Michael Scott

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My Neighbors the Yamadas

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Movie: :4stars:
Video: :4.5stars:
Audio: :4stars:
Extras: :3stars:
Final Score: :4stars:



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Movie

As of this year Studio Ghibli has officially cut ties with Disney proper for their releases and have moved over to Shout Factory as their new distributor. Over this last month they have released 8 of their original titles that were given to Disney, and are in the works to redistribute just about all the rest of their titles (minus the ones licensed to Universal and Up on Poppy Hill and Grave of the Fireflies), INCLUDING the single title that even Disney couldn’t get. My Neighbors, the Yamadas. I missed the opportunity to review for you all 8 titles that were released on the 17th of October, but over the course of the next month or so there will be another set of batches that are coming over via Shout, and I’ll be putting those out for you. Disney did some great stuff with their Studio Ghibli releases, but there were a small handful of titles (such as Princess Monnonoke) that had subpar subtitles as Disney used “Dubtitles” (translations of the English dub) vs. traditional direct translations from the Japanese language tracks that REALLY frustrated purists (myself included). With these new releases, Shout Factory and Studio Ghibli have worked together to rectify those small issues and re-release their lineup on Blu-ray once more at a substantially lower price than Disney was able to.

Now this will be the first of the Studio Ghibli/Shout Factory lineup of titles that I actually won’t be doing a “comparison” to a previous Disney release, as My Neighbors the Yamadas was the last of the feature films from them to be released on home video. Many of the newer releases (and a few old) they licensed to Universal, but for some reason neither Disney nor Universal ever released this little gem from Isao Takahato. I don’t know whether it was rights issues, or whether Disney or Uni never thought the movie would sell well on Blu-ray, but the long out of print DVD, and the pricey foreign imports, are what we’ve had to deal with for the last few years. I had actually given up on ever seeing My Neighbors the Yamadas on Blu-ray for a while, but when Shout Factory announced that they were going to be working with Studio Ghibli my ears perked up. Luckily for all of us Shout was able to work something out with Studio Ghibli, and we FINALLY have the last missing feature films from them in our possession today.

My Neighbors the Yamadas stands out like a sore thumb in the Ghibli lineup. There is no other film in the series quite like it (both in animation style as well as story), and it doesn’t delve into high fantasy or dramatic heart string tugging like most of the other Ghibli films. Instead it’s a light and airy little romp that is made up of a string of vignettes and stories of varying lengths that really just act as a doorway into the world of the Yamadas. We’re introduced to the quirky Yamada family within minutes, and it’s not exactly your “normal” family. We have Matsuko and Takashi (mum and dad), grandma Shige, and their son and daughter Noboru and Nonoko. The whole family is like that ‘weird neighbor next door” that we all had growing up as kids, but there really is nothing truly legendary about them either. Instead they’re just a highly energetic family who bickers, yells, laughs, and loses their kid in the train depot.

Each of the vignettes are loosely tied together with themes, but mostly they’re just random days out of the lives of the Yamadas. Some of them form a small story arc, such as the title card “Male Bonding” being a set of different stories about father and son bonding. Others, such as “Paternal Supremacy Restored” focus on Takashi trying to assert himself s the man of the house. And others are just pieces in a larger puzzle. The opening and the ending tie into each other full circle, and the ending really is sweet to behold as it ties together all of the pieces and focuses just how functional a dysfunctional family can be.
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The characters in the story are adorable and almost syrupy sweet at times. However, it is not as intrinsically heart wrenching or overly dramatized like so many other Studio Ghibli films are famous for. Instead the movie’s vignettes are more like cotton candy. Easy and sweet to take down, don’t fill you up very much, and leave you satisfied and smiling on the couch. While this is a huge change of pace for Studio Ghibli, the art style also works to separate it from the rest of the bunch too. Instead of the normal highly detailed Ghibli works, My Neighbors the Yamadas looks like half drawn sketches, with foreground objects taking up the majority of the line work, and colors basking in very soft pastels. It’s like watching one of those behind the scenes for an animated film where the hand sketches haven’t been filled out yet, or colored in fully, giving the film an odd vibe. It really does work well though, as after you’ve gotten used to the “intentionally half finished” art style, the quirkiness of the animation just fits in with the quirkiness of the Yamadas themselves.

Isao Takahata is a unique director for Studio Ghibli, and he has a unique flair that is hard to replicate. If you’ve watched Only Yesterday you can see the influences of the art style, and the commentary with him on Grave of the Fireflies clues us into the fact that he likes to create his film through the lens of children’s eyes. In that one it’s all about devastating wartime through the eyes of a young child, but here he takes it to the extreme. We’re introduced to the family through the narration of the 5 year old daughter, Nonoko, and if you look closely at the vignettes, they are all about the REST of the family. There’s some small focus on Nonoko, but its as if the movie is as seen through her eyes as she watches her family. Which can also explain the light and airy feeling of the film. Nonoko is a 5 year old girl, and everything is roses and happiness. The simplicity of the movie is deceiving in many ways. You initially think that the movie has no real purpose as it wanders through the vignettes. It’s not until the last 30 minutes that you start to see the little threads that have been woven throughout the movie, guiding us towards the final lesson.




Rating:

Rated PG for mild thematic elements




Video: :4.5stars:
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Like usual, Studio Ghibli does good work with their masters, and Shout Factory has done an excellent job with the encode itself. I did hesitate to give the film a 4.5/5 rating for video due to the low detail levels that the animation style is privy to, but I’m basing that rating on the fact that the ENCODE is just about flawless. Sure the hand drawn “half finished” style of animation isn’t filled with bright colors and tons and tons of visual details, but each and every line is rendered precisely, and there are no signs of digital artifacting anywhere. The light pastel colors are soft and pleasing to the eyes, and there are no signs of banding or anything negative. Black levels are well done, and while the film doesn’t have more than few moments of dim lighting, those moments are picture perfect.






Audio: :4stars:
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As with most other studio Ghibli films, we have the obligatory English and Japanese tracks in DTS-HD MA 5.1 to choose from, as well as a French Dolby Digital track. Subtitles are in line with their current release standards of having traditional “dubtitles” (direct translations of the English dub) as well as the literal translation from Japanese to choose from. Dialog is strong and clear, and mainly stuck in the front three speakers, but the surrounds do fill out a good bit when the more action oriented stories are underway (such as when the mother and grandmother are kidnapped), and during the small musical bits throughout. It’s a good track, with strong voice acting on both sides, but I prefer the Japanese track (like usual) due to the sense of originality to it.





Extras: :3stars:
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• Storyboards
• NTV Special: The Secrets of My Neighbors the Yamadas
• Behind the Microphone
• Original Theatrical trailers
• Exclusive Booklet










Final Score: :4stars:


My Neighbors the Yamadas is a unique film in the Ghibli world, and one that has been sadly missing for way too long on Blu-ray. Thanks to Shout and Studio Ghibli we FINALLY have the last of the feature films to hit high definition and with great specs to boot. The collector’s edition combo pack comes with great artwork, a DVD, and a slick set of special features (that are kind of traditional for a Ghibli film if you’ve looked at their other releases) making it a great package to pick up. Definitely a great movie to pick up if you’re a Ghibli fan.





Technical Specifications:

Starring: Hayato Isohata, Masako Araki, Naomi Uno
Directed by: Isao Takahata
Written by: Hisaichi Ishii (comics), Isao Takahata (Screenplay)
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1 AVC
Audio: English: DTS-HD MA 5.1, Japanese DTS-HD MA 5.1, French DD 5.1
Studio: Shout Factory/Studio Ghibli
Rated: PG
Runtime: 104 Minutes
Blu-ray Release Date: January 16th, 2018







Recommendation: Recommended for a Watch

 

tripplej

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Thanks for the review. I will get this one.. :)
 

Kal Rubinson

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roussel-debussy-poulenc-osr-yamada
Is it this guy? This is a great disc.
roussel-debussy-poulenc-osr-yamada
.........................................................Never mind.
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