Yanagawa Canal Story & Ocean Waves

These are two Ghibli DVDs I don't own yet.

Ocean Waves, from what I understand, was produced for TV. Aside from the one track on the Studio Ghibli Songs CD, I know next to nothing else about the film.

This goes double for Yanagawa Canal Story; I'm having trouble determining if this is animated/live action, documentary/fiction etc.

Would any kind, wise soul care to enlighten me as to what these two film are like and if they're worth a blind buy or not ?

Thanks!

Brendon

Ocean Waves (directed by Mochizuki Tomoni) is a typical high-school romance drama. The story is an adaptation of a novel by Saeko Himuro, which focuses on the love triangle and conflicts between two boys and one girls. Though the plot sounds cliched, some people think that this movie excels in illustrating the complex relationship and friendship between the characters. It has even been regarded as being more realistic and better than its live-action successor. Nevertheless, I have to admit that I was completely bored and disappointed by this Ghibli work. Perhaps this sort of drama, animated or not, is never my cup of tea. Still, I strongly recommend you to get a copy and judge it by yourself. Maybe it will end up as your favourite Ghibli movie!

The Yanagawa Canal Story is a live-action documentary that took Takahata years of effort to complete. As far as I know, it talks about the history of the canal, the inhabitants around it, and the recent problems they encounter. But as I have never seen it myself, I cannot comment on it. Perhaps Nanashi the resident Ghibli expert can tell you more about it.

The DVD of Ocean Waves is available in both Taiwan (R3) and Japan (R2), while the Canal documentary is only available in Japan. You can check them out in these sites:



Ocean Waves (Umi ga Kikoeru, a.k.a. I Can Hear the Sea)
R2: http://www.cdjapan.co.jp/detailview.html?KEY=VWDZ-8026
R3: http://global.yesasia.com/en/PrdDept.asp.../section-anime/

Yanagawa Horiwari Monogatari (The Story of Yanagawa's Canals) - Ghibli Gakujutsu Library (English Subtitles)
R2: http://www.cdjapan.co.jp/detailview.html?KEY=VWDZ-8518

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Also in Japan, the fan that sees yanagawa in the theater is very few. but i saw it.
i saw it considerably before. so, i dont remember it well.
its as Jiji said. Yanagawa is a live-action pure documentary film. if you expect to it seems ghibli, you might be disappointed.
i wouldnt recommend it. excluding the person who wants to see ALL works of Takahata.

Ocean Waves is a romance drama.
after i saw the Whisper of the Heart in the theater, i wanted to see the romantic drama. and saw the video of Ocean Waves again. its such a movie.