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Presentation PA #71Spirited Away And Its Historical Importance In Japanese Anime & Movie Industry. As I write this, the war on terrorism still goes on, the war in the Middle East is getting worse and things are, in general, looking grim for our world. The horrible day of September 11th 2001 has definitely changed the psychology of the general public toward entertainment, I feel, and the anime shows and movies have a more stoical feel these days. Game products and anime shows do not have a "happy-go-lucky" feeling to them and their sexual contents are more modest or even rigid compared to the products we used to see before September 11th. Recently, I received a video tape from a friend of mine in Japan. She taped the Japanese Academy Awards (which took place in March) from TV, and I wasn't surprised that Hayao Miyazaki's Spirited Away got the award for Best Movie. Many readers of this magazine are also probably aware that Spirited Away received the Golden Bear Award at the Berlin Film Festival in February as well. Since the establishment of the Berlin Film Festival in 1951, only one Japanese movie, The Cruel Bushido Story, directed by Mr. Imai, received the Golden Bear Award in 1963 and even legendary Director Akira Kurosawa only received a Silver Bear Award for Ikiru (To Live) in 1954. In other words, Director Hayao Miyazaki and Studio Ghibli changed the history of Japanese movies and its industry! The most successful Japanese feature movie of all times is an anime! Spirited Away has made Director Miyazaki more famous than late Akira Kurosawa, who did not value anime very much. In fact, I even heard an anecdote (I am not sure if this is true) about Kurosawa wanting Miyazaki to direct live-action movies! Well, I think the Berlin Film Festival proved that an anime can be both an art film AND a viable international commercial product. When I was growing up in Japan, most people looked down on manga and anime as a cheap source of entertainment and saw no artistic values in them. They were wrong! But, of course, the indisputable success of Spirited Away, both artistically and commercially, not only in Japan, but also everywhere in the world, really reflects the times we are living in. Japan is going through hard economical times and the North Americans are trying to deal with the war on terrorism (both domestically and internationally), etc., so this movie's theme, "To live no matter what, when and how" really appeals to everyone. Chihiro, the 10 year-old girl, enters a mysterious world, but despite her hardships, she takes on the challenge and survives, thanks to her hard work! We will be covering Director Miyazaki and his works in our next issue, so please stay tuned! There are so many anime feature films that have been released in theaters all over Japan in Spring 2002, such as Patlabor The Movie 3, The Tree Of Palme, One Piece: Chopper Kingdom Of Wild Animals, Digimon Tamers: Reckless Driving Of Digimon Express, Doraemon: Nobita And The Robot Kingdom, etc., etc. Believe it or not, some Japanese movie critics are praising Detective Conan, telling people how intelligent this anime is! Now that an anime feature film can be a great success all over the world, I am sure that more studios and creators will want to follow Director Miyazaki's lead. Let us hope that the historical event in Berlin will encourage new creators so that fans can enjoy even more great anime works in the future! Miyako Matsuda * * *This issue offers two big features. First, a 9-page spotlight on Ronin Warriors / Yoroiden Samurai Troopers (currently being released by Bandai). Second, tons of (ok, twelve) "Anime Stories" (short overviews with sometimes character profiles and synopses) to introduce you to even more brand new anime series: Anime Complex Night (including Steel Angel Kurumi 2 and Maid In Hanaukyo), Comet-san, Earth Defense Family, Final Fantasy Unlimited, Fruits Basket, Mazinkaizer, Offside, One Piece Movies, Shaman King, Sister Princess, Tottoko Hamutaro, and Zone Of The Enders (Z.O.E.): Dolores, I! It also includes the usual "Anime World" articles (Interview with voice actor Tiffany Grant, The Modern Japanese Music Database Part 15, more convention reports including SugoiCon, Middle Tennessee Anime Convention, OhayoCon and UshiCon), the reviews of lots of recent anime & manga-related products (videos, DVDs, manga, books, model kits, live-action movies, etc.) and the latest news. All that to do the best we can to keep you informed about what's going on in the anime industry both in Japan and in North America! This issue also has a slighly different cover design. Did you notice? As always, please enjoy this issue and don't forget to give us some feedback ! Have a nice summer! Next Issue: will be mostly dedicated to anime movie director Hayao MIYAZAKI. The main spolights will focus on his most recent movie, Sen To Chihiro no Kamikakushi (aka Spirited Away), and his TV series Future Boy Conan. It will also offers overviews on some of his famous movies (Nausicaa, Laputa, My Neighbor Totoro, Kiki's Delivery Service, Porco Rosso, Mononoke Princess, etc.) as well as some of his minor works (Shuna no Tabi, On Your Mark, Sherlock Hound, etc.). It will finally include articles on the Ghibli Museum and the musician Joe Hisaishi. However, it will still include the usual "Anime World" articles, reviews and news. Coming in August! -- PA#73 will focus on Char's CounterAttack, but will also include Cosmo Warrior Zero, Cowboy Bebop Movie, Jojo's Bizarre Adventure, Natsu He no Tobira, Project ARMS, Sakura Wars Movie, Scryed, and Slayer Premium! Don't miss them! Claude J. Pelletier |