Ponyo Film Comic, Vol. 2 [Paperback]

Hayao Miyazaki (Author, Illustrator)

Book Description

Series: Ponyo

Reads R to L (Japanese Style)

 Ponyo, a female fish, runs away from her home in the sea and ends up stranded on the shore. Sosuke, a five-year-old boy who lives on a cliff, rescues her. He promises to protect Ponyo forever. Ponyo grows very fond of Sosuke, and with the help of her sisters and her father’s magic, she becomes human. This results in a great imbalance in the cosmos, causing great storms and floods and satellites to fall from the sky. Ponyo becomes a fish again and Sosuke promises to love her no matter what form she takes. In the end, when Ponyo kisses Sosuke, she becomes human again.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Hayao Miyazaki is one of Japan's most beloved animation directors. In September 2005 he was awarded the Venice International Film Festival's Golden Lion Award for Lifetime Achievement, and his Studio Ghibli received the Festival's Osella Award for overall achievement in 2004. Miyazaki's films include Spirited Away, winner of the 2002 Academy Award® for Best Animated Feature Film, as well as Princess Mononoke, My Neighbor Totoro and Howl's Moving Castle, all of which have received great acclaim in the U.S. Miyazaki's  other achievements include the highly regarded manga series Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind, which is published in English by VIZ Media. Nausicaä, like many of the director's movies, is now available on  DVD in the U.S.

Product Details

• Paperback: 172 pages
• Publisher: VIZ Media LLC; Original edition (August 4, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1421530783
• ISBN-13: 978-1421530789
• Product Dimensions: 7.1 x 5.1 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #758,977 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #25 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Comics & Graphic Novels > Manga > By Creator > Hayao, Miyazaki

More About the Author

Hayao Miyazaki is the prominent director of many popular animated feature films. He is also the co-founder of Studio Ghibli, the award-winning Japanese animation studio and production company behind worldwide hits such as PRINCESS MONONOKE, HOWL'S MOVING CASTLE and SPIRITED AWAY.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Nice adaptation of a brilliant Japanese children's film - part two, January 4, 2010

By 

DJ Joe Sixpack (...in Middle America) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Ponyo Film Comic, Vol. 2 (Paperback)

"Ponyo, Volume Two"
by Hayao Miyazaki, et al
(Viz Comics, 2009)
--------------------------------------
Japanese animator Hayao Miyazaki has outdone himself with his new movie, "Ponyo," a wonderful feature-length film that is good for younger viewers (five and up!) and adults as well. The movie tells the story of a mysterious fish-girl named Ponyo who comes up on land and meets a kind little boy who shelters her and protects her from her creepy mad-scientist father.

These small, digest-sized manga comicbook adaptations use original art from the film, replicating the original story in perfect detail, with bold vibrant colors and plenty of Miyazaki-style weirdness. American readers will learn to read the story from right to left (Japanese-style) but will be happy to have the text translated into English (charmingly, the sound effects are left untranslated in a free-flowing kanji). The small size and lack of animation make this a much different experience than the film: it's not surprising or overwhelming in quite the same way, but it is a pleasure to be able to linger on favorite sequences, or to let your mind drift a while, and savor the art in ways you cannot do in the theatre. (DVD viewing, of course, will be much different...)

As with all Miyazaki productions, this is high-calibre art, imagined and realized at the highest level - it is a gateway into a wild, weird, evocative world, where Nature is powerful and untamable, comforting and sinister at the same time, full of magic and mystery. These tiny but beautiful books are a nice way to re-explore the film, and a nice entry point for younger readers into the world of Japanese manga. And although they're weird, they're not violent or gratuitously sexual -- one of precious few comics out there today that are appropriate for really young readers. Definitely worth checking out. This is the second volume in a series. (Joe Sixpack, ReadThatAgain children's book reviews)