Post #2 (various topics)

Seeing Nausicaa a second time, I wasn't so focused on the story but more about how Miyazaki used his position as the director and writer to convey his message. I felt really aware that Nausicaa is first and foremost a manga and that there was a lot left out to make it a stand-alone film. I felt like there was not much character development for Nausicaa- there's the part where she kills the guards and says she's afraid of herself. Then that quickly fades away and she goes back to fearless martyrdom. Even after she dies and is resurrected, she doesn't make much of it. Also, I want to more about how the insects got so big and why the Giant Warriors came to power. Did humans dig them up and try and use them as weapons and then they turned and destroyed mostly everything? Why did they turn to stone? So many questions left unanswered. Anyway, moving on..

Reading about anime culture was pretty interesting. I think it is particularly interesting the way that Kelts writes about- that Japan doesn't know how to market anime or work with it in any profitable way and that there are so many young aspiring animators and creators that aren't getting any work. He makes it seem kind of pathetic, like Japan can't get its act together. But it really seems like a difficult issue. How do you engage people enough to invest themselves in what you've made? It's a good question.
Aside from that, I really liked how Napier talked about (in relation to the Apocalyptic) how stories that use societies that are undergoing apocalypse as a tool for criticism. Like- this is what could happen to us if our society keeps going in this particular direction. So people in the films are talking about what they or others have done to bring on the apocalypse. I feel like Miyazaki used that form well and pact in so much dialogue that feels both natural, informative, and provocative. Miyazaki seems to adequately engage with the audience through his use of subject tools (like the apocalyptic) and that partly why he is so highly regarded and sells well.