Hayao Miyazaki: Master of Japanese Animation

McCarthy, who has written extensively about anime, offers an overview of the artist's career in animation and manga. She discusses each film in detail, with character descriptions and plot synopses, but she writes as a fan (rather than a critic or historian), and her text overflows with superlatives. Miyazaki is an exceptionally talented director, and his work merits a more discerning evaluation. McCarthy is also surprisingly careless about details: the ill-fated Japanese-American collaboration, Little Nemo, was in the works far longer than six years; and she describes the boar-god Nago in Mononoke as being wounded by a "ball of stone" when it's a actually an iron bullet. The latter may seem like nitpicking, but the hero's search for the source of the iron sets the plot of the film in motion. Finally, like Schilling's Princess Mononoke, Hiyao Miyazaki would have benefited from more careful proofreading; for example, McCarthy misspells the name of animation giant Winsor McCay. The extensive, but by no means complete, bibliography is a useful resource. --Charles Solomon

Product Description
Artist-writer-director-producer Hayao Miyazaki is often called "the Walt Disney of Japan." His animated theatrical features have been smash hits in Japan, and many, including My Neighbor Totoro and Kiki's Delivery Service, are already familiar to American audiences. Now, with Disney-Miramax's imminent release of Princess Mononoke,, Miyazaki's masterwork and one of the top-grossing film in all Japanese history, this "animation master" is about to take America and the world by storm.

Mixing first-hand interview and personal insights with critical evaluations of art, plot, production qualities, and literary themes, McCarthy provides a film-by-film appraisal that examines technique as well as message. She reveals Miyazaki to be not just a master of the art of animation, but a meticulous craftsman who sees his work as a medium for shaping the humanistic and environmental concerns of our times.

An overview of the artist and his early career is followed by in-depth examinations of seven major Miyazaki films: Nausica of the Valley of Wind, Laputa: Castle in the Sky, Castle of Cagliostro, My Neighbor Totoro, Kiki's Delivery Service, Porco Rosso, and Princess Mononoke. Included are design and technical data, story synopses and character sketches, personnel and filmography data, and critical evaluation. Illustrations throughout, in color and black and white, show the detail and vigor of Miyazaki's art.

Written for anime fans as well as students of film, literature, and popular culture, McCarthy's book raises animation criticism to a whole new level and is an essential guide to the work of a world-class filmmaker.

London-based Helen McCarthy is author of Anime! A Beginner's Guide to Japanese Animation, The Anime Movie Guide, and (with Jonathan Clements) The Erotic Anime Movie Guide. She appears frequently on radio and TV and at conferences around the world.

The book is full of justifiable praise for Miyazaki, and is clearly intended to be a fan book rather than a critical analysis of his films. Each film gets its own chapter, with a heavily detailed plot synopsis of each film (completely unnecessary to those who have actually seen the films) making up the bulk of the book. Lists of characters and character backgrounds are also included. There are several blatant factual/story errors in her interpretation, which makes me think a better editor might have been useful.

There is some attempt at critical analysis, and it is appreciated, but more depth would have been better. There is a touch of history about Miyazaki and Studio Ghibli, and a smap of detail about animation technology, but not enough to provide any real insight or background. I cannot say that I came away from this book with a deeper appreciation of his films.

As a fan book, it is strangely lacking in pictures and rare information. Photographs of interesting Ghibli products would have been appreciated, or rare character sketches or anything that cannot be gleaned from the films themselves. In many ways, that is its main failing. If you have the movies, there is no need for this book.


a good sum-up   May 11, 2003
 10 out of 11 found this review helpful

Miyazaki is my favorite director, so I tend to carry this book around with me everywhere and pull it out whenever I'm at a loss for words to describe his films, which is, of course, everytime -how can you put words to beauty like that?! With about 5 pages of full color stills from his films, as well as a chapter on each of his major films, this is the perfect way to get an impression of his entire body of work. Particularly good for the new fan who just stumbled upon "Princess Mononoke" or "Spirited Away" and wants an idea of what else this genious has done.

I am, however in agreement with these other reviewers about the content. This isn't for the hardcore fan who wants every detail about the "master at work" so to speak. It isn't a book about Miyazaki so much as a book about his films. The behind-the-scenes pieces on some of the DVDs would be a better place to look right now. We're still waiting for a book like that.