Spirited Away is undoubtedly one of — if not the most — well-known film from director Hayao Miyazaki. The Academy Award-winning fantasy-adventure of a young girl having to navigate the spirit world she’s trapped in is a story that has captivated and inspired audiences all over the world.
Continue reading “Audiences Will Be ‘Spirited Away’ in Stage Adaptation of Miyazaki Classic”
It’s been three years since the first-ever Star Wars live-action series, The Mandalorian — as well as the platform it lives on, Disney+ — debuted. In celebration, viewers received a little treat, by way of a collaboration between two beloved studios.
Continue reading “NOC Review: When Grogu Met the Soot Sprites”
Japan. The land of anime and manga. When those two are brought up, usually the district of Akihabara in the city of Tokyo comes to mind. Sure, Akihabara still is the mecca of countless arcades with floors full of games, stores full of anime merchandise, and tons of specialty stores that will probably have what you are looking for. However, Akihabara is not the only area where these things can be found.
Nipponbashi, otherwise known as Den Den Town, can be seen as the Akihabara of Osaka. While not the size of Akihabara, Den Den Town still caters to the needs of many nerds, myself included. The laidback and easygoing pace of Den Den Town is a lot more relaxing than the hustle and bustle of Akiba. Den Den Town is also home to one of my favorite events of the year: the Nipponbashi Street Festa.
Continue reading “Nipponbashi Street Festa: Cosplay Invades Osaka”
Around 1987 or ’88, I was in junior high and in a funny stasis where my nerd creativity was beginning to grow out of my bookishness (I routinely wrote awful Dungeons and Dragons-type short stories) but before I collided head first into confronting issues like race, violence, and poverty that was all around my world and in my school (I had no idea that my misplacements in advanced math and ESL had to do with my race). Add this to adolescent hormones and — well, to keep it short, it was rough on many different levels.
Continue reading “Ready for the World: The Magic of ‘Princess Mononoke’ & ‘Spirited Away’”
Last weekend, Studio Ghibli announced that it’s founder, award-winning filmmaker Hayao Miyazaki, was retiring from making movies. For what it’s worth, this isn’t the first time Miyazaki has “retired” (he’s like the Jay-Z of the animation game), but there definitely seems to be an air of finality to this announcement. If The Wind Rises ends up being his final film, it will be the cap to a long, illustrious, and brilliant career.
After the jump, several of The Nerds of Color reflect on what Miyazaki’s movies have meant to them.
Continue reading “NOCs of the Roundtable: Miyazaki Memories”
