Shamu
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"He was teasing..."
Posts: 106
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Post by Shamu on Oct 9, 2004 18:49:29 GMT -5
I know this isn't really a series, but I love this movie! And it is Japanese. If you haven't seen it, I highly recomend it! I do have a tie-in question with InuYasha though (note: if you don't like spoilers, you might not want to continue reading), I noticed that both Kuhaku in Inuyasha and Kuhaku/Haku in Spirited Away have some sort of memory loss and I was just wondering if the name has a meaning other than 'amber' in Japanese or if the stone itself has anything to do with memory? Anyway, anyone else out there like Miyazaki's work?
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Post by demoncat on Oct 10, 2004 21:28:28 GMT -5
Of the 7 Ghibli and/or Miyazaki movies I've seen (Tonari no Totoro, Mononoke Hime, Spirited Away, Neko no Ongaeshi, Hotaru no Haka, Kiki's Delivery Service (dubbed version only), Lupin III: Castle of Cagliostro), I love all of them except for Hotaru no Haka - it was too slow and depressing for me. All the others I wholeheartedly reccommend. ::wanders off to find a totoro to huggle::
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Kanna
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Post by Kanna on Oct 11, 2004 17:08:56 GMT -5
I love his work! Miyazaki RULES! ;D. But anyways on to the works of his I've seen. (I've only seen the dubbed versions ) 1) My Neigbor Totoro 2.) Catle in the Sky:(Laputa) 3) Valley of the Wind 4) Spirited Away 5) The Cat returns and a few more I can't seem to remember -.-
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echolalia
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Goofy Gaijin
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Post by echolalia on Oct 11, 2004 22:34:14 GMT -5
Wow, I spent a lot of time trying to find an answer to this question.
As far as I can tell, there is nothing particularly symbolic about amber to the Japanese. I googled for it in the context of general Japanese culture, Shinto, and Buddhism, and all I found was that it was one of Buddha's Seven Treasures (or Shippou ), but I already knew that.
I did find a connection in the Healing Crystal/Chakra tradition, which originated in India and is often associated with Buddhism. Apparently amber, being a yellow stone, is good to purify the solar plexus chakra, and among many other things, is useful as a memory aid.
I could very well be wrong, but this seems pretty obscure to me. In Inuyasha, we can expect esoteric details from the Buddhist and Shinto traditions, and I would not put it past Takahashi to be so clever. However, as far as I can tell, Sen to Chihiro Kamikakushi relied primarily (if not entirely) on Shinto and Miyazaki's imagination.
So, at this point I'm thinking it's more likely to be just a coincidence. Takahashi probably named her boy Kohaku to go with her Buddha and Seven Treasures theme (which rather implies that Shippou, Sango, and Kohaku are Miroku's treasures... Hmmm). Miyazaki probably named his boy Kohaku because the first few characters can be peeled away a la Chihiro->Sen until all that's left is "Haku".
It's possible that the other characters have some connotation of memory or loss, but in my (admittedly limited) resources, I don't see this.
Interesting question!
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Shamu
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"He was teasing..."
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Post by Shamu on Oct 12, 2004 16:16:55 GMT -5
Holly cow! What an answer! Thank you for the research Echolalia:D!
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echolalia
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Goofy Gaijin
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Post by echolalia on Oct 13, 2004 1:22:50 GMT -5
Hehe, no problem. I like looking for answers to interesting questions. =)
And thank you for overlooking my (now fixed) typos. "Sen to Chihirio" indeed. =P
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Kuro
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The Evil Naraku Mini-Me
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Post by Kuro on Oct 13, 2004 3:40:29 GMT -5
The two Kohakus are likely more of a coincidence, too. "Haku" in Miyazaiki's Sen to Chihiro no Kamikakushi actually doesn't really have a meaning the way Kohaku's does in Inuyasha. In Sen, both "KOHAKU" and "HAKU" are always written in katakana, which can actually mean that the name means anything (or none of the particular meanings of haku/kohaku), from amber, to little-soul, to little puke. In Inuyasha, rather than the seven treasures, I'm actually thinking that Takahashi just wanted to kind of give all of the sibling characters a little bit of a grouping. There's the taijya: Kohaku (amber), Sango (coral), and Kirara (mica) are all natural minerals/semi-precious stones. The miko: Kikyou (bellflower) and Kaede (maple) are both plant names, and even Tsubaki (camilla). The bunshin from Naraku are all descriptive, so they're probably more random. Kagura and Kanna have tricky names, but they still seems a bit related. Kagura literally becomes "pleasure-soul" (although the word means "dance") and Kanna literally becomes "Soulless." Goshinki means "soul-reading ogre." Musou becomes "Unmatched." Jyuuroumaru becomes "Beast-son" and Kageroumaru becomes "Phantom-son." Hakudoushi is "White child." ....hehe, just a little name trivia. ^_^ --- Now going back to Miyazaki's movies... I LOVE all of his movies. I think my favorite will always be Sen to Chihiro no Kamikakuashi (although I said the same of Totoro until I saw Sen), but I have a real fondness for Majo no Takkubun (Kiki's Delivery Service), Tonari no Totoro (My Neighbor Totoro), and Mononoke Hime (Princess Mononoke.) ...little did I know that I'd come across Kappei and Noriko again when I got into Inuyasha... *LOL*
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Shamu
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"He was teasing..."
Posts: 106
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Post by Shamu on Oct 14, 2004 6:17:51 GMT -5
OOOOOO!!! Another awesome anwer ! I always like the random trivia from stuff like this too, like the meaning of names. Makes things alittle more interesting in my book, so thank you, Kuro, for the name dictionary! That rocks! I just thought it was interesting that both Kuhaku's have some sort of memory loss (and both regain it) and the same name (at least pronunciation wise). I find it even more interesting that it's likely a coincidence, considering said info above. Anyway, now I want to see Kiki's Delivery Service, not only becuase it's Studio Ghibli/Miyazaki, but because Kappei does one of the voices .
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Shamu
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"He was teasing..."
Posts: 106
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Post by Shamu on Nov 15, 2004 21:56:53 GMT -5
Sorry to double post, but I recently went out and got a bunch of Miyazaki/Studio Ghibli films and wow! I love them all (well, the ones I've seen)! Spirited Away is still my favorite, but it's followed closely by Princess Mononoke. I'm not sure what it is about "Hime", it's dark and violent, but the story is just beautiful and of course, so is the animation! This is also one of the only animes that I really like in both Japanese and English (I tend to prefer Japanese most of the time for some reason). They got an all star cast to do the English version (Minnie Driver, Billy Bob Thornton, Clair Danes, Jada Pinket Smith, ect..!). "Kiki" and "Totoro" are adorable. I love those too! Especially listening to Kappei in "Kiki's Delivery Service"! My two year old now always asks to watch Totoro (which I of course can't say no too, when she asks for "my Toto!"). The other one I saw was "Castle in the Sky", which I liked alot better after I watched it Japanese (James VanDerBeek is the voice of Pazu in the English version and I just kept thinking, ah come on! Dawson? Really? Couldn't they get anyone better? Sorry to all you Dawson's Creek fans ) So anyway, are there any other Miyazaki/Studio Ghibli films anyone has to recomend? I've heard that "Grave of the Fireflies" is really sad and depressing, but is it good?
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Soul
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Post by Soul on Jan 25, 2005 2:12:23 GMT -5
ah, I love Spirited Away oh so much, and i love them in both the original and dubb versions. O Hime Mononoke is my other favorite. Kiki's Delivery Service I like but it was ruined for me a little bit by the fact that Kirstune Dunce does the voice of Kiki . But when I finnally saw this in japanese and saw that my lovable Yamaguchi Kappei does the voice of Tombo, I almost died . Man other than Inuyasha, Ranma, and a few other roles, I've never actually seen Yamaguchi-san in any other roles-especially not in a role as a little kid, I've only really seen him playing the characters of bad-asses. And oh man, he does the voice of a 13 year old so well too, I was amazed, consdering what a deep voice he has. He played the part of tombo great too, i though he made Tombo sound much more innocent and cute than the english actor ( not that english actor did a bad job). And as far as the meaning of names goes, just what does Kagome's name mean? I've heard that it means sunset, or a kids song, and I've also heard that her name also mean sacrifice.
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Kuro
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The Evil Naraku Mini-Me
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Post by Kuro on Jan 25, 2005 7:14:15 GMT -5
The word "kagome" is actually the name of a style of basket weave, so you'll see the word "kagome" sometimes come up to mean basket. It's also the name of a popular condiment and drink manufcturer in Japan. ;P Her name in itself, since it's written in hiragana, can mean basket-weave, but it likely doesn't mean anything. Kagome-Kagome is also the name of a children's song (similar to our "Ring Around the Rosie").
The last name Higurashi has the kanji for "sunset."
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Soul
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Post by Soul on Feb 5, 2005 19:24:05 GMT -5
not to get off subject of the whole Spirited way topic, but since we are discussing name meanings, I was wondering Kiyou's named after a chiniese belflower right?
Well I read some where that the belflower is some kind of healing plant that used to be used back in Japan. Also I read that the belflower also signifies the yin and yang.
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Ringo
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kirei na kokoro
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Post by Ringo on Mar 14, 2005 19:23:14 GMT -5
I've only watched a few movies by Miyazaki. Like Tonari no Totoro, Mononoke Hime, Sen to Chihiro no Kamikakushi and Hotaru no Haka. I love all of the movies but I would really recommend Hotaru no Haka. Get plenty of tissues out! That movie made me cry a lot. Theres also a new Ghibli movie out in Japan. It's called Hauru no Ugoku Shiro. Can't wait to see it!
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Post by kongousouha on Mar 16, 2005 22:37:53 GMT -5
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Inugurl7354
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Wow! SInce 2005 now here it is 2015 and I still remember this site.
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Post by Inugurl7354 on Nov 11, 2006 14:43:23 GMT -5
Spirited Away is my favorite because the girl falls in love with the dragon kid, Oh and howl's Moving Castle also because a girl falls in love with a bird man! Weird aren't I?
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