Anime Eiga Review: Ponyo

Film Synopsis

Far below the ocean waves, a small and curious fish-girl runs away from home and makes it to the shore of a rural port town. Her arrival doesn’t go smoothly as she gets caught in a passing fishing net and is trapped inside a glass bottle.

Down by the beach is a young boy named Sosuke (voiced by Hiroki Doi) who sees the tiny fish and frees her. While doing so, the boy cuts his finger on the glass, to which the girl jumps up and kisses the wound; instantly healing it.

Having never seen a fish like her before, Sosuke takes an immediate liking to the girl and calls her Ponyo. The two spend the entire day together, but all the while a mysterious man named Fujimoto (voiced by George Tokoro) is desperately trying to find the girl.

Sosuke admires how strange and amazing Ponyo is. To his surprise, Ponyo (voiced by Yuria Nara) responds and says she likes Sosuke in return. At this moment, Fujimoto finds the two and successful takes back Ponyo.

Under the sea, Fujimoto warns of how dangerous the human world is and how Ponyo should have nothing to do with it. However, Ponyo says she wants to return to Sosuke and become human. With that she begins to transform into an actual five year old girl and manages to get away.

Ponyo (fish)

Ponyo’s escape resulted in the release of a lot of magic; upset nature’s balance and jump starting events which will have dire consequences for the entire world. The hope to prevent an unthinkable catastrophe now rests in the hands of two five year olds.

Film Positives

Sosuke

This movie’s really cute. It’s hard not to smile throughout the whole thing.

Ponyo and Sosuke, work off each other brilliantly. They alone make this movie worth watching; that and the always breathtaking Miyazaki magic. Not only that, sprinkled throughout the entire movie are plenty of cleverly put together moments which will make you feel pretty good inside.

Risa and Sosuke

There’s a point in the story where Sosuke and his mother, Lisa (voiced by Tomoko Yamaguchi), are waiting for Sosuke’s father (voiced by Kazushige Nagashima) to come home. Being a ship captain, sometimes things don’t always go as planned and Sosuke’s father is unable to return that night. This greatly upsets Lisa and she spends the rest of the evening sulking.

Fujimoto

After the sun goes down, Sosuke is looking out to the dark ocean waiting for a signal from his father's ship. Upon contact, Sosuke's father pleads for forgiveness. Lisa, who's still quite salty, responses the way you might expect. Saying he's an idiot and is generally trying to make him feel bad about the situation. Oh by the way, did I mention all of this is done through Morse code.

The entire scene is insanely charming and I absolutely love the image of this lover's quarrel. I'm sure everyone on the ship understands Morse code so they're all probably got a real kick out of it.

A Great Kids Movie

Like My Neighbor Totoro before it, Ponyo is a perfect movie for younger audiences. While everyone can find enjoyment from this movie, the kids that would find this the most fun may not be ready to handle the intensity of say Grave of the Fireflies or Princess Mononoke.

Like Spirited Away and Howl's Moving Castle, the colors and images are bright and vivid. However this is a Miyazaki movie, so there are a few moments where things get a little creepy. But there's nothing threatening about this film. Thanks to Ponyo and Sosuke's playfulness, the big tsunami scene, which in all seriousness is devastating, loses its frightfulness. Yet it's still exciting and a grand spectacle all the same.

Also the story, like Totoro, is straightforward and easy to wrap your head around. Too bad if you stop to really think about it, you realize the plot doesn't make a whole lot of sense; more on that in a bit.

What's important is the story is focusing on much larger themes and presenting them in such a way that isn't difficult for children to understand, but still them having come up with the answers on their own.

First you have the relationship between the two kids and Sosuke's acceptance of Ponyo being who she is; a little standard if you ask me, but always a good lesson to have. The second and perhaps more relatable involves  Fujimoto. He certainly looks, acts, and talks like a crazy scientist and villain, but he's not; a villain that is. No he’s just an overly protective father who's concerned about his child’s safety.

These lessons aren't spoon feed. They require a little thought to piece them together, but that’s what movies are great at doing; regardless of age.

Film Negatives

Although it works for the film, Sosuke is one of those movie five year olds that simply don't exist. You know what I’m talking about. He’s one of those kids who are way to perfect, never any trouble, and are way too mature for their age. He's the kind of child which makes you think raising children isn’t one of the most difficult things in the world.

Luckily Sosuke isn’t also one of those angelic, can do no wrong kids. Those little bastards are enough to make you sick to your stomach.

The Story

Like it was in My Neighbor Totoro, the story of Ponyo isn’t complex and the focus is mostly on the characters and fantasy. However in Totoro, the world’s not at risk of ending.

I didn’t realize that’s what was happening until the literal last few minutes. In retrospect it does make a lot more sense than the assumption I was under during my viewing. I thought that everyone simply accepted the freakishly dangerous storm being a little more powerful than usual.

However, having the apocalypse happen didn’t excuses everyone blatant apathy. Oh the entirety of land is completely underwater now; just one of those days I guess.

Regardless, how does everything get fixed in the end? It was quite harrowing actually; a one minute speech during the last ten minutes of the film. Spirited Away did this too. The story’s resolution simply happens without any effort on the main characters whatsoever. In Ponyo it’s worse because at least in Spirited Away, Chihiro had to go through all kinds of nonsense to get her happy ending. Ponyo and Sosuke had ride on a boat.

Final Thoughts

Go ahead and throw both Ponyo and My Neighbor Totoro on for your next family movie night.

While the story is perhaps a little too simplistic for older viewers, there’s still plenty of enjoyment to be found. The characters, the dialogue, and the overall feels of the film are incredibly cute and hard not to smile at.

If you’re looking for a movie to make yourself happy, then Ponyo is a perfect way to do so.

Ghibli Month will continue tomorrow with 2010’s The Secret World of Arrietty.

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