Hello and welcome to Project Nitsuj. Well guys we’re nearing the end of the AI arc and this week we’re taking a walk on the child side of life with this week’s guest host Chibi Isis. *Chibi Isis appears before Nitsuj asleep while floating in mid-air and Nitsuj smiles* Please wake up~. *Chibi Isis suddenly wakes up and notices Nitsuj* (Chibi Isis): Good morning Nii-chan. (Nitsuj): It’s noon kiddo, what were you doing last night? It’s rare to see you asleep at this time of day. (Chibi Isis): I was deciding on today’s review and I was excited about it that I couldn’t sleep last night. (Nitsuj): Really? Well what did you decide to review? (Chibi Isis): I decided to review something whimsical and fun. Today we’re going to review My Neighbor Totoro. (Nitsuj): Ah yes, My Neighbor Totoro one of Studio Ghibli’s first films, released in 1988 this film was directed and written by Miyazaki himself, and often considered Miyazaki’s most recognizable work next to Spirted Away. In fact, one could argue that Totoro is actually the official mascot of Studio Ghibli there’s even a cameo appearance of him in Toy Story 3. The film focuses on two young girls who move to the country side and befriend the spirit creature they call Totoro. At the time of its released this film received critical acclaim from critics everywhere including the Great Roger Ebert, is one of the films that open viewers’ eyes to Japanese films in general and the film that started Miyazaki on his road to success. But despite all of this I’m not a big fan of this film. (Chibi Isis): Huh! (Isis, Mira, Shizuku, and Yin-Yang): What! (Nitsuj): No! Leave imps! *Isis, Mira, Shizuku, and Yin-Yang leave* Now before I get a lot of hate and “I have no soul” comments let me just say I don’t hate this film, I don’t even dislike it. It’s good but I just didn’t get into it as much as I would have liked too. I don’t know why either I just never really got into it as I would have liked. (Chibi Isis): I think the reason for that is because Nii-chan is an adult and thus sees the movie from an adult point of view instead of from a child point of view like it’s supposed to be viewed. (Nitsuj): . . .That’s actually a good observation. Is it possible that because I never watched this film as a child I never got the chance to view it from a child perspective and see the film for what it really was? I never thought of it that way. But with you here Chibi Isis and having a child-like mind I might be able to see this film for what it really is. (Chibi Isis): Exactly, now let’s stop wasting and say hello to our new neighbor, this is My Neighbor Totoro. (Nitsuj): Also, we’ll be watching the English dub for this review.
(Nitsuj): So the film begins in the countryside (as does all of Miyazaki films I’ve seen so far). The year is 1958 and a college professor named Tatsuo voiced by Tim Daly is moving to the countryside with his two daughters Satsuki voiced by a young Dakota Fanning and Mei voice by an even younger Elle Fanning. They arrive at the house only to find that it’s been infested with the black soot creatures from Spirited Away called susuwatari which doesn’t faze anyone in the movie not even the father (and with that this movie has officially established itself as a Miyazaki film. Where whimsy is a part of everyday life and if you don’t like it than something is seriously wrong with you). As their settling in their neighbor Granny comes by to clean the house since she’s there maid (oh nice, using the elderly for labor) where she explains to the girls that the susuwatari will leave their house once they recognize how good the new owners are (Chibi Isis: And if they decide to stay we’ll charge them $300 a month. Each. (Nitsuj): Chibi Isis that’s downright diabolical. That’s my girl). Later that night as Granny predicted the susuwataris leave the house and go somewhere else (Susuwatari #1: Let’s leave guys, I hear they’re hiring workers for a bathhouse in the Spirit World. (Susuwatari #2): They have bathhouses now? I thought it was just one long snake road. (Susuwatari #1): No they renovated and was that some kind of innuendo). The next day, the girls have a day off from school and they all go to visit their mother in the hospital who is recovery from the no-name illness and is the whole reason why the family moved to the countryside, to be closer to her (I see now, so she’s suffering from the plot device illness. Quite a common illness in anime. (Chibi Isis): Will she live Dr. Nii-chan? (Nitsuj): Well we are in a Miyazaki film so I say her chances are high). Moving forward to the next day while Satsuki is at school Mei finds these small little rabbit creatures hanging around the house (hey guys no soliciting) and tries to capture them (Chibi Isis: It’s the shiny rabbit. I got a pokeball with your name on it) where they lead her to a giant tree and we get to meet the large cat/rabbit-like creature (cabbit?) which Mei names Totoro through the interpretation of his roars which remind me of Appa from Avatar (quite the interesting way to interpret his roars as him calling himself Totoro if you ask me. (Chibi Isis): Not really, Nee-chan and the others always have an alternate interpretations when they talk to you. (Nitsuj): Really? So when they call me troll does that mean they think I’m sexy and a stud? (Chibi Isis): No, they’re really calling you a troll who is the lowest scum of the Earth). She falls asleep on him and gets discovered by Satsuki and Tatsuo in the forest only to see that Totoro is nowhere to be found or seen (how do you miss a giant cabbit? That’s like going to Atlanta, Georgia and missing a Coke machine. (Chibi Isis): Um Nii-chan. (Nitsuj): No, not the illegal coke, I’m talking about coca-cola. Seriously you guys thought I was talking about drugs? Crazy people). Tatsuo tells Mei that Totoro is a forest spirit and that they only appear when they want to appear (Chibi Isis: Or when the plot demands they appear).
So the story continues the next day when the rain falls hard in the area and Satsuki and Mei go to the bus stop to wait on their father to return from work and give him an umbrella. Unfortunately, his train gets delayed and thus he misses the bus and has to catch a later one. As the girls wait for their dad to arrive Mei falls asleep and Satsuki gets a surprise visit from Totoro who’s also waiting for the bus and gives him an umbrella to stay dry. The umbrella sits well with him and he gives her a leaf bag full of acorns as a way of saying thanks (thank you mysterious cabbit creature). Totoro’s bus finally arrives in the form of a nekobus (Chibi Isis what did you put in my Kool-Aid) and shortly after it departs Tatsuo’s bus arrives as well and the three go home. The girls plant the acorns the next day and as time goes by the acorns don’t sprout that is until one night when Totoro and his gang show up and we get what I like to think is one of the most visually interesting scenes where the make the seeds grow into a big tree. Once the tree is done growing Totoro takes out a giant Beyblade (let it rip) and they all get on it and fly in the air, take in the sights, and land on top of the big tree (geez my Beyblade never did that, it didn’t even summon a giant beast creature like in the show. Now that I think about it, that whole show was very misleading) and the father finally takes notice of the giant tree in his backyard (about time man. I hope he pays more attention when he’s teaching or that class is gonna get an easy A). The next morning the girls wake up and see that giant tree is gone but the acorns are starting to sprout. So what, Totoro just wanted to mess around with them and give them a tree only to take it away from them? That’s kinda mean. Totoro’s a jerk. (Chibi Isis): I don’t think so. Once again Nii-chan is looking at this from an adult perspective. Totoro was simply showing them the possibility of what their acorns will become if they continue to take good care of them. He’s teaching them that hardwork and proper patience will give birth to something big and wondrous than they could have ever imagined.
(Nitsuj): Okay that works but how about this next complaint. Through a majority of the film so far all we seem to be focusing on is the girls and their interactions with everyone in town instead of Totoro. He’s almost barely in this film. In fact, we don’t even see him until 30 minutes into the movie. Throughout the film so far we just see the girls chitchat with everyone in town instead of learning more about Totoro such as how long has he lived, why did he choose to appear before the girls instead of an adult, and what exactly does he do all day when he’s not hanging out with the girls or sleeping? (Chibi Isis): True I can’t deny all of your complaints about there not being enough Totoro in the film but there is a meaning behind all of this. I’ll start off by explaining why Totoro is out a majority of the film. From my perspective a spirit is just like an imaginary friend. Someone to help you out when you’re alone and trying to figure things out for yourself. It’s like what Nostalgia Nii-chan said, think back to when you were a child Nii-chan and when you weren’t playing with anyone but yourself and how your mind would start to wonder and ask itself questions that at the time you thought weren’t important but in truth you were actually figuring out stuff about the world on your own the amazing part is you didn’t know it at the time. This brings me to Totoro, the reason why he seems to be out of the film so far is because the girls aren’t having trouble figuring out stuff. They already seem to have a good grasp on life through their interactions with everyone in town. However, when Totoro appears notice how he only appears in front of the girls when they have doubts and worries. Example, when their dad was late getting home and they were worried about him and when they were starting to worry about the acorns sprouting. Totoro showed up to in a way take their mind off the worries of their dad and let them know everything will be okay and show them that wondrous possibility if they stay patient. So in short the reason why Totoro hasn’t been showing up so much is because the girls are fine and don’t require his assistance. As for why Totoro choose to appear before them instead of adults is because children still have great imagination, their eyes are still pure and haven’t been corrupted by the sins of the world like some adults out there. Adults try do things their way and end up messing up but a child does things the right way and gets the right results. For the other questions I imagine Totoro has been around since the shrine in the town was build starting off small but eventually growing bigger as time went by. As for what he does in his spare time I imagine he’s either in the Spirit World meeting other spirits like him, relaxing at a bathhouse, or secretly going around town maintaining the health of trees and the lands to make sure the land is healthy for the people live on. (Nitsuj): Well. . .that answers all my questions and shuts me up. (Chibi Isis): Anymore questions Nii-chan? (Nitsuj): Nope. Let’s continue the review.
The next day Satsuki receives bad news from the hospital about her mother. It turns out her mother has come down with a minor cold and has to postpone her return home. This of course upsets Satsuki and she snaps at Mei which causes her to cry. Sometime later Mei runs away from the house in order to go to the hospital and give her mom a fresh vegetable she cropped in the hopes that she’ll get better soon (I appreciate the idea and thought Mei but still tell the others. You’re a smart girl you should know better than this. I don’t even let Chibi Isis get the mail without telling me or the others first). This of course causes everyone to panic and begin a search in the hopes of finding her (let’s split up gang). Granny finds a shoe in the river thinking it’s Mei but Satsuki confirms that it’s not Mei’s (okay, remember this scene folks because I’m unfortunately gonna come back to this near the end of the review. (Chibi Isis): Why? (Nitsuj): Trust me Chibi Isis the less you know about it the better). Satsuki goes to Totoro for help and he’s more than happy to help her out (not really sure since his smile reminds me of the Cheshire cat from Alice in Wonderland and that thing kinda creeps me out. (Chibi Isis): But he is adorable like a big teddy bear. (Nitsuj): Oh yeah definitely, so we’re kinda getting a mix bag here). He summons the nekobus which is apparently invisible to adults (Chibi Isis: Remember, children have better imagination than adults) and she boards the nekobus (ride on the magic nekobus) and it takes her to Mei who is resting by six jizo statues (remember this scene as well because I’m unfortunately coming back to it. (Chibi Isis): What’s going on Nii-chan? (Nitsuj): Nothing for you to be concerned about). After being reunited the nekobus takes them to the hospital where they see their mother is okay which makes them happy and removes all the worries and fears they had. After that the nekobus takes them home and the credits begin to roll where we see the mother finally comes home, the girls play with their friends, and Totoro and his friends just observe them from the shadows happy they’re having a good time the end.
Final Thoughts
So that was My Neighbor Totoro and as you can guess I’m still not a fan of the film. The characters are great and realistic particularly Satsuki and Mei they actually do act like kids their age, and I like how the father is caring and there for them without letting his job stop him from being a good parent or getting in the way of it. The animation and visuals are beautiful for its time and the music is fun, catchy, and nice to listen to. Nothing less from Studio Ghibli. But I still don’t like how the film doesn’t focus on Totoro and the girls but instead focuses on the girls and their relationship with their father and the people in town. While it’s not a bad thing it’s just that with the title being called My Neighbor Totoro you would think they would focus on him and his relationship with the girls but no they only have a few scenes together with barely any dialog going on between them. Because of this the whimsical element is greatly missing in this film when compared to the other Miyazaki films that it doesn’t draw you in as his other films do. While I feel that Howl’s Moving Castle is still Miyazaki’s weakest film I give that film credit it drew you in with its whimsical element within the first minute, this film doesn’t do that until 30 minutes in and even then still it’s still weak. What are your thoughts Chibi Isis?
(Chibi Isis): Well I really did enjoy the film. I admit that the whimsical element was weak and I would have liked to see more scenes with Totoro but in my opinion the film’s main focus is on the girls and their experience moving into a new town, fitting in with everyone there, dealing with the hardships of having their mother in the hospital and staying strong, and having a big spirit friend there to help them whenever they need him. In the end the film is all about experience, being put in situations, exploring the unknown and coming out smarter and stronger from it all. Just like my experiences with you Nii-chan and your reviews. (Nitsuj): Can’t argue with that Chibi *pats her on the head*. (Chibi Isis): So Nii-chan what was it about the shoe in the river and the jizo statues that made you upset? (Nitsuj): Oh those. Sorry Chibi I need you sleep for a minute *Nitsuj pulls out a small needle and hits Chibi Isis in the head with it which makes her faint*. Don’t worry folks, this is just a Null needle, I created these as a failsafe in case one of the AI girls go on an uncontrollable rampage. It temporarily shuts down all the senses in my AI girls. It’s nothing serious, they just go into a comatose state. All I have to do is remove the needle and they’ll be back up like nothing happened to them. Now the reason I did that is because what I’m about to talk is something quite dark and morbid. In fact, I honestly don’t wanna talk about it but I gotta talk about it because it’s just too big to ignore. Now I must warn you that what I’m about to talk about could possibly ruin this film for some of you so if you wanna skip the next section and just go to the Final Score I’ll understand. For those of you curious about this topic join me in the next section.
The Dark Theory of My Neighbor Totoro
Okay, there’s a conspiracy theory going around the Internet that My Neighbor Totoro has a dark story hidden beneath it. I didn’t even know about this story until I rewatched the film for this review. Anyway, the dark story is that the film is based off the Sayama Incident of 1963 a very important case of discrimination in Japan to this day. The case goes is that one day in Sayama a young girl was kidnapped for a ransom of about 200,000 yen. Before the ransom could go down the kidnapper raped and murdered the girl fleeing before getting caught. It was said that the girl’s older sister found her body but was so traumatized by it that when asked what she saw by the police and her parents all she said was she met a large tanuki and a giant cat monster. She would later commit suicide because of this event. Now you’re probably wondering why I bought this case up, well because of the many coincidences the case has with the film. First off the year, the film takes place 5 years before the murder. Second, the film takes place in the Saitama prefecture which is where Sayama is located in real life. Third, the older sister talking about the giant cat monster, ring a bell to anyone? It’s Totoro and if you wanna dive deeper into this character, the creature Totoro as well as his friends and the soot spirits have often been associated with death being close at hand.
It doesn’t stop there the list goes on. The murder took place in May the little sister is named Mei (pronounced May) who goes missing and everyone assumes she’s dead when they find a shoe in the river. When Satsuki finds Mei she’s sitting by six Jizo statues which represent a Buddhist deity who looks after the souls of deceased and aborted children in Japan. These six Jizo statues according to the dark theory represent the girl who died, her 2 older sisters (the oldest one dying at an early age), her 2 brothers, and her father. The mother unfortunately died 10 years before the case in a mental hospital due to a brain tumor but in the film when the girls are running home from the rain they take shelter under a small temple housing another Jizo statue, this could possibly represent the girl who was murdered or the mother. Finally, the nekobus which can be seen as a spirit which guides people to the spirit world. In the theory it’s said that when Satsuki got on the bus she journeys to the spirit world to be with Mei out of grief. Another part of the theory that I don’t agree with is that the film is segmented into parts; some parts being from the present, others from the past or future, and some the work of the father’s imagination like with the big tree growing in his backyard and him not noticing it. I don’t believe this part of the theory because it makes no sense and seems pretty stupid. When I look back at the giant tree part I often think of that as a dream sequence that Satsuki and Mei share which explains why the giant tree isn’t there the next morning. Also, from my point of view time seemed to flow normally in this film, nothing seemed out of place or out of contingency.
As you might of guess Studio Ghibli as well as Miyazaki have denied any connections with many siding with them saying that even if all of this were true it wouldn’t do the company good to have a mascot tainted with such an image which I agree with. It be like Disney tainting their image with a Kardashian instead of the Disney Castle. Imagine going into a Disney movie and instead of getting that sweet and loving Disney castle with the song “When you wish upon a star” that reminds you of your childhood the first thing you see is a Kardashian. Movie ruined, hasn’t even started yet but it’s ruined, give me my money back. What’s Michael Bay’s latest film? I don’t know, but it can’t be worse than a Kardashian on the big screen. Personally, I don’t think this film in anyway is trying to tell the story of the Sayama Incident or in any way makes a connection to it. Just given Miyazaki’s personality and character it just goes up against everything he stands for. For him to take such a tragic event and turn it into a kid’s film is just no, that does not sound like something he would ever do. Now I will admit there are a lot of coincidences that this film and the incident share but when you look at this film from an adult or child perspective does the first thing that pop into your mind murder incident? When you see Totoro and his friends do you think of death? When you see the nekobus is the first thing on your mind going to the Spirit World and never returning? My answer to all these questions is no. Whenever I look at this film all I see is an okay Miyazaki film trying to teach kids about life and how to handle some situations that might appear in life.
Final Score
*Nitsuj pulls Null needle out of Chibi Isis’ head* (Chibi Isis): Huh? What happened Nii-chan? (Nitsuj): Oh nothing, you just fell asleep for a short time. You looked so peaceful that I didn’t wanna wake you. Now come give your final score for the film so we can wrap this review up. (Chibi Isis): My final score for this film is a 7.5/10 an enjoyable film from beginning to end. (Nitsuj): I unfortunately give this film a 5.5/10, it’s okay but it just didn’t draw me in as much as I would have liked it to. So if you average are scores the final score is a 6.5/10. From an adult perspective the film is okay but from a child perspective the film is great. My advice watch this film from the perspective of a child instead of an adult and you’ll fully enjoy it the way it was meant to be. Anything else you wanna add Chibi Isis? *Nitsuj looks to Chibi Isis to see that she has fallen asleep on the desk* I guess not *Nitsuj picks up Chibi Isis and brings her to the living room where he puts her head on a pillow and a blanket over her body*. *Whispers* You did a good job today Chibi Isis, I’m very proud of you *a smile appears on Chibi Isis’ face as Nitsuj finishes his sentence*. *Whispers* Thanks for reading, I’ll see you next time on Project Nitsuj.
*All videos, images, and music belong to their respected owners and not me*
Thanks for reading. As always feel free to leave a comment, feedback, or request in the comments section or send them to iamprojectnitsuj@gmail.com