Thursday, August 31, 2023
Tuesday, August 29, 2023
Omohide poro poro (Only Yesterday)
Saturday, August 26, 2023
Shenaanogonzo
Friday, August 25, 2023
Gedo senki (Tales from Earthsea)
Tuesday, August 22, 2023
Kokuriko-zaka kara (From Up on Poppy Hill)
The intense painful longing for an adored absent loved one, objectively expressed through ritualistic candour, every morning by the vibrant sea the message sent unseen unanswered, a family waiting observant on shore, yet still caught up in the world around them.
Umi's mother is off to study in the unfamiliar metropoli of North America, leaving her alone to manage their business, a task she accomplishes with inherent skill.
Meanwhile, Shun grows increasingly frustrated as it becomes apparent his clubhouse will be shut down, many of the other studious individuals in agreement, yet at a loss as to how to proceed.
As fate would have it, he's noticed Umi's signals and written a poem about them in his newsletter, which she notices one startling morning, before venturing forth to discover its author.
The two strike up a friendship although working relationship may be more apt, male and female soon gathered together to renovate the clubhouse for the first time in years.
But there may be even more to it after they learn they both have copies . . .
. . . of the same mysterious photo!
Taken of their fathers ages ago.
Toil and hard work and prudent planning industriously drives Kokuriko-zaka kara (From Up on Poppy Hill), which diligently enlivens through microcosm to innovatively excel and creatively encapsulate.
Japan having struggled in recent times through disastrous wars for which they can't be forgiven, the youth who grew up in the aftermath nevertheless, provided with the choice to make amends.
They have their traditions and customs which they resolutely honour through resilient sacrifice, taking care of their responsibilities with adamant gusto, while persevering through hearty resolve.
But a brilliant survivor of the ruthless war who recognizes that it's time to change the old ways, presents a newfound contemporary alternative which follows a reconciliatory postmodern path.
Imagine a world where people really were chill and there was no need for consistent higher-up apologies, where sustained evolving international endeavours led to food to eat and employment for billions.
Why are goodwill and camaraderie so counterintuitively maligned?
Exacting standards.
Commensurate will.
So many variables.
Aces high.
Saturday, August 19, 2023
Omegaladonair
Friday, August 18, 2023
Kaze no tani no Naushika (Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind)
Tuesday, August 15, 2023
Omoide no Marnie (When Marnie was There)
Monday, August 14, 2023
Saturday, August 12, 2023
Prospectoral
Friday, August 11, 2023
Neko no ongaeshi (The Cat Returns)
Simple acts of genuine kindness at times cultivate appreciation and respect, the unsuspecting recipients flush with reciprocity should time's passage munificently flow.
Thus, in Neko no ongaeshi (The Cat Returns), the Kingdom of Cats regards Haru with admiration, for having generously gone out of her way while altruistically assuming death-defying risks.
She's rather mild-mannered yet inquisitive and enjoys sleeping in with no time for breakfast, teachers critical of her habitual tardiness yet still sympathetic to the studious cause.
Having naturally developed an intuitive love for animals she notices one legendary day, that a cat may be run over by a fearsome passing truck, which encourages genuine distress.
She quickly scoots into traffic and boldly saves the unobservant feline, who, as fate would have ceremoniously have it, happens to be the Prince of Cats.
Cat kind responds in turn with abundant gifts freely delivered, and even if Haru doesn't know what to do with the mice, she's still taken aback from all the attention.
But soon she's taken away to the exotic otherworldly mythological chillaxed cat kingdom.
Where she's betrothed to the very same Prince.
As she starts to transform into a cat!
Imagine a less self-obsessed world where sincere kindness and warmth played a role, and people looked out for one another like the Québecois while structuring their cultural and communal relations.
I don't hear it mentioned often anymore but the Pay it Forward movement was a very cool thing, I don't know what it transformed into but hopefully the thought behind it's the same.
The movement as I recall sought to reward acts of kindness, self-sacrificingly shared between conscious individuals, conscientiously aware of the tender exchange.
If someone was kind enough to do someone a favour or help someone out without having been called upon, then the person who received the aid would then help someone else in the near future, or Pay it Forward.
Marrying the King of Cat's son and transforming into a cat may have taken things too far, but had there been a courtship ritual involved, perhaps the results would have been somewhat different.
An appealing idea nonetheless which effortlessly radiates cohesive collegiality.
It exists in so many forms.
Constructively mutating across the land.