Favourite Studio Ghibli character(s)

[Silly_Bean]

I was gonna post this on the Hayao Mikazaki thread but thought it deserved it's own.

So who is your favourite character/group of characters then?

I like the bizarre ones like the scarecrow from Howl, Totoro or the soot gremlins and no face from Sprirted Away. They make me laugh :smallbiggrin:

Out of main charcaters it has to be Chichiro (Spririted Away) or Mai (Totoro).

Ooooooo...does Howl remind anyone eles of David Bowie especially with reference to the laberynth?

[BlindCrow]

The tree spirits in Princess Mononoke... too freaking cute. :smallbiggrin:

Also, I haven't gotten the courage to see Howl's moving castle. I saw previews for it and wanted to weep/ jump for joy at the same time.

I love HM, he's a great filmmaker. One of my favorites actually. However.. How's Moving Castle is by far one of my favorite books of all time.. and that is saying quite a bit. I saw the preview, and realized how much was brutally changed... how's castle didn't have legs... and Michael was a young man.. not a little boy. Just suttle things.. that didn't need to be changed, were totally altered.

I have seriously had internal arguments about this film with myself. I have officially decided to seperate the two. Howl's moving castle the book, and the movie. Two completely different entities... that somehow have the same basis of a story line.

I strongly recommend reading this book. The sequal is great too ;)

[Ptolemy]

Howl's moving castle the book, and the movie. Two completely different entities... that somehow have the same basis of a story line.

I strongly recommend reading this book. The sequel is great too ;)

Some movie/books are like that, like Count of Monte Cristo; great movie, great book, but definitely not the same thing.

Okay, back to topic. [cranes his head up at his DVDs] Ashi-taka is the best main character from where I'm sitting. I think the Baby (as a mouse) and the Crow (as the fly-thing) from Spirited Away are the best supporting characters.

BTW, I know the hyphen in "Ashi-taka" is not really necessary, but the language filter has issues without it.

[Silly_Bean]

I haven't read any of the books yet...that'll be my next project when i get enough money together.

[JellyPooga]

The Soot from Spirited Away...tee hee hee.

I also like the Fox-Squirrel (can't remember it's name) from Nausicaa (along with the film in general...definitely my favourite Ghibli film.)

[Athenodorus]

Dola (pirate queen, really I suspect she is Momo from Breath of Fire all grown up!) or the robot from Castle in the Sky. I also liked the kind servant lady from Spirited Away.

[MrsbwcMD]

I have to second Ashi-taka for my favorite character as well as his red elk. I also really like both of the little girls in "Totoro." They always tug at my heartstrings.

[bosssmiley]

Totoro! is! SUPERIOR! :smallcool:

He just freaking is, right?! Can you balance on a spinning top and call trees from the earth? No? Didn't think so. Respect the fat and fluffy tree spirit! :smallwink:

My girlfriend goes all gooey over Baron from "The Cat Returns", but she's just odd. :smallconfused:

[Deaddude]

NoFace from Spirited away is the BEST!

[Mr. Moon]

The only Studio Ghibli movie I've seen is Spirited Away. Noface kinda creeps me out, but I love Haku.

[Pensive Pine]

No Face from Spirited Away is definitely my favorite. I was totally obsessed with him for months after I saw the movie (I still have a bunch of fanart I printed out, and a Japanese fanfic I meant to translate, but haven't yet...)

I agree with BlindCrow, Howl's Moving Castle is one of my favorite books, too (although I hadn't heard of it until I heard Miyazaki was making a movie), and I like the sequel, too. So I'm always telling people "If you like the movie, read the book!" Really, you can't understand a good chunk of the movie if you don't know the underlying story from the book.

[polaris1110]

I think Ashi-taka is the best main character, but Nausicaa is pretty awesome too.

As for supporting characters, the dust particles from Spirited away were awesome, as we the tree spirits from Princess Mononoke. I also liked Nausicaa's little eevee looking thing. (Yes, that was a pokemon reference.)

[JKR]

They're all awesome! Spirited away was my favorite. I liked the little sootball creatures!

[Gorbash Kazdar]

http://www.gorbashkazdar.com/nausicaa.gif

[Thiel]

NoFace from Spirited Away. Or Chihiro and the Witch as they call it here in Denmark. (Yes they've actually "translated" an English title into another English title!)

[bosssmiley]

http://www.gorbashkazdar.com/nausicaa.gif

Iz dat sum OOTSicaa of the Valley of the Sticks? :smallcool:

[Lord Iames Osari]

I think Ashi-taka is the best main character, but Nausicaa is pretty awesome too.

As for supporting characters, the dust particles from Spirited away were awesome, as we the tree spirits from Princess Mononoke. I also liked Nausicaa's little eevee looking thing. (Yes, that was a pokemon reference.)

I'll second that, since we're talking about the anime. But the Nausicaa manga is far superior to the movie version. And to Princess Mononoke.

And yes, the squirrelfox is great. As are the kodama.

[Flak_Razorwill]

Radish Spirit, from Spirited Away. He was only on screen for about 30 seconds, but I based an entire species on his style of elevator travel.

[Kumquat]

First of all, the Foxsquirrel's name is Teto...I love Teto...

Now, I would possibly say that Lupan the third (yes, Miyazaki made a movie with him, The Castle of Cagliostro) is my favourite character, but that feels a bit wrong, as he is not a specifically Myazaki character.

So that being said, I think my favourite main character is Porco from Porco Rosso, he was just cool...My favourite supporting character is either Calcipher (the fire spirit from Howl's Moving Castle) or Jiji from Kiki's Delivery Service, though Jigo from Mononoke was also awesome in my oppinion.

My favourite movie is Nausicaa...

[Dariendel]

Howl and Porco Rosso

[BrokenButterfly]

I've liked the non-speaking characters in Ghibli works, or the ones that are kinda weird.

Really liked No-Face, the mouse, soot-balls and the buzzing bird in Spirited Away. It had the best characters in it, I liked the vast majority of them.

Other creatures I liked have been the totoro (mostly the cute tiny ones) Calcipher, the weird tree spirits in Mononoke and especially the giant cat-bus in Totoro, that was just sweet!

[That Lanky Bugger]

I'm torn between Yupa and Ashi taka... Though Calcifer and Moro rank highly with me as well.

And Blindcrow, the Ghibli version of Howl's Moving Castle can be broken down pretty simply....


Sophie and Howl themselves most strongly resemble Jones's characters, but with gentler personas and less selfish motivations; that is, typical Jones character traits are softened into typical Miyazaki character traits.

If you like Miyazaki and you like the book, you'll probably like this movie. As I understand it, even Jones found enjoyment in the movie (though she does note it IS a different animal than her book).

[darkninjaoflight]

From an artist/animator -wannabe's perspective, I really like Noh Face (well, among, like, every other aspect of Ghibli animation). It wasn't until the last time I watched Spirited Away that I realized what they were doing to portray No Face's emotions.
For those who don't know, No Face is sort of a dual name for him. He wears a Noh mask, which are used in Japanese Noh theatre. The interesting thing about Noh masks (specifically the ones similar to No Face's) are that actors can change the emotion of the mask by tilting their head.
http://www.kasrl.org/noh_mask.html
So looking back, every time I remember No Face showing some sort of emotion it was sort of planned that his mask would be at an angle of some sort. For example, after he swallows the frog, he's on top of the walls looking down at the bathhouse guy, the fact that he's on the walls looking down is deliberate, to show the "evil grin" of the mask. When Chihiro rejects No Face's offer for a ton of gold and runs off, his head cranes upward and follows her in longing, giving the mask an upset look. The mask doesn't change, just the angle we see it does.
See? I just thought it was neat.

[Beleriphon]

I'm throwing down with Totoro or San. I can't decide.

That being said Kiki is immensely entertaining as well, she reminds me of a friend's little girl. So much fun to hang out with them.