Seferian-Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind

First of all I’d like to say that Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind was a great film, possibly the best we have watched so far. This is another Hayao Miyazaki masterpiece that is on the same level as Princess Mononoke and Spirited Away (at least it s for me). This film brings up a lot of the same topics and questions that Princess Mononoke brought up.  The protagonist of the film Nausicaä is a princess and her character has a lot in common with Prince Ashitaka. In both films every one seems to be blinded by rage and hate except of Nausicaä and Ashitaka. They both seek peace between nature and humans. They are the only characters in both stories that see the possibility of harmony between the natural world and the world of men. There is also a similarity between Lady Eboshi and Lady Kushana. While they are both woman in a position of power they are also both good people who are blinded by hate and greed. Lady Kushana has prosthetic limbs giving us the impression that she lost them to the insects. It is probably her loss that fuels her rage and hate towards the insects. Through out the movie Nausicaä is always able to solve all the conflicts peacefully as opposed to using violence. She is even able to succeed where others who used violent approaches have failed. A good example of this is when she stops the Ohmu at the begging and the end of the movie. In the beginning she uses flash grenades to calm the Ohmu. At the end of the film she gives her life to save the valley of the wind. The Ohmu give her life again because she saved their baby. It makes you wonder if this toxic jungle is going to be our future. If so, it feels good to know that Nature corrects the wrongs of humans.     

Seferian-Ah! My Goddess

Over thanksgiving I watched the feature film Ah! My Goddess. This was the movie though and not the manga or animated series. There are many deep themes in this movie. This film shows Woman as very strong and powerful wile men are ordinary. In this film Woman seem to be the only Angels and the only man angel you see is Celestin, who is the antagonist of Ah! My Goddess.  As well as just showing Woman in a powerful light this film has some suddle hints at racism against the matrimony of different speeches. this is shown by the Gate of Judgment witch the Gods made to stop matrimony between races. In the end of the movie though Keiich and Belldandy’s love do pass the test. Like Princess Mononoke there isn’t a clear line between good and evil. Celestin, is the perfect example of a character that is both good and evil. Celestin’s intentions are good-hearted. He wants to end the suffering of the world. His means of for filling his goal is what makes him a questionable character. He wishes to destroy the Earth so he can make a new world with out suffering. At the end of the movie Keiich and Belldandy are able to pass threw the gate of judgment unharmed signifying their never dyeing love for each other. Over all this movie was very enjoyable. At some points though the film had trouble keeping my attention. This is probly due to the fact that it is based off of a series so the writers of this movie expected the viewers to already know and relate to the characters. Not knowing all the back round on all of the charictures was not to bad though, I still thoroughly enjoyed the film. Wile both Ah! My Goddess and Princess Mononoke had some similar themes, Princess Mononoke is still my favorite.     

Seferian-Princess Mononoke a great film

Princess Mononoke is a magnificent film written and directed by Hayao Miyazaki. It is easily my favorite anima and the best thing we have watched in the class so far. Threw out the whole film we meet characters that are not exactly good, but also not evil. One example is Lady Eboshi, the mistress and lord of Iron Town. Lady Eboshi wants to kill the forest spirit and rule the world witch can easily be identified as evil, but she also provides refuge for displaced woman and lepers witch is a very kind thing. This is almost a trademark of Miyazaki’s films. He likes to blur the line between good and evil witch makes the characters feel more real. This mix of good and evil is also present San as well. Her hate for humans and her love for the forest is the exact oboist of Lady Eboshi. The only Character that has no hate is Ashitaka who is trying to stop the fighting. There is one scene in this film that I feel sums up the main driving force of this film and that is when San is fighting Lady Eboshi in Iron Town and Ashitaka steps in to stop the conflict. Ashitaka sates, “This is what hatred looks like. This is what it does when it catches hold of you. It's eating me alive, and very soon now it will kill me! Fear and anger only make it grow faster.” I feel that these words ring true not only in the context of this film but in real life as well. I have seen this movie many times and this scene always touches me in the weirdest ways. It really drives home the point that no matter what Ashitaka says, people just wont listen to reason and they let their fear control them.  

Seferian-Grave of the Fireflies

This week in class we watched Grave of the Fireflies, a film about two orphaned children who are trying to survive in japan in the last year of WWII. The plot follows the struggles of 14-year-old Seita and his sister Setsuko who is only 4 years of age. This film is very powerfully and hart retching to say the least. It seems that Seita and Setsuko’s situation goes from bad to worst. This film is not just emotionally moving, but powerful and brings up a lot of important points. In class we discussed how when regarding to WWII Japan views it self as being victimized because they were the only country in witch an atomic bomb was dropped. We also discussed how in Japanese culture and the Shinto faith, they emphasize how life isn’t always fair. Grave of the Fireflies brings up both these points. In the film it is easy for the viewer to feel that the Japanese people are the victims of cruel relentless bombing during the later part of the war. It is also very clear that despite the tragic events that befall Seita and his sister Setsuko, that it is all in vane because in the beginning of the film we see that the have already passed on. This makes the movie even more powerful and sad because we know that the story doesn’t end well. This was a really great film. Personally I loved it even though it made me feel tremendously depressed. The animation was great, the music was great, and the story was moving. It is not surprising that Grave of the Fireflies was a book before it was a film.  Such deep characters and themes are an important part of literature. I feel  that its adaption to a animation just made it more powerful. 

Seferian-The Harp of Burma

This week we watched The Harp of Burma, a story about brotherhood during a time of war based off of a classic Japanese novel. I really enjoyed this viewing despite length and how old the film was. From a animation sand point a Harp of Burma wasn’t very visually spectacular, but the story was deep and emotional and that made up for the lacing visuals. After being separated from his comrades during WWII, Mizushima is trying to make his way back to his battalion when he comes across fallen Japanese solders who where never bared and were left to rot in the elements. Overwhelmed by the horror and grief of seeing his fallen comrades so disrespectfully left behind, he sets out to give them proper send offs. We also read chapter six this week in class. In the chapter it discussed how life is amoral and doesn’t always treat good people the right way. The chapter also discussed honor and how the right thing to do isn’t always the best chose for you.  Mizushima douse the honorable thing despite the repercussions and dedicates his life to helping the left behind and forgotten solders. While watching the film it is clear that the captain blames him self for sending Mizushima in his place to explain to the other Japanese solders that the war was over. What is interesting about this is that in western culture it wouldn’t be the officer’s responsibility. If the commanding officer gave a order then you would follow end of story. In eastern culture, the captain was responsible for his men and giving the burden of sending the message. This difference is what makes this film interesting to western viewers. From a western stand point the officer shouldn’t feel bad about sending one of the lower level solders to deliver messages.  

Seferian -Ghost in a Shell

The loss of identity seems to be a recurring theme in many anime films. We have seen it in Akira and Perfect Blue, while in some of the other films peoples identity’s are different then what we expected. This week we watched Ghost in a Shell, a high suspense action and Sci-Fi thriller that deals with some of the most common question asked by humanity: Why am I here? Where did I come from? Where do I go after I die? Unlike other animes we have watched, the themes in Ghost in a Shell are not subtle but very prominent. The whole plot is driven by cyborg Motoko Kusanagi’s desire for answers. Most of the “Major’s” body is mechanized, which allows her to perform super human feats. The Major works for Section 9, a crime deviation that specializes in fighting technology. In the film Section 9 is after a virus/program called the puppet master.

There are many scenes in the film where The Major finds herself asking the same questions as every human does. In many ways this movie is also a question of what makes up a human. Even though The Major is basically a robot, she has a ghost, which is somewhat similar to a soul as far, as I can tell. The movie was very hard to follow at some points, but I did enjoy it over all. There was a fair bit of action, but a great deal more talking then anything else. I am not saying that this took away from the story, but made it feel a little slow at times. This film also shows a future where it is very easy to loose one’s identity because every one is so plugged in to their virtual worlds, as in one point of the film the puppet master actually implants memories into some ones mind. 

Seferian- Vampires and westerns

Vampire Hunter D in a lot of ways is very reminiscent of the romanticized west that you see in old films. The way D enters the movie and purges the area of evil is very much like old western films such as Sagecoach or Hang Em High. I enjoyed this movie but found the animation to be very dated. I know that this film came out in 1985 and that they didn’t have, as much money as Akira, but this wasn’t as Visually pleasing as I would have liked it to be. We also discussed earlier in the week the difference between a film and a movie. Vampire Hunter D being a movie did a good job of providing action and entertainment. It is interesting how vampiers were depicted back in 1985, people depict vampires as being super handsome and loveable due to the hit book and movie sires Twilight. Count Mangus Lee is nothing like Edward from twilight. in fact he resembles more of a demon than anything else. This brings up the question of how we got from demon looking lord of darkness hot smoking hot and very pale Edward of the Twilight saga. Also it seems that the values that Vampires hold are much different in twilight as apposed to Vampire Hunter D. Like in old westerns D seems to be the last good man/vampire on the planet. Even the other humans are corrupt. This is not the only western aspect of this movie. The scenery is very barren and dark at least until D slays the Count. It is also interesting that Dracula is depicted as the good guy in this film as apposed to the traditional bad guy. The movie was over all good, it had a lot of cool action but kind of a weak plot. they should really make a vampire western, now that would be cool.      

Seferian-Perfect Blue

This week in class we watched Perfect Blue, a sociological and psychological thriller that addresses the issues of loss of identity, innocence, and “hyper life”. I honestly really enjoyed this movie. While it was very confusing at some points, it was very action packed and had a well thought out plot. It was also very reminiscent of an Alfred Hitchcock film in the way things seem to get crazy and spin out of control. The main character, Mima, shifts from being a pop star in the hit band “CHAM”, to pursuing an acting career. While seeking this goal, she is asked to do some things that her past pop star self would never do, like act out a rape scene or strip for a photo shoot. These sudden changes make Mima feel lost and unsure of whom she is. Earlier in the week we also watched the beginning of Black Swan, a film with a similar premise about a dancer. In both films mirrors or reflections play a big role in establishing reality or the lack of it. In Perfect Blue Mima is constantly looking at reflections of her self and seeing a different her. Something similar also occurs in Black Swan when Natalie Portman sees another version of her self on the subway. There also is a similarity in how they are both sexually used in some sort of way—Mima by the photographer and director of the sitcom and Natalie by the dance company leader. Throughout Perfect Blue you get the impression that Mima is the killer while in fact, it is her Rumi her manager. Rumi is another example of loss of identity. Rumi used to be a Pop singer and now hardly represent her former self and glory.  In many ways Rumi lives her dream through Mima’s pop singing career, which is why she is so opposed to her becoming an actor. There are many scenes in the movie where I think we are not seeing Mima’s feelings and reactions but Rumi’s feelings and reactions superimposed on Mima’s body. It could be argued that the main plot development we see in the movie wasn’t from Mima’s point of view but from Rumi’s adopted personality of Mima. 

Seferian-Botchan

This week we watched Botchan, a story about a schoolteacher who is transferred from Tokyo to a small country town.  It was very short film but still very good.  The theme of the story seemed to be centered on morality. While I watched the film, I realized how different Japanese education at the high school level was from my own experience. In the film the students challenged the teacher’s authority, an act of rebellion that wasn’t as present in my high school experience. Sure there were trouble makers and sometimes I wouldn’t respect the teacher as much as I should, but there was never a group effort between myself and my classmates like shown in Botchan. In the movie the students respect the teachers that have earned their respect, for example Porcupine. This is very different from my western education experience, where the teachers expected you to respect them despite whether they have earned it. Another difference is when students do something wrong in Bontchan, the teachers accept responsibility, while in western culture the student takes all the responsibility for his or her actions. In the first film we watched during class this week, we observed how much pressure is put on the students and how important education is to the Japanese. Both of these films gave a lot of insight into the education system in Japan.   

In the story Bontchan you learned about the politics of teaching and the control that the principal and vice principal have over the faculty. The character Redshirt represents corruption and the elitist side of Japan. Redshirt speaks of morals but is in fact immoral. He is having relations with a geisha despite the schools strict rules forbidding such an act.  He also is able to get Uranari (Green pumpkin) transferred for his own selfish reasons. Bontchan and Porcupine are able to get revenge on Redshirt and Nodaiko for what they did to Uranari. At the end of the story Bontchan  goes back to Tokyo and becomes a train conductor. He is paid little for his work, but he stuck to his morals and that’s what counts.

Seferian-Ninja Scroll

Released in June 1993 Ninja Scroll is a classic anima story that follows the character Jubei Ninpucho as he is forced to battle the “Devils of Kimon”. The main character, Jubei, is modeled after the famed Japanese folk hero Yagyū Jūbei Mitsuyoshi, and this movie pays homage to him. The story of Ninja Scroll takes place in feudal Japan where Ninjas have unnatural powers and demons live on earth. One of the things that make this movie so interesting is the demons that Jubei encounters and their relevance to Japans’ Shinto religion and folklore. The first demon that Jubei’s sword crosses paths with is the Oni, Tessai. He finds the Oni raping Kagero, a beautiful Female Ninja that was sent to investigate a mysterious plague. Kagero is immune to poison because her blood itself is a deadly poison. Merely kissing her could be fatal let alone having intercourse with her. Tessai’s sexual attack on her is just one of many in this movie. Through out the movie Jubei is the only one who doesn’t see Kagero as a sexual piece of meat but as a person. Jubei in many ways is a Japan’s Robin Hood. Values such as loyalty and honor are reflected in both characters. Even the “good guys” in this film aren’t strictly good. Most are twisted in some way. A good example of this is the old man Dukuan, who forces Jubei into helping him fight the Devils of Kimono for what he claims to be a good cause but seems to benefit only him. The Old man claims, “To fight a Devil, you must be a Devil,” which are a lot like the old saying “the ends justify the means”. The way that Dukuan speaks is very similar to that of a politician. The way he describes the conflict as being a battle agents “good and evil” sounds a lot like a justification for him to satisfy his greedy designers. This is made very clear when at the end of the movie Jubei catches Dukuan stealing a bar of gold. This scene personifies the fact that Jubei is the only one who has a real moral code.            

Seferian-Akira

It is easy to get lost in the government oppressed world and futuristic society of 2019 Tokyo in the movie Akira. The story takes place 30 years after WWIII (which takes place in 1988 and is also the year the movie was released) in Neo-Tokyo. The plot follows multiple characters and has many subplots that make it difficult to follow at some points. The main plot focuses on biker Tetsuo Shima and biker gang leader Shotaro Kaneda. As the plot unfolds, many themes unfold as well. These themes include Social Control, Greed, Adolescence, and other postmodernist values. When Tensuo gets abducted and is experimented on by the government, his dreams of power are realized. When he extorts these powers, his friend Shotaro and the military try to stop him. In the very begging of the movie it is made clear that Tetsuo doesn’t fit in and desires power. He try’s to ride Shotaro’s custom bike and cannot do it because it is to fast for him. This happens later when he tells the general that he can handle his over whelming power, but fails to do so as a result ends up killing a lot of insect people. The driving force of all the events throughout the movie is Akira. In the film it’s not clear what Akira is exactly, but it is insinuated that he is the cause of WWIII. At one point he was a boy with some sort of great telepathic powers but in the story he was no longer living in a physical form. It becomes even more confusing when the little blue children tell you that Akira lives in everything and every one, like some sort of deity. From what I can gather, Akira is more of a symbol then an actual being. He represents the Potential of people to do good or bad. Akira represents free will and the possibilities that you have in your future. In a way he is still the cause of WWIII because it was the potential to do bad that caused it. I hope this makes sense to on some sort of level to who ever is reading this. The Greed and the Corruption are results of the bad potential in people but there is also the potential to be good and that is shown at the end when after the dust from the explosion has settled the sun comes out signifying and possible new and brighter future.                    

Seferian Introduction Matt's life

I was born in Washington DC and moved to Houston TX when I was 1. Before I left my cozy commendations in DC I fell down some stairs and tore a hole in my scalp. To save my life they had to inject me with this new drug called Kryptonite which I later learned gave me the incredible power of for site and good looks. Just kidding but I did receive stitches which left me with a scar only slightly similar to Harry Potters lighting bolt. To my Dismay the scar has slowly disappeared thanks to modern science and evaporating stitches. In Houston I grew up in a good neighborhood surrounded by lots of nice old people.  I got into music and started teaching my self how to play guitar. I later auditioned for a school called HSPVA(the High School for the Preforming and Visual Arts) where I got into a jazz guitar program where I was one of 3 guitar  players out of the hundreds that auditioned. I got into Anime when I was 11. My dad brought home  a copy of  Princess Mononoke thinking it was a cartoon. It was great and I’ve bin hooked since. I have watch many others shows since then which includes Full Metal Alchemist Brotherhood, Air Gear, Eden of the East, last exile and more.