Spirited Away Film Comic, Vol. 1, 1

And that's what it was.

This book is absolotly gorgeous. It captures the pictures from the actual movie. The story is the same with the movie. I strongly reccomend people watching or reading this book. I was inspired by my best friend, Annie. It shows how an real 10 years old girl react to this kind of situation. Miyazaki creates different texture from all the others.

A beautiful adaptation of the anime. Makes a GREAT gift. Too bad there is no box set or something, I think that would sell REALLY well...Anyway, the color is just beautiful and its a great way to relive the action and emotion of the original anime, or for people who didn't see it to see it for the first time.

Before they can go to their new home, Chihiro and her family end up in a strage fake-looking place. When her parents are turned into pigs, Chihiro has to depend on the help of a strange and mysterious boy named Haku. I'd never read in the Japanese right-to-left format before, so I had a little bit of trouble at first, but it's not too bad once you get used to it. Everything is read from right to left, not just where you start in the book, but also which speech bubble you start with and what side of the page. I haven't seen the film yet, but, after reading this, I'm really looking forward to seeing it. I liked Haku the most, although Chihiro got more interesting as the story progressed.

I'm writing this review because I know how incredibly frustrating it is to want to buy a book, and not know if it's worth it. I'll admit it. I'm no manga fan. But this book is truly a masterpiece. It has a nice shiny cover. It's not hardcover, but it has a nice jacket all the same. I found this very interesting because you read this but the way one in Asia would read it: backwards. It's a very strange experiance, yet quite fun. Now that I've described the apperance of the book, I'll try to tell you the truly wonderful plot of this book without spoiling it. I've have decide that all Miyazaki books and films are the only good manga out there. It amazed me! I never once gave manga a chance until I heard the halarious sounding plot of Spirited Away: It starts with the story of a small girl, named Chihiro, and her family, who are moving away to a new town. They of course, take a wrong turn, as so many of us do while moving to a new house.... wait... I'm only 13, so I wouldn't know. Let's pretend I do.... well, anyway, beside the point. They find an old ghost town and Chihiro wanders off. When she returns, she finds that her parents are pigs... literally. She now has to work there, in order to return her parents. It's SUCH a great story with GORGEOUS art. Buy, it, even if you're NOT a manga fan. I mean, look at me!

I confess to a severe case of impatience. I have been waiting for 'Spirited Away' to make it to the US for just too long. Finally, I noticed this little set of manga based on the film and I lost all control and bought the first one of the set. So much for will power.This set is really nicely done. They are small, almost pocket sized, but you would never want to put them in your pocket. There is an outer wrap cover, as well as the inner, and the illustrations, entirely in color, are clearly the cels from the film. They are beautiful to look at, in vibrant color and once again demonstrate that Miyazaki and the rest of Studio Ghibli remain masters of the art form. The story is about Chihiro Ogima, who is 10, and her mother and father. They are moving to a new home, Chihiro is very unhappy about all the changes, and her parents are not paying as much attention to her as she would like. When her father takes a wrong turn, they happen on a strange amusement park. The adults are changed into pigs via some weird magic, and Chihiro only survives in human form due to the intervention of Haku, a 12-year-old boy with some magical powers of his own.The styling is classic Miyazaki, with great work on the expressions of both the human and non-human characters. These last come in every shape and type imaginable. Another thing I like is, since the sound effects are left in Japanese, someone has gone to the immense trouble of providing a frame-by-frame translation of them. Just the thing for an adult who wants to read these aloud to a child.One slight warning. These manga are in Japanese order [right to left, top to bottom]. At first, this is a bit confusing, but after a while, it gets to be fun. In addition, it preserves the effect of the original manga page layouts, which really is the best way to present them. These comics are almost precious enough to be considered collectable. I don't know if I will buy the rest of the set yet, but I wouldn't blame me one bit if I did.