Spirited Away Film Comic, Vol. 3, 3

Now that we are past the middle of this story (this is volume for of 5) the action picks up quite a bit. No Face, the spirit that young Sen let in earlier has turned into a disaster, determined to eat whatever food the bath house has to offer and paying in showers of gold. On the down side, however, the spirit has a tough time differentiating staff from the food, throwing everything into chaos.As this is going on, Sen sees a white dragon being chased across the sky by paper birds. This is Haku, the young mage, who is badly wounded in his efforts to steal magic. Surprisingly, Sen shows fierce loyalty to her friend, courageously facing the dangers of the bathhouse in order to save his life. The girl has come a long way from the spoiled child who first happened into this strange work.When I first found this series, the film was still unavailable to US audiences. As such they were the only option for English speakers who wanted to see Miyazaki's latest work and get a sense of the flow of the film. They do this quite well for what is essentially a still medium, spending a lot of frames building a chain of movement. This is done with cels from the film, so the normal comic approach doesn't prevail. When I look at the illustration, I think of a parent reading a book to a child and pointing to a string of pictures as, say, a dragon twists and loops in the sky.Indeed, this set is perfect for that purpose. It is also a delightful memento of a wonderful film. Miyazaki's imagination is always stunning and unique. There are many good anime artists, but fewer great artists who happen to do anime. Film or no film, I intend to own the entire set.

This is another GREAT book of Miyazaki's. The pictures are beautiful... the story is cute... what more can I say?

Imagine being a typical, slightly self-centered 10-year-old girl, and suddenly finding yourself the only human employee at the Abura Ya, a bathhouse for the spirits. Your parents have turned into pigs, and if you cannot find a way, they will eventually become snacks for customers of the resort. Your employer is a giant old woman named Yubaba, who drives a hard bargain and intends to make you work every moment.This is Chihiro Ogino's lot in the manga version of Hayao Miyazaki's 'Spirited Away.' Certainly a tough role for an adult to deal with, one cannot help but admire Chihiro (now called Sen) for her fierce determination. In the world of Abura Ya she manages to find friends like Haku, a teenage boy with magical powers, and Lin, the co-worker who looks after Chihiro and helps her snatch victory from the jaws of defeat.In this third volume Chihiro starts her job as a bath attendant, performing the backbreaking labor of scrubbing floors and baths and waiting on customers. When an awesome stink spirit shows up for a wash, no one wants to go near it. Naturally, Chihiro gets stuck with the job. What ensues is a surprise for all as Chihiro discovers that she has strange friends in even stranger places.Some notes. These beautifully colored manga are done 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. Japanese sound effects are left as is, but a translation guide is included.

Having little or no will power, I have succumbed to the temptation to pick up more of these little specialty manga created from the cells of Hayao Miyazaki's latest anime creation, 'Spirited Away.' This film has been a runaway bestseller in Japan, and is due for release in the US shortly. When I bought the first volume as a novelty, my greatest concern was that the books would 'spoil' the plot. However, after reading two volumes, I find I'm even more interested in seeing the film, which looks every bit as remarkable as 'Princess Mononoke,' another Miyazaki hit.These are the story of Chihiro Ogino, a young girl whose parents have inadvertently wandered into a bathhouse for spirits and been turned into pigs. Chihiro is determined to rescue them and discovers that she must find a job in the bathhouse or suffer the same fate of her parents. This volume is the story of her quest for employment, starting with the spider-like Kamaji who runs the hot water system to the giant Yubaba who is the matron of the resort. One has to admire Chihiro's determination, even though she is actually a bit irritating in a little girl way. Of course, I might be a bit self-centered and panicky if I found myself in the comic version of Motel Hell.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. The dialog is minimalist. Often, the plot is moved forward by the visual story, full of both menace and sight gags. Another thing I like is, since the sound effects are 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 warning. These manga done 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. If these manga aren't over-distributed, then they may very well be eminently collectable.