Mai Mai Miracle is WOAAAH
Since Summer Wars is out on DVD/BD this week, you can watch it pretty easily. But Mai Mai Miracle is not going to happen for a while still, and my goodness.
If you like Omohide Poroporo, or know what inaka means and like anime, then you owe it to yourself to watch Mai Mai Miracle. I am actually not exaggerating at all; the film is all about that inaka-crap. For the record, I probably don’t qualify for either, so maybe this is just over-reaction or something.
It’s been years since I last saw Omohide Poroporo, but I still remember it vividly, if spottily. And as much as I hate to pin Mai Mai Miracle on that excellent Ghibli production, I think I have to, out of my inability to stand on anything else to criticize it.
Which is to say, I think Maimai Shinko to Sennen Mahou doesn’t quite stand up to that work, but at the same time it isn’t equally boring. Make no mistake; it is still boring. I saw the film with a theater full of kids, and a lot of them are fidgeting throughout the affair. You can hear it. It’s definitely a low octane experience. Still, it’s a visually competent work with good music and all that as you’d expect from a Madhouse feature film that opened just a few months ago (Began screening in Japan back in Nov. ’09). It just doesn’t have as much of that softness, that human touch, than the Isao Takahata masterpiece. On the other hand, Shinko’s life in the boondocks was notably less controversial and friendly to certain things and ideas.
The story itself is based on the autobiography of a writer, and it’s set during her childhood. The presentation is, actually, like another Madhouse film. I hope that got you curious enough. It was my first impression. I even wrote it on the ballot… A writer is akin to an actress, but even more powerful since she created whole worlds from scratch; but I guess on the silver screen, we’re given the treat the same way, no matter if it originates from an act or a script.
On some level, this is a film that’s mainly for kids, or Japanese people. But the film’s presentation isn’t exactly the most easy thing to understand for the young as it overlays fantasy over reality and it’s quite the raw countryside (well, packaged nonetheless) experience to well-to-do New Yorkers and their children. I’m sort of at a loss as to how foreigners should engage the work besides as a, well, foreign film. But maybe that’s why the term “slice of life” is still a butchered metaphor rather than anything else, despite the earnest desire of people trying to use it to describe something way more profound than they realize.
As obligated, I’ll write more about both this and Summer Wars. Summer Wars is notably more mundane in comparison. I mean a mainstream-appealing action-adventure work with attractive Sadamoto designs is a win-win formula, but we’ve had just that a few years ago. Well, see for yourself.
The screening I attended featured Mamoru Hosoda himself, and after the screening he gave us a good 30-40 minutes of Q&A time. As this was the NYICFF, about 70% of the questions came from kids, as in people who looked like kids since they were yea big. There might be a few adults who actually asked questions, as in certifiably people over age of 25, total, out of the 2-3 dozen questions he entertained.
This was simply the best, most delightful Q&A session involving something anime in nature that I’ve attended. The questions from the kids were earnest, straightforward, and even thoughtful (as kids could be). Like why the Love Machine was called that (not just a Momusu thing). Or the big diss on lacking on juice. I had a great time anyways. Hosoda had to entertain the kids, but he also asked them some things to get feedback. And boy did they give feedback… I was amused when Hosoda was trying to explain the concept of internet-based multiplayer gaming to this kid, who looked like 7 or 8 years old. Well, you get the idea. Appropriately he went for a smoke after the time spent w/ the general public; it’s a tough crowd.
I’ll save the comparison with Tokikake and the rest of the review for later, but the thing that struck me about Summer Wars the most was the references. I mean, we all got the John & Yoko bit (and to the NY crowd, that’s a funny joke, if you are over the age of 20). But I just can’t help but to think that the Hanafuda Koi-Koi game is like Mahjong, and Natsuki is like, well, Nodocchi.
Whoa, and this actually came up the same time I was convinced to watch Summer Wars. I’m glad you enjoyed the movie the same way as I do, though it’s also true that you can’t sum up what Summer Wars had to offer by just one post.
Also, Natsuki as Nodocchi? How? Isn’t Natsuki just, like, a hidden ace in the hole just like Saki was?
I said Nodocchi (rather than Nodoka) for the same magical girl reasons. And I think she slams the tiles harder than Saki does.
After watching the movie I feel like the scene with everyone lined up intently staring at their cellphones sums up the movie (in my head) pretty well. I thought the blending of everything was chaotic and I couldn’t decide if it worked or not. I wondered if the audience was supposed to be as broken up about the grandma’s death as everyone else was. It made me pause and think; what now, but I only had a slight tinge of grief based on how little screen time she actually had. I know I liked it…I just can’t decide HOW MUCH I liked it. The cohesion of the story just threw me off. Wabisuke’s purpose was another aspect that confused me. Natsuki’s prowess at hanafuda. There was one scene but it didn’t reference her being amazing at it or anything. How did Keiji know she would be awesome enough to beat super AI? Sorry for spoilers…I guess. The movie was for me almost more bizarre than a satoshi kon work.
The suspension of belief is a matter worth discussing. The skill in Koi-Koi is not a big deal, since they did bother to explain it. Let me know once you figure it out in your head lol.