Howl's Moving Castle

[salinea]

Not sure of what I think of the lattest Miyazaki.

On the one hand, I can't say I didn't thoroughly enjoyed the time spent watching it. I was dazzled with wonder (yeap, maybe even more than usually) and whole faeric world of it own. On the other hand, when I go to a Miyazaki movie, it's not usually to gawk at the bishounen.
Plot, what plot ? The intrigue was definitly the weakest point of the movie. I'm dying on putting my hands on the book to see if it'll make better sense.
The art was interesting. Much more old fashioned and simple than in more recent Ghibli movie, but breath-takingly beautiful and efficient in pulling you into the story nonetheless. The characters were the high point, each very loveable and interesting (no matter how small a role they played) and the main characters have to be my favourite along with San and Ashitaka. I loved Sophie at the first sight we had of her, and fell in love with Hauru in same fashion (and fell hard) which definitly helped my enjoyment of the movie. (though there's the adorable fire-demon too, and the magical house by itself is great !)
I'm not sure exactly why I loved Hauru so much exactly, but he definitly got one of my actually very rare "oh, dear, he's *drea~my* reaction !" (at the top of my mind, in the animated world, the only one i can think who gets such a reaction from me is Touya) Maybe is it because for a character out of a Miyazaki movie he's surprisingly anti-heroic (yeap, even more than Haku), maybe it is because he taps in one of the archetypes that gets me going (i just loved every bits of his mercurial, vain, magikking, selfish, freedom-loving, self-proffessed coward personnality. Maybe it's his looks (blonde or black-haired, he's just as yummy - and earrings ! <3)
Yeap, I sound obsessed.
Conclusion ?
Definitly not as good as Sen to Chihiro or Mononoke Hime. Probably not even as Kiki's delivery service, or Porco Rosso. But an excellent anime nonetheless; one that will take your breath away and plundge into a wonderous world.

and a very good happy birthday to sakuraragi and belated one to su_chan

On other notes, posted a drabble over at la_mer_allee, and posted Betaed version (by the extra wonderful tammaiya which I'm so glad to have lent my Yuuto muse ^^) of the One Eyed Man to fanfiction.net.

Went for registration earlier (than the move I mean) today. I'm not officially a student in MBA. Classes start tomorrow. Also got my clock fixed (for free, whee !) and reac muchos mangas to catch up lateness since vacation (found one very cute romantic shounen called "No bra" with crossgendered romance <3)

Comments

[cygna-hime.livejournal.com]

Secret: I didn't like the HMC book as much as some of Diana Wynne Jones' other stuff, so I'm not too surprised the movie had its down points. (There were bishounen? Plural? Really?) But you just have to love Howl. I will deliberately keep spelling his name the way it's spelled, just to annoy. He's such a wonderful un-heroic hero, him and his complete untrustworthiness.

On the plus side: There's a sequel. Which is better. And we can hope...*prays for genies in bottles that take things far too literally, demons, and flying carpets*

Drat. Now I need to go see it. *makes note*

[etrangere.livejournal.com]

No, no plural. Just Howl/Hauru. Unless you count the prince charming that appears at the very end, but he wasn't even that bish.

I'll keep using Hauru because I realized that "Hauru" was meant to transcribe "Howl" only three hours after the movie ended and felt stupid :p

And yes, yes, yes, that's exactly why I love him <3

[stanayitnuh.livejournal.com]

Sexier than Haku? You lie! Haku defines sexiness.

By which I mean, I totally need to see this now.

[etrangere.livejournal.com]

My problem with Haku is I find him a helluvah more sexy in dragon form than in the human one. *cough*

And, duh, of course you have to watch it. It's a Miyazaki movie.

[sakuraragi.livejournal.com]

*HUGS* Thank you!! ^_^

Cool! You're going for your MBA! I have a year an a half left of undergrad.

[etrangere.livejournal.com]

Good luck for that !

well, yeah I cheared, I had my Licence in Anthropology translated for it ^^

[graymm.livejournal.com]

Ooh, where did you get the movie? (I'm dying to see it...!)

[etrangere.livejournal.com]

In a movie theater, the room was full. We french might have much less cheap anime DVDs in stores, and much less yaoi to find, but we have a very good distribution of japanese animated movies :p I know it's unfair. ^_^ The world release was last wednesday I believe.

[graymm.livejournal.com]

*searches frantically*

...thanks! ^_^!

[sakanagi.livejournal.com]

Miyazaki's still doing movies? That's good news. ^^ I'd thought he'd stopped.

Even if it's not as good as even Kiki's Delivery Service, it still sounds like a good film. I want to find out more about this Hauru guy! (Google will aid me in my quest.)

[etrangere.livejournal.com]

Yeap, he keeps saying that XD
actually there were always a plan of doing somehting after Chihiro, it was Mononoke that was supposed to be the last ^^
hehehe, good luck with your holy quest !

[bramblyhedge.livejournal.com]

I'm a gigantic Diana Wynne Jones fan & really loved the book (oh, just to put up a differing opinion: I actually didn't like the sequel 'Castle in the Air' as much as HMC)...the movie has apparently made quite a few changes to the book, but since it's Miyazaki (the man is a genuis!! <3) I'm sure it retains all of its charm & whimsy.

The world release has happened already???!!!!!!!! *falls off chair* I can only hope it will make it to NZ. Dying to see it. ^__^

BTW, the little fire guy is called Calcifer - he's a fallen star & is my favourite character. *huggles Calcifer SIZZLE SIZZLE FLAME BURN* <3 Ouch! <3 <3

[rainmage.livejournal.com]

No, it doesn't. French have it, but most of us don't ¬¬U

Every country has a different release date. That sucks.

[etrangere.livejournal.com]

Oh well, apparently not such a wordly release, sorry, I was misinformed ^_^ This books sound more and more interesting as I hear from it !

Calcifer is very cute in the anime, I think as far as that, you won't be disapointed !

[rainmage.livejournal.com]

Ah, Howl... he certainly stole my heart (not literally, of course XD) He's just... ah... *fangirls*

I had three stages:
a) Movie, raw Japanese, pirate. Didn't undertand a thing, just random words and ideas. But still, cute characters, hot wizard. No, it's not as good as most of Ghibli, but it's still visually appealing.
b) Book, English, doc file. Ah, better! I liked it better. This one actually has a plot, and a complex one. It's cuter, there's no war-is-bad lecturing (actually, there's no war at all, just a couple of magic duels but not the same.) Most of the characters (except for Howl and Sophie) are sooooo different. Calcifer is not that cute and is more relevant; there's no Maruku (at least not that way: Howl's apprentice is a 15 year-old called Michael); the scarecrow and the dog are... well, other things; Howl's teacher is not evil; the Witch of the Waste looks a lot different, and never becomes good or old.
Apart from that, Howl never transforms into a bird/beast. There are references to alternative dimensions, and a couple of characters are from there (erm, CLAMP much?)
And the Howl/Sophie dynamics is funnier, as they bicker a lot XD She took revenge for the green slime slicing one of Howl's suits. He keeps telling her nosey as she's too damn curious. They're amusing. And Howl is more vain and casanova in the books.
c) Same as a, but with subtitles. Makes sense. Sorta. Now I like it more, but it's not the book.

Sorry, I just rambled. But I adore the book, you should check it out. Haven't read the sequel, maybe I won't be able to, ever.

[etrangere.livejournal.com]

Glad to see I'm not the only Howl's victim ;)

No, it's not as good as most of Ghibli, but it's still visually appealing.
Yeah that about sums it ^^ Though, after having thought about it a little bit, I think I liked it more than my first impression... the themes of decieving appearances and metamorphosis, at least, are pretty consistent and strong all through the movie, and leads to interesting stuff.

b) Book, English, doc file. Ah, better! I liked it better. This one actually has a plot, and a complex one
the background about the war was pretty pointless yeah, however, I kinda liked the double play on the "evil witch" and the "good witch".
*giggles* Clamp didn't invent dimension travel and people-gone-from-our-world-to-a-fantasy-world. See Donaldson, Kay, Zelazny and many others for other exemples.
But, cool ! Howl sounds even more interesting in the book. MUST. FIND. IT. Damnit, why is it re-edited in french, but hard to find in english (must make time for tour of all good english book stores of Paris)
Well, you certainly succeeded into making me drool of envy about reading the books ^_^

[su-chan.livejournal.com]

Thank you sweetie *hugs* *Looks cute Sak's and my name back to back for the same XDDD*

I've only seen a trailer fo that movie, I though, 'wow, it looks great, no idea what it is about but looks great' I am not a big fan of Miyazaki, you said, no bishonens, but his movies are adorable in a way that only Miyazaki can do. Lets see when it comes handy here in my city theaters XDD

I'm not officially a student in MBA. Classes start tomorrow. do you mean 'now' not 'not', do you? what is MBA? >>> I don't know :-/

[etrangere.livejournal.com]

I didn't say no bishounen, I said this time there was one, which surprises me. Because it was the main appeal of the movie XDDD (i fell in love with the character, but the movie itself isn't the best Miyazaki)
hope you can see it soon anyway ^^

Yes, I did mean "now" XD
Master of Business and Administration. It's an american degree in business, obviously.

Miyazaki envy

[generalblossom.livejournal.com]

I wanna see it too! and now! and I am sure to like it much better - I know, am feeling like a totaly brat, but am suffering from a bad case of envy here, I want to see it as well. I am an on-off DWJ fan, I like some of her books lots more than others, some of them get me really really mad ( not the intention of the author I believe) but Howl´s Moving Castle is my favorite of her books, so am really looking forward to seeing this adaptation. But going into Miyazaki heresy, I loved Chihiro totally, but got mixed feelings about Mononoke.

Re: Miyazaki envy

[etrangere.livejournal.com]

Hey, you know what you can see ? There's this adorable animated serie called Kalaido Stars which apparently is broadcasted in Portugal. That's the one I was watchign all week end with Maya, check it out ^^

wow, everyone knows DWJ but me XD That's so cool you like this book ! what makes you mad about her books sometimes ?

Not everyone loved Mononoke. Can't understand why, as it is one of my favourite, but i guess it just isn't to everyone's taste. Maybe it's the length, and I admit the rythm is sometimes bad, especially at the end. But the world, themes and characters jsut so totally captured my heart <3 Chihiro might be better structured, but Mononoke's darker, more epic and tragic story I still love as much as Chihiro, for totally different reasons.

Re: Miyazaki envy

[generalblossom.livejournal.com]

Hey, you know what you can see ? There's this adorable animated serie called Kalaido Stars which apparently is broadcasted in Portugal. That's the one I was watchign all week end with Maya, check it out ^^

ah, could be, but probably, almost certainly on cable, and I no longer have it. ADSL is something I use a lot more and is just a bit more expensive. Any idea what channel supposedly shows? Ok, I know, bloody lazy question, I will try to check myself!

wow, everyone knows DWJ but me XD That's so cool you like this book ! what makes you mad about her books sometimes ?

The way characters react to each other, her adults often are amazingly totally cruel and the author does not seem to mean them to be that way. Plus relationship stuff ( not romantic, just interaction), sometimes is just does not strike the right note at all. Plus sometimes there are bits of snobbery or author´s prejudices which put me off course completely. I think it is, or was, chic to decry Harry Potter and say DWJ is better writing and so much more original but fact is, comparing HP to DWJ´s Chrestomanci books, it is HP which seems more complex by far, from the start in characterization and even in plots. But anyway DWJ has some really fun books, my favorite being Howl. Avoid A Sudden Wild Magic at all costs. Fire&Hemlock is a very cryptic but interesting Tam Lin story, and I got a copy of one of her books I like best, Dogsbody ( the star Sirius is sent to earth on the body of a dog as punishment. Very pro-catty I am afraid. I can see tones of this in that Dream story in Endless Nights) on loan with a friend in Germany, shall I ask her to mail to you instead of returning it direct? It is doing one of those bookcrossing thingies, but you can ignore that!

. Maybe it's the length, and I admit the rythm is sometimes bad, especially at the end.
That is partly it. You know what I love in Mononoke? Eboshi and the village women. I mean Eboshi is almost the main character, and I really love her, is just that somehow the Mononoke story seemed almost less interesting to me. I am a cynic maybe, you can call me names if you want ;)

Re: Miyazaki envy

[etrangere.livejournal.com]

ah, could be, but probably, almost certainly on cable, and I no longer have it. ADSL is something I use a lot more and is just a bit more expensive. Any idea what channel supposedly shows?.

In fact I have no idea. I just noticed every complete website about the serie seems to be in portuguese. ADSL definitly is worth more than cable ;)

The way characters react to each other, her adults often are amazingly totally cruel and the author does not seem to mean them to be that way.
sounds a bit like Roal Dahl, which I disliked for this reason... hmmm

Plus sometimes there are bits of snobbery or author´s prejudices which put me off course completely.
argh, snobbish bad !

Hmmm, as far as comparing with Harry Potter goes, I'd like to re-read the Horowitz books I liked when I was a kid. I had a good impression of them at the time, but maybe childhood is to be blamed for that. You know that I'm not a big fan of Harry Potter (i find them okay, not much more) ^_^

Thanks, but i'll try to find those books by myself ! (and maybe after I try Howl to see if i like this writer's tone)

I loved Eboshi too. She was a fantastic and very effective at being a non evil antagonist. And as a cool intelligent and able woman, she rocks my world.
I still love San as well, but she's not a character with deep layers and depth, of course. Then again, main characters are often less complexe than secondary ones.
But I love of fierce she is. Having her first apparition while having all this blood on the face because she sucking on the wolf's wound, that was great !

[agent420.livejournal.com]

SMAWK. I had NO IDEA Miyazaki-sama had another film out. I be so ashamed... ;__; But god, as an aspiring anime artist I kind of worship him. We'll have to see this film to gauge how it measures against his awe-inspiring earlier works.

[etrangere.livejournal.com]

^_^ I admire Miyazaki too, and i'm not an aspiring artist !

I'm sure it'll go out in the US.... eventually. Hey, you only had to wait, what, one year, for Chihiro ? ^_^