I fanatically love Miyazaki Hayao's films. I was first introduced to his genius with the film called Princess Mononoke
(the trailer shown to your right, respectively). I was sick with a real bad case of asthma one day in my early teens; during the night, when everyone was asleep, and I sickly awake, AMC (the movie channel) was doing a special on Miyazaki's work, and I caught the start of his masterpiece もののけ姫 (Mononoke-hime = Princess Mononoke).
(the trailer shown to your right, respectively). I was sick with a real bad case of asthma one day in my early teens; during the night, when everyone was asleep, and I sickly awake, AMC (the movie channel) was doing a special on Miyazaki's work, and I caught the start of his masterpiece もののけ姫 (Mononoke-hime = Princess Mononoke).Ever since then, I found, bought, and watched almost all of his movies, My Neighbor Totoro
(となりのトトロ), Spirited Away
(千と千尋の神隠し), Nausicaa of the Vally of the Wind (風の谷のナウシカ), Howl's Moving Castle (ハウルの動く城), Pom Poko
(平成狸合戦ぽんぽこ), etc.; there's no way I can choose an absolute favorite. All of these movies, plus others I didn't mention, are great on different levels. If I had to, my top 3 (in order) would be Princess Mononoke, Spirited Away, and My Neighbor Totoro.
(となりのトトロ), Spirited Away (千と千尋の神隠し), Nausicaa of the Vally of the Wind (風の谷のナウシカ), Howl's Moving Castle (ハウルの動く城), Pom Poko (平成狸合戦ぽんぽこ), etc.; there's no way I can choose an absolute favorite. All of these movies, plus others I didn't mention, are great on different levels. If I had to, my top 3 (in order) would be Princess Mononoke, Spirited Away, and My Neighbor Totoro. Spirited Away is a beautiful children's story about a young girl that has to find a way to save her parents, whom were too greedy and stole food from the spirits. She has to find her courage and make a lot of new friends to save her parents, save her self, and have a great and unforgettable adventure.
My Neighbor Totoro is another wonderful children's story about two girls and their father moving into a new home. Their mother is in a hospital while they discover the area surrounding their new home, where they meet the forest guardian (depending on your translation) named Totoro. This story brings your child out to play and smile.
All of three of my top picks, Princess Mononoke, Spirited Away, and My Neighbor Totoro, along with many other Miyazaki Hayao's films, also had the same composer, Fujisawa Mamoru (aka Joe Hisaishi), for the scores of these films. I am a classical music lover, the music in these three movies, Princess Mononoke, Spirited Away, and My Neighbor Totoro are breath-taking to a magical experiences in unknown lands.
The video to your above is the main theme of Spirited Away, called One Summer Day, it is also a very beloved song in Japan, used in other films throughout Asia.
The video above is the one of the main themes in Princess Mononoke; I absolutely love this piece. I can lay back and let it take me to long forgotten unreachable worlds and just be at peace.
Though this music piece (above) is not from my top three movies, Howl's Moving Castle is up there (I still can not decide whether this movie is #4 on my list or Pom Poko). This piece, to your left, is also very magical and the main theme for the movie. I chose to do a piece from this movie and not from My Neighbor Totoro, though the music from this film is good, but it was mostly of a childish (as in not the age of the art of the music but the sound it was directed to) tone to it and made with electric synthesizers (in the majority of the pieces to the movie). That is the reason I chose to go with a piece from Howl's Moving Castle instead.
[I had a very hard time with the format and placement of the videos (it took me forever to get it the way it is now); I was half tempted to leave this post without any videos, but I didn't think it would be fair to the readers without a little sample of what I was talking about.]
