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REVIEW: My Neighbor Totoro Novel

totoro is still the worst ghibli movie I ever saw, and almost made me give up on the studio and Miyazaki.

I love Miyazaki's works, Howl's and Laputa are probably in my top ten movies live action or animated, with all the Miyazaki films being in my top 30 or so. I even love Whisper of the Heart and Ocean Waves and Cat Returns. But Totorio and to some extent Pom Poko, I don't think they are just the weakest Ghibli films, I actually don't like them.

I mean I had seen Nausica and Princess Monokoe when I was a kid, then I saw Totoro and it took me until I saw Howl's Moving Castle in the theatre before I recovered from Totoro. Then I went back and watched all the classics and saw all the newer ones when they came out in the theatre, but I sitll didn't like Totoro.

To me most of the Ghbili works are aimed at a younger audience but can be appreciated by all ages, but Totoro just feels like something you have to be 5 years old to enjoy.

Heheh, one of the Studio Ghibli myths:

• There is a long-standing urban legend here in Japan that the cute and fluffy giant Totoro is actually a shinigami or “death god”, only visible to children who are close to death or have already died. Many suggest that during the movie when her sandal is found in the lake, Mei has actually drowned and that Satsuki knowingly denies that it belongs to her sister, instead going off in search of Totoro and accidentally stepping into the land of the dead herself. Finally, the only reason Satsuki and Mei’s presence was noticed by their mother at the end of the story, the po-faced pundits maintain, is because she too is close to death and will not recover from her illness. Studio Ghibli has repeatedly denied these claims and last year asked once and for all for everyone to lighten up and just enjoy the film for what it is, but still the rumours persist.
  

[url=http://kotaku.com/5926248/totoro-isnt-all-cute-for-some-he's-the-god-of-death]Or is it?[/url]