This was wonderful and confirmed a lot of hunches I had about this film. I think the only place I differed was my take on Pelicans and Parakeets, with both being distributors, pelicans being Japanese distributors and the parakeets being American...but as I'm kinda ignorant on the *actual* politics and history with his films in both countries, it'll stay just a hunch. On a personal note, as an artist who's been struggling with a personal project for a while now, your teacher's quote was something I needed to hear. Thank you for this.
Thank you for your kind words! A compelling idea about domestic vs international distributors! As I try to make clear in the video, there is no definitive interpretation. Very glad if the video can offer you some encouragement on the artistic side. We're all trying to leave an impact on the world - it's a difficult thing and is worthy of acknowledgement. Best of luck!
Now, I can convince my friends that not every pun is bad. I mean, there is a small subgroup among my friends who strongly believe puns are bad by their nature. Unfortunately, they argued about it from a theoretical perspective, and I was not there. Hahaha, I love puns. And because I respect those people I was skeptical about myself. Whether I am an old child or not. I found some counter-examples against them but this one is a lot better :) Now I know that the reason is, that I like metaphors!
Some of the other videos I cited in this one do a great job explaining how puns came to be synonymous with low-brow humor, though as you now know, my stance is that puns differ in quality and the good ones hit more. I wasn't entirely sure the metaphorical aspect of my art functioned as a good framing device, but to be fair, I couldn't *picture* it any other way~
@@densetsumedia I don't understand your reply. Maybe my comment is misleading. I thought every pun necessarily used a metaphor while constructed. And that is true. Because metaphor is just a map /bridge of two disjoint concepts. So, metaphor is not the framing device here. It is the essence of the art. So puns are just metaphors with humor functionality. In other words, they are bridges that have a humor purpose.
But you can not create worlds without malice in them. It's what old uncle could not do. It's what mahito can't do because his scar and that he has malice inside of him. You can not take malice out of a world.
the way you open minds using a movie about closing doors is really amusing to me ahah- i've watched a lot of analyses on various media but this was by far one of the best ones i've ever seen. it made me see the film through a completely new lens, seamlessly linking together ideas that i've noticed but never really considered or connected together. everything feels so deliberate. how suzume was what your name wasn't. the ideal of kizuna. your analysis of suzume, the character. noticing what the characters represent. the isolation of victims and the concept of gaman. hope in despair. your thoughts on daijin and sadaijin. how that ties further in to what souta represents. personal anecdotes and highlighting common experience of loss. closure and remembrance. all connecting together, all brought out in this amazing analysis. you've worked so hard on it! your illustrations, the emotion conveyed through your voice, and the effort it takes to edit an hour-long video. i've always thought that shinkai's films have a depth to them. my favorite parts of his movies are the mundane ones. among the grandeur of supernatural phenomena in his works, lay quiet, mundane moments that really ground the world in reality. pictures on social media. suzume's phone dying. a burried box of her important things. tearing open packaged food. the creaky sounds of an old bicycle. serizawa's choice of songs. placing books on a shelf. carving out eyes on a kid's chair. the hundreds of "goodbye"s said every day, the "i'm home"s you always expect. despite never having experienced such a disaster, i feel deeply for the survivors, the people who were affected, and what they lost. after watching suzume, i wanted to learn about the 3.11 tragedy. every picture, every link just.. added to this desolating, poignant image of common suffering. it shouldn't be forgotten. none of it should. i've definitely missed a few points i really wanted to write about, but i'll be rewatching this. it's like a movie in its own way! i want to talk about the other movies you mentioned too, your name and weathering with you. and also, thank you so so much for the information. like, visiting shinkai's previous works. i really liked the narrative analysis part, i don't see many youtubers do that. i'd love to see a video on it too. the success of this movie warms my heart, and i hope it's remembered for a long, long time. (edited cuz i keep adding things i want to say)
Haha, I'd never thought of my task that way, but it's a very charming thought! Your words mean more than I can say, all of them. This really did take a lot out of me, and more research than I've done on anything since graduating from college. I enjoyed the process, but was a little dismayed that, being less-than-topical, it didn't receive the same attention my video on Boy and the Heron did. That said, the resonance it's had with folks like you has really hit home the importance of doing projects like this for me - I am so tremendously grateful for everyone who does resonate with these pieces, and even more for those who take some time to share their thoughts as you have. I hope you will continue spreading the poetry and empathy evident in your words today out into the world at large! As for me, I'm slowly working on two new pieces, one about my conflicted thoughts on FX's 2024 series Shogun, and another about painting and visual composition in video games. I hope you'll look forward to them~ Cheers!
ahah, i get what you mean! oftentimes it's the work that we pour the most into that ends up doing not as good. that said, i really really hope this video reaches as many people as it possibly can, because it's one of the most influential things i've watched in a while. i personally enjoy video essays that talk about the real-world concepts and events adjacent to the piece of media they're covering. videos that seem like they're diverging, but in the end, all connect beautifully together. i can't find the right phrase for this, but i guess it's like.. homemade. patches of ideas woven together? thank you for your words! i'll definitely be watching the boy and the heron soon, and with that, your analysis. i'm really excited to see your next videos!
Well thank you again for your kind sentiments. I'm very proud of what I was able to accomplish and the wonderful responses it's drawn out. Just a heads up that with regard to my Boy and the Heron video, I had the unusual opportunity to see Boy and the Heron before its release and friends of mine really liked my take on it, so I worked a ton to release that video on the same weekend as Boy and the Heron came out into US theaters. As a result, it was picked up by the algorithm and is really the only thing I've ever made that went slightly viral, so there are many more comments on that video, some a little bit negative either toward me or the movie. With all that said, while I did more research for the piece on Suzume, I am happy with my take on the Boy and the Heron and hope you will enjoy it!
@@talecomet I edit on Premiere, as it's what I'm most familiar with from years as a filmmaker. The animation I create in After Effects, similar story. I have a google drive with folders for sources and scripts. I wouldn't say I'm that good at organizing research, but I learned a fair deal of these skills making a feature documentary some years ago called Touching Sound about the first touchscreen arcade game, which came out before the ipad, amassed a huge and dedicated community, and was canceled without explanation. Long story for sure - as a quick addendum - I stream a fair bit on twitch.tv/densetsuvii so if you ever want to talk in real time there, I encourage you to drop in, though I understand not everyone on youtube is keen to be on twitch~
A great and moving analysis of a film I will never forget. I actually just watched Suzume again last week. When it was first released in Australia my 11yo grandson, a fan of Japanese anime, was keen to see it (in Japanese with subtitles, because that would be more 'authentic' - 10 year olds, eh?). I didn't know anything about it so went in blind. I was enjoying it but as soon the narrative moved north out of Tokyo I recalled the early scenes of Suzume's memories, especially the boat on the roof of a house, it hit me where they were going and I, a 70yo grandad, started sniffing. Then when the later scenes of the 'ghosts' leaving their homes on that morning to go to work or school, the tears started to fall. When we got back home I explained the poignancy of the movie's ending to my grandson, and he got it. Yeah, kids do get this stuff.
What a wonderful sentiment! Thank you so much for sharing this with all of us. I imagine the experience of the movie with your grandson, and of you explaining it, will stay with that child until he's Suzume's age and for long after. It's very inspiring to hear you carry that meaning forward across the generations!
Thank you for your kind words! I am of course, very familiar with that feeling, and I'm glad my contribution to the experience of watching Boy and the Heron was meaningful for you!
A very interesting point! It's hard to discuss Twin Peaks because of how spoiler-heavy an in-depth overview of it has to be, and how few people these days have seen the entire series, though it has crossed my mind to make a video encouraging people to go back to it. I hadn't thought to compare the two although I think there is a very interesting comparison to be had! Thanks for sharing this observation!
There's an Arabic proverb of sorts that goes, "lawla almizah, la mutna minal ghamm," meaning "if not for humor, we would have died from sorrow." A middle aged man disagreed with me when I told him that outside a Holiday Inn's entrance at 2 in the morning some six years ago. I forget why, but he disagreed regardless, and he was one hell of a funny man who had lived through much terror and grief. He was Olivetrinian. That might've been a bit of a leap but I tried. And there's more symbolism at play there than metaphor. Keep on creating beautiful things without malice.
Oh man I'm not even sure where the facts end and the joke begins here! I'd actually love to see you break down the intention behind the pun and whether we can workshop it haha! But thanks for giving this a look - I know it's a little outside the usual for the channel, and I suspect we'll actually have a few videos which dabble outside the metaphor-subject matter very soon - it means a lot that you had a look at this anyways, so thank you! I hope you at least had a laugh!
I think there a book mentioned at the end credit of this movie said that it inspired by The Book of The Lost Thing by Jhon Connoly which rarely get mention by any interpretator of this Masterpiece. IMHO to make your wonderfully done interpretation more whole it should be included, doesn't it?
An interesting observation - I had not noticed that book mentioned in the credits or the interviews I researched at the time, though a cursory google search suggests there may be something to the connection you'd mentioned. That said, I can't edit this video as it presently exists, and even if I could, I think that a discussion of whether the two books are similar or not may be beyond the scope of this video's purpose. But thank you for bringing this up! Very interesting to note!
Sorry dude, horrible interpretation considering Miyazaki is the director that killed, and self admits to, lacking any heir out of his own cretinous golden spoon attitude. He never deserved where he is, and he killed other people. Actively, killed. he has murdered directors that would have produced 8x his work out of his own spiteful greed. Go watch actual anime directors like Yoshiyuki Tomino, not this half rate loser who hates humanity and life.
This film is exactly what you would get if you were to go up to ChatGPT and prompt "Give me a Ghibli movie". The erratic scene transitions, nonsensical story non-telling and almost zero character development for the characters (which they just keep throwing at you throughout the movie), it gives you the feeling of "it exists, it smells familiar, but it feels so off". The movie stops for nothing; no reflection, reaction, or conversation. There is no humanity to the film compared to other Ghibli films. You are pulled by the ear from scene to scene, given no time to appreciate or take in anything. They instead force space for shallow renders of Ghibli tropes, such as "the cute little guys" or "look at this delicious food!", which only goes as far to give you some watered down feeling of emotion. You keep thinking that there will surely be something redeeming, perhaps a message, but even the message is rushed through. You then find yourself coming out of the movie it feels like you were either too sober, or the producers too high. In any case, you now have a phobia of birds.
Spirited Away is one of the worst Ghibli Films though, and Pom Poko and Grave of the Fireflies are BY FAR the best Ghibli films. You miyazaki addict are on the wrong side of history, and Oshii is right about you. Not real anime fans.
Thank you for making these analysis videos, this and your breakdown of the boy and the heron truly brought me to tears and motivated me to continue in life, Again thank you for reminding me what it means to be human, I wish you nothing but luck on your endeavors, continue making beautiful work like this
How very kind! Thank you so much for your kind words and for checking out my other videos! I post very infrequently and am currently in the middle of a move, but in the background, I'm working on two new videos about the 2024 series Shogun, and on the topic of visual composition in video games~ I hope you'll stick around and give them a look!
Thank you for the kind words! If you haven't had to analyze a film which doesn't go out of its way to explain itself, it can be a little difficult at first. I hope my video can give some insights into the process and if you find this kind of thing interesting, I encourage you to watch the film Suzume, and my accompanying video about its meaning! Would love to hear your thoughts! Cheers! <3
I didn't cry watching the movie but I did cry watching this. Wonderful execution, every word had intent and meaning. Thank you for putting this interpretation out there.
Not sure about interpretation but the small block from his granduncle that Mahito took with him at the end might serve as memento of what his life and his uncle's life been through while Mahito venture back into his world.
Watched the film two times before seeing this. Definitely watch again after your explanation about icons, resemblances, and characters. I have experienced a term like Mahito, lonely, stubborn, pain in the ass towards my inner circle. Those did not fly out completely. I have a different experience of the film because of my psychology. The realization of Ghibli towards Mahiko is unreal. I mean as you stated, the film must be focused on the Takahata - Miyazaki relationship if we look at the picture by your first film industry metaphor. But Mahito's character is very well designed. Who knows maybe Suzuki insists on the design of Mahito. Because these archetypes are very common in modern society. As you stated Suzuki is a man of efficiency and money to some degree :) Nevertheless, I like the art of child trauma Mahito, and his adaptation to a brand new place and his soul searching. I read in an article or interview that the art of blaze screen does not come from Miyazaki directly. I mean it is appropriate because they do not fit the style of other Ghibli films. I expect Mahito to be overwhelmed to some degree because man he is standing against his uncle who is a remarkable creator :) We could easily deduce his appreciation towards the realms he saw. He gains some courage and virtue. But as I say there should be some form of appreciation and shyness towards the uncle when they met. Instead, he was very simple-minded and assured. Yeah, I know the realism is not very strong in Miyazaki films. But the first half of the story was very realistic. Something tastes like Evangelion. This is a conflict, that is not resolved at the end. Thank you for your kind effort!
Wow, thank you to enlight us with these deep concepts embedded into the film. Makoto is such a nice guy, who is not doing his beautiful art for himself. After this explanation, this film could be my favorite movie. Surely sit at the top with Grave of The Butterflies and Wind Rises. I am from Turkey, we also had a similar big earthquake experience in our countryside, 1 year ago. 14 million people were affected, and nearly 500 thousand houses were destroyed. I truly relate the Fukushima disaster to our disaster. There are many refugies around the metropolises. Government/charities tried similar kintai politics. I hope it works, I am worried because only 1 year passed but people in the metropolises including myself have forgotten it except those whose families experienced it. In the metropolises, I guess every 1 of 10 people is like Suzume. They live the chronic problems of the disaster in deep...
In fact I didn't know the film before encounter to your video! I mean I watched Shinkai's other works like Garden of Words, 5 centimeter per second (loved them). But I watched them years ago and unfortunately isolated to movie culture because of irl issues. Thanks again for highlighting the film and making it more valuable.
Thank you for your kind words, and I am sorry for the tumult your country has gone through as of late. I'm very glad to have connected you to a film that resonated with your lived experience, and I hope you'll be able to share it with others in your community who may need to see it. The original script of this video actually contained references to the earthquakes in Turkey among other events in the world, but I decided to cut those segments for time, and to allow all viewers to connect the film to their own lives individually. I'm glad that you were still able to see Suzume's message as relevant to your part of the world! My uploads are infrequent, but I hope to continue making videos on perspectives I find important in film and culture generally - comments like yours are so precious for me, and let me know that the time spent on these videos was not wasted. Thank you again so much for watching!
@densetsumedia Man I just watched some parts of the video again, to clear my thoughts. Don't use a word like waste ever, I think every part of your work is precious and this video is a gem whether people are interested or not. Sure, some people like me take important stuff from this and keep going. It touches our lives just like Suzume. I love the first part where you give analysis techniques and application. I am re-watching it to grasp and apply it to another film. Perhaps you could consider making a separate video about these topics, as I find them really fascinating.
@@yorgunkaptaan Well thank you! This is very encouraging to me, as some people, particularly on my other videos, say that they dislike those sections and prefer I just get to the point. I've always felt they are necessary parts of the overall analysis, and knowing that you felt engaged by it is very encouraging! I expect to have more such explanations in my future work, though we probably won't return to narrative analysis particularly for awhile. Currently, I am in the early stages of two potential video ideas: one about the 2024 TV show Shogun, and its complicated relationship with orientalism (the tendency of the West to simplify, denigrate, and impose its importance onto the rest of the world), and Visual Composition in video games, a subject which I don't think has been explored in great detail before. I hope you'll stick around and leave your thoughts for my later videos!
I to agree that miyazakis works will trascend time and he wil be considered a leyend (already is) in the long future, the worlds he has created are like nothing else. he has created alternate realities where magic is real and all is possible.
Dude how do you not have a million subs already After watching the movie today I had thought "ghibli can do so much better" This video made everything so much clearer, thanks to you The interpretation was brilliant, I can only imagine the amount of research that went into this The story telling was great too The metaphor definition (chapter after intro) could be shorter though, to be v honest I skipped to "Approaching the boy and the heron" when I thought the metaphor part wasn't ending and I really wanted to get into the main explanation But the rest of the video was fantastic I'm still unsure why Mahito's aunt screamed "Why'd you come here I hate you" at him when he entered the delivery room. That didn't make sense. She was always v nice to him so this reaction came out of the blue.
Thank you for your kind words! I post pretty infrequently and rarely on topical things, but I'm always greatly encouraged when people find my videos add to their experience of these films which have so affected me. I did feel it was necessary to discuss the nature of metaphor in order to be on the same page as we interpret the film and not fall into the common trap of seeking 'one right answer' to a film. But for all those folk who did find it a bit longwinded, I put in chapters so as to allow people to skip around as necessary, so I hope it didn't detract from your experience too much. It is, I'm afraid, a bit of a feature of my style, but I will continue adding chapters so as to allow you to experience the videos as best suits you. I've discussed this in some other comments, but in short, my view is that Mahito's aunt/mother was engaging in a creative act, that of the creation of a family, which Mahito had essentially opposed by refusing to be a part of that family or support her creation in any way. Within the world of fantasy, where the truths of creation are laid bare, her vulnerability and lack of trust in Mahito manifest as hatred - so sacred is the act of creation here. The suddenness of it all reflects how different the creative world is to the surface world, but it is my view that these are things she always felt, even when she put forth a nicer veneer. Hope that gives you some food for thought. If you enjoyed the piece I hope you'll consider checking out the other videos I've been making - I'm planning to make a short piece soon on the recent show Shogun~ Thank you again for your thoughts!
@@densetsumedia That makes so much sense, thank you! I'm able to appreciate the movie now, now that I can interpret it so much better. Will definitely check out your other videos.
You've spent quite the effort to give your take on this movie, I knew about the earthquake but I really gained more insight with the metaphors. Sometimes when there's a major earthquake, I get the feeling to rewatch the old archived march 11 videos. This was a recent development like 5 years ago for me but it stayed with me like a silent connection. I admire the poignant emotions your put forth.
Thank you from the bottom of my heart for these kind words. (It's been a rough week for me and this just comes at a really good time.) It means the world to know that especially to someone already familiar with some of the subject matter, I was able to add to your experience in some small way. I think it's very moving that you return to those videos when faced with disaster - the urge to invoke a sense of pathos when faced with turmoil is so tremendously human and precious. Thanks for sharing your viewpoint, and this hour of your time, with us all!
You know I was just thinking, Miyazaki has 12 feature-length films, it's possible that one blocks could be left for his last film, since Suzuki said if this film becomes a major hit (which it is), then he may make another film. 🤞 But even if that doesn't happen, its alright... Future boy conan as you said, still counts as one of the Miyazaki canon.
Thanks for your thoughts! The thought you described had occurred to me for a time, but the more I learned about Conan, both what it meant to Miyazaki and what are, in my opinion, pretty undeniable allusions to it in Boy and the Heron, I've become pretty convinced that it counts as the 1st/13th of his works. I also like this perspective, as it ensures the film is timeless right now in our present moment, and will remain that way. That said, I totally understand the perspective you advance, and thank you so much for sharing that with us!
This was nothing short of amazing. That mifune. I like her. Or him. Thank you for this. I've watched it twice. One in Spanish bootleg. One in Japanese dubbed. I still have one more way. With the u.s. cast. I believe I'm hearing june for that.
Thanks so much for your kind words! My boy Mifune also features in my other videos on Suzume, and on puns, and regularly stars on my twitch streams at twitch.tv/densetsuvii! I'm sure he'd enjoy you stopping by! The impact Boy and the Heron has had on so many is truly a testament not just to Miyazaki but to the power of animation and film, and I'm glad to have been a small part of that experience for some of you. Thanks for taking the time to watch and leave such a lovely comment!
It’s a lovely film I enjoyed it very much. I am pretty sure any man that had a loving mother would want to see her one more time and talk to her. The part where she told her son that he was a good boy brought tears to my eyes. Love, honor and respect your parents, the respect the young boy had in this film (a little rebellious) is lost in today’s society. I will forever cherish and love Studio Ghibli films and I hope the art of storytelling through animation will not be lost for future generations.
Taki remembers the lost town, deeply and to a fault that he keeps getting rejected from companies. Perhaps his drive that he always convey in the interviews, of creating environment that resonates with culture and people, being not in line with tokyo construction companies, is a metaphor of people who feels deeply, remember and grieve for victims of the 3/11 tragedy and the government or major public that strays away and be disconnected from it. But when government fails the people, people stick to each other, like taki who reached out (and then perhaps reintroduced to and married with) to mitsuha. Though having bonded in a previous timeline in a fantastical journey through the disaster he helped her escape from, almost entirely forgetting his recollection of her, taki never forget the importance of preserving local culture, the lost town, because "we never know when it might be gone too". A similar feeling he felt of how he has grown to cherish and feel rooted to itomori, and how he wished the tragedy hadn't taken it. It could also be a metaphor that the tragedy could have happened elsewhere, impacting the viewer themselves, so treat "others" with kindness and compassion, emphasizing on the shared ideal of musubi between the film and 3/11 tragedy, to cherish our people, environment, culture as well as others.
I really admire the thought you put into this take - thank you so much for sharing it! I still stand by the take which Tamaki Mihic advocated for in her book, that even with these considerations, Taki never thinks about, for example, leaving Tokyo to go to Itomori, or consciously advocating for remembering Itomori in the present. But I think your interpretation gives well-deserved consideration for the empathy that Taki, and I'm sure Shinkai also, wanted to express and share. Thank you for commenting!
Finally got the time to watch Suzume, and then your name afterward, and this video made me appreciate the film in a way I never thought I would. Too bad they had to shoehorn some romance in the film, since it what most people know Shinkai for.
So glad you were able to watch them! Thanks for taking the time~ At first, I did agree with your assessment about the romance in Suzume, but when I came to understand that romance as metaphorical for the relationship between Tokyo/Central Japan and the survivors/peripheral Japan, I felt like it gained a lot of nuance and depth, and I was able to get behind it a lot more. In that way, it's less about the typical 'will-they-wont-they' but far more about "this is a relationship everyone wants to work, but things need to be worked out". Even the idea that the guy is cool and distant is something of a subversion of a lot of instances where the guy is interested in the girl, but overall, I'd just say, there may be more there than meets the eye. Thank you again for watching!
Thank you for your kind words! I am aware of the typo. It's listed, among others, in the errata section in the description if you're curious. Unfortunately I am not able to correct the typos in the video without taking this video down and reuploading it, but I hope you are able to enjoy the piece regardless~ Cheers!
Very interesting all of the metaphors and allusions. I noticed the visual connections to his past works but did not realize all 13 of his works were referenced. As a side note and a bit of a joke I originally took the meaning of the character of the great uncle to be Miyazaki and Mahito to be his son. When Mahito mentions being “touched by violence” as a reason to not pick up the blocks if I remember correctly I took it to mean in the actual world Miyazaki’s son using 3d animation for a ghibli film.
