Lost in Adaptation: Howl's Moving Castle

Just finished the book today and I loved it. Makes me want to never see the movie because all the changes would make me very angry.

Huh, I thought 3.0 was on the moon.

shadowscribble

I really liked the movie, but it seems that all the parts I don't like were covered by the book, and the parts in the book I don't like were changed in the movie. kind of a weird feeling. Probably my biggest problems with the movie were the lack of character development and backstory for Sophie and the War message. (What is the war about? Why has it lasted this long? Why are people supporting it? why are people not supporting it? You can't just say that all war is wrong and that the reason it is being fought is meaningless, because that is not how the world works.) but those things are different in the book. and my problem with the book was Howl. I really hated him. I get what you are saying about characters needing flaws and being three dimensional, but I would rather have an unrealistically perfect hero than one whom I can not stand having to root for. And yeah, even before I read the book, I thought that them inviting the Witch of the Waste along with them was really weird. I never understood that. I get Sophie being kind and forgiving, but that was a bit extreme. And I kinda agree with you with the Dub vs Subtitles thing, but you do lose a lot if you only watch one or the other. The dub is often very different than the subtitles, and the delivery of the lines changes due to different cultures. If you watch the anime "Baka to Test" this is really apparent. There are some lines that reading the subtitles will give me a bit of a giggle, but I laugh out loud when watching the dubbed version because how they say the jokes is often far funnier than the jokes themselves. I use a comedic example here, but the same can be said for almost any setting. Different cultures have different ways of vocally conveying emotion. I was going to provide two comparative clips for this, however I can't find the English Dub version, which is the point of this particular clip. oh well.

In my entire life I have only ever watched two things dubbed: Cromartie High School, because that shit is hilarious and this French movie called Brotherhood of the Wolf and that was only because I was too drunk to read the subtitles. I just can't stand dubbs no matter who does them.

Dominic Noble

I'm not entirely sure what the bunker was for. Although I get your conclusion on The Watchmen could be considered heresy by some, this didn't seem as much. I have to say that I truly enjoyed your analysis and, although I am quite the Miyazaki fan, this is not one of my favorites. There is really not much to say outside of my usual compliments on a job exceedingly well done. I do so love analysis of artistic works (I am an English major after all) and yours is of top notch quality! Keep on bringing the excellent work.

David Perez

Great review! Yeah, this was a big one. Thinking about it, the changes to Howl in the adaptation do seem to be consistent for Miyazaki. It reminds me of his Lupin III movie, which also had a title character that was a pervert type in his franchise. And with both characters, Miyazaki's rendition greatly played down the "pervert" angle. I'm not sure if he feels he can't do a character like that or if he just doesn't have any interest in one. I will admit, you're totally right about Howl being inconsistent at points in the film (I was scratching my head with how all over the place he was sometimes when I first saw it), which seems odd since the Lupin film was done far earlier in his career but didn't have that problem.

You are very good! Overwhelmingly adequate sounds every bit as adorable and modest as you probably intended and it makes me enjoy your videos even more. Although I stopped watching How I Met Your Mother around season 2 or 3, the Barney comparison made me want to go look for the book - bookHowl sounds quite entertaining to read. What I read about the book sequels cooled my enthusiasm. As for your bunker, it's a funny gag, but what we love about your reviews is your honest opinion. You probably won't need the bunkers :) Besides, remember what Vetinari said "Never trust any ruler who puts his faith in tunnels and bunkers and escape routes. The chances are that his heart isn't in the job." And I trust you :) Thanks again for a good video!

LOVELOVELOVELOVELOVELOVELOVELOVELOVELOVELOVELOVELOVELOVELOVELOVELOVELOVELOVELOVE. REALLY enjoyed this one--everything I could have hoped for. :) Thank you so much, Dom! Particularly loved the "What is it good for!?" bit and the pulling in of Kiki to stand in for Martha!

Amy Reynolds

Just went to put the book on hold from the library simply because of this review. As for the movie, likely will never watch it because of the war scenes. I hate it when people try to shove their message or their beliefs down my throat. Just give me good entertainment and let me take my own message from it.

Bravo. I read the book just recently when you said you were doing an LIA episode on it. I literally sat still for an hour after finishing the book just thinking about the adaptation. It was kinda like seeing a flaw in one of your heroes for the first time (Miyazaki). I would also like to point out in the book, it was told by Sophie's point of view so she painted Howl as the lady-chaser and in the end, Lettie-lettie pointed out that he would come over and talk about Sophie wondering how they could remove the curse, not technically court her. The Barney comparison is good though. Thanks for the upload.

LS Greger

Out of curiosity, have you ever watched the English dub? If not it's worth watching for Billy Crystal voicing Calcifier, he's steals the show and made Calcifier one of my favourite Ghibli characters :D I enjoyed the English dub far more than the Japanese

About as good a summation of the situation as I could hope for. I'm very happy that you chose to cover this one Dom.

Kim Huett