Customer Reviews

Spirited Away, Vol. 1

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

In Japan, comic books ('manga') are a huge industry. Often, animated films are turned into full-color graphic novels. In fact, almost every film Studio Ghibli has produced has been released as a 'film comic.'

This version by Viz Communications preserves the original Jappanese right-to-left reading format (you begin reading at the 'last page', and work your way to what we consider the 'front' of a book.) Don't worry, you'll get used to reading a book "the wrong way 'round."

Why would you want this book?

1. To read the story of the movie Spirited Away. The USA (English) DVD version won't be available for quite a while, and this book contains English dialog.

2. To look at the pictures and study the artwork. Even in a small book like this, with multiple panels per page, the pictures show more detail of the artwork than you'll see from the DVD version. Although Studio Ghibli used computers extensively to assemble the film, animators still drew character cels and background artists still painted the backgrounds by hand. Cels and backgrounds were then scanned into computers at high resolution for final composition. Also, on some of the pan or tilt shots in the film, the book layout artists assembled selected frames of the shot into a larger picture. An example of this is -- in the film there is a shot that starts on the roof line above an alley. The 'camera' tilts down to show more of the alley, and finally reveals two of the films' characters running through the alley. In the book, the top, middle and bottom of the tilt shot are assembled into one full-page, highly detailed spread.

NOTE: I have the Japanese version of this book. The text is essentially the script of the film. I'm using it and the DVD of the movie to help my study of the Japanese language.

There -- I hope that gives you enough information...

Basically, the movie Spirited Away was another masterpiece, just as expected from master animator Hayao Miyazaki. To hear more about the movie, you can see the reviews of others and myself about the movie. But judging the comic is a hard decision.

Basically, the movie was good. And that's the problem, because the comic is based entirely on the movie. All the pictures are taken from the frames of the film, and the quotes match those of the theater version of the film. Basically, it is better off watching the movie than the comic, because there is hardly any difference, except for the fact that one is a film and one is a book.

It is based on a good movie, but I just simply feel there is no true need of reading the comic. Again, don't mistaken me; I have nothing against the comic, but it is far better off watching the movie.

I'm writing this review because I know how incredibly frustrating it is to want to buy a book, and not know if it's worth it. I'll admit it. I'm no manga fan. But this book is truly a masterpiece. It has a nice shiny cover. It's not hardcover, but it has a nice jacket all the same. I found this very interesting because you read this but the way one in Asia would read it: backwards. It's a very strange experiance, yet quite fun. Now that I've described the apperance of the book, I'll try to tell you the truly wonderful plot of this book without spoiling it. I've have decide that all Miyazaki books and films are the only good manga out there. It amazed me! I never once gave manga a chance until I heard the halarious sounding plot of Spirited Away: It starts with the story of a small girl, named Chihiro, and her family, who are moving away to a new town. They of course, take a wrong turn, as so many of us do while moving to a new house.... wait... I'm only 13, so I wouldn't know. Let's pretend I do.... well, anyway, beside the point. They find an old ghost town and Chihiro wanders off. When she returns, she finds that her parents are pigs... literally. She now has to work there, in order to return her parents. It's SUCH a great story with GORGEOUS art. Buy, it, even if you're NOT a manga fan. I mean, look at me!

I confess to a severe case of impatience. I have been waiting for 'Spirited Away' to make it to the US for just too long. Finally, I noticed this little set of manga based on the film and I lost all control and bought the first one of the set. So much for will power.

This set is really nicely done. They are small, almost pocket sized, but you would never want to put them in your pocket. There is an outer wrap cover, as well as the inner, and the illustrations, entirely in color, are clearly the cels from the film. They are beautiful to look at, in vibrant color and once again demonstrate that Miyazaki and the rest of Studio Ghibli remain masters of the art form.

The story is about Chihiro Ogima, who is 10, and her mother and father. They are moving to a new home, Chihiro is very unhappy about all the changes, and her parents are not paying as much attention to her as she would like. When her father takes a wrong turn, they happen on a strange amusement park. The adults are changed into pigs via some weird magic, and Chihiro only survives in human form due to the intervention of Haku, a 12-year-old boy with some magical powers of his own.

The styling is classic Miyazaki, with great work on the expressions of both the human and non-human characters. These last come in every shape and type imaginable. Another thing I like is, since the sound effects are left in Japanese, someone has gone to the immense trouble of providing a frame-by-frame translation of them. Just the thing for an adult who wants to read these aloud to a child.

One slight warning. These manga are in Japanese order [right to left, top to bottom]. At first, this is a bit confusing, but after a while, it gets to be fun. In addition, it preserves the effect of the original manga page layouts, which really is the best way to present them. These comics are almost precious enough to be considered collectable. I don't know if I will buy the rest of the set yet, but I wouldn't blame me one bit if I did.

The Spirited Away film comic is great for those who want to admire each of the film's scenes without having to pause their DVDs every second. The book starts from the beginning of the movie, and it ends right before Chihiro enters the boiler room. You have to read it from right to left, and there are some japanese sound fx words that aren't translated in the pictures. Luckily though, Viz put a list of ALL the sounds and what they mean when translated in the 'back' of the book. Anyone who liked the film and wants to read it while on a long drive or in a waiting room should get this. My only complaint is that they should've made the book larger in size, so the small pictures can be seen easier. Either that or I need glasses. :0

Ok, ok. I'll admit it. Before Spirited Away, I thought all Manga and Anime were crap. I saw Pok'emon and some other really dumb ones. I didn't give it a chance. But then I saw Spirited Away Vol. 1. I said....hhmmmmmm. I should give this a chance...and now, well I'm completly obsessed. Iv'e read al volumes several times and love it more everytime. I think it's really neat that you read it backwards and it even has a sound effects guide! If you are really wanted Harry Potter #5 then I really suggest you get all volumes at once! I havn't even seen the movie and I can't WAIT to see the DVD. Please, get this wonderful paperback-with-a-just jacket now! I can assure you: You WON'T be disapointed. It has a great messege for both boys and girls of all ages. I'd rather not tell yuo the story as I loved it even more when I read it unexpecting every new adventure!

This book is absolotly gorgeous. It captures the pictures from the actual movie. The story is the same with the movie. I strongly reccomend people watching or reading this book. I was inspired by my best friend, Annie. It shows how an real 10 years old girl react to this kind of situation. Miyazaki creates different texture from all the others.

Before they can go to their new home, Chihiro and her family end up in a strage fake-looking place. When her parents are turned into pigs, Chihiro has to depend on the help of a strange and mysterious boy named Haku. I'd never read in the Japanese right-to-left format before, so I had a little bit of trouble at first, but it's not too bad once you get used to it. Everything is read from right to left, not just where you start in the book, but also which speech bubble you start with and what side of the page. I haven't seen the film yet, but, after reading this, I'm really looking forward to seeing it. I liked Haku the most, although Chihiro got more interesting as the story progressed.

Poor 10-year-old Chihiro Ogino is so unhappy that her family is moving to a new home. But, things go from bad to weird, when her father takes a wrong turn, and finds what he believes to be an abandoned theme park. When night falls, Chihiro finds herself in a strange and threatening world of magic and weird creatures. Rescued by a young boy named Haku, he tells Chihiro what she must do to survive and rescue her parents.

This wonderful little book is the work of Hayao Miyazaki, one of Japan's premiere animators. A great thing about this book is that it is printed so as to be read from back-to-front, right-to-left, in the Japanese style, helping to give the reader the feeling of entering another world. I really enjoyed this book, and found the story to be nothing short of wonderful. I highly recommend this book.

I think the movie might have been summed-up in fewer volumes; the first book doesn't really take you very far into the story. The images are colorful and vivid, though, and the glossy black cover is nice. My daughter will definitely want to collect the whole set.