Spirited Away

Not much of a weekend. But then again, all weekends are pretty much the same.

I saw “Spirited Away” for the first time. It was alright, but perhaps I was expecting more because virtually everyone I talked to said it was GREAT! I was rather impressed with the English title, because the word Kamikakushi in the original title 千と千尋の神隠し suggests the unexplained disappearance of people. Once upon a time, unexplained disappearances were attributed to the gods or tengu, the red, long nosed ogre of myth with god-like powers. The literal translation, I suppose, would be "The Unexplained Disappearance of Sen and Chihiro by Gods or Ogres." Yeah, that would draw a lot of people to the theaters! Disney effectively translated it to "Spirited Away"--to be carried off mysteriously or secretly. Unfortunately, this success is not always translated in the dialogue. With the time I had this weekend to get rid of the stress of the previous day--thanks to the words of encouragement from Tak, Sleetse, et al--I saw both Japanese and English versions. While most of it is adequate, there were a number of scenes that just weren’t right. Of course, this is perhaps a matter of culture. I mean, how do you translate engachoエンガチョウ? Okay, the normal(?) rendering is cooties, but engacho also suggests a separation or cut from the group, as it is derived from 縁がちょん切った--you have the cooties so you and I are no longer connected. In the movie, Kamaji tells Sen to put her fingers together so he can cut through them with a “magic” spell and thereby reverse her cooties. I think the English version kind of garbles it up. But still, it was okay. Just picking nits.I also watched “Cowboy Bebop.” This is the one anime that students have been buzzing about more than “Spiritied Away” this year. So, of course, I had to see this tale of a bounty hunter in the future. This was okay too. Kinda reminded by of Lupan III with a futuristic edge. No big deal.

More JA Stuff: (for NarciJ)
Anyway, a couple of thoughts have been going around in my head--what's left of it anyway. Marja suggested that there is little co-mingling among different Asian groups. That was mostly true in the day (30 years back), but is it still the case today? Are there many out there who tend to stick to "there own kind"? I mean, once we are Americanized, is there really such a difference between us as to justify this kind of exclusionary attitude? Just some fuel on the fire.

Peace, everybody. (Okay, its old, but its better than "groovy".)