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Miyazaki’s Magical Food: An ode to anime’s best cooking scenes
- duxup 3y agoI signed up for HBO ... er whatever they call it now, just to share Miyazaki films with my kids. There's a joy and generosity that the films have towards people, animals, and even food that you don't find in much media anymore. More than once I watched expecting the "bad guy" to get his in the end, but the film ended just fine without it, maybe better because of it.
- dcre 3y agoAbsolutely. And generally great treatment of gender, and none of the Disney obsession with royalty.
- astrange 3y agoThere's a Western/Japan cultural gap here. Ghibli movies are not different from other anime. The reason anime stars women is because the animators are horny and like drawing women first, marketing second, and because they're feminists maybe like tenth. (Miyazaki's waifu is Clarissa from Castle of Cagliostro.) And the opposite happens too; a work where all the characters are men is usually by/for women, and a lot of things Japanese women love to write look like "ugh some perverted guy did this" to unfamiliar Western readers, making it tricky to localize romances.
- dcre 3y agoI think you can give Miyazaki a lot more credit than that for the girls and women in Totoro, Kiki, Mononoke, and Spirited Away.
- astrange 3y agoI'm basing this comment on an interview I read where Oshii makes fun of him for it. (Which unfortunately I can't link because it's on my own website, where Wordpress auto-updated itself and broke and I haven't fixed it.) I think their thesis was that Miyazaki was most like this in the 80s-90s (see Porco Rosso, which stars a self-insert of himself), then was a dad in the 2000s (Spirited Away), then later entered a second childhood (see Ponyo and Wind Rises, which is mainly about how cool planes are.)
- serf 3y ago>Wind Rises, which is mainly about how cool planes are. if that was your main take-away from that movie, I suggest you re-watch it. it reminds me of the meme that Gundam fans ignore the fact that the story is about the brutality of endless human conflict for the fact that there are shiny robots and cool technologies.
- astrange 3y agoIt's a synthesis. War is bad because it detracts from the purity of thinking about how cool planes are. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/aug/23/hayao-miyazaki-film-wind-rises https://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/aug/23/hayao-miyazaki... The Gundam meme is an over-simplification; Tomino is moralistic but he's far too weird to just have a normal moral like that. Typical Tomino morals are like "all old people are evil, including myself", "we should have a matriarchy", and whatever Brain Powerd was about.
- spywaregorilla 3y agoHave you considered that some works may focus on women without any underlying motive or intention
- astrange 3y agoYes, I have considered that. But Ghibli doesn't do things without intention, I would say that's what people like about them. (Though you might say that about Goro Miyazaki's Earthsea movie.)
- mango7283 3y agoMake of this article what you will... https://kotaku.com/hayao-miyazaki-wants-you-to-know-why-nausicaa-has-large-1791368978 https://kotaku.com/hayao-miyazaki-wants-you-to-know-why-naus...
- armchairhacker 3y agoApparently a lot of writers and animators are actually women: https://gamerant.com/great-series-written-female-mangaka https://gamerant.com/great-series-written-female-mangaka I have no idea how accurate this claim is (it’s a survey on a random news site) especially because in most anime women are indeed very sexualized. But I wouldn’t be super surprised. I think part of it is that anime artists just drop realism and like to draw idealized versions of women and men, whatever makes the most interesting story. And maybe women being the heroes and doing everything is a lot more interesting than men, at least to the writers.
- montagg 3y agoLots don’t even have a villain, really. They are really great for children, to help them see that not every story needs a villain to be compelling. My daughter is 21 months old and has seemingly memorized Totoro—if she hears the soundtrack, she’ll start talking about what’s happening in that scene. If she hears the track where Mei grabs the soot sprite, she’ll yell out, “I caught one!” Miyazaki movies are truly timeless. They’ll still be loved in the 2080s.
- ehnto 3y agoThe music is so much of the experience, and the "Ghibili" style is unmistakable. I have not seen all of the films, but I have heard all of the music! It was even better in concert. If you ever get the chance I am sure it would be an unforgettable experience for you and your family to see it performed in concert, it's quite regularly toured around various countries by different orchestras.
- jjulius 3y agoI'd had Miyazaki's films on my watchlist for years, and when we found out we were expecting our first kiddo (now 3 years old), I decided to wait to watch any of them so that I could watch them, for the very first time, with her (well, "them" now, on account of our second kiddo). I'd love to see suggestions from folk around which film might be a great first choice, I'll probably give that a go this week. Edit: Thanks for the suggestions, everyone! :)
- Andrex 3y agoI haven't gone super-super-deep into Ghibli but I feel confident saying either My Neighbor Totoro or Spirited Away. Be careful to keep your expectations straight for any of the Ghibli films you watch after Spirited Away though, because it's possibly their best. I go back and forth on that or Princess Mononoke taking the crown.
- mpsprd 3y agoSpirited away: One of the best and has all all the flavours of Ghibli, I recommend starting with it. Shorter: Totoro, great for kids with a short attention span, my toddler enjoyed it.
- larrywright 3y agoTotoro or Ponyo would be my recommendation.
- duxup 3y agoFor kids: My Neighbor Totoro Spirited Away - (3 year olds might find some moments scary, lost of strange creatures and scary moments for the protagonist but not for too long.) The Secret World of Arrietty Depending on how they handle those you could try others.
- DrPhish 3y agoFor a great, under appreciated (in the west) Miyazaki series pre-Ghibli, check out “Future Boy Conan”[0]. It’s my personal favourite, and all 3 of my boys (and my wife) have watched it multiple times. It’s the source of a lot of Ghibli tropes, and I think they were expertly executed. Of course it’s nice that it’s a TV series, so you get to spend that much longer in the world with the characters. [0] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Future_Boy_Conan https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Future_Boy_Conan
- sogen 3y agoSome kind soul uploaded it and made it available for anyone at the Internet Archive
- throwaway5752 3y agoYou can see them every year on the big screen in a lot of cities and I highly recommend it: https://www.fathomevents.com/series/studio-ghibli-fest https://www.fathomevents.com/series/studio-ghibli-fest The absence of true "bad guys" is one of the best part (Suliman, Yubaba).
- wintorez 3y agoA YouTube playlist for anyone interested in Anime Food: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JcLTe8MoAV4&list=PLopY4n17t8RAHz5OSGQP6I9z7UZqAZ4WW https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JcLTe8MoAV4&list=PLopY4n17t8...
- wahnfrieden 3y agoThe most delicious was one of the Ghibli shorts they screen on 35mm only available to see at the museum. A bread making witch. Don’t recall the name. My fav of theirs though is Mei and the Kitten Bus just wish I had a better copy of it
- dannyphantom 3y agoWas this it? :) https://vimeo.com/850696013?share=copy https://vimeo.com/850696013?share=copy
- wahnfrieden 3y agoYes! Thank you. Haven't seen for a decade. The 35mm prints are worth seeking out
- mromanuk 3y agoI'm obsessed with Ghibli and Miyazaki's work, I discover them in earlies 2010s because of my nieces (then my daughters were born). I love to watch Totoro and discover old (new) Ghibli films and watch with my daugthers. Those weren't available in my country when I was a kid in the 80s. Inn a way these movies transport me to that time, it's a warm a nostalgic feeling. I'm looking forward to watch Miyazaki's new film, soon to be released.
- bluefishinit 3y agoI don't know that I'd call Miyazaki's movies "anime's best cooking scenes". There's an entire genre of manga/anime that's devoted to food that takes things way beyond any Miyazaki film. I like Yakitate!! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yakitate!!_Japan https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yakitate!!_Japan There's also things like Food Wars which is entirely dedicated to cooking/eating.
- winrid 3y agoLooking at screencaps of Yakitate I'd say Miyazaki's food looks way more appealing/homley, but I'll give it a go :)
- mitthrowaway2 3y ago(It's as much about wordplay as it is about baking. If you don't enjoy that humour, you might lose interest).
- chongli 3y agoThat’s for sure! I am absolutely tickled by the idea of a bread called “Ja-pan”! Now I need to watch this!
- bluefishinit 3y agoI'd also recommend Moyashimon, which is about fermenting. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moyasimon:_Tales_of_Agriculture https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moyasimon:_Tales_of_Agricultur...
- serf 3y agosimilarly Bartender manga is good for descriptions/depictions of cocktails/drinks, as is Death Parade and Love is like a Cocktail.
- Animats 3y agoThat's common in Asian dramas, not just anime. In US dramas, such as Blue Bloods, you'll see people eating. But no close-ups of the food. In Asian dramas, there will often be close-ups of the food. Although not to the level of detal of US fast food commercials, which have become gross.
- hinkley 3y agoI got so hungry watching Eat, Drink, Man, Woman. Fuckin' Ang Lee. Couldn't get enough Jane Austin so made his own. If I'm ever under doctor's orders to eat more calories, that'll be at the top of the list of movies I watch for inspiration.
- edgarvaldes 3y agoIn US media is very common to have a character take a single bite to the food, then run away. I dunno why, but I hate that. In Korean tv the characters are always eating, full bites, empty glasses, etc. I love it.
- astrange 3y agoIt's hard to film an eating scene. You can only do so many takes, the actors don't want to get full, and the food looks better if it's fake.
- carabiner 3y agoKdrama food scene with noodles and pour over coffee: https://youtu.be/HFMkrXezcLQ https://youtu.be/HFMkrXezcLQ
- Animats 3y agoI'm currently struggling through "Our Glamorous Time", which is about the modern fashion industry in mainland China. There are several romances, and the romantic scenes mostly involve food. Business dinners are a big thing. The social scenes involve food buffets. Everybody is thin, except one bad guy, and he gets shot. (There's no sex. Not even close. This stuff is heavily censored and has blatant propaganda about the Belt and Road Initiative and the COMAC airliner. The feeling I get is that the writers have certain boxes to check to get past the censors, and once they do that, they can make entertainment. As long as they stay away from the no-go areas. There used to be junk such as "Sky Fighters", a Top Gun movie clone made by a film unit of the PLA. That was so awful that the PLA stopped trying to make entertainment. More than half the Chinese dramas today are historical costume epics, which don't get censored so much. If you like that sort of thing, watch "Princess Agents", which is perhaps the best of that genre.)
- crooked-v 3y agoI think it would be a disservice not to link this video on the subject: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fs_mH4QnAe4 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fs_mH4QnAe4
- larrywright 3y agoWatching Ponyo was how I learned that people added meat, eggs, and vegetables to instant ramen.
- tehnub 3y agoI really enjoyed the beach-side cooking scene in Ride Your Wave: https://www.sakugabooru.com/post/show/107905 https://www.sakugabooru.com/post/show/107905 Great movie overall.
- hinkley 3y ago"It's HAAAAAM" gets yelled in my kitchen every time we have ramen, or just ham.
- squarepizza 3y agoGoing meta, here's Miyazaki cooking ramen in live action: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0BPTNdmdJSc https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0BPTNdmdJSc
- dtgriscom 3y agoNot Miyazaki, but I loved the food in Pixar's short "Bao". Made me hungry.
- WaitWaitWha 3y agoHmmm... There was a cartoon series, I believe Chinese or Japanese (?)[It was over twenty years ago] that was about a young boy who was a very good cook, and most of the episodes were about acquiring some special ingredient, cooking to save some poor person, or winning some great competition. I first saw it in the very very early days of YouTube. For the life of me, I cannot recall which one. Any ideas? Asking, because as far as animated cooking series, it had some great cooking scenes in each episode.
- joombaga 3y agoPerhaps "Chuka Ichiban!" https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ch%C5%ABka_Ichiban%21 https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ch%C5%ABka_Ichiban%21 It's Japanese, but takes place in China.
- WaitWaitWha 3y agoYes! Thank you!
- tehnub 3y agoIs it this? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ch%C5%ABka_Ichiban https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ch%C5%ABka_Ichiban!
- WaitWaitWha 3y agoYes! Thank you!
- astrod 3y agoThere is a section at the new Ghibli Park in Aichi prefecture which showcases some of these foods. https://ghibli-park.jp/en/about/ghiblisgrandwarehouse.html https://ghibli-park.jp/en/about/ghiblisgrandwarehouse.html
- philsnow 3y agoThis article just makes me wish that they had used gifs of the Ghibli food scenes, they're so much more compelling: https://imgur.com/account/favorites/V8JvhMT https://imgur.com/account/favorites/V8JvhMT Somebody put together a cut of several of them with a maybe-"lo-fi" no-words version of that Jason Mraz song "I'm Yours", which is really relaxing, but I can't find it right off the bat. edit here it is: https://i.imgur.com/9yvTOn4.mp4 https://i.imgur.com/9yvTOn4.mp4
- genjii931 3y agoI highly recommend Makanai (both anime and live action). Great story and great food imagery.
- WeylandYutani 3y agoAnime made me buy a rice cooker. It really does taste different.
- suierklepye 3y agoFood has a universal appeal that transcends cultural and linguistic boundaries, making it a powerful tool for conveying emotions and relationships in film.