It's here. It's time. Another first.

This week, dear listeners, we head into the world of anime. And who better to take us there than Studio Ghibli and Hayao Miyazaki? This week we are discussing their 1986 film 'Laputa: Castle in the Sky".

<figure class="
sqs-block-image-figure
intrinsic
">
















</figure>

We have had quite a few people ask us if we would be tackling anime, and the answer is yes. But we figured this would be a good time to remind everybody of some of our rules for film selection.
1) We have to be able to watch the film and follow it. This means it at least needs to have English subtitles or be in English, and it needs to be of watchable quality. We don't have a VHS so it's going to have to be online or on DVD/BluRay. It also has to be affordable. We're not going to dish out over $50 for a DVD that is no longer distributed
(lookin' at you 'Rock-a-Doodle').
2) We don't want to get movies illegally. So no torrents for us.
3) We have to find enough information to make a full episode. We've had to cut some movies on our list because we just cannot find information on them beyond the typical release information. Also, see #1 for source material. Aly ain't paying big bucks for an out of print book.

That all being said, we do also understand that our podcast has a North American bias. We grew up in North American culture, and so a lot of the things we address are being looked at through that lens. We're also following North American theatrical releases, if it wasn't released in theatres in the USA or Canada we're not going to cover it (yes, there are some exceptions). This also means that we're going for the most part by the North American release dates. So some international movies (including anime) may not be covered until they eventually hit the USA or Canada years later.

But yes, we are covering anime. It starts today. We will absolutely be covering Studio Ghibli, and as for other anime films, we will see if they meet our above criteria when we get to them in our timeline.

So let's get started!

<figure class="
sqs-block-image-figure
intrinsic
">
















</figure>

This week is a little bit messy because Aly and Sarrah don't always talk about their notes before they hit record. Oops. This means Aly talks a lot this episode as Sarrah is saving some material for later episodes.

Since there is no official source material, Aly starts us off by talking about Miyazaki's TV show 'Future Boy Conan', as it is widely seen as an inspiration and precursor to Castle in the Sky. It was the directorial debut of Miyazaki, and included on the team was Isao Takahata (who we sadly lost earlier this month) and Yoshiyuki Tomino. The main characters are very similar, as is the basic plot arc of a young girl holding the key to a forgotten power that a suspect government greatly desires. She details the similarities further as well as a brief summary of that project.

<figure class="
sqs-block-image-figure
intrinsic
">
















</figure>

Sarrah joins Aly for a discussion on the style of this film, which has been labeled as 'steampunk'. Steampunk is a genre or style that combines modern technology with steam power and is usually set in the Victorian era. Steampunk is a branch of Retro-futurism, which Sarrah walks us through (think original Disneyland Tomorrowland) and appears in many different novels, films, tv shows, as well as fashion and architecture. Aly explains the connections between Castle in the Sky and steampunk, and how the term 'Laputa Effect' may have more to do with steampunk than Miyazaki's film.

View fullsize





Retrofuturism in Flash Gordon comics





















View fullsize





Examples of Retrofuturism in Disneyland Art





















View fullsize





One of the grandfathers of Steampunk - Jules Verne



















<a class="
image-slide-anchor

js-gallery-lightbox-opener

content-fill
" href="https://images.squarespace-c