Spirited Away

Happy Friday, everyone! I hope you all had a good week! We celebrated Thanksgiving last night with my in-laws since they will be out of town next week. We had some really good food and had fun playing games! It was really fun!

Today's post is about Hayao Miyazaki's "Spirited Away". This is probably his most well-known film. That is probably because it is the first foreign animated film to win an Oscar. It was up against, Ice Age, Treasure Planet, Lilo and Stitch, and a few others in 2003. I'd say that's pretty impressive!

The story is about a young girl named Chihiro. Chihiro and her parents are moving to a new town. She is not happy about it at all, and complains the entire drive to their new home. On their way there, Dad takes a "short-cut", but ends up in an unknown place. The parents think it's an abandoned theme park, but Chihiro feels uneasy about going in and exploring. 
Chihiro's parents smell some delicious food cooking and decide to stop for a bite to eat. When they arrive at the food stand, there is no one running it. They then gorge themselves in the food with the intentions of paying when the owner gets back. Chihiro, however, refuses to touch the food. She goes out to look around since she is afraid they will get into trouble. She then starts to see all the spirit in habitants coming out of their homes. Scared, Chihiro runs back to her parents, but they have been transformed into very fat pigs.
Chihiro doesn't know what to do, so she starts to run back to where they came from, but can't get across the river. This is where she meets Haku, a young boy who wants to help her. Haku helps
Chihiro get to safety, but tells her if she doesn't want to suffer her parents' fate, she must get a job at the bath house.
Along Chihiro's journey she meets Kamajii, the boiler man with many arms; Lin, a bath house worker; Yubaba, the cruel bath house manager; Yubaba's huge baby; No-Face, the spirit that is not allowed inside the bath house since he will turn into a monster; and Zeniba, Yubaba's nice twin sister.
Chihiro's name is taken from her and she is called Sen in the spirit world. She has to remember her real name in order to save her parents and return home. It isn't as easy as it sounds though. She has to face many trials as a worker and also wants to help save Haku from Yubaba's control.

The English dub of this movie features a cast of Disney voice favorites:
Chihiro: Daveigh Chase (Lilo from Lilo and Stitch)
Haku: Jason Marsden (Max Goof from A Goofy Movie)
Kamajii: David Ogden Stiers (Cogsworth from Beauty and the Beast and Jumbaa from Lilo and Stitch)
Lin: Susan Egan (Meg from Hercules)
Yubaba and Zeniba: Suzanne Pleshette (Zira from The Lion King 2: Simba's Pride)
Assistant Manager: John Ratzenberger (Ham from Toy Story, and a voice in almost every Pixar film)

If you haven't seen this film, do it NOW! Or in the very near future. It's one of the most beautifully made animated films of all time! I loved every moment of it. Just watching how much Chihiro grows up is one of the most amazing stories I've ever seen!

The verdict: 10/10! Perfect!

I recently made a facebook fan page: Jewely's Japanimation Nation   Like me on facebook!

Hugs and Kisses!
~Jewely

Tenchi The Movie: Tenchi Muyo in Love! and Tenchi The Movie 2:The Daughter of Darkness

TGIF! Sorry I didn't post anything yesterday. I had a lot going on. I had my first stick-shift lesson with my husband! I got the car moving and braked. Hopefully I can get up to gear shifting next week! :)

So today is a double post, since I didn't get to yesterday. I just watched "Tenchi The Movie: Tenchi Muyo in Love!" and "Tenchi The Movie 2: The Daughter of Darkness". I haven't watched these movies for about 4 years, and the last time I really invested in them was when I was in Junior High, so these brought back lots of memories.

Tenchi Muyo in Love!:
This is the first film in the Tenchi movie collection. A lot of you remember these characters from the OVA's and Tenchi Universe. "Tenchi Muyo in Love!" was released in 1996.

The story starts out with the Galaxy Police HQ, where there is a prisoner named Kain, who has been trapped in sub-space for 100 years. Kain breaks out of the sub-space prison, and obliterates the Galaxy Police HQ. He then, sets out to destroy the house of Jurai to make sure that there will never be one who will have power to surpass his own.

That takes us to Tenchi, who is just starting his daily routine, but then he starts to vanish. His vanishing spells are an effect of something happening in the past. Tenchi is a prince of the House of the planet Jurai. He gets that from his mother's side. The prisoner, Kain is trying to eliminate Tenchi's mother from the past.

Washu, the science genius, figures out a way to send them all 26 years in the past to 1970. It is there where Achika, Tenchi's mother, is due to disappear. Ryoko and Ayeka become classmates of Achika and Nobiyuki(Tenchi's father). Mihoshi assumes the role of their teacher, while Kiyone gets to be the janitor. Sasami helps hide Tenchi so that he doesn't come in contact with his mother.

Tenchi and his friends follow and protect Achika, til the precise day that Kain sets to attack her. They set a trap for Kain in Tokyo Tower, and he gets pulled into a dimensional prison. Unfortunately, Kain pulls Achika and Nobiyuki into the prison with him. Washu then has to figure out a way for Tenchi, Ayeka, and Ryoko, to go save them from being killed, and save Tenchi from non-existence.

The Daughter of Darkness:

This is the 2nd film in the Tenchi movie collection. It was released in Japan in 1997.

The film opens with Yosho(Tenchi's grandfather) as a young boy, with a little girl who is giving him a gift for "Startica" (a Juraian version of Christmas). When she shows him her gift, they are ambushed by Juraian guards. They take the girl, beat her, then kill her. When she is killed she merely sheds her human form, and re-appears as the true demon of darkness she is.

The opening scene is a dream of the past from the demon. She wakes up and decides to look into the outside world. It is Christmastime, so she can see everyone is cheerful and having a good time. She then sees Yosho among the humans. She vows to get revenge on Juraians because of what they did to her. She pulls out one of Tenchi's hairs and her own hair and creates a young girl.

Tenchi is finishing up at the shrine and starts to walk down the stairs. He sees a young girl sitting there. He says hello to her, and she replies and calls him "Daddy". This of course throw him into a storm of shock and confusion, and throws all the women in the house into a storm of anger.

The young girl's name is Mayuka. She has a lot of energy and is very naive. She loves Tenchi (Daddy), but can't remember a thing about her mother. Washu pulls a hair from Mayuka to do a DNA test, and sure enough, she is in fact Tenchi's daughter.

Little does Mayuka know that she at times is being controlled by the demon, Yuzuha. Yuzuha commands her to bring the "Prince"(Tenchi) to her. The way that Mayuka does that, apparently is to sexually seduce Tenchi. (O.o weird)

After time, Mayuka becomes aware of the bad things she's doing and runs away. Sasami goes looking for her, but Mayuka is already being controlled by Yuzuha. She then takes Sasami into the lair of darkness to her "mother". Tenchi and Ryoko then set off to rescue Sasami from Yuzuha and Mayuka.

Thoughts:

My favorite out of these first 2 movies (there are 3 in the collection), is Tenchi Muyo in Love!. I love how everyone works together for the sake of saving Tenchi. This was my first time watching any "Tenchi" in Japanese, and I do believe this is the one series where I actually prefer the dubbed version. The 2nd movie is ok, it's just a little bit too weird for my liking. I watched this one in the English dub, and still can't believe how perfect the voices are. (especially Ryoko's)

The Verdict:

"Tenchi Muyo in Love!": 9.5/10! Great movie!

"The Daughter of Darkness": 5/10 OK movie.

These movies, especially the 2nd one, are not children appropriate. So these are something you may want to watch when your kids are already asleep or not home. You can find both on hulu.com. You can also buy the movie trilogy for a great price at http://www.rightstuf.com/1-800-338-6827/catalogmgr/4ANTtu6x5gSyZq963w/browse/item/74087/4/0/0 .

If you want to know more about the multiverses of Tenchi, I am currently going through and watching them all. Follow me on tumblr: http://jewelyjay.tumblr.com/.

Hope you all have a great weekend! I will be back with more on Monday!

Hugs and Kisses!

~Jewely

Pokemon The First Movie :Mewtwo Strikes Back

Happy Wednesday, friends! My husband and I finally got his car out of the shop! Yay! No more taking the bus to work! (It's not that bad, but it's a long ride) Now we just have to save up to get MY car fixed. Oh well, c'est la vie.

Recently, I re-watched "Pokemon The First Movie" due to my hype from X &Y. I remember when this movie released in theaters and they had all the Burger King toys and gave out the Ancient Mew trading card. This was at the height of the Pokemon phenomena.

The story picks up from the TV series as Ash Ketchum is on his journey to become a Pokemon Master. Along with his friends, Pikachu, Misty, and Brock, he is invited to a mysterious island. On this island they meet the ultimate Pokemon Master, who also happens to be a Pokemon himself, Mewtwo.Mewtwo, according to this film, was made from the DNA of the legendary Pokemon, Mew. He was raised in a lab and was being told by several humans, that he was merely an experiment and a slave to the human race. Mewtwo is now seeking revenge on the humans by inviting them to the island to obtain their Pokemon and make new, "better", clone Pokemon.
After stealing everyone's Pokemon and cloning them, and forcing them to fight, Mewtwo meets Mew, his ancestor. Mew tries to reason with Mewtwo and tell him that it isn't supposed to be this way. Mew is not successful, so then begins the ultimate battle.
Ash and his friends try to stop it, but nothing happens, so Ash throws himself into the crossfire of the attacks of Mew and Mewtwo. Ash is then turned to stone. All the Pokemon are saddened by Ash's fate and begin to cry. The tears shed by the Pokemon bring Ash back and Mewtwo finally realizes that he is not just a clone, and that his life does have a purpose.

There were 2 new Pokemon introduced in the film:
  First one was Marill (introduced in the short prior to the film, "Pikachu's Vacation")

The Second was Donphan (introduced in the opening credits of "Mewtwo Strikes Back")

Re-watching this movie brought back so many good memories with awesome friends. I can't believe how many years have passed by since this film's release! Unfortunately after getting older, the story doesn't have a lot to it. Not saying it isn't good, just had more to be desired. I think it has a lot of good morals that we can take away from it. "Pokemon the First Movie" gets an 8/10! Great to watch with your kids or just a group of friends.(In my case a "stay-in" date night) It has a lot of nostalgia if you're a Pokemon fan!

Also, pick up a copy of X or Y! It is seriously a great experience for any Pokemon fan! If you are a Pokemon anime fan, download the "Pokemon TV" app on iTunes, you can watch episodes from all season on your iDevice! :)

Thanks again for continuing to read! Please follow me on twitter: @jjewelyj .

Hugs and Kisses!

~Jewely

Tonari no Totoro (My Neighbor Totoro)

Good afternoon everyone! Today's been a pretty good day. I woke up to snow on the ground and it looks so gorgeous out in the apartment building's yard! I love the snow! (not so much when I have to drive in it, but it's so pretty!) Since I don't have to be at work til 4, I decided to watch "My Neighbor Totoro".

This is such a cute film! I think that Mei has to be one of the most adorable characters in all of Japanimation film history. The story is geared more toward younger children, but it has a lot of good real life messages.

"My Neighbor Totoro" is a story about 2 little girls named Satsuki and Mei. They just moved into a new house and are becoming familiar with their surroundings. They are also having a hard time with their mother being in the hospital. They want mother to come to the new home so they can show her everything and their family can be complete once again.
Mei is playing outside one day and catches sight of a small white creature and starts to chase it. The white creature then joins up with a mini version of Totoro and they try to run away from Mei. She then follows them into the forest and meets the big Totoro. Mei is not frightened at all by the sight of the lovable beast. She climbs up onto his stomach and introduces herself, and he does his best to communicate that his name is Totoro.
Throughout the film, Totoro appears randomly to either help the girls or comfort them. When they waited in the rain for their father to get off the bus, Totoro showed up and distracted them from their worries. When the 2 girls were losing hope of their acorns sprouting, Totoro and his companions appeared and encouraged the acorns to grow. And finally when Satsuki can't find Mei, Totoro and the Cat Bus come to her aid to find her.
The father in the story says that Totoro and his companions are the forest spirits and you can't see them unless they want you to. You never see Totoro interact with any characters other than Satsuki and Mei.
This is one of Hayao Miyazaki's and Studio Ghibli's most beloved films. Totoro is actually the "Mickey Mouse" of Studio Ghibli. The Japanese version was released in 1988, while the English version was not released until March 7, 2006. The English dub has an ensemble of well known actors such as:
Dakota Fanning: Satsuki
Elle Fanning:Mei
Tim Daly: Father
Lea Solonga: Mother
Pat Carroll: Granny
I give "My Neighbor Totoro" an 8/10! It's a very cute and heart-warming film, but it's not very high energy. It's great to watch if you just want to relax. The musical score, along with the animation is breathtaking! I think everyone should see this film at least once in their life!

That's about all I have for today! If you have any anime to recommend me, shoot me an e-mail at jjewelyj@gmail.com!

Hugs and Kisses!
~Jewely

Mermaid Melody Pichi Pichi Pitch

Hello, everyone! I hope you had a great weekend! I worked pretty much all the way through it, but that's good for my wallet. I came back to my page and realized that 215 people have taken time out of their day to read! That made me feel awesome and I hope I can keep posting good reads!

Anyway, my article today focuses on "Mermaid Melody Pichi Pichi Pitch". This anime is not the most popular, but it caught my attention cause of the magical girl aspect. The anime came out in 2003. I don't know the specifics of the manga or any other specific dates for the anime.

The story is about 3 mermaid princesses who come to the surface to get away from the Pantaressa (evil sea monsters). While on the shore they protect the people of the surface and fight to take back their kingdoms. The main character of the series is Luchia, the Pink Pearl Princess.

When Luchia was young, she rescued a human boy her own age from drowning. His name is Kaito. Luchia gives Kaito her pink pearl in hopes that they will meet again. When her kingdom is under attack, she must seek out the pearl on the surface. Luchia disguises herself as a human and integrates herself into an ordinary girl lifestyle at school and works at a hotel with her aunts. The popular surfer boy at school just happens to be Kaito. Luchia loves Kaito, and Kaito is in love with the mermaid he met when he was little. 

When Luchia retrieves her pink pearl, she can transform into a magical girl mermaid princess by calling out "Pink Pearl Voice". Along with the other mermaid princesses, they sing to battle their enemies. Their goal is to awaken the Goddess Aqua Regina with their 7 pearls. Aqua Regina also grants power to their songs. It is a very musical journey!

Here are some of Luchia's comrades:

Hanon- Aqua Pearl Princess (main character)

Rina-Green Pearl Princess (main character)

Karen-Purple Pearl Princess (secondary character)

Noelle-Indigo Pearl Princess (secondary character)

Coco-Yellow Pearl Princess (secondary character)

Sara-Orange Pearl Princess (secondary character)

Seira-Orange Pearl Princess (secondary character) In season 2 "Mermaid Melody Pichi Pichi Pitch Pure", a new heir for the Orange Pearl is born. This is where Seira comes in.

Mermaid Melody had 2 seasons; Pichi Pichi Pitch, and Pichi Pichi Pitch Pure. A lot of people don't like it, but I think it's cute and fun to watch. Anime fans find that there are too many similarities to Sailor Moon. I can see the obvious ones such as transforming and the main character has long blonde pigtails. However, story wise, it is so different from Sailor Moon. It's actually a lot harder to follow, which can be its downfall. I found myself lost more than once. Also, a lot of episodes had the same things happening over and over again. A lot of magical girl anime has that, but this had it more often than it should have. I feel like the story doesn't progress very well. When it did, it was over. 

The thing that kept bringing me back was the songs! The songs are adorable and very catchy! I found myself singing them a lot. The 3 main characters, Luchia, Hanon, and Rina get their own songs showing off the different styles of their voices. The main song is the one from the video above "Legend of Mermaid".

If you are interested in watching this anime, the first season is available for download here :http://bakabt.me/157386-mermaid-melody-pichi-pichi-pitch-a-flux-lunar-wasurenai.html . I have not yet been able to find a download for the 2nd season yet, but episodes are up on YouTube. If you would like to download the soundtrack, you can do so here:http://bakabt.me/143296-mermaid-melody-ost-collection.html .

Fun Facts: 

 The series' rights were purchased for Mermaid Melody but they cancelled production for an English version.

To tie into my last post-The first opening theme for this anime was performed by the late Kanbe Miyuki. Miyuki was the 3rd actress to portray Sailormoon in the live musicals.

I give Mermaid Melody a 7/10. While it had it's definite downfalls, I don't feel that this anime was a waste of time and I got some fun music out of it! It's not a fan favorite, but I think everyone can find something to appreciate about it. Even if it is just Hippo, the funny little penguin!

Ok! Well, my cat is being needy, so I better play with him before he throws a fit!

Until next time!

~Jewely

(the video in this article was posted by xSakuraKissx user on YouTube)

Bishoujo Senshi Sailormoon

I figured it only made sense to start with my favorite series as my first review/rant! Bishoujo Senshi Sailormoon is undoubtedly one of the most popular and well done anime in history and it is very close to my heart! I fell in love with the series back in 1998 when I was in 5th grade. Me and my neighbor/best friend Monica would watch it at her house every day when it aired on Toonami on Cartoon Network. My favorite senshi was Sailor Mercury at the time. I loved how smart she was and her shy personality was similar to mine, so I was naturally drawn to her. Monica and I would pretend to transform into Sailor Moon and Sailor Mercury and would use sticks as our wands. I also remember being up all night watching the 3 Sailor Moon films on VHS. So, basically concluding that these are my best childhood memories. ( I owe it to Monica and Sailor Moon!)

My love for this series has not died out at all, only matured. I have now had the experience of providing the voice of Sailor Moon in English for 2 episodes of a series developed by an organization known as J-Paul District. (It was a lot of fun!) I have cosplayed Sailor Jupiter and Michiru (Sailor Neptune's civilian name). I have developed life long friendships with other fans of the series, and have expanded my knowledge of the Sailormoon universe.

Sailormoon has many different forms of being portrayed; the most famous being the anime which ran from March 7, 1992- February 8, 1997 in Japan and September 11,1995- November 16, 2000 in the U.S..

The series began with Usagi Tsukino (or Serena Tsukino in the English), a clumsy crybaby who gets bad grades in school, plays video games rather than studying, and eats a lot. She encounters a strange cat with a crescent moon mark on her forehead. The cat's name is Luna. Luna informs Usagi that she is a Champion of Justice sworn to fight the evil forces of the Dark Kingdom. Usagi's idol is Sailor V, another heroine, so she is excited about the idea, but not so much the actual task. Luna gives Usagi a magic compact and tells her to shout "Moon Prism Power Make-Up!". Usagi goes through a transformation and becomes Sailormoon.....the rest is pretty much history. 
Along the way Usagi meets:
                                    Mamoru Chiba (Darien Shields)/Tuxedo Mask/ Prince Endymion
                                    Ami Mizuno (Amy Mizuno)/Sailor Mercury
                                    Rei Hino (Raye Hino)/Sailor Mars
                                    Makoto Kino (Lita Kino)/Sailor Jupiter
                                    Artemis (the white cat)
                                    Minako Aino (Mina Aino)/Sailor V/Sailor Venus
                                    ChibiUsa Tsukino (Rini Tsukino)/Sailor ChibiMoon (Sailor MiniMoon)
                                    Setsuna Meioh (Trista Meioh)/Sailor Pluto
                                    Haruka Tenoh (Amara Tenoh)/Sailor Uranus
                                    Michiru Kaioh (Michelle Kaioh)/Sailor Neptune
                                    Hotaru Tomoe (same name in English..wow!)/Sailor Saturn/Mistress Nine

Bishoujo Senshi Sailormoon is divided into 5 seasons all with different enemies and new powers

Sailormoon Classic: The Dark Kingdom lead by Queen Beryl

                                  Gold Compact and Moon Stick (Sailormoon)

                                Transformation Pens (Sailor Senshi)

Sailormoon R: Black Moon Clan lead by Wiseman/Death Phantom

                         Pink Locket and Scepter (Sailormoon)

                       Star Wands (Sailor Senshi)

Sailormoon S: Death Busters lead by Dr. Tomoe

                      Cosmic Brooch and Moon Rod (Sailormoon)

                     Outer Senshi Wands (used only by Uranus, Neptune and Pluto)

                   Holy Grail (Sailormoon transforms into Super Sailormoon with this)

Sailormoon SuperS: Dead Moon Circus lead by Queen Nehelenia

                              Crisis Brooch and Kaleidescope (Sailormoon)

                            Crisis Brooch and Crystal Carillon (Sailor Chibimoon)

                           Super Wands (Sailor Senshi)

SailorStars: Sailor Galaxia

                   Eternal Brooch and Moon Tier (Sailormoon)

The 2nd most popular form of Sailormoon is the original manga written and illustrated by Naoko Takeuchi!

Bishoujo Senshi Sailormoon inspired a live stage musical. There have been 13 different shows running from 1993- early 2005. Due to the recent 20th anniversary, they brought Sailormoon back to the stage for 2 weeks in September of 2013.

Sailormoon even had her own live action TV drama that aired from late 2003-2005. This is where the title switched from saying "Pretty Soldier" to "Pretty Guardian". The TV show is referred to as "PGSM".

So as you can see, there is a LOT of Sailormoon to cover. This was merely a quick glimpse of what it is. There is so much story and heart in this series. My husband has tried to just pop in on random episodes and gets completely lost. (And he reads really complex stories!) I think that every person should give Sailormoon a try. I don't say that about a lot of shows. This series has something that anyone can identify with. Everyone has their trials in life, but if you have the right friends and are equipped, you can conquer anything. I give Bishoujo Senshi Sailormoon a perfect 10/10!!! If you are ever wanting to learn more about it, there is plenty on YouTube. There is also a HUGE fan community that will be glad to guide you through. We are called Moonies, and we are pretty hard-core, but a lot of fun! Three of the best places I can direct you is http://missdream.org, http://moonkitty.net, and http://www.sailormoon-obsession.com. Check them out and donate!

Well, now that I have exhausted you guys with my super long love rant! I shall say goodnight! Subscribe to get more updates on the awesome anime I watch!

Hugs and Kisses!
~Jewely

Welcome to the Craziness

Helloo!!! My name is Jewely!! First off, thank you for taking time to read my little blog! I hope you enjoy your time here. I am in no way a skilled blogger/writer, but I figured I could share my love of anime with you this way. 

A few things about me:
                                      Favorite Color: Lime Green
                                      Favorite Food: Sushi (spicy tuna roll YUM!!)
                                      Marital Status: Married (as of Feb. 23rd, 2013)
                                      Favorite Anime: Bishoujo Senshi Sailormoon
                                      Favorite Movie: The Wizard of Oz
                                      DC or Marvel: Marvel
                                      Sub or Dub: Sub
                                      Shonen or Shoujo:Shoujo
                                      Favorite Thing to do to Waste Time: Watch anime
                                      Favorite Doctor: 10 (David Tennant)
                                      Dream Job:Anything that requires moving to Japan!
                                      Favorite Video Game: Pokemon X
                                      Favorite Game System: Nintendo 3DS XL
                                      Favorite Pokemon: Totodile
                                      Next Gen Console: PS4
                                      Favorite Sailor Senshi: It's a tie between Sailor Jupiter and Sailor Venus! 
                                      
Well, I think I covered all the basic nerd stuff! Ha! You can also follow me on tumblr: http://jewelyjay.tumblr.com/ and on twitter: @jjewelyj. If you have any request on anime reviews you would like done, please email me at jjewelyj@gmail.com! 

Hugs and Kisses!
~Jewely