I recently rewatched From Up on Poppy Hill (Kokuriko-zaka kara), an animated 2011 Studio Ghibli film directed by Goro Miyazaki and adapted from the manga by his father, the master himself, Hayao Miyazaki. It had been a long time, but I found that it was just as good as it was when I first saw … More From Up on Poppy Hill (2011) (Kokurikozaka kara)
When eleven year old Tomo’s already mostly absent mother takes off again after a night of heavy drinking, Tomo finds her uncle Makio at the bookstore where he works to tell him. The bond between the pair is apparent as they make their way back to his apartment together. They talk about the video games … More Close-Knit (2017) (Karera ga honki de amu toki wa)
When it comes to Japan, I can sometimes feel, I don’t really know how to describe it… protective? defensive? I realize that everyone who has spent time living abroad or studying a place, its culture, its history, and so on, might also feel something like this about the way in which others choose to depict … More Kubo and the Two Strings 2016
comprehensionthroughrepetition 