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saaraa96's review
5.0
I have not watched the anime yet but enjoyed reading and viewing this book.
It contained the details about how they came up with some ideas, the stories behind some designs and of course, many pages of astonishing artworks.
My eyes are blessed.
It contained the details about how they came up with some ideas, the stories behind some designs and of course, many pages of astonishing artworks.
My eyes are blessed.
imogenrobinson__'s review
3.0
This added to my appreciation of the film and I would love to see books on the other films too. It helps you understand the story and characters a little better, but I would've liked more from Miyazaki himself, and I didn't like the fact that half the book is the screenplay.
It could've done with some more storyboards and initial concept development in my opinion, rather than just popping the screenplay in - I know the screenplay off by heart already pretty much from seeing the film so many times! Still, it's pretty, and I'd recommend this to anyone interested in the art style.
It could've done with some more storyboards and initial concept development in my opinion, rather than just popping the screenplay in - I know the screenplay off by heart already pretty much from seeing the film so many times! Still, it's pretty, and I'd recommend this to anyone interested in the art style.
neilrcoulter's review
5.0
Two hundred forty pages of artwork and writing about one of my all-time favorite films? Sure! Miyazaki’s introduction clarifies what he sees as the important themes in what is one of the most complex and fascinating animated films ever made.
Anyway, after the introduction, we get to see Miyazaki’s concept sketches for the film, which are beautiful—sometimes almost exactly what the final film looks like, and other times very different (in the case of No Face, for example). The next section is a selection of backgrounds and character designs. These are great because it’s like pausing the film and really looking at all the details in each frame. The book concludes with an explanation of the ways digital technology was used in the film; and then the entire script (in English).
For any fan of Spirited Away, this book is pure pleasure. Highly recommended!
I would say that this film is an adventure story even though there is no brandishing of weapons or battles involving supernatural powers. However, this story is not a showdown between right and wrong. It is a story in which the heroine will be thrown into a place where the good and the bad dwell together, and there, she will experience the world. She will learn about friendship and devotion, and will survive by making full use of her brain. She sees herself through the crisis, avoids danger and gets herself back to the ordinary world somehow. She manages not because she has destroyed the “evil,” but because she has acquired the ability to survive. (15)This summary of Spirited Away reminds me of a comment Miyazaki made later, in a 2010 interview at Berkeley:
To have a film where there’s an evil figure, and the good person fights against the evil figure and everything becomes a happy ending—that’s one way to make a film. But then that means you have to draw, as an animator, the evil figure, and it’s not very pleasant to draw the evil figure. So I decided against having evil figures in my films.It’s a very interesting perspective, partly because it’s an intriguing ethos to guide storytelling, and partly because it forces me to look at Spirited Away differently, so much am I in the habit of identifying the “good guys” and “bad guys” in any story.
Anyway, after the introduction, we get to see Miyazaki’s concept sketches for the film, which are beautiful—sometimes almost exactly what the final film looks like, and other times very different (in the case of No Face, for example). The next section is a selection of backgrounds and character designs. These are great because it’s like pausing the film and really looking at all the details in each frame. The book concludes with an explanation of the ways digital technology was used in the film; and then the entire script (in English).
For any fan of Spirited Away, this book is pure pleasure. Highly recommended!
atrejo's review
5.0
Overall it's a great book, but if I'm comparing it to the other "The Art of..." titles I would say this one has a lot less commentary than The Art of Howl's Moving Castle".
leewicks's review
5.0
These two books (I read the Totoro one recently too) mark the begin for of a rather expensive collection that I just need to carry on with, because holy hell. STUNNING.