We have received Gedo no Senki DVD yesterday from CDJapan and watched it tonight. It marks the debut of Goro Miyazaki (Hayao Miyazaki's son) as a director for Studio Ghibli, and is based in Ursula LeGuin's book "Tales of Earthsea".
I haven't read the book, so I cannot judge how faithful the film is to it, but I loved it. It's a much darker and gloomier film than the other Ghiblis, which may perhaps characterise Goros' style of direction. Then again, I am not an expert, just a big Ghibli fan, so if it's his style or if the story itself required so, I cannot tell.
At any rate, the film is very pretty overall (as one may certainly expect from a Ghibli production) and quite sad in parts. I am very impressed by the expressions and how well they transmit the characters' range of emotions. It is serious stuff and there is no place for cute sidekicks here - no dustbunnies or talking kittens, I'm afraid! It is an exquisitely crafted production and the attention to details is enormous. The soundtrack plays no minor role here, although it's not by Joe Hisaishi this time, but Terashima Tamiya instead, who also counted with the talented performance and collaboration of Galician piper Carlos Nunez.
I must say that what impressed me the most was the film's main song, "Teru No Uta" ("Teru's Song"), which is sung by the voice actress Teshima Aoi (in the role of Teru, of course). It is a delightful song, almost like a lullaby, perhaps a bit on the melancholy side, but beautiful.
Here's the YouTube video, so you can see what I mean (the lyrics are by our very own Goro Miyazaki, by the way):
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I haven't seen this yet, but the Earthsea series is pretty dark, so I'd expect that from any anime adaptation. i'm glad you liked it! There's a live action movie from the 80s or 90s too, that a few Japanese viewers have preferred over the ghibli version. I think I'll rent the anime first to see if I want to buy the dvd.
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