Category: Language: Japanese

Earwig and The Witch. Dir. by Gorō Miyazaki. Studio Ghibli. 2020

EARWIG AND THE WITCH : Black Cats in Witchcraft Earwig and the Witch tells the story of Aya, an orphan girl adopted by a witch called Yaga and a demon called Mandrake. All along this adventure, Aya only has one friend, the cat of the house, Thomas. Through making potions, drawing and developing plans to…

20th January 2024
Earwig and The Witch. Goro Miyazaki, Studio Ghibli & NHK. 2020

The making of the potion scene Earwig and the Witch tells the story of Aya, a girl adopted by a witch and a demon. With a blend of CGI animation and Russian folktales, this film gives us a child story tangled with a witchy vibe—a mix too scary for kids, according to some. Thomas, the…

28th December 2023
Godzilla: King of the Monsters. Dir. Michael Dougherty. Warner Bros. Pictures. 2019.

“Good thing he’s on our side” … “For now” How do we define the term ‘Monster’? Or perhaps, how should we define it? Is there ever a possibility that the monster we feared can end up being the hero we never knew we needed? This is the question posed within Michael Dougherty’s 2019 Action film…

20th January 2022
A Whisker Away. Dir. Junichi Sato & Tomotaka Shibayama. Studio Colorido, Netflix. 2020.

In their 2020 film A Whisker Away, Junichi Sato and Tomotaka Shibayama explore the story of 14-year-old Miyo Sasaki, who transforms into a cat with the help of a Noh mask. Provided by a mysterious mask seller in a cat body, the mask enables Miyo to be close to her school crush, Hinode, who rejects…

21st January 2021
A Whisker Away. Dir. Junichi Sato & Tomotaka Shibayama. Studio Colorido, Netflix. 2020.

In A Whisker Away, the 14-year-old Miyo Sasaki takes extreme measures in order to be close to her school crush Kento Hinode, even accepting a cat mask from a dubious mask seller to be able to transform into a cat. Upon closer examination, it quickly becomes apparent that Junichi Sato & Tomotaka Shibayama tackle much…

14th January 2021
Howl’s Moving Castle. Dir. Hayao Miyazaki. Studio Ghibli. 2004.

There is a surprising lack of non-human animal representation in Studio Ghibli’s 2004 film Howl’s Moving Castle, despite an overarching theme which frequently pits an idyllic pastoral version of Japan against a threateningly industrial one. The major depiction of human-animal relations is that of secondary protagonist Howl as he gradually transforms into a bird-like creature…

26th May 2020
Ponyo. Dir. Hayao Miyazaki. Toho. 2008.

‘What? She is captured by a boy? This is very bad. Is it already dead?’ yells Ponyo’s father Fujimoto when realising his precious daughter is being kept as a pet fish. The line raises an interesting question, does cinema represent animal domestication as kidnapping or an addition of family member? Hayao Miyazaki’s animated fantasy film Ponyo retells…

15th January 2017

Category: Language: Japanese

Earwig and The Witch. Dir. by Gorō Miyazaki. Studio Ghibli. 2020

Earwig and The Witch. Goro Miyazaki, Studio Ghibli & NHK. 2020

Godzilla: King of the Monsters. Dir. Michael Dougherty. Warner Bros. Pictures. 2019.

A Whisker Away. Dir. Junichi Sato & Tomotaka Shibayama. Studio Colorido, Netflix. 2020.

A Whisker Away. Dir. Junichi Sato & Tomotaka Shibayama. Studio Colorido, Netflix. 2020.

Howl’s Moving Castle. Dir. Hayao Miyazaki. Studio Ghibli. 2004.

Ponyo. Dir. Hayao Miyazaki. Toho. 2008.