What makes me...well, me

こんばんは！ Another wonderful Sunday filled with football and homework always gets the blood going.

Here's my self-introduction. I'm going to be really careful with typing.

はじめまして。リーブスです。ぼくはアメリカ人です。にねんせいです。せんこうはかがくと日本語です。どうぞよろしく。

That looks good. Should say I'm Reeves-san, an American chemistry/Japanese double majoring sophomore. Not putting spaces in there really helps haha.

Alright, so who/what could I do an introduction of? This is a tough one because there are so many different people/things I could do it on, but one keeps coming back to me.

Hayao Miyazaki. The man's a genius. I said earlier that Toonami was the reason I really got into Japan, but the truth is that Miyazaki's movies really pushed me wholeheartedly into the world of Japanese culture. During middle school I went to a summer art camp at the art museum in my hometown. As luck would have it, the last day we were there our instructor showed us てんくうのしろらぴゅた (Tenkuu no Shiro Rapyuta; literally Sky Castle Laputa; American: Castle in the Sky). It's still my all time favorite movie to this day. The DVD's got a lot of mileage on it for sure.

As could be applied to any of his movies, the animation in the movies is top notch. It's not that it is especially detailed or flashy, or that it uses the latest technological advances in animation. Quite the opposite. It's the fact that most or all of his movies are completely hand drawn. It's the personal feel that conveys that makes the look of these movies magical, and even more so is that the stories are amazing. If you haven't seen all of them, then hit me up, because I have a few Studio Ghibli movies here (Studio Ghibli is the film company he is a part of) and all of the ones that have been released sans one at home, and I can always find time to squeeze in a good classic. Also, I've got CDs of some shape or form from most or all of his movies (excellent Japanese pop culture store in Boston, Tokyo Kid), so if you love the music from them, then I'm your man. :D

That's enough for my rant about Miyazaki, but I could sing his praises for a couple more posts without some restraint. I even did a paper for FYC last year breaking down his movies (which was a pretty darn good paper by the way).

Alrighty, now it's time to get some homework done. じゃあ、また！