Ponyo Review

Written by Jason Fetters

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PonyoReview by: Jason FettersDirector: Hayao MiyazakiProduction by: Studio Ghibli Ponyo is a great film from Hayao Miyazaki and Studio Ghibli, which I managed to catch two weeks ago at the theater. The first Miyazaki film that I saw was Tonari no Totoro for my Japanese 3 class at Kansai Gaidai University in Osaka, Japan. For the final, the class watched Tonari no Totoro and had to answer questions in Japanese about the movie. The teacher showed the movie on VHS in the original Japanese.I also saw Spirited Away when I moved back to Osaka, after graduating college, to work as an English teacher. I took two Japanese girls with me and I liked it but they both fell asleep. After it was over and we talked about it, they both agreed that they liked Totoro better. I think that is a matter of preference because Spirited Away did well in both Japan and the U.S.

Ponyo is about a young boy, Sosuke, who finds a fish with the face of a girl. Sosuke puts her in a bucket filled with water and calls her Ponyo. Ponyo’s father, Fujimoto, tries to reclaim her from Sosuke’s attention and force her to return back to the sea to live with him. However, Ponyo has a strong desire to become human. She finally becomes human through the use of magic so she can further her relationship with Sosuke after a strong bond is formed.

As is typical in Miyazaki films, the parents aren’t always around. The father is out working on a ship and although the mother is present in the beginning, eventually she gets stuck working at a nursing home. This allows Sosuke and Ponyo to become the focus of the story. The two share an amusing adventure after a tsunami hits and floods the entire area. Sosuke and Ponyo, with the help of magic, use a boat to navigate through town to find Sosuke’s mother.

Ponyo is a truly beautiful movie to watch as Miyazaki did a lot of the animation himself by hand. In an age of computer-generated images (CGI), it’s refreshing to see animation actually drawn out the way Disney used to do it on all their classic films. The animation is just as good as anything that Disney has produced in recent years and I was expecting more people to see this. However, Ponyo has a limited run at U.S. theaters so you have to catch it quickly.

I’m used to watching anime movies in Japanese without the use of subtitles or dubbing so the dubbing was going to my main concern. Disney did a great job of hiring established actors like Liam Neeson, Matt Damon, and Tina Fey to do the voice work. It actually helped me get over my dubbing hang-ups. Ponyo is a family-friendly, entertaining film that showcases great use of colors, hand drawn animation, and great voice work that is sure to please most anime fans.

Rating: A

Anime 3000 reviews anime, manga, and games based on specific criteria designated by each medium's respective editor. Anime is reviewed on ascale from F to A+. Series or movies that receive a score of A- or above are considered outstanding, B- to B+ recommendable, C- to C+ average, D- to D+ unrecommended, and F terrible