being shot down. Nausicaä, her fellow hostages and Kushana crash-land in the jungle, disturbing several Ohmu, which Nausicaä soothes. She then leaves to rescue Asbel, the Pejite pilot and the twin brother of Lastelle, but both are swallowed by quicksand and end up in a non-toxic world below the jungle. Nausicaä realizes that the jungle plants purify the polluted topsoil, producing clean water that remains hidden underground.

Nausicaä and Asbel return to Pejite, only to find it ravaged by the insects. Pejite survivors, boarding a single plane, reveal that they lured the creatures to eradicate the Tolmekians and are doing the same in the Valley to recapture the Giant Warrior. To prevent any intervention, they take Nausicaä captive, knocking Asbel out in the process. Later, with the help of Asbel and his mother, Nausicaä flees on a glider. While flying home, Nausicaä finds a team of Pejites using a wounded baby Ohmu to lead scores of enraged Ohmu into the Valley. Tolmekians deploy tanks and later the Giant Warrior against the herd to no avail: tanks prove too weak and the Giant Warrior, hatched ahead of time, soon disintegrates.

Nausicaä liberates the baby Ohmu and gains its trust; in the process, her pink dress becomes stained by the Ohmu's blue blood, turning completely blue. Both land in front of the herd, but are run over. The herd, however, calms down, and the Ohmu use their golden tentacles to heal Nausicaä's wounded body. Nausicaä awakens and starts to dance on top of the hundreds of glowing golden tentacles. Thus Nausicaä, "clad in blue, surrounded by the fields of gold" fulfills the prophecy. The Ohmu and Tolmekians leave the Valley afterwards, while the surviving Pejites remain with the Valley people, helping them rebuild. Meanwhile, a tree is beginning to grow underground, meaning that the planet is beginning to heal.

L² Scored: 7.5/10

L² Comment:

After 5 years of directing his very first animation, Hayao Miyazaki used his comics which he has been Posted in the comic magazine at that time. The animation movie gone a big hit and won a lot of applause. For me, the movie definitely has a sense of education to teach human beings of stop polluting our own earth and stop war. Storyline kinda special but of coz a few parts are a bit boring though...

The Castle of Cagliostro 魯邦三世‧卡里奧斯特羅城 ルパン三世 カリオストロの城

 Released Year: 1979

Directed by 宫崎駿 Hayao Miyazaki

Voiced by:

  山田康雄 Yasuo Yamada as 魯邦三世 Arsène Lupin III
島本須美 Sumi Shimamoto as 克蕾莉絲 Lady Clarisse d'Cagliostro
小林清志 Kiyoshi Kobayashi as 次元大介 Daisuke Jigen

 Story:

In Monaco, gentleman thief Arsène Lupin III and Daisuke Jigen rob a casino and flee in a Fiat 500, only to discover that their entire haul is counterfeit. Lupin recognizes the distinctively high quality counterfeit bills from his early days as a thief when he was almost killed while searching for their source. He decides to seek out the source again, and the two head off to the rumored source of the bills, the Grand Duchy of Cagliostro.

Shortly after arriving, they rescue a young girl being pursued by a gang of thugs, with her and Lupin falling off a cliff while escaping. Lupin is knocked unconscious, and the girl captured, but she leaves him a distinctive signet ring. Lupin later discovers that the girl, Clarisse, is the princess of Cagliostro and is to be married to the Count, the country's regent. The Count wants to cement his power and recover the fabled ancient treasure of Cagliostro, for which he needs both his ancestral ring and the princess's.

After narrowly escaping a group of the Count's elite assassins, Lupin calls on Goemon Ishikawa XIII to help him and Jigen in their new quest to rescue the princess. He also tips off his longtime pursuer, Inspector Koichi Zenigata, to his whereabouts to provide a distraction. Zenigata's presence and a party give Lupin enough cover to sneak into the castle. There he finds his former lover, Fujiko Mine, posing as Clarisse's lady-in-waiting and she tells him where the princess is being held. Lupin makes his way to Clarisse, returns her ring, and promises to help her to escape. Before he can act, the Count ambushes them with his assassins and Lupin is dropped down a trapdoor into the bowels of the castle.

The returned ring turns out to be a fake, left by Lupin as a practical joke as part of his plan to be delivered into the area he wants to investigate. Infuriated, the Count flushes him deeper into the cellars, which are full of the bodies of spies killed while trying to learn the secrets of Cagliostro and the counterfeit bills. While down there, Lupin bumps into Zenigata, who was accidentally dropped down earlier. The two form a pact to help each other escape, which they accomplish by overpowering the assassins sent to recover the ring.

Their escape leads them to a room full of printing presses—the source of the counterfeits. Zenigata wants to collect evidence, but Lupin points out they must escape the castle first. They start a fire as a distraction and steal the Count's autogyro. However, as they attempt to rescue Clarisse, Lupin is shot. Clarisse offers the ring to the Count in exchange for Lupin's life. After securing the ring, the Count's attempt at betrayal is foiled when Fujiko's quick actions allow her, Lupin, and Zenigata to flee. While Lupin is convalescing, Zenigata tries to convince his superiors at Interpol to prosecute the Count for counterfeiting, but fearing political repercussions, they halt the investigation and remove him from the case. Meanwhile, despite his wounds, Lupin vows to stop the wedding and rescue the princess. Fujiko tips off Lupin on a way to sneak into the castle, and makes a plan with Zenigata to publicly reveal the counterfeiting operation under cover of pursuing Lupin.

The wedding appears to go as planned with a drugged Clarisse until Lupin's "ghost" disrupts the ceremony. The Count calls his guards, but Lupin makes off with Clarisse and both her and the Count's rings. Meanwhile, Zenigata and his squadron arrive in the chaos and the detective leads Fujiko, posing as a television reporter, to the Count's counterfeiting facility to expose the operation to the world. Lupin and Clarisse flee the Count, the chase ending on the face of the castle's clock tower. Lupin is forced to surrender the rings to save Clarisse, and they are both knocked into the lake surrounding the tower. The Count uses the rings to reveal the secret of Cagliostro, but is crushed to death by the mechanism as it moves to unveil the treasure.

Lupin and Clarisse watch as the lake around the castle drains to reveal exquisite ancient Roman ruins—the true treasure of Cagliostro. Lupin and his friends leave Clarisse as Zenigata chases after them again and Fujiko makes off with the plates from the counterfeit printing presses.

 L² Scored: 10/10

L² Comment: 

Being the first ever animation for Hayao Miyazaki's directorial debut, this movie has won a lots of applause and chances for Hayao in the name of becoming the master of animation in Japan. The whole movie is just perfect, and seriously the drawing and the looks of Lupin III really attracted me... Kinda feel like he's the man of everybody's dream~ lol

The whole movie does not has any part that make u yawn, the climax keeps on coming... just like you are having a damn good fuck which arouse you non stop for the whole 100 minutes of this movie :)

Kiki's Delivery Service 魔女の宅急便

 Released Year: 1989

Directed by 宫崎駿 Hayao Miyazaki

Voiced by:

高山南 Minami Takayama & Kirsten Dunst as  琪琪 Kiki
佐久間玲 Rei Sakuma as 吉吉 Jiji
三浦浩一 Keiko Toda as 歐其諾 Osono 

 Story:

Kiki is a 13-year-old witch-in-training living in a village where her mother is the resident herbalist. Traditionally, witches live a year alone when they reach the age of 13. One night, Kiki takes off for the big city with her best friend Jiji, a loquacious black cat.

Kiki settles in Koriko, a port city. After a hard start, mostly because of her own insecurity, Kiki makes friends and finds a place to stay. However, she discovers that her only skill as a witch is her ability to fly on a broom, at which she is still not fully proficient. To support herself, she begins a delivery service at Gütiokipänja Bakery, a bakery owned by Osono and her husband Fukuo.

During her time in Koriko, Kiki experiences setbacks, and she must contend with adolescent worries. She is pursued by Tombo, a local boy crazy about aviation who has developed a genuine respect for her flying power and a strong liking for Kiki as a girl in general. Kiki eventually warms up to him, but after a brief encounter with Tombo's friends, some of whom she had met earlier under unfavorable circumstances, Kiki loses her powers to fly and speak with Jiji, devastating her. However, one of her friends, a young painter named Ursula, invites her to stay in her forest cottage, where she analyzes Kiki's current crisis as "some form of artist's block." Since many things had not gone as hoped for, Kiki is experiencing such a period, which resulted in the loss of her powers; but if she finds a new purpose, she will be able to reclaim what she has lost.

Heartened, Kiki returns to the city. While visiting one of her customers, she witnesses an dirigible accident on the television. A strong and sudden gust of wind blows in the area. Tombo is lifted into the air and blown away hanging from the dirigible. Kiki pushes herself to regain her flying ability and uses a street-sweeper's push broom. Kiki is able to regain her power and rescue Tombo.

Kiki becomes comfortably part of the life in Koriko as its own local celebrity and flying in formation with Tombo on his human-powered aircraft, a propeller-rigged bicycle. Kiki sends a letter to her parents about gaining confidence through difficulties and that she has decided to make Koriko her new home.

L² Scored: 8/10

L² Comment:

Love this animation of Hayao, the idea of a witch going around to gain experience is something like Harry Potter, i wonder whether Harry Potter copy this storyline or not? As this animation has won multiples awards for Best Animation in USA & Europe countries...

My Neighbor Totoro 龍貓 となりのトトロ

 Released Year: 1988

Directed by 宫崎駿 Hayao Miyazaki

Voiced by:

日高範子Noriko Hidaka & Dakota Fanning  as 草壁皋月Satsuki Kusakabe    
坂本千夏 Chika Sakamoto as 草壁梅 Mei Kusakabe   
糸井重里 Shigesato Itoi as 草壁達郎 Tatsuo Kusakabe   

 Story:

In 1958 Japan, university professor Tatsuo Kusukabe and his two daughters, Satsuki and Mei move into an old house to be closer to the hospital where their mother Yasuko is recovering from a long-term illness. Satsuki and Mei find that the house is inhabited by tiny animated dust creatures called susuwatari—small, dark, dust-like house spirits seen when moving from light to dark places. When the girls become comfortable in their new house and laugh with their father, the soot spirits (called "black soots" in early subtitles and "soot sprites" in the later English dubbed version) leave the house to drift away on the wind. It is implied that they are going to find another empty house--their natural habitat.

One day, Mei sees two white, rabbit-like ears in the grass and follows the ears under the house. She discovers two small magical creatures (chibi or "dwarf" totoro and chu or "medium" totoro), who lead her through a briar patch and into the hollow of a large camphor tree. She meets and befriends a larger version of the same kind of spirit (ō or "large" totoro), which identifies itself by a series of roars that she interprets as "Totoro" (in the original version, this stems from Mei's mispronunciation of the word for "troll").[3] She falls asleep atop the large totoro, but when Satsuki finds her, she is on the ground in a dense briar clearing. Despite her many attempts, Mei is unable to show her family Totoro's tree. Her father comforts her by telling her that this is the "keeper of the forest," and that Totoro will reveal himself when he wants to.

One rainy night, the girls are waiting for their father's bus and grow worried when he does not arrive on the bus they expect him on. As they wait, Mei eventually falls asleep on Satsuki's back and Totoro appears beside them, allowing Satsuki to see him for the first time. He only has a leaf on his head for protection against the rain, so Satsuki offers him the umbrella she had taken along for her father. Totoro is delighted at both the shelter and the sounds made upon it by falling raindrops. In return, he gives her a bundle of nuts and seeds. A bus-shaped giant cat halts at the stop, and Totoro boards it, taking the umbrella. Shortly after, their father’s bus arrives.

The girls plant the seeds. A few days later, they awaken at midnight to find Totoro and his two miniature colleagues engaged in a ceremonial dance around the planted nuts and seeds. The girls join in, whereupon the seeds sprout, and then grow and combine into an enormous tree. Totoro takes his colleagues and the girls for a ride on a magical flying top. In the morning, the tree is gone, but the seeds have indeed sprouted.

The girls find out that a planned visit by Yasuko has to be postponed because of a setback in her treatment. Having reached the age where she fully understands the concept of death, Satsuki takes this seriously. She angrily yells at Mei and stomps off. Thinking that her mother can be cured by healthy food, Mei walks to the hospital with an ear of corn.

Mei's disappearance prompts Satsuki and the neighbors to search for her. Eventually, Satsuki returns in desperation to the camphor tree and pleads for Totoro's help. Delighted to be of assistance, he summons the Catbus, which carries her to where the lost Mei sits. Having rescued her, the Catbus then whisks her and Satsuki over the countryside to see their mother in the hospital. The girls perch in a tree outside of the hospital, overhearing a conversation between their parents and discovering that she has been kept in hospital by a minor cold and is otherwise doing well. They secretly leave the ear of corn on the windowsill, where it is discovered by the parents, and return home on the Catbus. When the Catbus departs, it disappears from the girls' sight.

In the end credits, Mei and Satsuki's mother return home, and the sisters play with other children, with Totoro and his friends as unseen observers.

 L² Scored: 8/10

L² Comment:

Released in the same year as "Graveyard of the firefly", Totoro also brought a big fortune for the production team in that year. I only watched it once before many years ago, not really enjoy the storyline when i was small coz i found it quite dull. But rewatching it, i found it quite meaningful and touching.

But out of my surprise, i read an article regarding this animation. Totoro is actually represent "God of Death" in Japan?!? People who saw the totoro will die. As the both sister saw totoro, does it means they already dead? A few suspected scene which i think Hayao has told out about this:-

1. Younger sister's sandal was found at the pond, does it mean she has drown?

2. Elder sister cried and beg totoro to look for her younger sister, because she was lost. Is it because her soul lost her way back?

3. At the scene outside of the hospital, the 2 sisters are so near their mother and they wanted to see her so much. But why they never appear while left the corn on the window quietly and suddenly?

Findings said that, the hospital mentioned in this animation really exist! And its for those patient who has suffer the cancer in final stage. And after the sisters saw totoro, both of their shadows never exist anymore... how true is it? i don't remember, but i feel kinda spooky if Hayao really hide this kind of meaning in it. And this is actually based on a true legend which both of this sister has been killed at that place during that time...

Porco Rosso 紅の豚

 Released Year: 1992

Directed by 宫崎駿 Hayao Miyazaki

Voiced by:

森山周一郎 Shuichiro Moriyama as 波魯克 Porco Rosso

岡村明美 Akemi Okamura as 菲兒 Fio Piccolo
加藤登紀子 Tokiko Kato as 吉娜 Madame Gina
大塚明夫 Donald Curtis as 卡地士 Akio Ōtsuka

 Story:

The film, set in the Adriatic Sea in the interwar period, begins with the titular character Porco Rosso, a veteran WWI fighter ace and freelance bounty hunter, responding to an alert over an attack on a ferry liner by airborne pirates. Having successfully defeated the pirates, the so-called Mamma Aiuto gang, Porco retires to the Hotel Adriano, which is run by his long-time friend Gina.

At the restaurant of the hotel, which is frequented by pilots all over the Adriatic, the heads of the pirate gangs are introduced to Curtis, an arrogant and ambitious American ace who has a contract to assist them. Within time Curtis falls in love with Gina but is frustrated to see that she has affections over Porco. After successfully executing a pirating mission Curtis tracks down Porco, who is flying to Milan to have his plane improved, and shoots him down, claiming to have killed him. Porco actually survives, but all but the fuselage of his plane has been destroyed. Porco continues his mission to Milan, much to the irritation of Gina (in Italy he is a wanted criminal for deserting the air force).

Porco arrives discreetly in Milan to meet Piccolo, his mechanic. He is surprised to find that Piccolo's sons have emigrated to find work elsewhere, and much of the engineering is done by his granddaughter Fio. Porco is initially skeptical of Fio's abilities as a mechanic, but after seeing her dedication in the project to repair his plane he accepts her as a competent engineer, and begins to recognize her as a genius. With no males to assist in the project, Piccolo calls up an all-female team to repair the plane. When Porco's plane is finished, he is unexpectedly joined by Fio on his flight home, with the justification that if the secret police (who have been discreetly observing them) arrest the team, they can say that Porco forced them to help and took Fio as a hostage. Porco reluctantly agrees, and the two hurriedly leave Milan. Stopping off to refuel on the way, Porco discovers that the new Fascist government are beginning to hire seaplane pirates for their own use, thus putting him out of business.

Upon returning home, Porco and Fio are ambushed by the pirates, who threaten to kill Porco and destroy his plane. Fio successfully talks them out of it, but Curtis appears and challenges Porco to a final duel. Fio impulsively makes a deal with him declaring that if Porco wins, Curtis must pay off his debts owed the Piccolo's company, and if Curtis wins, he may marry her. Porco is irritated at Fio for making such a deal, but he forgives her and shows confidence in winning.

That night, at Fio's request Porco tells a story recalling an event in WWI, when he was still a human, where his entire squadron apart from himself was shot down in a dogfight with Austro-Hungarian aircraft. He recalls blacking out and awakening to find himself in complete stillness, with a white band hovering in the distant sky. Enemy aircraft fly past towards the band but ignore him. He sees his friend Berlini, Gina's then-husband, and calls him back but is ignored. Porco soon sees that the band is in fact thousands of planes flying together. Porco blacks out again and recovers skimming above the sea. When he awakes he discovers that he has been turned into a pig, believing this to be a divine punishment for fleeing the fight.

The next day, the duel is arranged and a large crowd gathers on an island to observe. With the attendants betting heavily on the outcome, the contest begins. After an indecisive dogfight between Porco and Curtis, which soon dissolves into a bare fist boxing match, Gina appears to stop the fight and to warn the crowd that the Italian air force has been alerted and are on their way. Porco barely manages to win the fight upon her arrival, and hands Fio over to her, requesting Gina to look after her. With the crowd gone, Porco and Curtis agree to delay the air force together. Meanwhile, Fio becomes president of Piccolo, which is now an aircraft manufacturer, Curtis becomes a famous actor, the pirates continue to attend the Hotel Adriano, and it is suggested that Porco proposes to Gina.

  L² Scored: 9.5/10

L² Comment:

Another one of my favorite Hayao's movie again :) The idea of the curse to turn a person into a pig is funny, and he can be accepted in the human world at that period is more weird... but well, this is an animation anyway, of course its not logic... The storyline is good, love it very very much~ :)

Porn Poko 百變狸貓 平成狸合戦ぽんぽこ

 Released Year: 1994

Directed by 高畑勳 Takahata Isao

Voiced by: 

野野村真 Norihei Miki 正吉 Seizaemon
石田百合子 Makoto Nonomura as 小清 Shoukichi
小林盛夫Gonta as 鶴龜和尚 Shigeru Izumiya
清川虹子 Nijiko Kiyokawa as 火球婆婆 Fireball Oroku

 Story:

The story begins in late 1960s Japan. A group of tanuki is threatened by a gigantic suburban development project called New Tama, in the Tama Hills on the outskirts of Tokyo. The development is cutting into their forest habitat and dividing their land. The story resumes in early 1990s Japan, during the early years of the Heisei era. With limited living space and food decreasing every year, the tanuki begin fighting among themselves for the diminishing resources, but at the urging of the matriarch Oroku ("Old Fireball"), they decide to unify to stop the development.

Several tanuki lead the resistance, including the aggressive chief Gonta, the old guru Seizaemon, the wise-woman Oroku, and the young and resourceful Shoukichi. Using their illusion skills (which they must re-learn after having forgotten them), they stage a number of diversions including industrial sabotage. These attacks injure and even kill people, frightening construction workers into quitting, but more workers immediately replace them. In desperation, the tanuki send out messengers to seek help from various legendary elders from other regions.

After several years, one of the messengers returns bringing a trio of elders from the distant island of Shikoku, where development is not a problem and the tanuki are still worshipped. In an effort at re-establishing respect for the supernatural, the group stages a massive "ghost parade" to make the humans think the town is haunted. The strain of the massive illusion kills one of the elders, and the effort seems wasted when the owner of a nearby theme park takes credit for the parade, claiming it was a publicity stunt.

With this setback, the unity of the tanuki finally fails and they break up into smaller groups, each following a different strategy. One group led by Gonta takes the route of eco-terrorism, holding off workers until they are wiped out in a pitched battle with the police. Another group desperately attempts to gain media attention through television appearances to plead their case against the habitat's destruction. One of the elders becomes senile and starts a Buddhist dancing cult among the tanuki who are unable to transform, eventually sailing away with them in a ship that takes them to their deaths, while the other elder investigates joining the human world as the last of the transforming kitsune (foxes) have already done.

When all else fails, in a last act of defiance, the remaining tanuki stage a grand illusion, temporarily transforming the urbanized land back into its pristine state to remind everyone of what has been lost. Finally, their strength exhausted, the tanuki most trained in illusion follow the example of the kitsune: They blend into human society one by one, abandoning those who cannot transform. While the media appeal comes too late to stop the construction, the public responds sympathetically to the tanuki, pushing the developers to set aside some areas as parks. However, the parks are too small to accommodate all the non-transforming tanuki. Some try to survive there, dodging traffic to rummage through human scraps for food, while others disperse farther out to the countryside to compete with the tanuki who are already there.

In a touching coda, one day, Shoukichi, who also joined the human world, is coming home from work when he sees a non-transformed tanuki leaping into a gap in a wall. Shoukichi crawls into the gap and follows the path, which leads to a grassy clearing where some of his former companions are gathering. He joyfully transforms back into a tanuki to join them. In an emotional final scene, Shoukichi's friend, Ponkichi addresses the viewer, asking humans to be more considerate of tanuki and other animals less endowed with transformation skills, and not to destroy their living space; as the view pulls out and away, their surroundings are revealed as a golf course within a suburban sprawl.

 L² Scored: 9/10

L² Comment:

One of the Hayao's production that i like, it hit the first place in Japan blockbuster in the year of 1994. Love the flexible of those poko to transform themselves into anything they want. Of course i'm not sure poko can transform, but i definitely know fox can. In the older day of China & Japan, Fox is believe to be a devil creature who can transform into any form. But of course if Fox is the main character in here, it might be too simple and not special enough like the poko.

I have watched this movie for a few times, and i still love it a lot :)

Ponyo 崖上的波妞 崖の上のポニョ

 Released Year: 2008

Directed by 宫崎駿 Hayao Miyazaki

Voiced by:

奈良柚莉愛 Yuria Nara as 波妞 Ponyo
土井洋輝 Hiroki Doi as 宗介 Sōsuke
山口智子 Tomoko Yamaguchi as 理莎 Lisa
所喬治 George Tokoro as 藤本 Fujimoto

 Story:

Brunhilde is a fish-girl who lives with her father Fujimoto, a once-human wizard who now lives underwater, and her numerous smaller sisters. One day, while she and her siblings are on an outing with their father in his four-flippered submarine, Brunhilde is driven by a desire to see even more of the world and floats away on the back of a jellyfish. After an encounter with a fishing trawler (which is being used to clean up the trash-strewn bottom of the harbour), she ends up stuck in a bottle. She drifts to the shore of a small fishing town and is found and rescued by a small boy named Sōsuke. He cuts his finger in the process, but Brunhilde licks his wound when he picks her up, and the wound heals almost instantly. After taking a great liking to her, Sōsuke renames her Ponyo and promises to protect her forever. Meanwhile, a distraught Fujimoto is searching frantically for his daughter. Because of his own bad memories of the human world, he believes that Sōsuke has kidnapped her, and he calls his wave spirits to recover her. After the wave spirits take Ponyo away, Sōsuke is heartbroken and goes home with his mother, Lisa, who tries to cheer him up, to no avail.

Ponyo and Fujimoto have a confrontation, during which Ponyo refuses to let her father call her by her birthname, "Brunhilde". She declares her name to be Ponyo and voices her desire to become human, because she has started to fall in love with Sōsuke. Suddenly she starts to grow legs and turn into a human, a power granted to her by the human blood she ingested when she licked Sōsuke's finger. Her father turns her back with difficulty and goes to summon Ponyo's mother, Granmamare. Meanwhile, Ponyo, with the help of her sisters, breaks away from her father and uses his magic to make herself fully human. The huge amount of magic that she inadvertently releases into the ocean causes an imbalance in the world, resulting in a huge tsunami. Running pell-mell over the waves of the storm, Ponyo goes back to visit Sōsuke, who is amazed but overjoyed to see her. Lisa is equally amazed, but takes Ponyo's transformation in stride. Lisa, Sōsuke, and Ponyo wait out the storm at Sōsuke's house, where Ponyo learns of some of the things in the human world. Worried about the residents of the nursing home where she works, Lisa leaves to check up on them, promising Sōsuke that she will return as soon as possible.

Granmamare arrives at Fujimoto's submarine. On her way there, Sōsuke's father sees and recognizes her as the Goddess of Mercy. Fujimoto notices the moon appears to be falling out of its orbit and satellites are falling like shooting stars, symptoms of the dangerous imbalance of nature that now exists. Granmamare declares that if Sōsuke can pass a test, Ponyo can live as a human and the world order will be restored. A still-worried Fujimoto reminds her that if Sōsuke fails the test, Ponyo will turn into sea foam.

Sōsuke and Ponyo wake up to find that most of the land around the house has been covered by the ocean. Since it is impossible for Lisa to come home, the two children decide to find her. With the help of Ponyo's magic, they make Sōsuke's toy boat life-size and set out across the ocean.

Over the course of their journey, they see prehistoric fish swimming beneath them, and encounter several other evacuees in boats. After landing and finding Lisa's empty car, Ponyo and Sōsuke head into a tunnel. There Ponyo loses her human form and reverts into a fish from using too much of her magical power to help Sōsuke and others along the way. Meanwhile, Lisa and the residents of the nursing home are below the surface, but have been temporarily given the power to breathe underwater. Sōsuke and Ponyo encounter Fujimoto, but Sōsuke doesn't trust him and attempts to flee. However, Fujimoto captures them and takes them down to the protected nursing home. Sōsuke is reunited with Lisa and meets Granmamare, with whom Lisa has just had a long private conversation. Granmamare asks Sōsuke if he can love Ponyo whether she is a fish or human. Sōsuke replies that he "loves all the Ponyos." Granmamare then tells her daughter that if she chooses to become human once and for all, she will have to give up her magical powers. Ponyo agrees to this, so Granmamare encases her in a bubble and gives her to Sōsuke, and tells him that kissing the bubble will complete Ponyo's transformation. The balance of nature is then restored, and the previously stranded ships head back to port, including Sōsuke's father's. Ponyo jumps high in the air and kisses Sōsuke, transforming back into a human.

  L² Scored: 10/10

L² Comment:

I never know this is one of Hayao's production until i watch this. This is so nice, i love it, the fantasy the magic... its so cool & Ponyo's mother is like a huge mermaid in the ocean~ :) The special feeling/relationship between Ponyo & Sosuke attracts me a lot... its not really love, but Ponyo changed her whole life to be with Sosuke, that's something which i'm looking forward to.... will i ever have this kind of feeling?