Japanese Animated Movies: Short Reviews

One of my goals in life is to have a collection of my favorite animated movies. Me and my anime madness.. tsk. As I collect, I select what to collect, of course. Here are a couple of Japanese animated movies that I have watched these past few weeks as I go trek and check one movie to another:

The Girl Who Leapt Through Time: I already made a post on this, concerning time leap. I'll just reiterate my thoughts on the movie by saying that it's certainly one of the great feel-good animated movies from Japan. It's definitely a must-watch --- great story, great animation, believable emotions.

Howl's Moving Castle: Hayao Miyazaki shows how he's one of Asia's most talented artists and storytellers. This guy really has a vast imagination to be able to cook up the many settings and "magical advances" in Howl's Moving Castle. This movie was nominated for the Academy Awards, understandably. The movie reflects a lot of emotions and all the characters are really brought out to life by the flow of the story. Christian Bale voices the childishly charming Howl, although I can only remember little of how Bale's voice sounded so smooth.

Spirited Away: This is perhaps Hayao Miyazaki's most successful film, as it won the Academy Award, again understandably. The movie tells the story of a girl plunged into a world of magic and sorcery, all the while trying to cling to her identity. I think perhaps the morale of the story is to always remember who you are, even if the others try to rule over you. Miyazaki again brings out his big imagination here. He's really impressive.

Vampire Hunter D: Given the fact that this movie was made many years ago, I guess I can excuse the bad drawing (very thick outlines, and that's bad when the movie's setting is already dark). Still, this is not a movie I would want to watch twice. It follows Vampire Hunter D in one of his missions to rid the world of vampires, even with the knowledge that his father is the great ancestor of all vampires, Dracula. While the story remains the same, the book is still more catching.

Vampire Hunter D - Bloodlust: Another Vampire Hunter D movie.. but this time, there's improvement in everything --- drawing, storyline, effects, etc. It features another one of D's missions as a vampire hunter, and lightly touches on his views as a half-vampire. This one is better than the first, no doubt, with a far more intriguing flow and more believable characters (at least in the sense that it's in a vampiric setting).

Sword of the Stranger: I saved the best for last. This movie is so cool! Dramatic cool, like Rurouni Kenshin and Seirei no Moribito mixed in one. The story follows a boy chased for his blood (not clear in the movie why him specifically), and a stranger who turns out to be a very skillful swordsman. The action scenes were impressive, with detailed movements and awesome moves. The drama was equally moving and heart-warming. I even fell in love with the dog, among other things. This movie is definitely one of my favorite animated movies.