THE FOLLOWING REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS OF THE DISCUSSED FILM. READERS DISCRETION IS ADVISED.
It’s hard to find a movie that can make you smile throughout its entire runtime. But when you do, you’ll likely cherish it forever. One that succeeds in that statement is Ponyo.
PLOT
The 2008 anime film centers on a story where a wizard named Fujimoto who travels across the sea via submarine. He has hundreds of daughters that are the size of goldfish. One named Brunhilde decides to leave her home for the first time. As she travels, she gets trapped in a glass jar and is brushed off to shore. She is saved by the human child Sōsuke who breaks the jar and places her in a bucket of water. When his finger gets cut, she would lick it and it would heal quickly. He names her Ponyo and promises to protect her. Their time together is short when Fujimoto takes her back, believing her to be abducted. Ponyo is so mad at her father for taking her home because she enjoyed her time with Sōsuke and now desires to be human. Her sisters help her break from captivity but inadvertently uses her father's magic to make herself fully human. Her own magic helped her gain human limbs after licking Sōsuke's blood. The high amount of magic causes a tsunami near the town Sōsuke resides with his parents. She is able to reunite with the boy and his mother allows her to stay for the time being, waiting out the storm. Since Lisa works at a nursing home, she worries of everyone there so much she chooses to go check on them, promising her son she'd return. Ponyo's use of magic didn't just cause a tsunami, but also an imbalance to the world whereas the moon is falling out of orbit. Fujimoto makes contact with Ponyo's mother Granmamare. Seeing that the world could end, she declares a test for Sōsuke: If he passes, the world will be restored and his new friend can remain human but if he fails, she stays in her original form. The following morning, Sōsuke's house is now covered by the ocean. He and Ponyo now choose to find Lisa due to how she'd not be able to come back with the new circumstances at hand. When Ponyo is able to enlarge his toy boat, they can begin their search. She also enlarges a candle to power the boat. When that same candle runs out, they get a spare from civilians looking for shore. Eventually, her powers begin to fade away when unable to enlarge the second candle. When they pass through a tunnel, she returns to fish form. Sōsuke quickly puts her in a bucket of water so she could survive but he encounters Fujimoto. Despite being afraid of him, he takes them both to the nursing home. It appears to be submerged but because of Granmamare, everyone including Lisa is breathing fine. Sōsuke meets Ponyo's mother for the first time, and he and Ponyo are explained the ordeal: Granmamare asks Sōsuke if he loves her daughter as fish or human but he replies to love her either way. She then asks her daughter if she's willing to give up her powers to be human, which she replies with a yes. Aware that their hearts are in the right place, Granmamare puts Ponyo in a bubble and tells Sosuke that once he kisses her bubble, she'll be human. As she undoes the chaos that ensued around the world, Fujimoto accepts his daughter's decision. As Sōsuke spots his father's ship from a distance, the film ends with Ponyo jumping out of the bucket, kissing him and turning human.
THOUGHTS
I've heard of this movie years and for some reason, I wasn't convinced when first released. By the time I got around seeing it, I couldn't be anymore satisfied. If there is anything I love with anime is the originality and Ponyo is no excpetion. It gives us such a big heart on besides implying not to loiter, but how friendship can be the strongest thing about people because of how we're willing to do anything for them. When you get that, it's hard to not receive warmth and appreciate the friends you have in your life. The big standout anime has from Hollywood's animation is how it does a better job distancing itself from computers whereas the latter is reliant. In Ponyo, it is mesmerizing to see shot after shot because that is well the animation is aging. Another reason to love this movie and the respected genre is the memorable characters that keep the viewers invested. The titular character is a bundle of joy we can't get enough of because of how intelligent and mischievous she is throughout. If you somehow weren't smiling throughout the whole film, I feel certain you did by the time she finally turned human at the end. Sōsuke is an awesome character because of how loyal he was to his friend and that he always found a way to be happy. If he can have positivity like that everyday, he deserves a friend like Ponyo. It is pretty cool how this movie doesn't have a villain. Fujimoto may have an over pessimistic attitude and is strict towards his daughter, but that does not make him bad at all. He's not trying to hurt anyone, he's trying to keep the world at balance. Granmamare had such a majestic presence due to her beauty and the love she shares towards everyone she encounters. She was clearly the most powerful being in the world if she can undo Ponyo's accident in seconds. This movie is fun but there were a few flaws to the story I can't help but gripe over. First off, I get that Sōsuke is doing the right thing trying to save Ponyo but he could've killed her by smashing the jar with the rock. I know the women at the nursing home are old but how is Toki the only one to notice that Ponyo is a fish with a face? Sure she's supposed to be depicted as a buzzkill but it feels weird only she did and not anyone else including Lisa. On the other hand, it is funny that she jinxed a tsunami. Speaking of Lisa, why didn't she and the kids stay at the nursing home? If she was worried of everyone there, she should've stayed. While the candle was a smart way to power the boat, how come there wasn't paddles? If you’re traveling on a boat, Sōsuke should've asked civilians for some paddles. And lastly, how does Ponyo know exactly how to use her powers? It doesn't look like anyone is teaching her and she is self taught, it would be fair to see that be explained. However, this movie remains fun if you can ignore all of these flaws. Overall, director Hayao Miyazaki gives another good anime film for giving as much heart as the rest of the films in his career. If you love anime, don't take too long planning to check this out.
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