MIYAZAKI AND SPIRITED AWAY

The name Hayao Miyazaki is almost synonymous in many people’s minds with Japanese anime because of the many high-quality films that he and his Studio Ghibli have put out over the last few decades. (There is lots more anime than they have produced, but it’s not all as exemplary as theirs.) Revisiting some of his best films is always a rewarding experience, especially Spirited Away, for me.

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Thank You, Hayao Miyazaki

As we grow older, we are forced to accept the fact that those people who helped to form our childhood are also getting older. We are made to understand that being influential does not make one immortal, at least not in a literal sense. And so, thousands of people the world over are slowly coming to terms with the fact that Hayao Miyazaki is truly, truly retiring this time.

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Ooky Spooky Animanga Part V: The Japanese Fascination with Spirits

Every culture has its ghost stories. Here in the West, ours tend toward narratives depicting souls who died violent deaths and have returned to take revenge. Or perhaps we tell tales of those who have died too soon and only wish for eternal playmates. As I briefly mentioned in my post last week, the Japanese have a very rich and far-reaching pantheon of spooks. The majority of these ghosts and their stories grew out of the Edo period (1603-1867; thus why a show like Mononoke asserts itself as particularly Japanese horror), and ghost stories with a certain antiquated style to them, or an air of the past, are usually referred to as kaiden (mysterious or strange recited narrative), whereas more modern horror stories would simply be called hora (a Japanization of “horror”).

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Hayao Miyazaki and Epic Fantasy

Since taking on this blogging position, I have been struggling to find works that would appeal to the audience that Amazing Stories has, particularly those who are interested in fantasy.  I would categorize a large […]

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