Kiki’s Delivery Service: The Miracle of Self Belief [OWLS Blog Tour December 2018: Miracles]

Tis the season where miracles happen. For December’s theme, we will be exploring faith in anime and pop culture. We will discuss some of the miracles that enter a character’s life during their darkest moments. Some of their questions we will explore is how does a “miracle” change a person’s life? How do we define miracles? Can miracles only happen due to a legend or a mystical being? Or do miracles happen every day, but we just don’t see it? We hope that you enjoy this holiday season! Happy Holidays! 

When one thinks of Miyazaki, apart from his themes of flight and nature, the three films that come to mind are Spirited Away, Princess Mononoke and My Neighbour Totoro. This is not to say that Miyazaki’s other films aren’t good or memorable, but these are the films even non-anime fans are able to recognize, mostly, in part, due to their impact on pop culture.

What also separates Miyazaki from most other anime directors is his depiction of the shojo (which has been well documented by scholars, such as Susan Napier, over time), who were mostly depicted as passive and helpless in other mediums at the time. Most of Miyazaki’s films have female leads and these characters are often depicted as strong, active and independent figures. One of these female figures is Kiki, a teenage witch who moves to a seaside town with her cat, Jiji, as part of her witch training.

Miyazaki Reflections: My Neighbour Totoro

For those of you who follow me on Twitter you will know that I am currently doing a seminar on Miyazaki as part of my film course. One of the assignments that I had to do was to give my thoughts and reflections on two of his films. One of those was My Neighbour Totoro. Here are my thoughts on the film. Hope you enjoy reading it 🙂

Update on My Life

Osu, everyone! Been a while since I last posted something. I’ve been bogged down with lots of work at university lately so that’s why I’ve been a bit quiet. Anyway, I currently have some breathing space right now so I want to use this time to let you know on some exciting things I could potentially be working on (for education, of course 😉 ) in the next few weeks.

The Influence of Anime in Pop Culture

Ghost in the Shell: The anime film that inspired The Matrix [Image via ScienceFiction.com]

As an Otaku and avid film watcher, I have always been interested in finding a link between anime and cinema and how the one compliments the other. Believe it or not, many Hollywood films and other forms of media that we watch have been influenced, one way or another, by anime. But what is it about anime that has caused it to have such a huge effect on Western media today?