I went to see Whisper of the Heart at the cinema a while ago with my friend and the only day we could see it was the Japanese version. Then during the opening credits I saw that Seiji Amasawa was voiced by Issey Takahashi and I thought to myself "Huh. Where have I heard that before?" and then remembered that I watched Shin Ultraman and went "wait, wasn't he in that too?" And yeah, while we were on the way back I looked him up and yeah! He was the voice of Ultraman in that film! Apparently it was a dream come true for him, which is nice for him.

There's two reasons I find this useless fact funny. One is just the insane difference between the two roles. The other is because Whisper of the Heart was written by Hayao Miyazaki, who fucking DESPISES Ultraman with a passion. His reasoning for this hatred is that he believes it convinced a generation of children that "the world inside television was more appealing than reality", which honestly isn't what I expected, I feel like a more reasonable criticism that would be in line with his views would be how violent Ultraman, especially during the 60s and 70s, could be (like unnecessarily so, Ultraman Ace in particular is infamous for how over the top the kills are, and from what I've seen of that era of Ultraman most of it goes completely uninterrogated, Ultraman is definitely a good guy despite how needlessly cruel he is to the Kaiju he's fighting). I appreciate practical effects and am a fan of other Kaiju media like Godzilla, Gamera and especially Mothra (which won't happen but I imagine Hayao Miyazaki could make a good adaptation of, Toshio Suzuki alleges it was an influence on Nausicaä), so Ultraman is a bit of a guilty pleasure for me. It's not exactly intelligent but sometimes you're not in the mood for high art!

It's also funny because long time friend of Miyazaki, Hideaki Anno, loves Ultraman, and he wrote Shin Ultraman (though unlike the other Shin films, Shin Godzilla, Evangelion 3.0+1.0 AKA Shin Evangelion in Japan and Shin Kamen Rider, he didn't direct this one, it was directed by Shinji Higuchi, who also directed the Giant God Warrior Appears in Tokyo short that Anno also wrote, and that I think didn't get much use out of using the Giant Warriors), I wonder if that caused a strain in their relationship lol. It's also not the only overlap Studio Ghibli has with this film, as Kenshi Yonezu, who performed the credits theme of The Boy and The Heron, Spinning Globe, also did the credits theme of Shin Ultraman, M87 (and that song is the best part of the film).

As always, all outdoor characters are hand sawed and painted by me. I tried painting backdrops this year and was HUMBLED. Walgreens and photoshop saved the day. I have more to come. Happy Halloween!

Tetsuya Chiba, the manga artist known for legendary manga Ashita no Joe -- regarded as a cornerstone of postwar manga history -- and numerous other hit works, and who also served as chairman of the Japan Cartoonists Association, died on the 22nd of October. He was 87.

Ashita no Joe, a boxing manga that began serialization in 1968 with Asao Takamori as original story writer, became a huge hit, thanks in part to famous lines such as “Stand…! Stand up, Joe!” And “I’ve burned out… into pure white ash.” When Joe’s rival Toru Rikiishi died in the story, a real funeral was even held, turning it into a social phenomenon; it remains beloved today as a cornerstone of postwar manga history.

Before founding Studio Ghibli, Miyazaki directed a 1972 animated television pilot called Yuki's Sun (Yuki no Taiyō). This project was directly adapted from Chiba’s popular 1963 shōjo (girls') manga of the same name. Tokyo Movie asked a young Miyazaki to direct, storyboard, and animate a 5-minute pilot based on Chiba's manga.

The story followed Yuki, a 10-year-old orphan girl growing up in the Hokkaido countryside who gets adopted and embarks on a journey of self-discovery. Although the pilot was beautifully animated, television producers ultimately shelved the project, and it never became a full series. However, the short survived and was later released publicly as part of The Collected Works of Hayao Miyazaki Blu-ray collection.

Animation scholars frequently note that adapting Chiba's work helped shape Miyazaki's signature tropes. The themes found in Chiba's Yuki's Sun—a fierce, independent young heroine, themes of orphanhood, a strong connection to nature, and an emotional journey—became the bedrock for iconic Ghibli films like Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind, My Neighbor Totoro and Spirited Away.

Chiba stated that Hayao Miyazaki should be celebrated fundamentally as a master animator. He argued that while Miyazaki has written manga, his true genius, historic achievements, and ultimate contribution to human culture lie in his unmatched ability to bring movement, life, and cinematic breath to the medium of traditional animation.

After such a long time, I finally bought both these books! 🥹❤️ Spirited Away and Kiki’s Delivery Service. Just like the movies, these stories bring me so much happiness and comfort. There’s something special about revisiting the worlds that make you feel at peace. ✨📚🌸

Apparently, it was limited to 5000/worldwide.

Those 3 turrets never let out plumes of steam out, throughout the movie. What’s the difference? The turret let out steam when it was looking like that crab frog thing, but not when it was on the original castle

I watched
1. The wind rises (my favorite)
2. Spirited away
3. Nausicaa
4.My neighbor totoro

We saw it chime but I thought my video would be too long.

https://youtu.be/RLr0pD7JajE

inspired from the Spirted Away movie The full bathhouse Was Built with 32,786 Blocks built in (Roblox build a boat for treasure)

Created by me (Mondo_47)

Smooth wood block (19,644)
Stone block (6495)
Sand block (1,328)
Grass Block (1,077)
Bouncy Block (1,699)
Plastic block (780)
Ice Block (908)
Rusty Block (553)
Wooden Block (302)

#buildaboatfortreasure #Roblox #denisdaily #ghibli #anime

This is a scene from "Porco Rosso created using 3D printing with Bamboo Studio. I printed the Porco flying around Hotel Adriano and the other airplane at different scales to maximize the sense of space. It took a long time to make, but I’m still very satisfied with this diorama!!