Pom Poko

Wonderful in many levels, this long movie is a classic. Only for people who don't dislike long and slow films. It has a lot of japanese touch too.

Thanks to GKIDS, I was able to see Pom Poko for the first time in theaters tonight. I even brought along my younger sister who also enjoyed the film (she's reading subtitles, yay! train 'em while they're young). It has a similar message as in _Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind_ (1984), the first Studio Ghibli film. We get a view of nature (tanuki/racoons) co-existing in harmony with the modern cities (humans). There were some comedic moments as the tanuki were in training, and some instances made me think of Super Mario Bros. 3 how Tanooki Mario can turn into a statue. I liked the scene with the Yokai (goblins) invading the city at night. There's even some well-known ones (the umbrella, long-neck lady) that I've seen in the 60s Yokai Monsters films like _Yokai Monsters: 100 Monsters_ (1968). Just before that as the magic was brewing, I spotted some quick Easter egg cameos of Kiki from _Kiki's Delivery Service_ (1989) and Totoro from _My Neighbor Totoro_ (1988) flying about. See if you can catch them ;-)