Laputa: Castle in the Sky (1986)

Laputa: Castle in the Sky (1986)

 8/10

Starring the voices of

Mayumi Tanaka

Keiko Yokozawa

Kotoe Hatsui

Minori Terada

Directed by Hayao Miyazaki

 

Laputa: Castle in the Sky is a beautiful animation, with a deep story that comes with enough twist and turns to have you glued steady to the adventure before you and not lose pace. The story is rich and colorful with brilliant takes on relationships and dedication. I have to commend Hayao Miyazaki (which he wrote and directed) for this animation because not only was it well written by him, his directorial prowess can be seen all over. Especially the two turns the movie takes, the rescue of Sheeta from the hands of Dola and the army and the rescue of Sheeta from the army, after she and Pazu joined Dola’s crew.

This anime for me can be rated as one of the best things to see, you can see the power of its influence in many anime done after it, video games and also many cartoons. It is a classic true and true, majorly because of the way the drama weaves round the fantasy producing an adventure never before seen.

The movie starts with pirates attacking an airship which was carrying a young lady named Sheeta. At first you will think it was a rescue, but the way the pirates were going about, you come to understand that it is kidnapping attempt. Then the girl acts in a way that shows that initially in that airship she is being held against her will.

She escapes from her initial captors and the intended captors only to fall from the sky, into the arms of a boy named Pazu, living in a mining town. Pazu is perplexed by the way Sheeta fell and comes to understand that the necklace on her neck was the one who saved her, not actually him. Not long, the town is attacked by the pirates and the army looking for the girl. Pazu and Sheeta escape with the aid of the necklace down a mining shaft.

It was from here that the animation takes on a new speed, as Sheeta gets captured by the army eventually and Pazu has to join in with the pirates to go after the army and save Sheeta.

The animation takes on a steady pace, with many things happening left right and center, not dropping off at any point. A critical commercial hit for Studio Ghibli, here is a animation you can watch with your children (more matured ones who can appreciate the fantasy).