[Reventage]

I went to see Howl's Moving Castle a bit over two weeks ago when it had it's premiere here. The movie was, as other Miyazaki's films, marvelous, charming and absolutely delightful. I would warmly recommend it to anyone whose heart isn't frozen yet and I'd like to believe that there's even a chance that the movie might possibly thawn the core of those who most already consider lost. If you compare it to the other movies by Hayao Miyazaki, Howl's Moving Castle is a bit more fast paced than the previous ones. This made me feel that this time the characters weren't quite as well developed as they usually are, but this is only a complaint when you compare it to it's siblings, most of which have a legendary reputation and have been raised on a pedestal ages ago. The quality of the film is still topnotch. So go and watch the movie and then start digging around for the other films by Miyazaki and Studio Ghibli. Here is a list of Miayzaki's works, each item in the list a piece of art no living soul should miss (Not in any particular order): Spirited Away (Sen to Chihiro no Kamikakushi) - The first Anime movie to win an Oscar (Best Animated Feature Film) and in many ways the best movie directed by Miyazaki. Porco Rosso (Kurenai No Buta) - Even though Spirited Away is the best Ghibli movie, this has always been my favorite. Maybe because it was the first I saw over a decade ago. Princess Mononoke (Mononoke Hime) - Nature versus Man. The English script for this movie was adapted by Neil Gaiman. Still I recommend that you watch all these movies with the original Japanese audio (even if Master Miyazaki disagrees with me. He thinks that reading the subtitles distracts you from the animation and thus is something that should be avoided). Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind (Kaze no Tani no Naushika) - Miyazaki's second film based on a manga he wrote. My Neighbor Totoro (Tonari no Totoro) - Another movie from Miyazaki revolving around childhood and growing up. Totoro plushies are one of the big reasons why Studio Ghibli has been able to survive this long. Grave of the Fireflies (Hotaru no Haka) - Story of two children trying to survive in Japan during the end of World War two. One of the saddest movies I've ever seen. Kiki's Delivery Service (Majo no Takkyubin) Laputa: Castle in the Sky <i style="font-style: italic;">(Tenku no Shiro Laputa) [/i]So yeah, I'm a fan.<i style="font-style: italic;"> [/i]