 |
|
I have never done this so seriously before, so don't complain.
Copyright owned by Princess Leene and Mak Kum Shi
Started at 12.20am, 10th August, 1996.
Ends at 5.40am, 10th August, 1996.
Please understand the ridiculous circumstances that I am doing this!
Mimi o sumaseba (Whisper of the Heart)
Acknowledgement:
Hayao Miyazaki-He has never disappointed us and never will^_^
Aoi Hiiragi-For such a romantic story, thank you for furthering my interest
Lions Club International-For giving me that chance to be in Tokyo and Kyoto,
for it had changed my life forever
David Goldsmith-For your great effort on the script translation
Michael-For all your complaints which I tried my best to accept seriously
Tyler-Because you appreciated it, and thanks for all your help^_^
Ryoko Toyama-Because of your strong faith, I believed...
Dennis Chik-Because you were always there
Nausicaa ML-I always thought that this ML was so serious a ML. I now
realise that this ML is a very special one. Thank you for tolerating
me (I am still 19).
Shoujo ML-I met some interesting people here and I realise, there is
still so much to learn and share.
Dedication:
As Shizuku has always done, we have dreams, interests, talents. Believe in what you can do, not just for yourself, but for others. When you do that, only then can the world be a better place. Thus, the review, the story, the comments, the work, all these are done on that belief, that there is something worth fighting for. I dedicate the whole review to you, the reader. Lastly, while I take the frightful effort of doing this, please know, I am a fan. I do this for the fans too and I hope that others will something similar, for I believe, that this animation as well as others under Ghibli deserves the recognition it deserves. I say this in the hopes of not being biased, racist, or with favourism.
Contents:
1. The review on the movie in 1995
2. The review on the story in 1990
3. The music
4. The characters
5. The moral of the story
6. The possible reasons of why the author didn't like the movie
7. What I would like to say about Mimi o sumaseba in my own point of view
The review on the movie
Prelude:
The moment you start the tape or laser disk (I started both!), you'll see that cute creature I fondly call Totoro. This animated movie was distributed by Tokuma Shoten and was produced under Ghibli studios.
The prelude continues with the theme song "Take me home, country roads." It is a nice song which I have not forgotten since them. But putting aside the music, I was pleasantly surprised by the EXCEPTIONALLY HIGH standard of animation implemented onto the backgrounds of the animation. The opening scene was that Shizuku (to be described later), was in a convenience store and it was frightfully well painted. I have been to Japan, and stayed there for some time, and when I watched Mimi o Sumaseba, the animation looked so real, I thought, I was seeing Tokyo itself! It was only until recently, that I thought that it was animation implemented with real life filming, but no! It was all painted and hand-drawn!
Well, without ado, here is the synopsis of the story:
It all began at the time when Tsukishima Shizuku went out to get groceries for her home. She went out of the convenience store and went back to the flats where she was staying. When she arrived home, her mother was doing some studying (of which I realise, I really should too after this). Her father was doing some work on the computer and at that time, when Shizuku was settled down, they were taking a break. The father seems to be a nice man.
Concrete Road:
The next morning, as Shizuku walks out to school, she finds the day a hot
one. And of course, she sees a big airship up in the sky. (I wonder if it
really happens in Japan? The airship flying, I mean.) And when she arrives
at school, there is the great looking tennis court. (I miss those great old
times when I was a kid). She goes into the school library and borrows some
books, or story books to be more precise. One of the books she borrows was
cancelled and it was dated 1958.6.15. (Presumably 15th of June, 1958).
The librarian authorised the rental of the books and at this time, Yuuko, Shizuku's friend shows up and scolds Shizuku for not showing up at their meeting place 10 minutes ago! Apparently she was scolding Shizuku for being distracted by all those story books (I have the feeling, I know, for I have broken a few promises myself^_^). They leave the library and sit under a tree between the school building and the tennis court. There, Shizuku passes on her translation of Country Road to Yuuko and though Yuuko liked the lyrics, Shizuku felt that it was not good enough. (I can understand that. Pride and the will to do a good job, until she was satisfied^_^)
After reading them, Yuuko read the next set of lyrics Shizuku gave her, called Concrete Road. And here is the lyrics: (Mr. David Goldsmith, for this, if you are interested, you can include this in the script, just for the fun of it.)
KONKURIITO ROODO (Concrete Road)
KONKURIITO ROODO (Concrete road)
doko made mo (Where to go?)
mori o kiri (Forest ??)
tani o ume (Valley ??)
UESUTO toukyou (West Tokyo)
MAUNTO TAMA (Mount Tama)
furusato wa (??)
KONKURIITO ROODO (Concrete road)
After singing this, Yuuko asks what the song was all about. And then, she speaks to Shizuku that there was someone she loves. Shizuku asks of the name of the person whom Yuuko likes, and poor Yuuko starts to stammer, when Sugimura shouts out calling Tsukishima to pass him his sports bag! At this time, Yuuko turns away and flees from the scene when Shizuku passes the bag to him. (Please take note, Shizuku's full name is Tsukishima Shizuku!)
Idiot, idiot(gomen^_^;;;):
When Shizuku catches up with Yuuko, they walk towards home together. As they
walk, Shizuku asks if Yuuko likes Sugimura. Yuuko seems worried with her
feelings. But Shizuku calms Yuuko down and asks her not to worry too much.
Going up a hill, Shizuku looks into her bag and realises that she forgot her storybook! She runs back only to find a boy about her age reading her book. He hands the book back to Shizuku and at the same time calls out her full name. Puzzled that he knows her name, she asks how he knew her name. How indeed, he says. And it dawns on Shizuku that it was the library card that he saw. And then, he commented on the Concrete Road lyrics that she wrote. He said something that made her call him "yanayatsu, yanayatsu, yanayatsu...." (I would imagine her calling him an idiot^_-.)
Cat scene:
The scene shifts to the next day, when Shizuku is rudely awakened by her
sister who is cleaning up her room. Then, the scene changes to Shizuku
taking her breakfast while her sister deals with the laundry. Taking her
lunch box with her, Shizuku leaves home and at the bottom of the flats,
her sister passes on to her a letter for her to mail off. Shizuku asks if it
is for a boyfriend, but she denies that it is just for a friend. (But be
prepared for spoilers, OK?^^)
Shizuku goes to the post office (of which the characters I am able to read from the signboard of a shop nearby is "Mukaihara") to mail off the letter and then goes to a railway station to board a train. And on board the bus, a cat gets up on the seat next to her and looks outside the train. Shizuku tries to talk to the cat but then, as I do talk to cats, I have to admit, I rarely get replies^_^;;;. (My 13 year old imouto [young sister] says that the cat looks fatter than Garfield^_^). Having arrived at her station, she tells the cat that she is getting off, only to find that the cat does the same thing too! She goes after the cat and in the streets (which still looks frightfully realistic^_^;;;) loses sight of it. She walks along a hill towards a public library, and just as she was climbing up the stairs, she sees the cat! Going on a cat chase, she finally catches up with the cat. (And in this scene, you get the impression that the artists involved in the animation are trying to flaunt out their artistic skills.)
Well, the cat takes its time to go along a row of beautifully drawn and painted houses, and teases a dog with its tail. (You have to see this scene. It makes me realise, that this one scene makes it the most mischievous cat compared to Garfield. That is because, Garfield has to do something to annoy Jon, while this cat, just has to wave its tail out of the reach of this poor dog^_-.) Then, the cat goes along its own way into an antique shop. And when that scene shows up, I can't help but wonder the beauty of the art!
BARON and the antique shop:
The antiques, involved a small cat statue, horses, pig, ship. I must tell
you, this scene was truly an exceptional scene. An elderly man meets her and
has a chat with her. Then there was this special grandfather clock which was
so creatively drawn. He tells a story about it, whereby if I recall
correctly, each time the clock strikes 12, a beauty fairy shows up at the
top of the clock and at the bottom, a king sees the fairy. Apparently they
cannot be together, for the fairy looks sad. (But to get the full story, you
had better read David Goldsmith's translated script^_^). She realises after
this that she had to go to the library to study. Having been advised where
to go, she says goodbye to the nice elderly man. (I believe, this is
culturally related, so it is back to searching for such a place in
Singapore^_^).
She rushes down to the library in joy at the realisation that there was such a great place near the library. And then comes the boy who teased her on the "Concrete Road." Well, he was there to return Shizuku's bag. And also to tease her again on that "Concrete Road."
The scene shifts over to the library whereby as Shizuku meets her father in the library (her father is a librarian there^_^), they have a chat. Then, Shizuku picks some books to read and while looking at the card, says to herself, that this Amasawa Seiji guy must be really something. (Which is not surprising because his name appears on almost every library card of every library book that she reads^_^)
She remembers of that boy who teases (daydreaming^_^), and speaks aloud in the library. And OF COURSE that catches the attention of everybody in the library. Very embarassing for Shizuku. :( The scene changes to her leaving the library for home and in the background, the clouds look dark. (For this, I'd say, no body comes as close as to the artist in Singapore who is able to paint clouds so real as to look real too! I am into the arts as well, so I know what I am talking).
Shizuku's topsy turvy feelings:
It was raining in school that day (new day), and both Sugimura and Shizuku
were in a friendly mood that day. They were talking to each other. Yuuko as
usual is embarassed to be "near" him. So she "drags" Shizuku along. Later,
much later, I presume recess time, the two girls go to the staff room to
enquire about a name in that old book that was cancelled, the story book
dated 1958.6.15. She was enquiring about the former owner of the book named
Amasawa Zousho and was shocked to learn that there was a guy in her form
named Amasawa as well. (You'll understand the significance of this later^_^)
Shizuku goes on her way to take her lunch, only to find that the boy who teased her was in front of her. She met him, looking like she was going to punch him (I more or less got the impression^_^) and he ignored her, and passing her (what to expect? There was a sensee behind him^_^). She was angry and in the nursing room (I more or less get the impression that the room belonged to the school nurse ^_^, for we in Singapore or Malaysia don't have this kind of luxury^_^;;;)
Shizuku of course gets teased without mercy. (After all, it is seldom that Shizuku's attention is caught by a guy^_^ Now if only I had that kind of luxury in a co-ed school.....^_-)
Of course, Shizuku ends that teasing with a threat (and her precious translation of Country Road.) After getting herself comically persuaded by her friends, Shizuku hands over the lyrics to her friends to check out. Shizuku gets embarassed by the fact that it is her lyrics being sung by her friends (could somebody please explain what is there to be embarassed about?). Yuuko says that what Shizuku did was very good.
After school ends, she leaves for the antique shop. She finds that the day is a beautiful day and expresses it. (Sigh... To be free to express yourself. What a great feeling that would be.) At the shop, she finds it close and peeking inside, she gets worried when she couldn't see that interesting antique cat. Depressed, she leaves.
At night, Yuuko calls out for her and when Shizuku meets her, she hears out depressing-looking Yuuko. Yuuko explains that she was talking with Sugimura and fled before she could declare her feelings to him!
The next day, after school, Sugimura and Shizuku meet when Shizuku was on her way to the library. They talk things over at a shrine (and the scene here, the art, it was really well done^_^), and here, Shizuku says that Yuuko likes Sugimura! But Sugimura, embarassed, declares that he likes Shizuku! And Shizuku gets embarassed. Shizuku tries to flee the scene but Sugimura stops her and asks if they can still be friends. Shizuku says that it is possible. Then they leave that place with feelings in turmoil. (Definitely the wrong place to declare teenage love^_^;;; for these two, that is!) Arriving home, Shizuku calls herself an idiot.(^_^ Understandable)
Back to antique shop:
Shizuku takes the train once again to go to the antique shop. When she
arrives at the shop, she finds it closed. Tired and sad, she decides to wait
for the old man to show up. (Japan is quite cold, but fortunately, it is
just the beginning of autumn-August, you know?) Well, that boy shows up
again and meets Shizuku with his bicycle. They talk to each other and it
is now that the boy calls that call MUN (moon). He calls her along to the
back of his house, and Shizuku becomes impressed with the view from his
house. (I kind of agree on this part.^_^)
Going through the back door, she gets fascinated with the sight of so many violins. The boy shows her the cat statuette and positions it in a good angle so that she can enjoy the looks of the statuette.
Dusk approaches and after deriving "maximum satisfaction" from the cat statuette, she goes down to the basement whereby the boy uses it as his workshop to craft violin parts to make violins! Shizuku gets fascinated with his work and asks the boy to play for her his violin. As he gets ready, he tells Shizuku to get ready to sing! As she sings her "Country Road," the boy's grandfather and his two friends show up and provide the accompaniment!
It is this scene where I must give all the comments I have learnt:
1. My mom dislikes Japanese animation mainly because of the language
barrier, but even she admits that the singer had good vocals!
2. For me, I must say, impressive instrumentals and vocals. (I will give it a 10 for voice-acting!)
3. My friend, Choon Chai, likes this one very well too!
Later, after the song, she learns that the boy is named Amasawa Seiji, the one whose name showed up in a lot of library book cards!(^_^You see where this leads to, considering Shizuku has been daydreaming about this name!) At home, in her pyjamas, she thinks things over.
Little boy, Little girl:
Ever since Shizuku's withdrawal from Sugimura, Yuuko seems to have a brighter day! But not for Shizuku. Ever since Seiji showed up at Shizuku's classroom (!), well, her friends have been embarassing her. (After all, Shizuku finally has a "boyfriend!"^_-) Well, in order to save her face, she denies it and drags Seiji along to find out what he wants to say to her.
Well, Seiji had to leave to try to be a violin maker. He was going to leave and he wanted to let Shizuku know. At this time, Shizuku's classmates find that she is at the top floor of the school and when she finds them out, she chases them away. And in this heartbreaking scene, she cries (for she loves him).
Shizuku starts to believe in herself and writes a story:
In this chapter, Shizuku realises that Seiji has an ambition, and wants to
find out what she is capable of, Shizuku tries to learn if she has a talent.
(This is where the moral is best learnt from!) Shizuku goes over to Yuuko's
house and it looks quite nice! They have a chat (nothing important you are
missing!) and it is about Shizuku's talent in writing something good like
the lyrics for Country Road in Japanese. So anyway, happy with her
realisation and her new found determination, she goes home. Along the way,
she spots MUN(moon). Well, a cute girl from a house says that "Muta" is
missing again! (Such strangeness for a cat with many names^_^)
She starts with her story titled "Mimi o sumaseba" and the scene changes to Shizuku meeting the old man of the antique shop. He shows her an emerald (which is an interesting scene^_^) and Shizuku becomes fascinated and inspired by it to do her story. The scene shifts to a fantasy thought up by Shizuku. Shizuku's guide to this fantasy world was the same cat statuette, (But I must admit, that the art was simply beautiful for fantasy standards^_^) and having reached the library, Shizuku looks for books to make notes on precious stones. It strikes her father, for it was the first time Shizuku was borrowing a non-fiction book! She gets so absorbed with a book with the picture of the violin, that her love for Seiji deepens (and hurts with his absence). Then she looks up to see him in front of her! He was there for a short break from his trip abroad. He sees her off to her home at dusk and Shizuku continues to write her own romantic story.
The forest:
It is now 18th of October 1996 and Shizuku has to face her parents for
her disappointing results. (What do you expect, when your parents find
that your place has dropped 100 places in a single term?) But Shizuku
explains that she has something to do, and she can't explain things to
them. Then her father understands what is happening and realises that
Shizuku is trying to find out about her own individuality as well as
identity, and in this case, Shizuku is learning it! Still, the sacrifice
and the impact on her studies..... (But I must admit, since I believe in
such a thing as daring to be different, there is a plus point in this^_^).
The scene shifts to the story-writing scene whereby Shizuku looks for a magical stone, and when she finally thinks she has found it, she finds that she holds a dead creature (apparently, she was too late.) Back to reality, Shizuku realises that she misses Seiji.
The story of Baron:
The old man is sitting down on his chair in this scene, and thinks back
about the time when he met a beautiful lady. He dreams of holding her
hands, in happiness and is brought back to reality when Shizuku opens
the door to pass to him her just completed story. Shizuku said to the
old man that she was willing to wait for him to finish reading the story
so that she could know if she did a good one.
While waiting, Shizuku goes to the back of the house and looks that the beautiful scenery. But she looks sad, because she misses Seiji and the scene reminds her of him. When the old man finally finishes the story, he goes to meet her, only to find her sleeping next to the cat (Moon). She cries and declares at first that it is a lie, when the old man says that her story is good. But he assures her that it is truly a good one. He says that it is unpolished, but she could still improve on it.
Shizuku, the cat and the old man take a hot snack and here, the old man explains that there is a similarity between his love life and her story. That is why her story brings back some old memories. (Best you read the script for the details!) And when Shizuku arrives home, he tells her father and mother that she is done with her soul searching, for the meantime at least.(^_^ And I too, am almost done myself^_^) Exhausted, she goes to sleep.
The finale:
Just before dawn, she wakes up and finds that Seiji was calling her.
They rush off to a place and in this scene, Shizuku is glad to be with
him. In a scene, as they go uphill on a road, Seiji has problems riding
(it is very steep, and I should know, for I rode a bicycle, until it was
stolen :( ). Shizuku helps out to push and tired when they are cleared,
she gets on. They arrive at a special spot whereby they are in time to
see the sun rise. Here, the scene is really beautiful (and I have some
first hand experiences as well^_^) on the sunrise. And this is when
Seiji explains that as he was pursuing his ambition, he did not think
of Shizuku's feelings. He says that it is still too early, and then he
still asks Shizuku if she would marry him. When she says yes,(here is
where she becomes red in face) Seiji hugs her and says that he loves her.
Note from Mak Kum Shi: Now, does anybody else want the 2nd part onwards. (I am tired, so I am taking a break for the next few weeks. Sorry, but this is the best I will do. There is such a thing as a limit to sacrifices.)
|
|