Ok, I liked “Spirted Away”. So what is “Nausicaä of the valley of the wind” like and NO SPOILERS!!
Also “The Cat Returns”? The store I will get it from seems to have a deal for getting them both.
Nausicaa: Valley of the Wind, doesn’t have nearly as pretty art as Spirited Away, but I personally find it’s storyline much stronger and more engaging, it’s a fantasy story with morals and the like.
The Cat Returns is very basically a 90-minute or so cash in on fangirls’ obsessions with cats, its plot a cheap excuse to dress cats up in all manner of funny ways. I don’t like it personally, but my girlfriend and a lot of her friends (either gender) find it pretty amusing.
Nausicaa’s a great movie, but it’s story doesn’t come close to Spirited Away’s. It’s a light-hearted adventure with zero character development and a very straight-forward plot.
The action starts when a tolmekian plane carrying an inert, ancient god-warrior crashes in the valley after being attacked by giant insects from the Sea of Decay. The sea was introduced in the first scene. It’s an expanding cloud of deadly spores that’s slowly covering the planet. Soon after, Tolmekia invades the valley to reclaim the warrior and revive it. They plan on using it to burn the Sea of Decay.
It’s worth owning, imo.
Spirited away was agirl getting stuck in an enchanted hot spring and getting out. That’s none too deep, either, Hades. Plus, I wouldn’t really call Nausicaa lighthearted, by a long shot.
No, Spirited Away was not about that at all. Re-watch it, and this time, think about what it’s saying, not just what happens.
Same thing with Nausicaa, Hades, that was kinda my point. If you just state a plot summary without the backing themes, either one sounds stupid. Also, neither of them are really pits of despair, or curving thrill rides. They’re both straightforward, and fairly light.
It is an argument of preference, but I think the themes of War and Environmentalism are generally deeper and more important than the stuff in Spirited Away. Everybody gets different things out of watching stuff, anyway.
The difference between my synopsis and yours was that mine was a fairly accurate description of the first two scenes out of dozens whereas you tried to sum up the entire movie in one highly slanted sentence. I’m not dumbing down. You are. Because you have to.
I wouldn’t really call Nausicaa lighthearted, by a long shot.
They’re both straightforward, and fairly light.
Which is it?
Nausicaa is the spiritual prequel to Mononoke. The themes are sorta of the same. Man Vs. Nature, no clear antagonist, etc.
Cat Returns is cute diversion. Wouldnt call it a cash in for anything. The Disney DVD blows though. The Dub is tolerable, but if you watch it subbed, you get “Dubtitles” or the Dub Script for subtitles.
Nausicaa the manga is fucking <i>fantastic</i>, the ending will blow you away. Dunno about the anime though, i’ve not had the chance to watch it yet.
I was referring to your ‘It’s a lighthearted fantasy,’ when I made my statement about plot summary. Sorry for the confusion. ‘Fairly light’ isn’t the same as ‘lighthearted’. The latter implies it’s light down to the very core, the other implies it isn’t a churning storm of darkness, and is generally not an unhappy movie.
Goooooooooooooooooooooo semantics defense power!!!
Hades, if you really like, I can go back and edit ‘fairly light’ to ‘not a churning sea of impenetrable darkness,’ or even to ‘not a churning sea of impenetrable darkness, to gaze into which is to be driven mad by the swirling fury of a thousand tides of blackened Maelstrom,’ but somehow, that seems to be straying from the point of the thread.
My basic opinion is: Get Nausicaa, get Cat Returns only if you’re easily amused or it is incredibly cheap.