[Pacific Rim] How AWESOME is Mana Ashida
So, I'm officially a member of the PACIFIC RIM fandom now XD I cannot hold back anymore! I really love the story, the characters, and the cast and director behind the production, they're all awesome! So let me make a few tribute entries for the cast and the movie, starting from the smallest and youngest one on the set.
So apparently Mana-chan is really serious in advancing to Hollywood, she has start studying English. How cute was her English greetings!! Kawaiiiii~~ ^v^
I have watched the movie twice in the movie theater and some ump-teen more times by watching the clips on the net. And one of my most favorite scene in the movie (almost every scene in the movie is my favorite, actually), was the scene during the Gipsy Danger test for the first time. Raleigh latches onto the memory of his brother’s death, which throws both him and Mako out of alignment and she gets lost in her childhood memory during the Onibaba’s attack in Tokyo. Inside the memory, little Mako was chased by the kaiju, Onibaba, in the middle of dead Tokyo, and she was running, trying to escape. When Onibaba was getting close to her in the memory, little Mako screamed in horror, lifting her both hands in defense, which activates the Plasmacaster on Raleigh’s side of the Jaeger in the present time. Apparently, Mako's connection with the Jaeger is strong enough to override the emergency failsafe’s in the LOCCENT, that they have to shut down power the entire system connected to the Jaeger.
That was one brilliant scene, I thought. First of all, little Mana's acting performance was excellent! It wasn't just a normal crying girl... from the sound of her sobbing and her expressions, we can feel her fear and despair, she looked genuinely terrified in the whole scene, and we can feel her sorrow that she just lost her parents. I felt like I'm inside her memory too, and wishing I could just hug her and take her to a safe place. That scene was really heart-breaking, mostly thanks to Mana's amazing acting skill. If little Mako was played by another child actress with lower acting skill, I don't think that scene would have the same impact. And when little Mako turned around with her back against the Onibaba, covering her ears, she didn't just simply cover her ears because the loud noise of the monster was too scary for her, but her facial expression and how she shook her head, shows just how much she wishes the whole world happening around her would just stop existing, and how she wish this is just a nightmare. I have no idea how much Guillermo's directing and how much Mana's improvisation involved in this scene.... but I guess it doesn't matter, the directing and the acting were equally top-notch in this scene. I was in tears watching this scene (actually everytime I see Mana-chan's crying in every drama, always makes me in tears T_T).
And then, they blend this scene, the terrified little Mako, together with the emergency situation in the present time, which how grown-up Mako reliving her memory, activated one of Gipsy Danger's weapon and it was almost ready to burn the whole shatterdome that they had to evacuate the whole place and the technician had to shut down the entire system to stop it. The memory and this present-time scenes blends together perfectly!! I think I can watch this scene for a couple more times without getting tired of it XD
Mana's screen time in the 2+ hours movie was only about 3 mins 50 secs (yes, I've calculated it, lol), but she made such a great impact for the whole movie... well, mostly for Mako Mori's character, of course. Mako has her strong, confident, badass side... but thanks to little-Mako's scene, we're constantly reminded that Mako has that little-Mako side of her too, and Rinko portrayed that little-Mako side of her perfectly, in-synced with how Mana portrayed little Mako, shaping Mako into a female lead character with depth and complexity, that we rarely see in Hollywood summer blockbuster movies. I know it has been said in so many reviews by Pacific Rim fans, but pls let me say it again, YES. Mako is NOT a love interest. She's an equal to the male lead character, Raleigh Becket. Just like how Lois Lane is Clark Kent's equal^^ Mako Mori has her own back story, her own arc, and that's one of the many things I love about this movie.
If there's ever gonna be a Pacific Rim 2, I really want to see more flashbacks of Mako's life. There had been so much cute fanarts of little Mako and Stacker in the fandom, like this one.
Gosh, how much I want to see father-daughter interactions between Ashida Mana and Idris Elba!! Mana has acted as father-daughter with Matsuyama Ken'ichi and Toyokawa Etsushi...... now, I really want to see her with Idris Elba! It'll be very cute! I mean, a black English guy with a little Japanese girl, how rare is this father-daughter pair?? ^v^
I have subbed a few more clips here. Enjoy!
Click to viewSo apparently Mana-chan is really serious in advancing to Hollywood, she has start studying English. How cute was her English greetings!! Kawaiiiii~~ ^v^
I have watched the movie twice in the movie theater and some ump-teen more times by watching the clips on the net. And one of my most favorite scene in the movie (almost every scene in the movie is my favorite, actually), was the scene during the Gipsy Danger test for the first time. Raleigh latches onto the memory of his brother’s death, which throws both him and Mako out of alignment and she gets lost in her childhood memory during the Onibaba’s attack in Tokyo. Inside the memory, little Mako was chased by the kaiju, Onibaba, in the middle of dead Tokyo, and she was running, trying to escape. When Onibaba was getting close to her in the memory, little Mako screamed in horror, lifting her both hands in defense, which activates the Plasmacaster on Raleigh’s side of the Jaeger in the present time. Apparently, Mako's connection with the Jaeger is strong enough to override the emergency failsafe’s in the LOCCENT, that they have to shut down power the entire system connected to the Jaeger.
That was one brilliant scene, I thought. First of all, little Mana's acting performance was excellent! It wasn't just a normal crying girl... from the sound of her sobbing and her expressions, we can feel her fear and despair, she looked genuinely terrified in the whole scene, and we can feel her sorrow that she just lost her parents. I felt like I'm inside her memory too, and wishing I could just hug her and take her to a safe place. That scene was really heart-breaking, mostly thanks to Mana's amazing acting skill. If little Mako was played by another child actress with lower acting skill, I don't think that scene would have the same impact. And when little Mako turned around with her back against the Onibaba, covering her ears, she didn't just simply cover her ears because the loud noise of the monster was too scary for her, but her facial expression and how she shook her head, shows just how much she wishes the whole world happening around her would just stop existing, and how she wish this is just a nightmare. I have no idea how much Guillermo's directing and how much Mana's improvisation involved in this scene.... but I guess it doesn't matter, the directing and the acting were equally top-notch in this scene. I was in tears watching this scene (actually everytime I see Mana-chan's crying in every drama, always makes me in tears T_T).
And then, they blend this scene, the terrified little Mako, together with the emergency situation in the present time, which how grown-up Mako reliving her memory, activated one of Gipsy Danger's weapon and it was almost ready to burn the whole shatterdome that they had to evacuate the whole place and the technician had to shut down the entire system to stop it. The memory and this present-time scenes blends together perfectly!! I think I can watch this scene for a couple more times without getting tired of it XD
Mana's screen time in the 2+ hours movie was only about 3 mins 50 secs (yes, I've calculated it, lol), but she made such a great impact for the whole movie... well, mostly for Mako Mori's character, of course. Mako has her strong, confident, badass side... but thanks to little-Mako's scene, we're constantly reminded that Mako has that little-Mako side of her too, and Rinko portrayed that little-Mako side of her perfectly, in-synced with how Mana portrayed little Mako, shaping Mako into a female lead character with depth and complexity, that we rarely see in Hollywood summer blockbuster movies. I know it has been said in so many reviews by Pacific Rim fans, but pls let me say it again, YES. Mako is NOT a love interest. She's an equal to the male lead character, Raleigh Becket. Just like how Lois Lane is Clark Kent's equal^^ Mako Mori has her own back story, her own arc, and that's one of the many things I love about this movie.
If there's ever gonna be a Pacific Rim 2, I really want to see more flashbacks of Mako's life. There had been so much cute fanarts of little Mako and Stacker in the fandom, like this one.
Gosh, how much I want to see father-daughter interactions between Ashida Mana and Idris Elba!! Mana has acted as father-daughter with Matsuyama Ken'ichi and Toyokawa Etsushi...... now, I really want to see her with Idris Elba! It'll be very cute! I mean, a black English guy with a little Japanese girl, how rare is this father-daughter pair?? ^v^
I have subbed a few more clips here. Enjoy!