Forum - View topicREVIEW: Starting Point: 1979-1996 (book)
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dormcat
Encyclopedia Editor
 Posts: 9902 Location: New Taipei City, Taiwan, ROC |
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I have it but haven't got enough time to finish it. Never thought you'd review it, Theron.
BTW, the system labeled it as a "novel" but it sure is not. |
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vashfanatic
 Posts: 3489 Location: Back stateside |
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Hmm, this sounds quite interesting. Thanks to ANN again for highlighting something I might not have otherwise heard about. This is going on my library list right away.
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Otaking09
 Posts: 637 |
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It's ironic they mention this, because I just started Future Boy Conan yesterday!
Wonder if the book contains any notes on how it was made and such... I'm not a HUGE fan of Miyazaki (mostly because I don't like how some of his characters look, and his mechanical designs are a little cheesy, but in a scary way.), but his movies are top-notch. Especially Totoro... A couple of Answerman articles ago, a guy raved about Miyazaki's style, and I have to agree that he empowers the message over the characters in the story... I'm not saying he's right, but he wasn't spouting crap either. |
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Moomintroll
 Posts: 1600 Location: Nottingham (UK) |
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Wow. I wasn't expecting to see this reviewed - it didn't exactly make a big splash when Viz released it - but I'm very glad to see that not only was it, in fact, reviewed but it was reviewed very well indeed. Kudos.
This was my only real gripe with the book, exacerbated by the fact that I read it over a fairly short period rather than splitting it up into more easily digested chunks. The only thing I'd emphasise over the review is that the sections featuring Miyazaki's art (both the the manga history of airline food and the scrapbook stuff) were utterly charming. They're very short and they're certainly not the focus of the book but they are delightful.
That isn't what "ironic" means. The word you're looking for is "coincidental". |
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Otaking09
Posts: 637 |
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Nice... |
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Key
Moderator
 Posts: 18194 Location: Indianapolis, IN (formerly Mimiho Valley) |
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Quite a bit, actually. It has what basically amounts to a chapter (26 pages) devoted specifically to the series in the later stages and comes up prominently on a few early occasions, too. It was Miyazaki's directorial debut, so it was a pivotal moment in his career. |
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Otaking09
Posts: 637 |
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Really?! Man... it's some brilliant stuff! Only on episode 15, but everything is so interesting!!! The characters, the music, the animation, and how fun everything is! And is was has debut?! That just impresses me all the more!!! Sucks that this series is so old... If it was newer, it could've been licensed. A gem that will never be properly viewed. I kinda want this book now... |
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Anymouse
 Posts: 685 |
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It's interesting to consider that so much of what people complain about today was already being noticed by Miyazaki in the 80's.
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evilnekohilda
 Posts: 166 Location: Wichita, KS |
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I was just at the Ghibli museum last week, so I'm really pleased to find out about this book~ All the exhibits were fabulous, but I can't read Japanese so I sorta missed out on the explanations... hopefully this will help me fill in some gaps :)
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albanian
 Posts: 133 Location: UK |
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I've been slowly working my way through the book since it came out. There is so much insight and intelligence - and personal honesty - that it is an utterly captivating read. And, in passing, it is interesting to see just what a wide knowledge Miyazaki has of 'live-action' cinema: he clearly has enough curiosity to stray well beyond the confines of animation for his own pleasure and entertainment.
His advice on creating artwork for animated films - 'A town that people would like to visit. A sky through which people would like to fly. A secret hideaway we ourselves would want. And a worry-free, stirring, uplifting world. Once upon a time, earth was a beautiful place. Let us make a film like this.' - seems as perfect a manifesto for any aspiring animator as I've ever read. It may be true that his genius is just beginning to fade (though he is still more accomplished than 95% of 'the opposition'), but the body of work he has already produced, and the perceptiveness with which he has analysed and expressed it in this book, is an achievement beyond the grasp of all but the very finest directors of any film, animated or live-action. And while he is frequetly compared to Disney, I would be more interested to see him compared (admittedly, it would have to be by someone with greater knowledge than me!) with the likes of Akira Kurosawa or Yasujiro Ozu. |
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reanimator
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I'm glad that Viz translated this book. I knew this book was in Japanese, but I never expected to be translated. I have put this book in my wish list.
I saw the book at the SF Kinokuniya bookstore and went through few pages, mostly chapter listings, bibliography, and index. I could be totally wrong, but it looks like the all of his collected articles and interviews are from Tokuma publishing. I'm sure there are more articles and interviews from Miyazaki from other publishers as well. I was delighted when I read his praise of late Yoshinari Kanada, a great Japanese animator, from Anipage Daily. That wasn't in the book. I also like nausicaa dot net's list of interviews outside of the book. I can't wait Viz to translate the second volume of Miyazaki's interview and articles, "Halfway Point"
At first, I didn't understood what constitutes as "overerxpressionism" meant, but now I think it means as lack of subtlety and mismatching expression against character's emotional state in anime |
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braves
 Posts: 2309 Location: Puerto Rico (but living in Texas) |
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Yeah, that's what I got out of it too. That line in the review reminds of this video where Miyazaki makes the same point, but you can see a specific example of what he considers bad running. I'm really looking forward to reading this book. Though I wouldn't have even known that it was out had it not been for the review, so thank you. |
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