Tong: Ah! My Goddess The Movie

So this week we have left the ancient Japan of 'Princess Mononoke' and transitioned to the modern-mystical world of 'Ah! My Goddess'. The movie seems to take place some time after the actual introduction of the major characters, because the relationships between all the major characters are already established by the start of the film. The first scene is of someone getting released from a prison on the Moon, and then we're introduced to a group of friends that consists of supernatural beings (and no one finds it odd). It's soon revealed that Keiichi is a normal teenage boy who encountered a goddess named Belldandy some time before the events of the film. The goddess granted Keiichi one wish, which was for the goddess to stay with him forever. So now, at the start of this film, Keiichi and Belldandy are in a heavily-invested relationship; the two are lovers, companions, partners. Other major characters consist of two other goddesses, Belldandy's older half-sister, Urd, and her younger sister, Skuld. It's soon revealed that the escaped prisoner is Belldandy's past mentor, Celestin.

Tong: The Harp of Burma

'The Harp of Burma' is a short, two-part adaptation of a famous Japanese novel of the same name. It revolves around a Japanese battalion during World War II. The men are unique in that they are also a choir group. Their leader has taught the entire battalion how to sing, and one of the men plays a harp during each song. The men sing in order to boost their morale during such dark times as war. When every single day is a day fearful of death, it's very calming to just sing.

The thing about death is it's something no one wants. Death can be accepted and given into by people who are dying, but it's never something people truly want from the beginning. I think this is so because life is such a wonderful thing. To live, breathe, socialize with others, fall in love... these are things most precious to life and our humanity. No one wants to lose any of this. The concept of death, however, is dealt differently between some countries, like Americans and Japanese for example.

Tong: Perfect Blue Review

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Satoshi Kon's 'Perfect Blue' is one heck of a film! It's a psychological thriller that focuses on the life of an ex-pop star-turned-actress. Though 'Perfect Blue' is a "cartoon," it presents highly involving real-world themes regarding celebrities, their expected roles in society, and much, much more.

Tong: Botchan & Student Days

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For this week's Anime blog, I'm retreating from my usual "film review" format. This is because the two anime we've seen this week aren't truly films, and from my understanding they're more like Japanese after-school television specials.

The two specials are called 'Botchan' and 'Student Days', and they both cover a similar topic in one way or another - the Japanese education system.