The Wind Rises

I've been blessed. The film theatre in my town had four showings of The Wind Rises and I got to see it last night! I'm really glad because there aren't many cinemas showing it in the UK and the film theatre is really cheap too!! This was my first time watching anime on the big screen and it was so exciting, the colours were so much brighter and every thing was so much bigger (especially compared to watching things on my laptop) that I really felt like I was a part of the film! Anyway, The Wind Rises is a Studio Ghibli film and more importantly, it's the last film produced by Hayao Miyazaki. So I was really looking forward to it. Here's what I found out!

First of all, the plot. The Wind Rises is a fictionalized biography, meaning that although the characters and key moments are real, the details about their personal life are made up. To be specific, the movie is about Jiro Hirokishi, an aeroplane designer for Japan during WW2. Jiro is incredibly passionate about aviation and as a young boy dreamed of being a pilot, but he's eyesight is poor so he turns his passion to designing. When he grows up, Jiro goes to Tokyo to study engineering but gets caught in the Great Kanto earthquake which derails his train. He spots the maid of a young girl who injured her leg in the crash and decides to help her out. He leaves with out evening giving the pair his name, but his heroic actions left their mark. So when Jiro bumps into the young lady, Naoko, whilst working for company designing planes for the military the two are happy to see each other and begin spending their free time together. So it's not surprising when Jiro confesses his love for Naoko. But with Jiro devoted to his work and Naoko suffering with Tuberculosis they don't have a cliche obsessive relationship instead they have a relationship that's pure and loyal.

MCM EXPO SPECIAL: May. 2014

I'm aware that given my new fortnightly schedule, this post should really be for next week. But by that time all remaining MCM hype will have gone. So, since this isn't even a real review, I figured I'd post it today anyway. Everything goes back to normal.

I suppose I should probably stop calling it expo though because MCM have actually bought the title 'comic con'. It caused a lot of drama in the facebook group (but then, everything causes a lot of drama in that group!) however it hasn't actually changed the convention at all. Although it has certainly grown since last year!!

Chuunibyou Demo Koi Ga Shitai (Movie)

Some of you might be thinking that yesterday was MCM. So why isn't there an MCM special post today? Well, it's because for the first time ever I'm attending MCM on the Sunday so when this post publishes, I'll be happily strolling through the Excel hall. However, fear not! As when I get back I will be sure to tell you all about it! For now, please enjoy this review.

I'm not a fan of reviewing sequels because it's not different to reviewing a second season and it's only interesting to people who have already watched the show. However, you may remember that two years ago (I've really been blogging for a long time) I reviewed the original anime series of Chuunibyou demo Koi da Shitai. But I think it's all right when the the sequel is in a different medium! Seeing how a series is interrupted into a movie is a completely different experience to seeing it as an anime, and I did do this before with the K-On movie! So hopefully you will enjoy this review even if you haven't the anime (which you really should watch!).

Then again, this movie is not strictly speaking a sequel. It's full title is Takanashi Rikka Kai: Chuunibyou demo Koi ga Shitai!, and technically it's a retelling. So I am forced to re-state the plot of Chuunibyou.

Chuunibyou is a term used to describe the awkward face some children go through in 8th grade, in extreme cases it refers to the belief that you are actually magical and go around casting spells to fight off imagined evils. In the case of Rikka Takanashi, Chuunibyou is more than just a phase and she moves to high school still completely believing in her 'Tyrants Eye'. Yuuta Togashi on the other hand, is has left his alter ego of 'Dark Flame Master' and intends to live his life as a regular high schooler. But Rikka finds out about his secret past and won't let him keep it a secret! She forces him to join a her club with their senpai who wants to nap all the time, their seemingly perfect class rep and Rikka's 'servant' who is every bit as eccentric as her master. As Yuuta and Rikka spend more time together they slowly find more of each other's admirable qualities but things do not go smoothly as Rikka's chuunibyou causes problems with her family and the solution is never straight forward.