Movies, How to Tame, and short review on Erin.
I plan on renting (or buying) Princess and the Frog and Fantastic Mr.Fox this month.
It's been a while since a movie I wanted to see was out and this season doesnt look so good, so I'll be looking at everything I missed. :< I missed the good season when all the cool movies were out (was broke). Of course those aren't the only movies I plan on seeing. I actually have a nice list going on Netflix right now with everything from foreign movies to action adventure that will keep my movie-watching fresh.
But I guess we're talking about movies because I've been hearing things about How to tame your Dragon, which made me curious as to whether I should see it. So I decided to read the movie synopsis and really it's not my sort of taste. (Its a kids movie thats obviously a kids movie x3) But I was sort of expecting it to be closer to when I watched Kemono no Souja Erin which has a very similar premise but approaches it in a more mature fashion. It's based on a series of novels, and it's series just ended in the fall after a long 50ep season run.
Of course Erin's a lot less fun and a lot more dramatic, but the message is still the same. Little girl grows up with dragon beasts who are hunted and otherwise enslaved for beast-riding. Following her mom's example she wants to raise dragon-beasts, but when she sees how one of the babies are handled while he's being raised, finds that she disagrees with how the animals are treated. She finds she admires their presence and that they really are not as dangerous and aggressive as when treated well. As she grows up, she ends up as an animal trainer for these big sacred wolf-bird beasts, practicing more nurturing ways of raising them through a baby beast that she gets to mother into adulthood. She struggles a lot through politics, traditions, and challenges, to demonstrate how to have a friendly relationship without impeding on their wild natures.
What I liked about the series is that there's a lot of interesting conflict on how despite the fact that beasts can be raised with a good, loving relationship that wild animals are still at their essence wild animals. Despite the very slice-of-life, cutsy drama it was, they made it clear that the beasts were still dominant, aggressive animals and so there were still dangers to handling them and how much trust you can truly leave with them as an animal. There were some unexpected violent scenes where a sweet animal could quickly change and whatnot. Really thoughtful series that puts an emphasis on not just the sweet story of a trainer and her beast, but what it is to work with wild animals.
Still, I suppose Erin couldn't be watched by kids. It had some very cute light places that were so simple I might think so, but when reality struck it struck hard on the drama department. And when politics and tradition and war were discussed it might be too complicated for casual kid watching. Besides. It was... long. And boring at times. Believe me, it had plenty of flaws (an everyone loves you character, recycled scenes, too many flashbacks, melodrama, slow pacing), but I think the perspectives in it were very fresh so I'm curious if How to Train a Dragon might take some liberties to tackle similar issues that Erin did, or if it'll simply go the kid's movie route (and the route's of similar movies) and ignore some of the issues Erin bravely attempted.
I will probably be waiting for Tame/Dragons to come out on video like everything else I'm catching up with. (I'm still interested in the art of it, if nothing else C:)
But yeah. If you're interested in a similar story, but a little more mature, you might want to try watching Erin? Its been a while since I watched it, so my impression of it might be a little fuzzy-- But I remember enjoying it for what it was. Its a long series, and slow at times, and a little different from most anime, but its got some good issues and some really good moments of tension/drama and even a tad bit of romance.
Anyway, anyone watch any good movies in the last year they might recommend?
I know I'm a critic but I'm at least willing to try out some new stuff. I wanna see some fresh movies C:
It's been a while since a movie I wanted to see was out and this season doesnt look so good, so I'll be looking at everything I missed. :< I missed the good season when all the cool movies were out (was broke). Of course those aren't the only movies I plan on seeing. I actually have a nice list going on Netflix right now with everything from foreign movies to action adventure that will keep my movie-watching fresh.
But I guess we're talking about movies because I've been hearing things about How to tame your Dragon, which made me curious as to whether I should see it. So I decided to read the movie synopsis and really it's not my sort of taste. (Its a kids movie thats obviously a kids movie x3) But I was sort of expecting it to be closer to when I watched Kemono no Souja Erin which has a very similar premise but approaches it in a more mature fashion. It's based on a series of novels, and it's series just ended in the fall after a long 50ep season run.
Of course Erin's a lot less fun and a lot more dramatic, but the message is still the same. Little girl grows up with dragon beasts who are hunted and otherwise enslaved for beast-riding. Following her mom's example she wants to raise dragon-beasts, but when she sees how one of the babies are handled while he's being raised, finds that she disagrees with how the animals are treated. She finds she admires their presence and that they really are not as dangerous and aggressive as when treated well. As she grows up, she ends up as an animal trainer for these big sacred wolf-bird beasts, practicing more nurturing ways of raising them through a baby beast that she gets to mother into adulthood. She struggles a lot through politics, traditions, and challenges, to demonstrate how to have a friendly relationship without impeding on their wild natures.
What I liked about the series is that there's a lot of interesting conflict on how despite the fact that beasts can be raised with a good, loving relationship that wild animals are still at their essence wild animals. Despite the very slice-of-life, cutsy drama it was, they made it clear that the beasts were still dominant, aggressive animals and so there were still dangers to handling them and how much trust you can truly leave with them as an animal. There were some unexpected violent scenes where a sweet animal could quickly change and whatnot. Really thoughtful series that puts an emphasis on not just the sweet story of a trainer and her beast, but what it is to work with wild animals.
Still, I suppose Erin couldn't be watched by kids. It had some very cute light places that were so simple I might think so, but when reality struck it struck hard on the drama department. And when politics and tradition and war were discussed it might be too complicated for casual kid watching. Besides. It was... long. And boring at times. Believe me, it had plenty of flaws (an everyone loves you character, recycled scenes, too many flashbacks, melodrama, slow pacing), but I think the perspectives in it were very fresh so I'm curious if How to Train a Dragon might take some liberties to tackle similar issues that Erin did, or if it'll simply go the kid's movie route (and the route's of similar movies) and ignore some of the issues Erin bravely attempted.
I will probably be waiting for Tame/Dragons to come out on video like everything else I'm catching up with. (I'm still interested in the art of it, if nothing else C:)
But yeah. If you're interested in a similar story, but a little more mature, you might want to try watching Erin? Its been a while since I watched it, so my impression of it might be a little fuzzy-- But I remember enjoying it for what it was. Its a long series, and slow at times, and a little different from most anime, but its got some good issues and some really good moments of tension/drama and even a tad bit of romance.
Anyway, anyone watch any good movies in the last year they might recommend?
I know I'm a critic but I'm at least willing to try out some new stuff. I wanna see some fresh movies C: