Tag: arrietty

A whole lotta Ghibli goin’ on

Not shown: The part where Ponyo says she likes haaaaam. (Why yes, we used this same joke with Wilma's Ponyo review in 2012. We're all about the running gags here.)
Sosuke and Ponyo prepare for their magical boat ride. (Photo courtesy Nibariki-GNDHDDT)

Remember all those times I’ve said in the past few years that [INSERT MONTH/YEAR HERE] is going to be the best month ever for theatrical anime being screened locally? First of all, congratulations, you have a very good memory. Second, you may now forget I ever said that before, because April 2016 is claiming that title of best month ever now and forever.

The reason: Starting Saturday and running through May 5, for every day except Fridays (gotta make that new-release box office bank, after all!), Consolidated’s theaters across Oahu and their Kaahumanu complex in Kahului will be home to the Studio Ghibli Festival, screening every major Studio Ghibli film ever made. That’s everything from 1984’s Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind, Hayao Miyazaki’s pre-Ghibli feature that led to the creation of the studio, through 2014’s When Marnie Was There, plus the live-action Kingdom of Dreams and Madness documentary for good measure. That’s 22 good-to-great movies and Tales From Earthsea — which was kind of a disappointment for me — over roughly a month.

… yeah, I’ll just leave this meme here.

take my money meme

Most of the films will be screened two or three times each over the month, with English-dubbed and English-subtitled versions available. The more popular films — Howl’s Moving Castle, Kiki’s Delivery Service, My Neighbor Totoro and Spirited Away — will be shown four times each.

But the real rarity in the group is Ocean Waves (Umi ga Kikoeru), the 1993 made-for-TV movie that is the only major Ghibli project never to see wide release in the U.S. now that GKids finally picked up Only Yesterday. The film’s rights belong to Disney, which kinda has bigger fish to promote, so we probably won’t be seeing that in wide release any time soon, either. Ocean Waves will be shown exactly once — mark your calendars for 7 p.m. Thursday, April 14, and set your GPSes for the Koolau 10 complex, across from the Valley of the Temples cemetery in Windward Oahu.

Breaking down the numbers further, the big winner in terms of number of screenings is the Kapolei 16 complex, which will be showing 15 out of the 23 movies available, all of them subtitled. The Koolau, Mililani 14 and Pearlridge 16 theaters come in tied for second with 10 apiece, in both subbed and dubbed flavors at the first two and all subbed at Pearlridge.

Here’s the full screening schedule organized by theater, with GhibliWiki links in case you’d like to learn more about each movie. (Trust me, if I had to write 23 synopses and attach 23 trailers like I usually do with these previews, this post would have been posted sometime in February 2022.) Prefer to see what’s on deck chronologically? Here’s Consolidated’s “coming soon” list. Tickets, at $10 each, are available now on Fandango (except for the April 30 Kahala screening of The Wind Rises for some weird reason). Sorry, no passes are being accepted.

Kahala 8

All films dubbed; screenings at 11 a.m. Saturdays.

Castle in the Sky: April 2

Kiki’s Delivery Service: April 9

Spirited Away: April 16

Howl’s Moving Castle: April 23

The Wind Rises: April 30 (note: ticket sales not available yet)

Kapolei 16

All films subbed; screenings at 7 p.m. Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays.

Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind: April 4

Castle in the Sky: April 5

My Neighbor Totoro: April 7

Kiki’s Delivery Service: April 11

Only Yesterday: April 12

Pom Poko: April 14

Whisper of the Heart: April 18

Princess Mononoke: April 19

The Cat Returns: April 21

Tales From Earthsea: April 25

Ponyo: April 26

From Up on Poppy Hill: April 28

The Wind Rises: May 2

Kingdom of Dreams and Madness: May 3

When Marnie Was There: May 5

Koko Marina 8

All films dubbed; screenings at 11 a.m. Sundays.

My Neighbor Totoro: April 3

Whisper of the Heart: April 10

Secret World of Arrietty: April 24

Tale of the Princess Kaguya: May 1

Koolau 10

11 a.m. Sunday screenings dubbed; 7 p.m. Thursday screenings subbed.

Porco Rosso: April 3, 11 a.m.

Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind: April 7, 7 p.m.

Pom Poko: April 10, 11 a.m.

Ocean Waves: April 14, 7 p.m.

The Cat Returns: April 17, 11 a.m.

Princess Mononoke: April 21, 7 p.m.

Tales From Earthsea: April 24, 11 a.m.

Ponyo: April 28, 7 p.m.

When Marnie Was There: May 1, 11 a.m.

Tale of the Princess Kaguya: May 5, 7 p.m.

Mililani 14

11 a.m. Saturday screenings dubbed; 7 p.m. Wednesday screenings subbed.

Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind: April 2, 11 a.m.

Castle in the Sky: April 6, 7 p.m.

Only Yesterday: April 9, 11 a.m.

Whisper of the Heart: April 13, 7 p.m.

My Neighbors the Yamadas: April 16, 11 a.m.

Tales from Earthsea: April 20, 7 p.m.

Ponyo, April 23, 11 a.m.

Howl’s Moving Castle: April 27, 7 p.m.

From Up on Poppy Hill: April 30, 11 a.m.

Kingdom of Dreams and Madness: May 4, 7 p.m.

Pearlridge 16

All films subbed; screenings at 7 p.m. Tuesdays and Wednesdays.

My Neighbor Totoro: April 5

Grave of the Fireflies: April 6

Kiki’s Delivery Service: April 12

Porco Rosso: April 13

Spirited Away: April 19

My Neighbors the Yamadas: April 20

From Up on Poppy Hill, April 26

Secret World of Arrietty: April 27

The Wind Rises: May 3

Tale of the Princess Kaguya: May 4

Ward Stadium

All films subbed; screenings at 7 p.m. Mondays.

Grave of the Fireflies: April 4

Only Yesterday: April 11

Spirited Away: April 18

Howl’s Moving Castle: April 25

When Marnie Was There: May 2

Kaahumanu (Maui)

11 a.m. Saturday screenings dubbed; 7 p.m. Thursday screenings subbed.

My Neighbor Totoro: April 2, 11 a.m., April 7, 7 p.m.

Kiki’s Delivery Service: April 9, 11 a.m., April 14, 7 p.m.

Princess Mononoke: April 16, 11 a.m., April 21, 7 p.m.

Spirited Away: April 23, 11 a.m., April 28, 7 p.m.

Howl’s Moving Castle: April 30, 11 a.m., May 5, 7 p.m.

Elsewhere around town

Aiea Library Polar Bear Cafe & Friends Anime Club: Every month, I joke with young adult librarian Diane Masaki that she ought to change the name of the Anime Club to the Polar Bear Cafe & Friends Club, seeing as how the screening schedule for the past few months has consistently been two episodes of the 2012-2013 anime followed by two more episodes of something else. (April’s “friends” are the ship-gals of KanColle.) The response this time around: Crisis! Diane’s approaching the end of the Polar Bear run! And there aren’t very many KanColle episodes left, either! What will the club screen next? And what will be the next running gag for this item?!? At the library, 99-374 Pohai Place, where, yes, there’s still plenty of parking. For more information or to RSVP, call 483-7333 or email aiealibraryanimeclub@yahoo.com. 3 p.m. Saturday.

Sanrio Ala Moana Anniversary Party: Head out to Ala Moana Center and take pictures (or selfies, if you’re alone) with a giant Hello Kitty mascot character and also enjoy: Special product promotions! Free face painting and Hello Kitty hat with any purchase! And a special gift with any $75 purchase! 11 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturday.

Comic Jam Hawaii: This group of collaborative cartoon artists meets every first and third Sunday of the month at Pearlridge Center; check their Facebook page for where in the mall they’ll be meeting. Visit www.facebook.com/groups/ComicJamHawaii (Facebook login required). Next meeting: 1 to 4 p.m. Sunday.

The Cel Shaded Report, 3/9: Fantasy fulfilled

hexxp-logo2012 is shaping up to be quite the year for local fans of the Final Fantasy video game franchise. The latest game in the series, Final Fantasy XIII-2, recently arrived in stores. Yoshitaka Amano, who’s contributed character designs and artwork to the franchise over the years, will be a major part of Kawaii Kon next week.

Today, the other pop-culture convention in town, the Hawaii Entertainment Expo (HEXXP), is showing its hand for the first time regarding what’s up for this year’s show. There are now official dates — Sat., Oct. 20 and Sun., Oct. 21 — and a venue — the Aloha Tower Marketplace Waterfront. They’re teaming up with Babel Entertainment and Houston-based anime convention Oni-Con to bring in their first official guest of honor, and it’s a doozy of an announcement — longtime Final Fantasy composer Nobuo Uematsu.

Chances are that if you’ve remember any music selections from that long-running series, Uematsu had a hand in creating it. The signature prelude? He did that. The victory theme? Yeah, that, too. Can’t forget that chocobo theme, either. Then there are the signature songs — “Terra’s Theme” and “Maria & Draco” from Final Fantasy VI, “Liberi Fatali” from Final Fantasy VIII and “At Zanarkand” from Final Fantasy X, just to name a few. And, of course, the one that gets everyone cheering at a concert, the theme song of the long silver-haired bad boy Sephiroth himself, “One-Winged Angel” from Final Fantasy VII.

Uematsu will be joined on this trip by his band, the Earthbound Papas. The Papas, which formed soon after Uematsu’s previous group, the Black Mages, disbanded in 2010, continues the tradition of performing rock arrangements of Uematsu’s songs. Their first album, the nine-track Octave Theory, was released almost a year ago and is available on iTunes (or, if you prefer good old-fashioned physical media, CDJapan). Yes, there is a version of “One-Winged Angel” on it, but there are also arrangements of some of the work Uematsu’s done since leaving Square and Final Fantasy behind, including the Xbox 360 games Blue Dragon and Lost Odyssey. The Earthbound Papas will be in concert Oct. 21.

Lynleigh SatoAlso emerging from the HEXXP camp are initial details about the Masquerade, the event’s showcase cosplay contest. Judging the Masquerade will be Lynleigh Sato, co-founder and president of Sweet Rococo, a one-stop online custom design boutique for fans of Lolita fashion. Sato was a member of the U.S. team at the World Cosplay Summit in 2005 and currently serves as a WCS industry judge and U.S. team assistant organizer. And if entering cosplay contests aren’t your thing, perhaps the “Multiverse Human Chess” event, in which you can dress up and take part in a life-sized game of chess, will be more your style.

Further details are sure to arrive in coming weeks, but for now: Single-day general-admission passes (for ages 13 and up) for Oct. 20 will cost $25; for Oct. 21, the pass costs $40 and includes the Uematsu concert. Two-day passes are available for $55 and will have some added perks to be announced. For children, the costs are $7.50, $15 and $20.

There also will be a $100 VIP pass, limited to 25 people, that will give purchasers priority admission to various events, access to a special seating area for the concert that will include a private bar and soda station, and admission to the maid cafe. Since there will be an attendance cap, you’ll want to get your passes, whatever they may be, as soon as possible.

Visit www.hexxp.com for further details or to register.

The shrinking world of ‘Arrietty’

Time’s running out to see The Secret World of Arrietty, now the fourth-biggest-grossing anime film in the U.S. of all time. I’m busy preparing for Kawaii Kon so no time for a promo photo this week. But you’ll notice that we’ve already lost the Regal theaters and the theater in Kailua-Kona, and the remaining theaters have cut back on their screenings. If you want to see Arrietty in theaters, you’ll probably want to make time this week:

Kaahumanu (Maui): 10:25 a.m. and 12:35 p.m.

Kahala: 10:45 a.m. and 1 p.m.

Kapolei:11 a.m. (daily except Sunday); 1:10 and 3:20 p.m.

Mililani: 11:20 a.m.

Pearlridge:10:35 a.m.; 12:50 and 3:05 p.m.

Ward: 10:45 a.m.

Anime around town

MangaBento: This group of anime- and manga-inspired artists meets from 1 to 4 p.m. Sunday at the Academy Art Center, 1111 Victoria St., Room 200. Visit www.manga-bento.com.

“Ponyo” off a cliff

ponyo_posterWith Studio Ghibli’s latest film to be released in America, The Secret World of Arrietty, breaking box-office records for Ghibli films, I’m reminded of director Hayao Miyazaki’s 2009 film, Ponyo, Ghibli’s former top-grossing champion.

Being that Miyazaki is a perennial favorite of mine and my fiance, we had eagerly attended the early preview screening of Ponyo in Ward Theaters with high hopes. Afterward, however, we came out feeling, “…Huh?”

Admittedly, we went in with absolutely no knowledge of anything about the movie aside from the fact that it was done by Miyazaki and that its original English name when advertised in Japan was “Ponyo on a Cliff by the Sea.” The house lights went black, the familiar Totoro logo of Studio Ghibli came up, and then … we seemed to stray into some other world — a fantasy world, granted, but it was something that decidedly was not Miyazaki.

For those who don’t know the storyline, Ponyo is about a boy named Sosuke who discovers a strange ocean creature whom he names Ponyo, who has the body of a fish but the head of girl. Ponyo in her ocean homeland was always a curious girl, which is how she ended up stranded ashore to be found by Sosuke. After coming into contact with humans, Ponyo longs to be one of them, but her wizard father, Fujimoto, refuses to let her go. The clash between father and daughter eventually causes the oceans to swallow the land and threatens to destroy Sosuke’s world, and Fujimoto is forced to give in — and risk having his daughter learn of the pain of rejection, unless Sosuke can pass a test that Ponyo’s mother, the goddess of mercy, crafts for him.

Sosuke and Ponyo. (Photo courtesy Nibariki-GNDHDDT)
Sosuke and Ponyo prepare for their magical boat ride. (Photo courtesy Nibariki-GNDHDDT)

The opening scenes used a simplistic animation that I would expect of a PBS toddler’s cartoon. The bright multitude of colors used to illustrate the fanciful undersea creatures gave even more credence to this impression.

Once we hit land, it seemed the old Miyazaki was back, with carefully detailed homes and cliffs and landscapes similar to another of his films, Kiki’s Delivery Service — but for only a moment. Then again we reverted back, and again the animation was very different from his previous films, with many of the backgrounds seemingly done with colored pencils, creating a soft, ethereal atmosphere that nevertheless seemed far less magical than the more solid scenery that normally dominates his films.

The one thing that did remain throughout was Miyazaki’s penchant for realistic movements and his attention to the small things that people do. The way Sosuke carefully crawled under the gate, making sure not to drop the bucket holding Ponyo; the way Sosuke’s mom Lisa unlocked the house door and hauled in the groceries after her; the way Fujimoto carefully protected and poured the life-giving elixirs — they weren’t the movements of everyday cartoon characters given motion by an animator bent merely on making them do one thing as fast as possible as smoothly as possible, but rather by a master artist skilled at depicting the many actions that one simple maneuver by a human often requires.

Sosuke's dad, Koichi, is often busy at sea and can't visit his wife and son as much as he'd like. (Courtesy Nibariki-GNDHDDT)
Sosuke's dad, Koichi, is often busy at sea and can't visit his wife and son as much as he'd like. (Courtesy Nibariki-GNDHDDT)

Still, in many ways, “simple” was the theme of the movie. Unlike the numerous trials that Miyazaki’s past heroes and heroines had to endure, all Sosuke had to do was proclaim his love for Ponyo and his willingness to accept her for who she was — an extremely easy thing for a 5-year-old to promise without understanding the full import of his words. And then came the goddess’ simple declaration that “The balance of nature is restored!” and now we’ll all go live happily ever after — never mind the floodwaters that are still covering the town and that don’t seem to have any inclination to go away any time soon.

All of this combined to create such an anticlimactic ending that both I and my movie-going companion were struck dumb.

This may be a kids’ movie, but even children enjoy experiencing the awe of something as impressive as a water goddess’ magic restoring the land to what it was — an oft-used ending that may be cheesy and cliched to us adults but is usually pretty awesome-looking on the big screen, especially in the hands of an animator such as Miyazaki. And unfortunately, such a climactic scene didn’t happen in this movie.

Gran Mamare, the goddess of mercy, visits with Fujimoto to talk about Ponyo. (Courtesy Nibariki-GNDHDDT)
Gran Mamare, the goddess of mercy, visits with Fujimoto to talk about Ponyo. (Courtesy Nibariki-GNDHDDT)

But I came into Ponyo having certain expectations. And contrary to those expectations, there was no epic struggle, there was no character-building transformation. The usual moral message was there — sort of — but then was never followed up on and then fizzled out. In the end, there was just a selfish fish-girl whose longing to stay with the first human she came in contact with was such that she didn’t care whom she hurt in the process, leading to the destruction of an entire town. She’s the bratty child who ended up getting her way through manipulation and tantrums. After all is said and done, does Ponyo realize what her actions caused? Does she care?

For that matter, does ANYONE care? Lisa’s nonchalant acceptance of: 1. a girl who appears out of nowhere; 2. her son’s crazy-sounding explanation of how this girl came to be; and 3. the aforementioned girl’s equally crazy-sounding description of her parents and home is so unbelievable that one can’t help but think that Lisa’s missing a few screws. Face it, no one is THAT magnanimous. How can you not be at the least annoyed at this girl whose single-minded desire endangered not only, oh, your entire town, friends, and all you hold dear, not to mention your sailor husband whose fate out on the stormy high seas is unknown? “Annoyed” would probably be the BEST of my reactions.

Maybe I’m just being too much of an adult. Too much of a Western adult, who craves some kind of logic and resolution and closure. But even that aside, even after suspending disbelief, Ponyo just wasn’t up to Miyazaki’s par.

As a children’s fairytale, Ponyo did deliver. Perhaps that’s what it was meant to be all along. But as a Miyazaki film…somehow, it was missing his usual magic.

The Cel Shaded Report, 3/2: ‘Arrietty’ encore, the encore

Well, Ghibli fans, you did it. Thanks to your getting the word out — or perhaps because of the buzz that this animated adaptation of The Borrowers is really good — The Secret World of Arrietty made another $4.35 million, 10th place on last week’s U.S. box office weekend top 10 list. I can vouch for that quality — I saw it for myself last week. It’s quite a calm film, filled with subtle moments — ants crawling, grasshoppers hopping, ladybugs flitting about — that look great on the big screen. So calm, in fact, that a person in the front row of the theater curled up and fell asleep. Yeah, don’t think I didn’t notice you, person at the 12:30 p.m. showing at the Mililani theaters Feb. 23. At least your snoring wasn’t TOO loud.

Anyway, there’s a fresh round of showtimes to report, at the same theaters as last week. As well as another Cel Shaded Report Obligatory Pretty Arrietty Promotional Film Still of the Week:

Strong-willed Arrietty (left, voice of Bridgit Mendler) shows her mother, Homily (voice of Amy Poehler), an amazing object that she has "borrowed" while on her first covert mission with her father in "The Secret World of Arrietty." (Courtesy Disney & GNDHDDTW)
Strong-willed Arrietty (left, voice of Bridgit Mendler) shows her mother, Homily (voice of Amy Poehler), an amazing object that she has "borrowed" while on her first covert mission with her father in "The Secret World of Arrietty." (Courtesy Disney & GNDHDDTW)

Roll ’em! (Standard disclaimer: Times, as reported by Fandango, are subject to change.)

Dole Cannery: 10:45 a.m. and 1:15, 3:45, 6:45 and 9:20 p.m.

Kaahumanu (Maui): 10:25 a.m. and 12:40, 2:50, 5 and 7:10 p.m.; 9:25 p.m. (Friday-Saturday, Thursday)

Kahala: 11 a.m. (Friday-Saturday); 1:10, 3:25, 5:40 and 7:50 p.m. (Friday-Sunday); 10:10 p.m. (Friday-Saturday); 11:30 a.m. and 1:40, 3:50, 6 and 8:10 p.m. (Monday-Thursday); 10:20 p.m. (Thursday)

Kapolei: 10:40 a.m. (Friday-Saturday); 12:50, 3, 5:10, 7:20 and 9:30 p.m.

Makalapua (Hawaii): Noon (Friday-Sunday); 2:30 and 5 p.m.

Mililani: 11:45 a.m. and 2:55, 5:10 and 7:35 p.m. (Friday-Sunday); 12:15, 2:25, 4:40 and 7:20 p.m. (Monday-Thursday)

Pearlridge: 10:55 a.m. and 1:05 p.m. (Friday-Sunday); 12:05 p.m. (Monday-Thursday); 3:20, 5:35 and 7:50 p.m.; 10:15 p.m. (Friday-Sunday); 10 p.m. (Monday-Thursday)

Ward: 11 a.m. (Friday-Sunday); 1:20, 3:40, 5:55, 8:10 and 10:25 p.m.

Windward Mall: 12:30, 2:50, 5:20, 7:40 and 10:05 p.m.

Anime around town

Honolulu Festival: 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday at the Hawai’i Convention Center, Waikiki Beach Walk and Ala Moana Center. You may have noticed that this week’s Cel Shaded Report is a bit shorter as compared to previous weeks; that’s because I’m working on a dedicated festival post. I hope to have that up in a few hours, so stay tuned.