Best Japanese language films for a HS kid taking Japanese

[lord of the mark]

Assume someone has just completed their first year of Japanese. And they are going to take 2nd year Japanese in the fall. And their dad wants to make fall quarter easier, by keeping their japanese from getting rusty, but in a painless way. By showing films.

And the student is a 15YO female.

I was thinking Seven Samurai. Theres a love story IIRC, and a "Purity of ancestry" sub theme that any Harry Potter fan will get. I think she could manage to sit through the battle scenes, and its such an important film.

Maybe something else by Kurosawa?

Any other good Japanese directors?

Of course shed like to watch Anime, and probably will, but Id like to add something richer to the diet.

[Varwnos]

Maybe something by studio Gibli?

Or try a book?

[Kuken]

Off the top of my head I only know Battle Royale... But I would advise against that one for a 15 y.o.

[bipolarbear]

Tampopo is hilarious.

[Jon Miller]

Seven Samurai rocked.

JM

[Az]

PoTM is going to be an animu nerd.

[Kuciwalker]

[Dinner]

Originally posted by Jon Miller
Seven Samurai rocked.

JM

I was going to say ShinShin No Samuri too.

[bipolarbear]

Kurosawa did Rashomon which is good and stuff, but the play (by Ivor Benjamin) is like a million times better imo (even though it's in english).

[DanS]

Seven Samurai probably holds little interest for a 15 YO girl. Ghibli is a good choice. Perhaps Princess Mononoke? That's richer to the diet than most other anime and includes themes of man's relationship to nature.

[bipolarbear]

Akira has some pretty cool cinematic elements to it, which you might have to help her pick up on, and is mandatory viewing for anyone with a passing interest in anime. If you're going to go with Mononoke, you might as well just look at everything Miyazaki. The sportos, the motorheads, geeks, sluts, bloods, waistoids, dweebies, dickheads -- they all adore him. They think he's a righteous dude

[CrONoS]

Originally posted by bipolarbear
The sportos, the motorheads, geeks, sluts, bloods, waistoids, dweebies, dickheads -- they all adore him. They think he's a righteous dude

QFT



For a girl I also suggest Miyazaki.

I think you can't go wrong with any of these three movies.

- Princess Mononoke (from wiki: It is a jidaigeki (period drama) set in late Muromachi period of Japan, and centers on the struggle between the supernatural guardians of a forest and the humans who need its resources, as seen by the outsider A****aka. "Mononoke" (物の怪, "Mononoke"?) is not a name, but a general term in Japanese for a spirit/god/monster of the natural world.)

- Spirited Away (from wiki:Spirited Away is the story of a girl, forced to survive in a bizarre spirit world, who works in a bathhouse for spirits after her parents are turned into pigs by the sorceress who owns it)

- Howl's Moving Castle

[bipolarbear]

Also, My Neighbor Totorro would be good to expose her to now while she's still young enough to appreciate it's more childish elements; Howl's Moving Castle has the whole emoish conflicted cute but dark guy element which she'd likely react to what with being fifteen and female.

Edit: That's l33t semicolon skillz right?

[lord of the mark]

thanks for your advice, but for anime-fantasy-emoish whatever, she has a circle that gives advice, and she would probably be taken aback getting suggestions on such from me. Of course we will rent some, but I wont get too involved in picking them.

I still think Seven Samurai would be good - if she could deal with the battle scenes in "Return of the King" I dont see why Kurosawa would be worse (its been a long time since ive seen Seven Sam, though)

[bipolarbear]

Kurosawa is generally B&W iirc, so that might put her off a bit.