Before the menu proper on the Spirited Away DVD, there are trailers for the release of City In The Sky and Kiki's Delivery Service. My nephew, P--, who is visiting alone, was very excited to see there are other releases "like Spirited Away." I asked him what he meant, and he said, "By that man. I can't remember his name."
"Miyazaki?"
Big smile. "Yeah, that's it. I like his stuff! It's so different."
The kid is nine. The reason why we were watching Spirited Away in the first place is that he asked, first thing upon arriving at my parents' house, if we had a copy. Actually, he asked if we had My Neighbor Totoro, then asked if we could watch Spirited Away. He was also excited by the idea of eventually watching Grave of the Fireflies, though he trusted me when I said he might want to wait a little while as it's a very, very sad story.
"How sad?"
"It made me cry, P--. It's about two children living in Japan during World War II."
"What happens?"
"I can't tell you, or I'll give away the movie."
"Okay. We'll watch it later."
This is one great kid. Maybe I've no reason whatsoever to be proud, but I am. So there. He's a completely suburban kid, he almost never goes into Philadelphia, let alone New York City. Yet, he's a Miyazaki/Ghibli fan and is happy when he sees another film by Ghibli/Miyazaki is available.
Now if only he could read the faster subtitles (remember, American suburban!) so we could watch them in Japanese. All right. I'll wait another couple of years.
"Miyazaki?"
Big smile. "Yeah, that's it. I like his stuff! It's so different."
The kid is nine. The reason why we were watching Spirited Away in the first place is that he asked, first thing upon arriving at my parents' house, if we had a copy. Actually, he asked if we had My Neighbor Totoro, then asked if we could watch Spirited Away. He was also excited by the idea of eventually watching Grave of the Fireflies, though he trusted me when I said he might want to wait a little while as it's a very, very sad story.
"How sad?"
"It made me cry, P--. It's about two children living in Japan during World War II."
"What happens?"
"I can't tell you, or I'll give away the movie."
"Okay. We'll watch it later."
This is one great kid. Maybe I've no reason whatsoever to be proud, but I am. So there. He's a completely suburban kid, he almost never goes into Philadelphia, let alone New York City. Yet, he's a Miyazaki/Ghibli fan and is happy when he sees another film by Ghibli/Miyazaki is available.
Now if only he could read the faster subtitles (remember, American suburban!) so we could watch them in Japanese. All right. I'll wait another couple of years.
