Sunday, July 27, 2008

New Miyazaki Film

I finally got to watch the new Miyazaki (Studio Ghibli) movie (it opened last Sat., Jul. 19th) today! Gake no Ue no Ponyo (a.k.a. Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea) is a "Little Mermaid" type story that begins with a 5-year old boy named Sousuke rescuing a magical sea creature stuck in a bottle. He thinks she's a goldfish at first, but when the cut (obtained rescuing her from the bottle) that she licked is magically healed, he correctly guesses that she is a magical creature and names her "Ponyo." Ponyo immediately takes a liking to Sousuke and decides to use magic to take the form of a human to be with him. Her father, however, objects and tries to bring her back.

It was a cute and enjoyable movie, but I found it lacking the depth of other Miyazaki films (Nausicaa, Laputa, Mononoke Hime, etc.).

Still, I'm glad I went to see it, especially since it gave me the chance to hang out with Tomabechi-sensei and Higashi-sensei (from Kirita JHS). We all met at Shimoda Jusco for dinner and then watched the movie together. ^_^