Originally posted by Pedro The Hutt
Ah, wait for the DVD and see it subbed XD
I just don't get what the big deal is in the sub/dub debate. I mean, yeah the story's edited 'cause the languages don't match up exactly, but movies/TV are edited even within languages. Really, unless they rewrite entire scenes and plot points, I'm okay with it. I guess the whole "movie < novel" issue has gotten me used to having two-or-three different accounts of the same events.
Besides, sometimes the dubs are actually better. The only time I've really seen verbal comedy actually "work" in a sub was in Iron Monkey, with the "Shaolin punks" (as a pun on "Shaolin Monks") line, and I strongly suspect that that line of dialogue was. . . loosely translated.
Anyhoo (SPOILERS HOOOOO!!!!):
*cut'n'paste from a .txt file that I wrote off-line to save time*
:maize:
Unsurprising. It was every bit as cool as I expected.
Unfortunately though, I know right now that pretty much all non-otaku reviews (or re-reviews, since it has played before, in one theatre) around here are going to pan it. Y'see, in Canada no one can get past the whole "cartoon = kiddie fare" idea. As I was going in, most of the adults (all of them with 5-10 year-old children in tow) were mildly scandalized at the PG rating and the "not recommended for young children" blurb. I can only imagine the sort of mass-pandemonium we'd get if most of Canada found out about, say, Gundam Wing or Evangelion. :roleyess:
That said, I'd imagine that Miyazaki's typically subtext-laden story went over the heads of even most adults in the audience; geared as they apparently were for some sort of Disney-esque musical.
For those who came in late, this was all about appearance/reality. I especially liked Haku's transformation, but then, I'm a dragon. :bossk: Interesting how he didn't speak in dragon form --his dragon-throat apparently isn't capable of forming human speech.
I even liked the "monster" who attacks those who give in to greed, but rewards those who show compassion. The allegory was pretty much driven home with a sledgehammer, but it was so artfully done. :thrawn2:
Typically for Miyazaki, plot elements were cribbed from global myth and legends. From the enchanted food (3rd rule of fantasy: If you find yourself in the Otherworld, never help yourself to the buffet), to the encircling river, to the twin sorceresses, to the water-spirit. The name symbolism is downright occult (to name something gives power over it), and I like that there was no blatant infodump about how Japanese names work. The audience themselves can pick up that "Chihiru" is four letters, and that if you remove three, it becomes "Sen." If they don't, then they really don't need to anyway --it's just a cool thing to know. ^_^
The one part I wasn't clear on was exactly what Yu-Baba's sister (whose name excapes me at the moment "Zenaba?") hoped to accomplish by the paper-blades. I don't think she wanted to kill Haku (if she had, Sen would never have come to her), and if she wanted to cut out Yu-Baba's control-spell, there had to have been an easier way to do it. It worked out for the best though: Haku survives, is freed from Yu-Baba's control, Yu-Baba's baby is forced out into the world, Sen escapes the bath-house, and she gets her seal back. Probably it's just one of those "casual omniscience" things that spiritesses do.
I was expecting the "paper cut" line as soon as I saw the blades. Wasn't expecting it to come from holo-Zenaba though.
The animation was nothing less than beautiful, as befits one of Miyazaki-san's masterpieces. The script was a little slower than most NorAm audiences probably expected, but it works just 'cause it's so easy to get lost in the breathtaking visuals.
The dubbing (always a source of controversy) seemed well-done (he says, having no clue what the Japanese script looks like). There was a bit of the typical "I'm talking to myself to explain a vital plot-point," but then that turns up in most movies, really.
I was wrong incidentally; it looks like it'll be playing 'til Thursday at least (that's as far ahead as the Tribute site (
http://www.tribute.ca) looks). I may just have to see it again, depending on how the multitudinous essays go (two down, two almost done, one to go).