Let’s Complete Studio Ghibli IX

Good Morning Everyone!

For The Lin Family.

Coming to you live from the other site and I want to apologize for not maintaining a steady stream of Studio Ghibli. So without further ado let me show you how to work.

I’ve had my eyes on you ever since you walked in the room
C’mon & take my hand, don’t try to understand
Oh baby nothing can stop us now,
I’m gonna show you how
Show you how to work
C’mon let’s have some fun, we’ll work till morning comes
Lemme see ya work

I’d love to turn you on, I’d work you all night long
If I could get you in the raw, I’d make you climb the walls
Oh yeah nothing can stop us now,
I’m gonna show you how
Show you how to work

Just because I have not been sleeping does not mean that I have been watching. But it is good to have a break, be it small or long. (In this case, size really does matter.) I do find it particularly interesting how I am taking a break from one of my recreations. Oh, life works in beautiful ways. It’s so beautiful that tonight we continue our journey through the Studio Ghibli Hayao Miyazaki Collection 32.

Disc 9: Only Yesterday, Omohide Poro Poro, おもひでぽろぽろ
Director and Writer: Isao Takahata
Producer: Hayao Miyazaki
Release Date: July 20, 1991 (JPN) (that means I can only watch this movie in Dutch or Japanese…lovely.)

Only Yesterday is an animated movie that attempts to break away from what is deemed as “anime.” There are no magical powers, to evil-doers, no extravagant force that either consumes or is consumed. Only Yesterday presents an animated version of “real (adult) life.”

It seems like only yesterday U said U loved me
U said I was your universe with only God above me
How could U say all those things and lead me on this way?
2 think that I could give U up 4 what some people say
Hold me and we can make it through the rain
Hold me and we can weather any pain
If U and I are lost because of what some people say
Then there’s no justice in this world 2day

As children, we were told to dream. Not only dream, but aspire to become something. Then we progress through the ages of innocence and experience, and some of us realize that what we once dreamt and aspired have not come to fruition, leaving us lost and unsure of what will come next. Here we have Taeko, a twenty-plus, single, office clerk who goes on vacation to the countryside to visit her elder sister in-law and help with the safflower harvest.

 Girl, your ride is bad but U can’t compare
2 my baby black Cadillac, oh so rare
Take a vacation, I don’t care
Cuz I can get some simulation anywhere

Taeko reminiscences of her schoolgirl days; recalling memories of events that took place when she was a fifth grader. Taeko would envy her classmates who would go to their parent’s hometown for vacation while she stayed behind in the city. She also recalled the innocent events of her life; her family’s first taste of pineapple, the star baseball player who had a crush on her and of course the menstrual cycle.

Girl
U excite me so
Oohwee baby, your body’s like no other

Girl
It’s U I gotta know (Gotta know)
Oohwee baby, I bet you’re quite a lover

Reaching the countryside, Taeko is welcomed by family, her brother-in-law’s cousin, Toshio. Toshio takes her to the safflower farm. On the way, Toshio tells Taeko that he used to work in an office but give it up to tend to a farm. Reaching the farm, Taeko helps pick safflower petals. Her work and interactions with the family are interlaced with flashbacks of her childhood: how she hated hand-me-downs, how her father slapped her when she left the house only wearing socks and how she was awful at math and how her mother and sister thought she was not normal because of so.

There was 1 September day that Papa worked 2 hard
First he crucified every dandelion out in the yard
Then he screamed at baby twice 4 throwin’ rocks at passin’ cars
Baby didn’t listen, so like a priceless work of art
He got snatched by his Papa who then opened up the closet door
And pushed the four-year-old down, onto the closet floor
Baby cried “I’m sorry, I won’t do it no more”
Papa said “Yeah, I know, that’s what this here’s 4”
Smack!
Ooh Papa…
Smack! Smack!

Eventually Taeko begins to get comfortable and falls in love with the countryside. As time drew nigh for Taeko’s return to the city, her brother-in-law’s family urges her to stay, asking questions about her future: marriage, life and love. The credits end with Taeko and Toshio.

I’ll see U 2night in all my dreams
All my dreams
My spirit’s in flight in all my dreams
All my dreams
A submarine valiantly conquers a virgin sea
A child is born, a child is born, will U marry me?

 

General comments: an animated movie for a more grown audience. Nostalgia is a wonderful thing. But one can easily get lost in it. So it’s good to reminisce, just as long as we are not stuck reminiscing and regretting things that were not meant to be. Getting lost is easy however, as everyone wants a place called home. A place that is always comfortable and welcoming. It is at these places where we do most of our learning: from the past, present and learning of our futures. Overall, the movie seemed to move a little slow but it was a good nostalgia piece.

… That’s that! Until next time! Keep watching.

Today I Helped Move I

Good Morning Everyone!

Coming to you live from Wilmington, North Carolina sitting in the nitrogen and phosphorus-poor wet savannah. A friend in need is definitely a friend indeed, as a friend is never known until they are needed. I do not have many friends; in fact the number is so small that I a child with a Sesame street education could accurately count them. Until very recently, such a fact has never bothered me. That is not to say that I’m currently losing sleep over the situation. On an outside perspective of the situation, I do see the benefits in not being offstandish, sole and solitary. The first benefit being: a good time and good company. Adventures, jokes and meals are shared with friends (some better than others, some not so good, but friends regardless). Another benefit reaped, friends provide a listening ear. People have something to say. It’s better when someone is listening. A third benefit, a helping hand. Everyone falls. When family can no longer do it, who better to help pick you up and dust you off?

Why can’t we be friends?
Why can’t we be friends?
Why can’t we be friends?
Why can’t we be friends?
The color of your skin don’t matter to me
As long as we can live in harmony

With all this friendship in the air, today, just like (what some may call) the long night before was spent with good company. But with a slight difference; a little more strenuous…the laughs were still there. With the fun-loving company of a “dancing” friend and her “dancing” partner, today I helped move.

I can move you if you let me
Ahh, gettin’ in touch with you
I can move you if you let me
Ahh, takin’ a position
I can move you if you let me
Ahh, I’m trying communication
I can move you if you let me
I’m checking out your signals

Imagine a 14 foot truck driven by a barely 5 foot person. Nice! I’ve always been on the move: 9 years, 2 years, 1 year, 7 years, 5 years, 2 years, 5 or 6 years. That is how I have been going from here to there and sometimes back again. Moving is always an adventure. Make new friends and keep the old: one is silver the other gold. The coincidental thing…It was raining.

Time keeps on slippin’, slippin’, slippin’
Into the future
Time keeps on slippin’, slippin’, slippin’
Into the future

I want to fly like an eagle
To the sea
Fly like an eagle
Let my spirit carry me
I want to fly like an eagle
Till I’m free
Oh, Lord, through the revolution

The best part, the first move: an island to a smaller island. This was followed by a move from a small island to a mainland; a small town. A small town to a big city. A big city to another island. So it’s only fitting that the move be made from something big to something small. Well, not big, but bigger. The best things in life are temporary: that was my initial thought. But things can change.

 

Dance to the music
All night long
Everyday people
Sing their simple song
Mama’s so happy
Mama starts to cry
Papa’s still singing
You can make it if you try 

I want to thank you for letting me be myself again 
I want to thank you for letting me be myself again

With the rain falling faster, the mattresses were left. The lamb did not seem to mind the rain nor did the company.  It was an exciting time…my back only hurt a little. Everything was moved in. But was she? Of course not, moving in takes time. But the first day was fun. In the end, the sun started peaking through the clouds as I was dropped off at my destination. It’s only coincidental.

My sunshine has come
And I’m all cried out
And there’s no more rain in this cloud

There’s no hiding place
When someone has hurt you
It’s written on your face, and it reads
“Broken spirit, lost and confused”
“Empty, scared, used and abused, a fool”
Oh, ain’t it funny that the way you feel
Shows on your face
And the smile you used to wear
Seems a little bit out of place
People oh, hold on
In time it gets a little better, whoa

Biggest laugh: “My foot can’t even reach the pedal.” Lines of the day: “We be U-hauling!” “Move…get out the way!” “He’s a moving machine!” “Oh, you’re really serious now!” “My foot is killing me.” “There’s a Venus Flytrap on the truck.”

…Until next time! Keep movin’.

Tonight I (We) Dined Thai IV

Good Morning Everyone!

Coming to you live from the Phaya Thai district in central Bangkok where everyone has something to tell but not everyone wants to tell it. Ah, and that is what makes a secret so much fun. Some people have to know it, they have to find out what other people are hiding; they have to find  like that last apple in a bushel of oranges. But is a secret still a secret when that secret is said? Of course it is, it just so happens that the secret is known to another, who now has the power to play with your emotions. And everyone enjoys a little play. So there we sat, in our usual seat, my “flowery, floating, itsy bitsy spider-disliking” friend (whose nickname changes from week to week except for one moniker that remains the same on another site…here, on oflittleimportance, this good friend will be called Tangerine) and I at our usual Friday night dining spot. As always the company is one of pure delight and our discussion was that of a secretive nature. With entertaining company and lively banter, tonight we dined Thai: a 3-course dinner.

This is our secret
Do you promise to keep it
Keep it 

Don’t tell anyone, anybody, anyone
That I love you
Don’t tell anyone anybody anyone at all

Phayathai Restaurant735 Hawkins Avenue
Lake Ronkonkoma, NY 11779
www.phayathai-li.com

 

Several deals were made upon several handshakes: the key agreement, one picture for one piece of paper. Both items seemingly more innocent than the other. Yet, both with the having the ability to create ridicule, mock, badger and ribbing. Sometimes a sacrifice has to be made in order to get what you want. It’s fine to have regret, but in the end, we have to be comfortable with the choice that we made. Hesitant at first, the choice was made. The deal was done…we dined.

1st course: Fried Tofu and Chicken Wings

If there is one thing that can be learned from cooking food, it’s that frying makes good things taste better. Imagine taking a dull and bland block of tofu, cutting it into triangular pieces and then having them dance in a vat of oil. What seemed dull and bland has now become lively and well, still a little bland. But served with peanut sauce…it’s alright. As with other nights, the triangles were spread and some wings flew: we shared.

Entrées:

 Tangerine: Curry Noodle Soup with Chicken

Dined once before, another attempt at a curry soup made with crispy egg noodle, bean curd, bean sprout and red onion all in a spicy coconut milk curry. Though extra noodles were given (thinking that maybe she needed to eat more…a healthy appetite is a good one), they were not partaken, as once again capacity and enjoyment were reached.

My Entrée: Yellow Curry with Chicken

Similar to the above dish, but contains potato and does not contain noodles. In place of said noodles is Roti served with a cucumber sauce: buttery, flaky and a bit of tangy and sweet (almost like someone that I know…minus the buttery and sweet part…well, maybe, but definitely flaky and tangy). Combining the flavors can be so much fun.

  Tangerine’s Dessert: Fried Green Tea Ice Cream

No sharing this time, as dessert became more of a private affair. Though private, she brought the heat. A ball of flame with a frozen inside. Usually a vivid affair between hot and cold, sweet and fried, green tea and fried dough made for an interesting mix: one almost regretted, but still liked.

My Dessert: Coconut Ice Cream with Sticky Rice

Why change? But change can be exciting. Change can be good. But at the moment I am happy with the skin that I’m in, so no change made tonight.

U’re my little secret, my private joy
I could never let another play with my toy
U’re my little angel from heaven above
Oh oh, oh oh oh oh, I think I’m falling in love

And I ain’t gonna tell nobody nobody ’bout my little pretty toy
All the other kids would love 2 love U but U’re my little private joy
My private joy
U’re my private joy

As always, we sat, restaurant empty minus the family. Questions were asked, and repeatedly answered. Deals were made and some secrets were kept. But such changed as the night progressed into the following day. In such progression, a time well spent with an always enjoyable dinner and a pleasant company with intent to be kept…Last night we dined Thai.

…Until next time! Farewell and fare well.

Let’s Complete Studio Ghibli VIII

Good Morning Everyone!

Coming to you live fromSeattle: where it is not as rainy as people think. Thinking is dangerous. Especially when the thought made is based purely on false perceptions. Some folks decide that they could never live inSeattlebecause they think that it rains inSeattleevery day. But if it were to rain so much, wouldn’t the city suffer from constant floods? Yes! The city would become inundated with unwarranted opinions from passerby travelers. Thus, based on a single belief, appreciation is null. That’s the problem with thinking. When people think with a clear mind there is minimal to no problems. But when certain individuals think with clouded thoughts, trouble ensues. Tension breeds, leaving the thinker numb and blind.

Instead she pretended she was blind
An affliction brought on by a witch’s curse
Dorothy made me laugh
I felt much better so I went back
2 the violent room
Let me tell U what I did

I took another bubble bath with my pants on
All the fighting stopped
Next time I’ll do it sooner
This is the ballad of Dorothy Parker

Rain or shine whether you may be shining, tonight we continue our journey through the Studio Ghibli Hayao Miyazaki Collection 32.

Disc 8: Kiki’s Delivery Service, Majo no Takkyūbin, 魔女の宅急便
Writer, Producer and Director: Hayao Miyazaki
Release Date: July 29, 1989

If you follow all that is oflittleimportance, then you have already read the untitledincandide movie-night piece. Though a full synopsis was not provided there, a series of questions was provided by the Hands of that affair. Though my “floating flower” of a friend’s questions were left unanswered, they were asked. So let’s attempt to answer…with a little twang of course.

Kiki is a witch in-training. Nice opening scene, Kiki wants to wear her favorite purple dress, but her mother tells her that she must wear a black dress. Kiki rocks the purple. As a part of her training she needs to live alone in the big city by the ocean. Her black cat, Jiji, does provide company however, as nobody wants to live alone. (Well…not nobody, bur people are so much fun. Wouldn’t you agree?) Kiki flies to the town ofKoriko, which does not have a resident witch. Flying through traffic, love-tapping a bus, Kiki lands, introduces herself and Jiji to the stunned crowd, hoping to live there. She was accosted by a police officer for reckless flying, but in the crowd someone yells “thief” to distract the office, leaving Kiki free to roam. While roaming Kiki meets Tombo, who immediately enthralled with her flying abilities, who insists on trying to start a conversation with Kiki. Kiki rejects his attempts.

Shockadelica
The girl must be a witch
She got your mind, body, and soul hitched

As with otherMiyazaki movies, a struggle with adolescence and adulthood rears itself fully.  (In most movies, we are presented with little girls, growing up.) Struggling in the city at first, Kiki finds her bearings and conquers her setbacks. She first found a place to stay, not allowed to rent a hotel room, Kiki encounters Osono, the baker. Kiki offers to deliver a pacifier that a customer of Osono has left behind. Kiki delivers the pacifier to the customer who in turns hands Kiki a letter. Kiki returns to Osono, where she offers Kiki a place to stay.

Shockadelica
You need a second opinion
But she never wears a stitch
So you can’t take her home

The next morning, Kiki helps out at the bakery in exchange Osono would give Kiki free room and board. Kiki and Jiji go shopping for items for their new home. They encounter Tombo, who receives Kiki’s second rejection. As they return to the bakery, Osono tells Kiki and Maki wants to hire Kiki to deliver a birthday present to her nephew. Seeing Tombo, Kiki flies off, heading for Maki’s nephew’s home. Having a little run in with a few birds, a part of the gift (a cat doll) goes missing. Kiki substitutes the doll with Jiji, deliver the gift, returns to retrieve the doll. In her search, Kiki sees the doll in a window of a cabin. Here, we are introduced to Ursula, who gives Kiki the doll, which has been thorn by crows. Ursula says she will fix just as long as Kiki models for Ursula. They agree the doll and Jiji are switched. Tension begins to build between Jiji and Kiki.

She got you tied with a golden rope
She won’t let you play your guitar

And when you’ve cried enough
Maybe she’ll let you up
For a nasty ride in her shockadeli-car

The next day at the bakery, Tombo purchases a pastry and invites Kiki to attend a formal gathering of the Aviation Club that he is a part of. Tombo is ignored, as Kiki helps another customer. She then talks with Osono who tells her that she should attend. Upon their conversation, Kiki is reminded of a delivery that she needs to make and is off running. Kiki arrives at a mansion and meets the madam of the house, who wants a pie delivered to her granddaughter but her oven is not working. Kiki offers to help and in so doing: finishes the pie, delivers it through a storm, the pie was not well received, Kiki becomes drenched and decides not to go to the formal event. Rejection!

Shockadelica
You need a second opinion
But you just can’t leave her alone
As though you got no mind of your own

After a day of rest and ignoring Tombo, Osono tells Kiki that she has another delivery. Lost, she runs into Tombo, who is the recipient of the delivery. They converse, he shows off his flying bike, they take flight, they go to the beach, he meets his friends, Kiki leaves upset, rejecting Tombo’s invitation to join them. The next day, Kiki finds that her powers are gone and that Jiji can no longer communicate with her. Another rejection of Tombo ensues and after, Kiki spends a day with Ursula, who much like Kiki has lost her “gifts”: becoming bored with imitating other artists thus needing to define her own style.

Shockadelica
She must be witch
She got your mind, body, and soul hitched

The next day, the Madam wants Kiki to stop by the mansion; she does. While watching television, at the “Spirit of Freedom” event, Kiki sees Tombo in peril. She rushes over with her powers still weak and saves Tombo from falling. The movie ends with Kiki’s parents reading a letter saying, “Father. Mother. How are you?” Jiji and I are both very well. My work is on the right track and I am confident. It’s been hard sometimes, but I love this town.”

A decent movie in a golden run. I enjoy the innocence and experience theme (thank you romantics). As for Wash Your Hands questions (I once said this): …So at this point, I think both Kiki and Jiji are becoming more and more like a regular person and cat than a witch and her black-witchy cat. It’s similar to the idea of assimilation. For example, some students want to become a doctor to change the field of medicine from what it is to something else. In order to do this they have first become assimilated into the field. But if they are too far assimilated, they eventually forget their original “intentions” and become the doctor that they once wanted to change. All in all, Kiki is struggling to find balance between childhood and independence. Because of the struggle in trying to find balance, there is a loss of focus…Here, you have the concept of in with the new and out with the old. The method that Kiki tried was one she new from her past, but it failed to given a desired result. Being a part of the town was a part of her witch training. To be a part of the town has had to become more like a normal person. The assimilation idea works here nicely actually. She’s not living with other witches, she living with normal folk.

And that would do it! …Until next time! Keep watching!

Let’s Complete Studio Ghibli VII

Good Morning Everyone!

For Pat and Frank.

Coming to you live from Koganei. Studio Ghigli was founded by Hayao Miyazaki (director), Isao Takahata (director) and Toshio Suzuki (producer). Though the studio has mainly produced Miyazaki’s films, Takahata has had his share of success, being considered on of the greatest directors of anime who ever lived. Grave of the Fireflies helps prove that distinction. Utterly gripping, sad and human, Grave of the Fireflies captures human agony through animation.

Inside lookin’ out my window
I don’t see nothin’ but rain 
Sun up in the sky just a shinin’ 
Still I’m lost in my shadow of pain

Like an innocent man that’s on death row
I don’t understand what made u go
And wanna leave me baby
Leave me in the dark

Can u tell me, tell me?

Tonight, we continue our journey through Studio Ghibli Hayao Miyazaki Collection 32.

Disc 7: Grave of the Fireflies, Hotaru no Haka, 火垂るの墓
Writer and Director: Isao Takahata,
Release date: April 16, 1988

Grave of the Fireflies is an animated war drama set at the end of World War II inJapan. This movie is by far the most heartbreaking animated movie that I have seen. The movie opens with Seita, malnourished, destitute and dying, sitting hunched on a post. As he keels over, a janitor takes his possessions and finds a candy tin filled with ashes and bones. The janitor throws it out and the spirit of Setsuko, Seita and fireflies fill the screen (a beautiful red screen), thus, beginning the story of their lives.

Ah, my mind’s such a sweet thing
I want to do everything
What a beautiful feeling
Crimson and clover
Over and over

With bombs soon approaching, Seita and his little sister, Setsuko, are left to secure the families belongings as their mother goes to the bomb shelter. After running through bombs, brother and sister reach the bomb shelter to find that their mother was caught in an air raid and severely wounded. She is transported to a hospital and later dies. With their father fighting in the war, Setsuko and Seita move in with their aunt. The food supply is low. So while living with the aunt, Seita retrieves leftover supplies he buried in the ground before the bombing. To get more rice, the aunt convinces the two to sell their mother’s kimonos. As the food begins to run out, the aunt begins to show her resent to the siblings, saying that they have done nothing to earn the food. Setsuko buys supplies for his sister and himself and decide to cook their own food. But the resent is continual forcing Setsuko and Seita to leave.

Kicked outta my home at 17
A real family, now what does that mean?
Don’t nobody know the trouble I’ve seen
How can I live 4 love?

The siblings decide to live in an abandoned bomb shelter near a marsh. The first night they fill the shelter with fireflies for light. The next morning, Setsuko is upset that all of the fireflies are dead. Again we have a child having to deal with issues of death, as she digs a grave for the fireflies, buries them and asks why they and her mother had to die. Having little supplies, they soon run out of rice, causing both to steal food from the nearby farms and Seita looting homes during air raids. One night, Seita is caught stealing, beaten and taken to jail where he is released. The next day, Seita sees his malnourished sister passed out , and decides to take Setsuko to a doctor. The doctor does not provide any help.

Your father said it was pnemonia
Your mother said it was strep
But the doctor said u were dead
And I, I say its senseless

Wanting to help his increasingly ill sister, Seita withdraws all of the money in his mother’s bank account. While at the bank Seita learns that Japan surrendered to the Allies and that his father may have died. Still distraught, Seita returns to the shelter with food but finds Setsuko hallucinating. Seita gives her a piece of watermelon and begins cooking, but Setsuko passes. Seita cremates his sister and puts the ashes in the fruit tin. We are left with Seita dying, but the spirit of Seita and Setsuko, healthy, look down at Kobe from a bench.

Nothing on TV I ain’t seen before
Another murder on the news, I can’t take no more
Evil Incorporated, blowing up bombs and thangs
I have a child, huh, I have a lot 2 explain
I could write a letter, but who would I send it 2?
It was Sunday night, instead of doing what I usually do I..

I scan my computer looking 4 a site
Somebody 2 talk 2, funny and bright
I scan my computer looking 4 a site
Make believe it’s a better world, a better life

This was a very sad, emotionally-driven movie but a very good one. We are immediately introduced to the close bond between Seita and Setsuko and the movie chronicles this bond and the strengthening of the bond with every disparaging event. This film is not war film, it is a film that showcases what happens to the communities that are not fighting the war but those that are living through it: showing the collapse of civilization and community as a product of war.

That’s all for now. I thank you for reading and thank you in advance for continuing to read…Until next time! Keep watching.

Tonight I (We) Dined Thai III

Good Morning Everyone!

For Pat and Frank.

Coming to you live from the basement where napping with the lights-on feels good. Making a slow transition back into the daily grind that is work, I have found pleasure and past my time with good company. Be it with a certain host, dancing friends, little sisters and big brothers, the time is well spent with our passing interactions. Though the commonalities among us may be a few or in one particular case, scarily copious from past days, we all share one common inclination (I dare not say liking, as most of what we do is hate what it is that we do, do). But inclination aside, it is the differences that make us beautiful and perpetually entertaining. And always entertained by the company of one reminding me of a past-life, last night I dined Thai with a “floater” of a friend: 3-course dinner.

Hello My bed Hello Hello

I was sittin’ pretty with a beautiful friend
When this man tries 2 get in the car
No introduction, “How U been?”
Just “Up yours, smile, that’s right, you’re a star!”

U call ’em bodyguards but I call ’em my friends
I guess I’m used 2 havin’ ’em around
And cameras by nature like rewards
That’s the trouble I get when I’m Uptown

I’m not afraid to die
Oh no, there’s a better place
I eat what I want
Whole wheat toast
And I’m happy, and that’s for sure

Phayathai Restaurant
735 Hawkins Avenue
Lake Ronkonkoma, NY 11779
www.phayathai-li.com

As we get comfortable in our seats, we have been known to clear the room. Be it as it may with the smell of work on our clothes, or our cheeky and at times loud banter or the fact that we were seated with 30 minutes before closing, we had the place to ourselves, sitting at the corner table and visited on occasion by the restaurant family, we dined.

1^st course: Chicken Wings

What is now a staple and reoccurring starter, these fried pieces of chicken readily prepare the pallet for the Thai adventure that is soon to be partaken of. Last night there was a different look and texture of each piece, but still delectable. With two flying away and four to stay, sharing makes a meal elegant.

Entrées:

“Floating” Friend: Peanut Sauce with Chicken

This being her favorite dish on the menu: steamed broccoli, carrots and slightly battered and stir-fried pieces of chicken topped with a Thai peanut sauce and served with rice. Though a mound of rice was left, as Saifon originally gave a mountain, the dish was (ful)filling and “good” (her words).

My Entree: Red Curry with Tofu Duck

As stated on another site, entrées are no longer ordered, Saifon takes care of everything. Here, red curry, bamboo shoot, red and green bell peppers, basil and coconut milk with chunks of tofu duck and served with another mountain of rice. Provides the taste of spice without the kick, the coconut milk sauce is gently sweet but mostly savory and subtle enough to mask the sometimes overbearing taste of the tofu duck. A dish enjoyed thoroughly.

Dessert: Coconut Ice-Cream

With every other restaurant dinner, I order dessert. She decided not to but as the dessert was served, the restaurant was far-closed, and every table empty and cleaned, it was just us and two balls of coconut ice-cream: one rolled away and the other stayed. The meal was finished as it was started: shared.

Everybody we’re against hungry children
Our record stands tall
There’s just as much hunger here at home

We’ll do what we can
If y’all try and understand
A flower that has water will grow
And the child misunderstood will go

Our record stands tall, u know
Give us time and love will show

Hello
Hello
Hello

So there we sat, plates cleared from the table, Phayathai family cleaning in and around the kitchen, my “floating” friend and I discussing our usually topics of discussion. We ate, enjoyed the meal, conversed with no sense of time, it was an enjoyable dinner with pleasant company. After, we went back to work.

…Until next time! Farewell and fare well.

Let’s Complete Studio Ghibli VI

Good Morning Everyone!

For Pat and Frank.

Coming to you live from sunny California and suffering from a 3-hour sickness. Sleep is good. Unfortunately for some, sleep is optional. Falling into the optional category, I never thought 3 hours would carry over so many years. But that “so many” is only a few compared to the previous years when I was “3-hours” free. Perhaps in another decade my condition would finally subside. Or perhaps I will become so acquainted with my condition that within one-year’s time I would no longer consider it a condition, rather a means for which to get rest…Perhaps.

Siempre que te pregunto
Que cuándo cómo y dónde
Tú siempre me respondes
Quizás, quizás, quizás

Y así pasan los días
Y yo desesperado
Y tú, tú, contestando
Quizás, quizás, quizás

Before I phantom the idea of sleeping, tonight we continue our journey through Studio Ghibli Hayao Miyazaki Collection 32.

Disc 6: My Neighbor Totoro, Tonari no Totoro, となりのトトロ
Writer and Director: Hayao Miyazaki
Released: April 16, 1988 (exactly 3 days until the release-date anniversary)

Totoro is everywhere! Move over Mickey. Totoro is the Japanese version of Winnie-the-Pooh. Apart from cameos in other Miyazaki films and the Studio Ghibli logo, Totoro has appeared in Toy Story 3 (stuffed doll) and has been given homage on a couple of Comedy Central Cartoons. With a brief introduction, now introducing our neighbor: Totoro.

Hey, let’s go! Hey, let’s go!
I’m happy as can be
Let’s go walking, you and me
Ready, set, come on, let’s go!
Over the hill, across the field
Through the tunnel we’ll go
We’ll run across the bridge
And down the bumpy gravel road
Creep beneath the spider’s web
Ready, set, let’s go!

The Kusakabe family is moving to an old rural home to be closer to the hospital where their mother is being treated for an unknown sickness. Upon arriving at the house, the two daughters, Satsuki and Mei inspect every inch of the small home, finding soot sprites (little black balls of soot…the first incarnation of the Spirited Away coal-throwing soot balls). The grandmother, newly arrived and visiting, tells the girls that the soot balls are soot spirits and that they will leave when once the family is comfortable in the new home: comfort which does not take long.

And if I ever made U cry
All I have 2 do is think about it and I just wanna die
I just wanna break down and die, die, die, die
How I’d ever make it by without U, baby
I don’t know, I hope I never have 2 try, yeah
Oh, listen 2 me
(Ooh my) Friend, lover, sister, mother, wife
(My sweet, sweet friend, lover, sister, mother, wife)
Air, food, water, love of my life

Satsuki leaves for school, thus leaving Mei to play alone. While picking up acorns, she sees a rabbit-like creature (later to be deemed as a Totoro). She chases the creature around, it runs under the house, loses Mei for a bit, only to be seen again with a slightly bigger, grey creature. Mei again, chases both, following them into a cubbyhole nested in a huge tree where she finds a giant creature in slumber. Climbing up onto the sleeping creature’s chest, Mei begins to awaken the giant. (If you watch South Park, you know where Matt and Trey got their inspiration from for Cartman and Cthulhu).  Cuteness ensues, and while asking the creature’s name, the creature yawns and Mei interprets the yawn as Totoro. Falling asleep, Mei is found resting in the cubbyhole by Satsuki.

Call Mr Goodnight
He’ll make U feel alright
Make U throw Ur head back and holla
So nice, so nice
Better not tell Ur girlfriend
U can try with all Ur might
Just can’t keep a secret
‘Bout goodnight, goodnight

The next day, was a rainy day. (That reminds me, they are given an umbrella by young boy, Kanta, who is later seen playing in his room in his underwear like all kids do when it rains. But most memorable, as the family was moving in, Kanta was sent to give them a welcoming gift by his grandmother. He gives the gift with minimal words, runs out of the house and from a distance says, “Your house is haunted,” runs away…classic). Waiting for their father’s bus, Mei falls asleep and is being carried on Satsuki’s back. As it gets dark, the giant Totoro appears standing next to Satsuki, wearing a single leaf on his head (because it’s raining) apparently waiting for a bus also. Satsuki offers the Totoro an umbrella she brought for her father and in return the delighted Totoro gives Satsuki seeds. In the distance a bus appears: a giant catbus. Totoro enters the catbus, which is followed by the father’s bus.

Sanjikan mo matte ita no yo
Watashi neko to issho ni

Sono toki denwa no beru ga
Watashi neko mitai ni shabetta
Terebi no volume sagete
Watashi uso mitai na koe de

Twiggy no mini skirt de
Twiggy mitai na pose de
Twiggy no mini skirt de
Twiggy mitai ni yassepochi no watashi

The next day, the girls plant the seeds. Later that evening the three Totoro do a ceremony where the seeds were planted, the girls join in and a giant tree grows within minutes. Totoro then flies the girls and his smaller compatriots to the top of the tree.

See I picks my friends like I pick my fruit
My Ganny told me that when I was only a youth
I don’t go ’round trying to be what I’m not
I don’t waste my time trying to get what you got
I work at pleasin’ me cause I can’t please you
And that’s why I do what I do
My soul flies free like a willow tree
Doo wee doo wee do wee

The next day, Satsuki receives an urgent phone call from their mother. Running to the nearest phone, Satsuki finds out that their mother will have to postpone a planned visit as a setback from her treatment. Worried that her mother may die, Satsuki is distraught. From her anxiety, she yells at Mei and storms away. Mei, walks home, thinking that healthy food will help cure her mother. With an ear of corn in her hand, Mei, alone, begins to walk to the hospital.

I go out walking, after midnight
Out in the moonlight
Just like we used to do
I’m always walking, after midnight
Searching for you

I walk for miles, along the hyihway
Well that’s just my way
Of saying I love you
I’m always walking after midnight
Searching for you

I stop to see a weeping willow
Crying on his pillow
Maybe he’s crying for me
And as the skies turn gloomy
Night winds whisper to me
I’m lonesome as I can be

Her disappearance alarms the neighborhood causing all to search for Mei. Satsuki goes to the giant tree and asks Totoro for help. Neighborly as Totoro is, he summons the catbus which takes her where Mei is sitting. With Mei safe, the catbus takes the girl to the hospital where their mother is. Perched on a tree, they overhear the conversation between their father, who is already there and mother. Their mother expresses her worry for her daughters and vows to get healthy. The girls leave the ear of corn on the windowsill and the parents find it as the catbus whisks the girls back home.

Totoro, Totoro, Totoro, Totoro,
Someone stealthily
Buries nuts in the path.
When a tiny sprout grows,
[You’ll find] a secret password
The passport to the forest.
A wonderful adventure begins.

General Comments: My Neighbor Totoro is a great movie. There have been comparison made about Panda! Go, Panda! with Totoro, in that the first was a precursor to the latter. If that is the case, then Totoro has every minused element from Panda! Go, Panda! and then some. The family element is stronger in Totoro. The comedy and general innocence is more profound. Nothing is too farstretched. What the viewer is presented with is a charming, warming 3rd person view of two children, the realization of life (and the opposite part associated with it), settling with the harder edges of life and the usefulness of imagination to live life.

Until next time, stay tuned!

Let’s Complete Studio Ghibli V

Good Morning Everyone!

This week, everything done will be done for Pat and Frank.

Coming to you live from the flying island with an adamantine base and I am accompanying Gulliver on his travels. Here, there are new languages to learn. But the meaning of every word is lost somewhere in speech. That is why silence is preferred. No…not silence but colorful dialogue: witty banter between two friends, or the cordial laughter between a circle of friends. The colorful dialogue that floats off the lips of one and lingers gently in the synapse between two before caressing the white between a reddened crescent moon.

Take my hand
Come with me, baby, to Love Land
Let me show you how sweet it could be
Sharing love with me, I want you to
Float, float on
Float, float, float on

Unsure if untitledincandide will do its weekly rituals with life being as busy as it is, tonight a little of Let’s Experiment mixed with Let’s Complete (without the food…well I’ll try to incorporate it). Tonight we continue to float on. Tonight we continue our journey through the Studio Ghibli Hayao Miyazaki Collection 32.

Disc 5: Laputa: Castle in the Sky, Tenkū no Shiro Rapyuta, 天空の城ラピュタ
Writer and Director: Hayao Miyazaki
Release Date: August 2, 1986 (JPN), April 1, 1989 (USA)

What would you do if you saw someone gracefully floating down from the heavens? Of course your initial thought would be filled with amazement or terror, depending on how fast one is plummeting. But, we’re talking about a gentle float much like the clichéd angel falling from heaven only to fall in love with the person seen. Following the cliché, it would only seem natural that we catch the gentle floater. Thus, possibly one of the greatest lines in a Miyazaki film in the English translation from Japanese and the English script from the Disney remake and the subsequent line:

“…So you are a regular person. I was afraid you were an angel.”

“…Thank goodness. You laugh like a regular person. The way you fell from the sky, I thought you were an angel or something.”

“…I had to catch you…you were just floating.”

Having fallen from an airship trying to avoid a kidnapping by sky pirates, Sheeta with a magical blue-light irradiating pendant gently floats to the ground. In a amazement, Pazu runs to catch Sheeta, who floats above his hands.

…Like Evian and the deep blue sea
U and me got different taste
U like it in the dark but I like a

Blue light
Can u turn on a Blue light
Then cuddle up 2 me so tight
Just u and me all night
Alright, Blue light

The next morning, Sheeta awakens to the sound of Pazu’s bugle in the air. They eat, feed the birds, Pazu says the lines and the chase begins again as Dola and her crew of pirates try to hunt down Sheeta. The pirates chase the two into the village: after a fight, a train ride and a floating-plummet, both Sheeta and Pazu land safely into an abandoned mine shaft. Inside the mine, they met Uncle Pom (after a meal of course), who tells the two about “volucite,” the crystal that keeps Laputa floating and the crystal that Sheeta’s pendant is made up of. All this under a starry sky and ground:

I know what people think
They think I’m a star struck little fool
Baby, U could be flat broke
I’d still be crazy 4 U
And I know that I’m in love
Cuz I’d change my whole life just 2 make U smile
And I still can’t have U when I want
But when I do it’s only 4 a little while

Baby, U’re an ocean that’s 2 wide 2 cross
Baby, U’re the cross that’s 2 deep  2 bear
Baby, U’re the star that’s 2 far away
Baby, U’re a trip and a half, but I don’t care

The next day, Sheeta and Pazu return to the surface. Sheeta tells Pazu that she has a secret name Lusheeta Toel Ul Laputa (“Sheeta, True Ruler of Laputa”).  Immediately, both are chased by a plane, captured, and separated. Pazu is sent to a cell (his attempts to escape hilarious) and Sheeta is accompanied by Muska (on a government-led expedition to kidnap Sheeta and find Laputa), who reveals to Sheeta his knowledge of Sheeta, Laputa and the robot that feel from the sky. Driven by his desire to find Laputa, Muska forces Sheeta to assist him as her refusal would mean Pazu would be harmed. Sheeta tells Pazu to forget about Laputa and to forget about her.

If U see me walkin’ down the street one day
Don’t say nothin’ 2 me – no no, nothin’
Cuz U did me wrong when I was doing bad
So bad, I didn’t think I was gonna make it
Now I’m alone, feelin’ free
Freer than the butterfly flyin’ high now – yeah yeah, baby
I don’t claim no riches or any miracles
But I’m doin’ better on my own

So if U see me, walk on by, baby
Don’t say nothin’, walk on by now
Do yourself a favor, walk on by, yeah
Don’t say nothin’, walk on by

Distraught, Pazu returns home only to find Dola and company in his home (eating his food). Dola convinces Pazu to assist her against Muska. Driven purely for his love of Sheeta, Pazu begs Dola to take him with her.  Meanwhile, at the fortress Sheeta reminisces about a time as a child, she was upset and being comforted by her grandmother. Her grandmother tells her a spell which you make her feel better. Aloud Sheeta says the phrase, her pendant glows, the robot awakens, and to protect Sheeta, the robot destroys the fortress. Embedded by embers, Pazu with Dola save Sheeta. The robot is then destroyed by the Goliath airship. The pendant is torn from Sheeta’s neck and recovered by Muska. Using the pendant, Mushka searches for Laputa on the Goliath. On the Tiger Moth, Sheeta, Pazu, Dola and pirates go after Muska.

When my little scarlet feline roars
The locals come around
When they see the scarlet light
They know it’s time to come chase her down

While on watch Pazu is accompanied by Sheeta. Their conversation is overheard by Dola via intercom. Sheeta having doubt about her future/power/destiny, Pazu reassures her (true love). While talking Pazu sees Goliath, which attacks the Tiger Moth. The Tiger Moth enters a storm; Dola tells Pazu to turn the crow’s nest into a glider. Sheeta and Pazu fly away on the glider. The two see a cloud and enter fly through a storm: they see two winds blowing in opposite directions. The two are then attacked by Goliath. Separated from the Tiger Moth, Sheeta and Lazu land in Laputa; completely green, desolate yet majestic with only a single robot tending the plants and animal life (all robots listen to Sheeta).

Ain’t it funny that the way you feel
Shows on your Face?
And the smile you used to wear
Seems a little bit out of place
People, oh hold on, in time
It gets a little better

My sunshine has come
And I’m all cried out
And there’s no more rain in this cloud

In Laputa, Sheeta and Pazu awaken overjoyed. Completely dense with vegetation and life; Laputa is picturesque (the absolutely definition and romanticism of the word). (The return of Nauicaä’s fox-squirrel.) The Goliath eventually arrives at Laputa, where the soldiers plunder the beautiful city. The Tiger Moth and crew are found. The crew is held prisoner by the Goliath crew. Pazu attempts to rescue Dola, while Sheeta follows Muska, only to be captured. Muska takes Sheets to Laputa’s core where a gigantic volucite crystal sits, serving as the city’s power source. Here, Muska tells Sheeta that they share the same ancestors. Muska then activates an army of robots to wipe out everybody in the city. Sheeta frees herself and recovers the crystal and gives it to Pazu.

As bombs explode around us and hate advances on the right
The only thing that matters, baby, is the love that we make 2night
As little babies in make-up terrorize the western world
The only thing that matters, baby, is love between a boy and girl

Oh, expert lover, my baby
U ever had a Crystal Ball?
Undercover, no maybe
All 4 fun and fun 4 all

Muska corners Sheeta in Laputa’s throne room. He shoots her pigtails off. Given a hand cannon earlier by Dola, Pazu enters the room, asks to talk to Sheeta. Together the two decide to use the Spell of Destruction: the power. Sheeta’s pendant releases a beautiful blue power surge, blinding Muska. Laputa crumbles. Sheeta and Pazu are hurled into roots from the giant tree. Later, awaken to find the glider. Dola and the pirates survive, flying around on their moth fighters with some treasure. They find Sheeta and Pazu. Reaching the coast, Sheeta and Pazu bid the pirates a farewell and part ways. The movie ends with Laputa orbiting Earth.

I never been 1 2 hide my feelings
Baby, u blow my mind
I painted your face upon my ceiling
I stare at it all the time
I imagine myself inside your bedroom
Oh I imagine myself in your sky
U are the reason there’s bass in my boom
U are the reason I’m highIf u and I were just ten feet closer
Then i’d make u understand
That everything i wanna do 2 your body, baby
I would do 2 your head
Then u’d be hip 2 the deep rush
Deeper than the boom of the bass
With every other flick of the pink plush
The closer we get 2 the space

The space
Don’t u want 2 go?
Where the souls go
Where the tears flow
Where the love grows
Do u want 2 go?

General Comments: We have now entered the meat of Miyazaki’s work. From here on out we get visual and storied masterpiece and masterpiece. Laputa has probably my favorite line in all of Miyazaki’s work: with “to see with eyes unclouded” being a close second. Again, the scenery becomes more grandiose and vibrant. We see the familiar themes, faces and other similar occurrences that make a Miyazaki movie (big noses, panoramic shots, zoom outs, nature). Strictly more of a love story (or one of a deep and profound friendship) balanced between a struggle for power and a desire for peace. Family is incorporated with the pirates. But you don’t have to take my word for it. In the end, I just want to fly away from it all. Go on an adventure. Find my own Laputa and enjoy the beauty that surrounds me. One day my sky-flying adventure will happen…you watch and see! I belong up there. If not there…in space.

Until next time.

Let’s Complete Studio Ghibli IV

Good Morning Everyone!

Coming to you live from last month when we were in the Valley of the Wind. If your Miyazaki movie watching was anything like mine then your first experience with prominent animator and film director was with the highly acclaimed Princess Mononoke: the epic nature versus human, human versus spirit, spirit versus industry socio-politico-ecological piece. But long before Mononoke, there was Nausicaä, a gliding heroine which has a deep-rooted connection with nature.

I can’t get into the poisoned land
I can’t get into something I don’t understand
I can’t into a bad romance
I can’t get into a love that ends in a chance

If it’s right, it’s all right with you now
If it’s right, it’s all right for me now, yo-ho
Any night you’ll be uptight until you find
That the wrong and the right are within your mind

Into you now
Into you, my people
And you into me

Though Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind was mentioned briefly through untitledincandide, today we continue our journey through the Studio Ghibli Hayao Miyazaki Collection 32.

Disc 4: Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind, Kaze no Tani no Naushika, 風の谷のナウシカ
Writer and Director: Hayao Miyazaki
Release Date: March 4, 1984

Welcome to a post-apocalyptic world where the atmosphere is toxic and the land is swarming with giant insects. It is always exciting to live with a little danger: something unexpected with a sliver of peril. To live through something hazardous is quite educational. That is why in this post-apocalyptic world, you are an explorer of this toxic land traveling on a jet-assisted glider; who has an innate connection with the world around you, and the desire to understand the land.

This is our heroine, Nausicaä. She literally has no fear; nature loves her; is peace-loving yet knows how to throw-down. She stares down an Ohm, befriends a fox-squirrel, takes on 10 guys at once, and walks through fire. This all happening in the first 20 minutes (a fun thing to do when watching this movie is to count how many times you see her bear butt).

The jungle is desolate and destitute: insects reign supreme. In the valleys, humans are fighting against each other for power: a power in the disguise of an embryo of a Giant Warrior. Nausicaä’s is the princess of Lastelle. Here, we find that she is inspired by Lord Yupa who is in search of the “man in blue” a man that has the power to reunite humans with nature and that the jungle is toxic due to the tainted soil that covers the land. Lastelle is also the place where the struggle begins. Near the Lastelle an airship crashes, and Nausicaä rescues a shackled girl from the embers. As the girl dies, she tells Nausicaä to destroy the cargo. The cargo was found to be an embryo of a Giant Warrior: lethal creatures used 1,000 years ago during the ancient war.

The embryo was found by the Pejite people, but it was stolen from them by the Tolmekia people. Within the airship wreckage, the embryo is now in Lastelle, which gets taken over by princess Kushana, who secures the embryo and the town (not without a fight) explaining to the Lastelle people that she wants to use the embryo to burn the Toxic Jungle.

Kushana attempts to return to Pejite with Nausicaä and several new hostages but their several airships get attacked by a single, lone-piloted gunship. Nausicaä, Mito and Kushana escape to a surviving gunship, assist the Lastelle hostages in another ship (thumbs up) and eventually crash land in a marsh. Here, Nausicaä communicates with several Ohmus (through shiny yellow tentacles that envelope Nausicaä) discovering the pilot of the downed Pejite gunship is still alive.

Nausicaä attempts to rescue the pilot, Asbel (the twin brother of Princess Lastelle), with her glider, but eventually both land in a bed of quicksand. Both get succumbed by the quicksand, landing in a non-toxic underworld. (Enter dreamworld where we see Nausicaä as a child trying to protect a baby Ohm.)

Fully rested Nausicaä and Asbel return to Pejite only to find that the town had been ravished by insects. These insects are set to destroy every kingdom along the way to Tolmekia. The Pejite survivors say that they will attack the valley to recapture the embryo. Nausicaä tries to stop them, is held captive but freed by Asbel. While flying home to the Valley, she encounters a herd of enraged Ohms following a baby Ohm being used by the Pejites to lure the herd to the Valley. Nausicaä releases the baby Ohm. During the release, Nausicaä is shot and injured, but no injured enough to first calm down the baby Ohm.

With a massive herd of Ohm heading toward the town, Kushana awakens the Giant Warrior to stop the Ohm. But the Giant did not finish developing, thus is deteriorating, (It does however give off a few shots). The Giant melts away and the herd continues to charge. Again, I leave the synopsis here, as I would rather have you watch the movie for yourself.

General Comments: This is the first Miyazaki film with grandiose, fully-developed and beautiful scenery. Nature is captured through color and texture. Not just another human versus nature movie, Nausicaä is a masterpiece which enables the viewer to realize that we need to realize the beauty in both nature and human, thus creating a balance between the two or suggesting that a balance between the two has to be made. Not to push the Green-initiative further. Nausicaä is beautifully animated and the story is strong.

Once upon a time in a land called Fantasy
17 mountains stood so high
The sea surrounded them and together they would be
The only thing that ever made u cry
U said the devil told u that another mountain would appear
Everytime somebody broke your heart
He said the sea would 1 day overflow with all your tears,
And love will always leave u lonely

But I say it’s only mountains and the sea
Love will conquer if u just believe (oh yeah)
It’s only mountains and the sea
There’s nothing greater, u and me

That’s all for the first file of many. Next up Discs 5 – 9 and some interludes…maybe some Thai. Until then, love one another.

Let’s Complete Studio Ghibli III

Good Morning Everyone!

Coming to you live from Monaco where the sunsets lingers over the Mediterranean Sea like a winter wind dancing on the anacrusis of Spring. Lively being the current state, where Hercules roamed and took magistrate, here repetitive motions dominate like those in Indiana. Imagine sitting with me in my room, knowing outside is in full bloom with warm, dry summers lasting days, with winters nil snow, only rain. Everything is all between, here it feels of both Fall and Spring.  Certainly, weather to be treasured.

Here, treasure is not as diminutive as the landmass itself. These treasures steal the wary eyes of visiting travelers, hunting thieves and destitute pleasure-seekers looking for big fun.  But not everything can be called as it’s told. As pleasure-seekers know alike, they all must have a cautious eye to find and look & search and find everything that is real and genuine. Tonight we continue our journey through the Studio Ghibli Hayao Miyazaki Collection 32.

Disc 3: Lupin III: The Castle of Cagliostro, ルパン三世 カリオストロの城
Written and Directed by: Hayao Miyazaki
Released: December 15, 1979

Lupin III is a popular manga series written and illustrated by Monkey Punch (Kazuhiko Kato) (now that’s a pen name), which follows the life of a gang of thieves led by Arsène Lupin III, the grandson of Maurice Leblanc’s gentleman thief Arsène Lupin. Almost an instant hit, the manga spanned through various media outlets (e.g. television, music, video game, film) receiving more notoriety and acclaim. The first Lupin III film was a live-action talkie: Strange Psychokinetic Strategy (based on an anime this movie was very colorful from what I remember…it was Austin Powers before Austin was cool). The second released movie was an animated piece, The Secret of Mamo, where Lupin III turns down an offer of eternal life…like a boss. Then there came a third cinematic installment, a second anime which, loosely based on one of LeBlanc’s novels, is what is being discussed now:

Running, Lupin III and Jigen have just stolen 5 billiion dollars from the Casino of Monaco. After a smooth getaway, while driving a Mini Cooper-like auto filled to the brim with loot, the thieves realize that the money is the same counterfeit bills from their past days. Trying to find the source of the bills, the two travel the Principality of Cagliostro. While driving on cliff-side, they rescue a young girl, Clarisse, from thugs. Nearly saved hanging off the cliff, both Lupin and Clarisse fall, knocking Lupin unconscious and resulting in Clarisse being recaptured. Before being recaptured Clarisse gives Lupin a ring. Clarisse is the princess of Cagliostro and is going to be married to the Count, who wants to obtain the ancient treasure of Cagliostro and needs the princess and the ring to do so.

Jigen calls on the help of badass samurai Goemon Ishikawa to rescue Clarisse. He also informs Inspector Zenigata of his whereabouts to provide a distraction for entrance into the castle where Clarisse is being held. Lupin’s former lover Fujiko Mine, posing as Clarisse’s lady-in-waiting tells Lupin here Clarisse is being held. Lupin makes his way into the castle, returns her ring and promises to save her…her being the treasure that he wants to steal. Before their escape, the Count ambushes them and Lupin falls…more like ballaholically falls…through a trapdoor.

While the Count talks with Clarisse about the ring and the family-future, Lupin calls them via the returned-ring. Lupin promises to save Clarisse. And having found out that the ring is fake the Count flushes Lupin deeper into castle cellars filled with the skeletons of spies trying to learn the secret of Cagliostro and the counterfeit bills. While down there, Lupin encounters Inspector Zenigata, where both make a pact to escape. The two hide in the bones of the past spies and fight off the Count’s assassins. While trying to escape, the two also find the printing press containing every type of counterfeit bill: The Goat Money-the black hole.

Continuing with their escape, Lupin starts a fire creating enough distraction to steal the Count’s autogyro. Attempting to rescue Clarisse, Lupin is shot and wounded. Clarisse offers the ring to the Count to save Lupin. With ring in hand, the Count tries to finish off Lupin still hanging on the autogyro, but all parties are saved by Fujiko. The autogyro in horrible shape crash lands into a tree ejecting the shot and on fire Lupin only to be caught by Jigen and Ishikawa. Lupin then needs to heal and recuperate…kid eats as much as me. Hahaha. Inspector Zenigata tries to get international help to stop the Count, but they do not heed the inspector’s council and evidence. Meanwhile, while Lupin is healing he remembers his first attempt in trying to get into the castle: a failed attempt which injured Lupin and was his first encounter with Clarisse as a 9 year old girl. She nourished him back to health. This memory and him seeing his old buddy acting as motivation for Lupin to save Clarisse.

At the wedding between the Count and a dazed Clarisse, Lupin’s ghost appears and disrupts the event. And all I know from here is that a lot of stuff happens at the wedding until it stops happening and eventually we see Lupin driving with Jigen when Fujiko rides up next to them on a bike with something interesting in her bag. What happened at the wedding? Did Clarisse and Lupin live happily ever after? Can thieves not thieve? What did Fujiko have? All these questions, I will not answer but you find them by watching the movie.

General Comments: Good time! Memorable and familar characters. This is what happens when you mix established characters and storyline, with great visuals and comedy.

Next time, Disc 4, on a continuing journey through the Studio Ghibli Hayao Miyazaki Collection 32. Thank you for reading, stay tuned for more. Follow untitledincandide also! Until then, have a beautiful time.