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| THIS IS AN ANIME ONLY DISCUSSION POST. DO NOT DISCUSS THE MANGA BEYOND THIS EPISODE. ---------------------------------------- A funny and charming movie with a typical Ghibli message. However this one was done in a very original and fashionable style with a very symbolic and metaphoric story telling about the way the animals (or the Tanuki) struggled with the constant development of men into their habitat and destruction of their lands. It's not an overly dramatic movie, it will have some serious moments, but for the most part is very light-hearted, just like Tanuki-san! Oh and those Tanuki sure have balls, and big ones... to be facing men like that :P |
VeethornAug 8, 2010 11:34 AM
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| Best movie I've seen. Alright maybe not THE best, but easily my top 3 |
| "...our faces marked by toil, by deceptions, by success, by love; our weary eyes looking still, looking always, looking anxiously for something out of life, that while it is expected is already gone – has passed unseen, in a sigh, in a flash – together with the youth, with the strength, with the romance of illusions.” - Joseph Conrad ('Youth') |
roy1751 said: Madness? |
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| Well, that sucked... dare I say it? ... BALLS. I honestly can't remember the last time I saw something so retarded in movie form. I mean, at the beginning I actually liked the film, but then the perpetual "MY BALLS HAVE THE POWER TO TRANSFORM" made me want to drink bleach. Rated G my ass. |
YPZaete said: This was one of the best film I have ever watched, and I'm totally confused as to why everyone doesn't seem to like it as much as I do. Not only was it extremely fun, but also very meaningful. ! They either miss the point(s), or misunderstand the movie. When an artist goes way beyond the audience's level, thats bound to happen. Takahata became like that in the 90s, he just went wayy beyond the normal levels in terms of projecting the ideas and sensibilities he wanted to. He always did make anime for himself first, the audience was his second priority. That explains his lack of popularity outside Japan despite the Ghibli tag. Hell even in Japan he is probably only respected and remembered by older audiences and critics. |
eyerokDec 25, 2011 12:43 AM
| "...our faces marked by toil, by deceptions, by success, by love; our weary eyes looking still, looking always, looking anxiously for something out of life, that while it is expected is already gone – has passed unseen, in a sigh, in a flash – together with the youth, with the strength, with the romance of illusions.” - Joseph Conrad ('Youth') |
| Totally my favourite from Ghibli. Added it to my favourites to express my gratitude. |
| But if the arrow is straight And the point is slick It can pierce through dust No matter how thick... |
| The scenes where the racoons transform for the reporter (1:37) and into a forest (1:43) had me in tears. Takahata knows where to hit and hits hard. Pom Poko is a nostalgic film. If you ask me, it's his most nostalgic. I can't help but feel that the setup (cute animals, environmentalist message), given to any other director, would end in a preachy, sentimental mess. Takahata ought to be commended for the respect with which he weaves his story. |
| This film certainly had its great moments, but in the end it was just ok in my opinion. However, I could see why some people might love this one. |
| I really enjoyed this movie, at first, a felt really sad for the raccoons, but seeing them party it off put a smile on my face :D |
Arrvilja said: My opinion is the following. On one hand, it is touching and extremely educational. It teaches to take care of nature, to chose correct methods and even gives a course of sex education (detailed, but not cheesy or filthy). It also combines realism and comedy. I'd say, it is a perfect watch for children. . I dont really consider it a Children's movie per se, because 'children' are bound to miss some significant social and cultural undertones in the movie. Also, its quite common to have movies of this length today, and Ghibli movies have had a longer run time, but I can see why people would get bored of it. |
| "...our faces marked by toil, by deceptions, by success, by love; our weary eyes looking still, looking always, looking anxiously for something out of life, that while it is expected is already gone – has passed unseen, in a sigh, in a flash – together with the youth, with the strength, with the romance of illusions.” - Joseph Conrad ('Youth') |
koreye said: Arrvilja said: My opinion is the following. On one hand, it is touching and extremely educational. It teaches to take care of nature, to chose correct methods and even gives a course of sex education (detailed, but not cheesy or filthy). It also combines realism and comedy. I'd say, it is a perfect watch for children. . I dont really consider it a Children's movie per se, because 'children' are bound to miss some significant social and cultural undertones in the movie. Also, its quite common to have movies of this length today, and Ghibli movies have had a longer run time, but I can see why people would get bored of it. You a very right. Because take Tatsuya Miyanishi's "You Are Umasou" for example. Yes it is supposed to be a kid's movie, but it has a lot of deepness in it that most children won't understand until they watch it when they're older. (Like how Heart was adopted by a maiasaura and how he adopted Umasou a plant eater/hard shell despite being a meat eater.) And the movie was shorter than Pom Poko, only being an hour and a half long. |
| Over the hedge is a total ripoff of this. 9/10 |
| EL PSY KONGROO!!! |
| It was kind of weird, but I liked it. Except flying kintama capes. >__<" When they turned into the forest that was really touching. Starting tearing like mad. And this was definitely different than what I expected. I think I'm satisfied with the conclusion; they lost, but in the end they still survived. They adapted and lived on. Humans are such destructive creatures though. The forest/ countryside that it was before was so beautiful. :( This director definitely has the more interesting works. My favorite Ghibli film, Omoide Poroporo, is directed by him. :D |
| It was fun :) |
| The use of their testicles was odd, kinda of weird to have in a kids movie lol. Takahata is my least favorite Ghibli director, and this film is very similar to his others. Solid but left little to no emotional impact on me. |
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| An ok Ghibli movie. It was actually very good till youkai festival but then it suddenly lost its breath. Maybe it was way too long that it got boring and random towards the end. I felt very disconcerted in the second half, almost like its creator didn't know how to properly end it. And this is problem of many Takahata's movies. But there were also good parts there. It was uncompromising in dealing with death (either humans' or tanuki's), animation of youkai festival was simply brilliant and it managed to portray tanuki almost perfectly. Its eco-friendly themes are also worth mentioning. Still, the lack of proper direction in the second half hurt it a lot. 6/10 Whoever liked this, I recommend watching series Uchouten Kazoku by P.A.Works, that is clearly inspired by this movie and sometime it does even better in portraying tanuki. |
| Surprisingly I enjoyed this one quite a lot although it had a bittersweet feel to it at the end. I liked the way the ghost parade showed almost all of the classic Japanese folklore legends and the graphics are still fairly impressive considering it was made in 1994. The story did meander a bit in places and it was probably too long but overall I rate it 8/10. |
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| So even the ones that couldn't Transform still had their anthropomorphic form? |
 Novels I have read/am reading pending approval: since November 10 2022 |
| It was great ball/10 |
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| It was a bit different than what I expected it to be, but in general a quite lovely movie I must say! |
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| I liked it, but I definitely think Pom Poko is one of the weaker Ghibli movies. For starters I think it's a little too long. But it's also just really inconsistent tonally. Opting for cartoony samurai tanuki fights one minute, and grim imagery of dead realistic looking tanukis thrown in a bloody pile the next. I admire it's audacity in the dark things it portrayed though. Along with the animals are having trouble coexisting with us message, it reminded me of Secret of NIMH or Watership Down. I found a lot of this movie pretty damn cool. I liked all the exuberant music driven scenes. I liked its random contemporary history lesson on the expansion of Tokyo. And how it visualized that throughout the film. And while I didn't really get all of the humor, I found it frequently quite funny. Did anyone else notice the Kiki and Totoro cameo in the Big Operation scene? |
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| A film that has been able to describe in detail all that happened during the narration, in the smallest aspects, giving us something extremely real and not artificial. I think this is another fine work by director Isao Takahata. All the time to watch this film was a good time. 8.60/10 |
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| Does someone know the name of the real Japanese historical character with a bow and arrows which is "parodied" by the tanuki? (He is called the Japanese Guillaume Tell in the subtitles if it can help you) |
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| Upon closer inspection, this movie really is amazing. If you rate this bad you're just tripping over raccoon testicles |
ANTONIADE said: It's based on a real life historical event, the Battle of Yashima. The name of samurai who shot the fan is Nasu no Yoichi.Does someone know the name of the real Japanese historical character with a bow and arrows which is "parodied" by the tanuki? (He is called the Japanese Guillaume Tell in the subtitles if it can help you) |
| One of the more entertaining Ghibli films. |
| Adorable and sad movie at the same time, I was blown away by all the references to Japanese folklore, transformation sequences, and the whole message of adapting to change was conveyed quite well, tears of joy and sadness filled my eyes multiple times throught the movie. Takahata managed to show different "opinions" among tanuki, everything was great. One might complain that the cast of characters was not as distinctive, but I believe it wasn't exactly the point - like most Ghibli movies, Pom Poko is a narrative-driven story rather than a character-driven one. Even a huge part of the film is narrated instead of being conveyed by dialogue, creating a sense of a tale in the past. Even keeping this in mind, I enjoyed all those mini-stories of tanuki, they were fun to watch too. All in all, I personally love movies like that and I'm happy I finally got to watch it. It's incredibly interesting to study the influences for such a story, discover all the tales and myths that were referenced and all that. 10/10 for me, sad that such a great creator as Takahata passed away. |
| This is actually a pretty depressing film overall, where all attempts to return to nature resulted in those dreams crashing into flames. Throughout the film, Pom Poko dealt with deforestation, population control and celibacy, urbanization, education of the youth, consumerism, preservation of tradition, nature vs. nurture, gender roles, pollution, and feelings of nostalgia in the wake of continued Japanese economic development - in spite of the physical and emotional well being of its people. The film portrays humanity slowly killing all remainder of mysticism and wonder in the world, replacing them with cold, hard science and logic. The forklift constantly shadows over scenes, acting as some Grim Reaper of nature. There may have been some attempts as co-existence, but those attempts felt defeatist. The raccoons were forced to become as dreary and boring as humans, resort to scavenging while avoiding getting killed by cars and hunting, or continue escaping further and further away from human settlements, prolonging their eventual deaths. To be fair, the raccoons tried everything they could, ranging from attempting co-existence, protesting, violence, raising awareness, outright begging for help, and eventual acclimation. I can understand the bitterness and disregard towards civilization, but this film felt outright spiteful. This was exemplified towards the end, where the creation of parks and attempts at natural preservation were treated as worthless gestures for the dying raccoon population. I suppose it might be necessary as an eye-opener for audiences around the world, and blatant storytelling may be the only way to get the film's messages across. I'm glad that humanity in the film isn't necessarily treated as evil, but ignorant to its own actions. At least, ignoring the corporations and politicians vying for control over the world, wildlife dying in hoards, destruction of nature, the lust for money and power dominating arguments over the welfare of the weak...actually, I take it all back. This film is truly depressing. |
| I liked this movie, but it definitely wasn't my favorite. I thought that some things would better be done than said as most of the beginning had a narrator explaining things that could have been inferred. They also could have cut a good 30 minutes or more of filler and had the story remain cohesive, especially from the first half. The best part was definitely the parade. I love yokai and seeing them both be scary and fun! That and the faceless people. When the non-transforming raccoons all left on the boat I cried and I still haven't recovered :( |
| Before watching this film I heard some pretty average reviews about it but after watching I can say that its better than what some people say. It is very weird and bizzare. At first I definitely thought that this was meant for kids but after seeing testicle scenes and all the racoons dying I changed my mind. It definitely isn't a bad film by any means but it also feels so unusual and has uniqueness that we might don't see for a long time. Its clearly not Takahatas best work but still impressive and appealing to wide range of audiences overall. 7.9/10 |
| I liked the movie but it would be better if it had memorable characters, a faster pace and if it was 30 minutes shorter, i was kind of bored watching it in some parts, the best parts are the yokai parade and the bittersweet ending wich made me sympathize with the tanooki struggle of protecting their homeland, one of my least favorite movies from Ghibli but still good overall, 7/10 |
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eyerok said: Exactly what I wanted to say.YPZaete said: This was one of the best film I have ever watched, and I'm totally confused as to why everyone doesn't seem to like it as much as I do. Not only was it extremely fun, but also very meaningful. ! They either miss the point(s), or misunderstand the movie. When an artist goes way beyond the audience's level, thats bound to happen. Takahata became like that in the 90s, he just went wayy beyond the normal levels in terms of projecting the ideas and sensibilities he wanted to. He always did make anime for himself first, the audience was his second priority. That explains his lack of popularity outside Japan despite the Ghibli tag. Hell even in Japan he is probably only respected and remembered by older audiences and critics. |
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| i was surprised to like it so much. the end bored me a little - i do agree it feels like it loses the plot in itself sometimes - but it is so clever and it talks about so many relevant stuff even today in a funny and cute way. and i love these movies that can be enjoyable to children and teach them lessons, but have equally deep and important messages - sometimes even depressing ones - to adults in the same story. not my favorite, but i do recognize the value of it. |
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| wow, one of the most unique film of ghibli film till now out of all I have seen ( both in art style and narration). This time the message was also heavy. As everyone said those tanuki got some balls... I enjoyed it. Very interesting Was this by any chance inspiration for the creation of "the eccentric family" ? (it's seems very possible since its original novel was released in 2007) |
  Click for a anime mashup! Still not gone bandwagon u, keep crying. Here u are welcome to CRINGE at my EXISTENCE |
|Adampk said: wow, one of the most unique film of ghibli film till now out of all I have seen ( both in art style and narration). This time the message was also heavy. As everyone said those tanuki got some balls... I enjoyed it. Very interesting Was this by any chance inspiration for the creation of "the eccentric family" ? (it's seems very possible since its original novel was released in 2007) Not likely. The true inspiration for both Pom Poko and eccentric family comes from old Japanese folk tales, wherein Tanuki are depicted as shapeshifters who can take the form of humans or even possess them. |
| "...our faces marked by toil, by deceptions, by success, by love; our weary eyes looking still, looking always, looking anxiously for something out of life, that while it is expected is already gone – has passed unseen, in a sigh, in a flash – together with the youth, with the strength, with the romance of illusions.” - Joseph Conrad ('Youth') |
eyerok said: Adampk said: wow, one of the most unique film of ghibli film till now out of all I have seen ( both in art style and narration). This time the message was also heavy. As everyone said those tanuki got some balls... I enjoyed it. Very interesting Was this by any chance inspiration for the creation of "the eccentric family" ? (it's seems very possible since its original novel was released in 2007) Not likely. The true inspiration for both Pom Poko and eccentric family comes from old Japanese folk tales, wherein Tanuki are depicted as shapeshifters who can take the form of humans or even possess them. What u said may be true. But still inspiration from folk tales is not the only similarity between them. Pom poko envisioned future is very thematically similar to Eccentric family setting, even the tanuki behaviorism and their bad luck is somewhat similar in both. I have not read the folklore, so idk is those existed in it. But since both are from japan, it is not farfetched to imagine Tomihiko Morimi has seen pom poko at some point. |
Click for a anime mashup! Still not gone bandwagon u, keep crying. Here u are welcome to CRINGE at my EXISTENCE |
| this is surprisingly one of the best ghibli films i have ever seen... amazing... i kept thinking throughout it that i want to rewatch this in the future, which is very rare of me, because i do not rewatch things unless under a blue moon. the animation was legendary... there is no amount of rewinding i can do that is enough. where do you even start? it had everything. and i'm glad that even the ending wasn't some contrived happy-go-lucky closure. the humans kept building regardless, turning the world into one not of content co-existence but one that leaned towards the humans having an upper hand in every way possible. this hit close to home for me as i grew up with those same beliefs and i've been in the exact same nature that they were recreating in their last illusion. despite sharing this same sentiment of disapproving how humanity has displaced far too many animals and their habitat for construction and development, it is only a losing battle. as illustrated here... the tanuki exhausted all their options. how upsetting and entertaining the movie, ponpoko is. i suddenly feel crestfallen, but 10/10. |
| Man, this movie is FULL of Japanese folk culture, what an amazing job. And ironically, that's the same culture that is going to extinction, faster and even more seriously than tanukis and kitsunes in Japan. The movie could be shorter thought. Too much tanuki party, too much characters and almost none devenlopment of them individually. A beatiful meaning but a weak storytelling. |
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| Good movie but weak in some parts 1st half of it was pretty good, was boring afterwards Animation was mind-blowing |
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| Message aside, that had the coolest, fluid and creative animation I have watched in a Ghibli film, hell, possibly even in all of anime. Those transformation scenes were just incredible to watch. That parade was full of probably the most variety of Japanese folklore you'll see in one sequence, amazing to watch. |
| This is the last film I'd expect to make me cry, but it did. Most of the film is fun and lighthearted. There are some scenes where tanuki get injured or killed and although they are impactful and sad, they don't cause much sorrow. However the last 10 or so minutes are absolutely devastating. Tears came to my eyes when the tanuki created an illusion of the forest and hills as they once were. Seeing them cry and then run into the nature only for it to return to as is now, destroyed and urbanized, is sad beyond measure. 10/10. |
| what a strange darkly comedic and bittersweet movie. like a legend, a fairytale, and documentary all at once. yup i loved it |
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