Studio Ghibli DVDs tend to be region encoded. In fact in the past they took measures to stop the cheaper official Hong Kong region free versions coming out. I remember they even didn't english subtitle the expensive japanese region 2 versions of their discs.
Japan releases “PONYO ON THE CLIFF” with English subs on the 3rd of July! BluRay follows…
Title says all, really: the Japanese DVD for “Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea” is scheduled for release on the 3rd of July. And it will feature English subs even though the US theatrical release is quite nearby calendar-wise.
Some huuuuuge documentaries (as in: more than 10 hours long) are also on the agenda.
For the HD-addicted amongst us the wait will be quite a bit longer: the BluRay is scheduled for December…
(Whether or not Studio Ghibli this time plans to add an annoying blue tint for correcting televisions which are too red has not been disclosed…)
But Ponyo is interesting because I read it's a film that Miyazaki wasn't going to make. I think he made it after the whole situation with his older son Goro Miyazaki making Tales of Earthsea. I wonder if anyone else knows what happened there.
Anyway, Ponyo is supposed to be about his son as a kid. That's what I read about it. So I guess if you know that and then watch Ponyo it'd make more sense.
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ASK_Story said:I want to see this film since I'm a huge Miyazaki fan.
But Ponyo is interesting because I read it's a film that Miyazaki wasn't going to make. I think he made it after the whole situation with his older son Goro Miyazaki making Tales of Earthsea. I wonder if anyone else knows what happened there.
Anyway, Ponyo is supposed to be about his son as a kid. That's what I read about it. So I guess if you know that and then watch Ponyo it'd make more sense.
I've seen the film. Ponyo is the female sea sprite, the boy is called something else I can't remember. The boy is based on Goro as a boy in terms of mannerisms. After the Tales of Earthsea bust up it seems like Hayao was sending out an olive branch to his son with that revelation.
I can't believe how long I've been waiting for this film to come out on DVD and still 3 long months to go.
GG I saw Howl's Moving Castle last night. I didn't understand shit.
SteelAttack said:Huh? What happeneed between Miyazaki and his son?
GG I saw Howl's Moving Castle last night. I didn't understand shit.
Basically the guy who did Whisper of the Heart was going to be the next big director for Ghibli and was Miyazakis chosen protege. But he died.
Goro his son did the Ghibli museum and was brought on board as a director by Suzuki for Tales of Earthsea, a project which Hayao decided not to do. He panned his sons work and said that he wouldn't have had him directing a film.
What didn't you understand about Howl?
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Tell me to get back to rewriting this site so it's not horrible on mobileI didn't know the Whisper of the Heart director passed away. Even though Miyazaki did the storyboards and the writing, that movie was still great. It's one of my favorite Ghibli films.
Anyway, I haven't seen Tales of Earthsea. I heard it didn't turn out too well even getting shame awards from Japan, which is the same thing as the Raspberry awards here in the US.
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ASK_Story said:I didn't know the Whisper of the Heart director passed away. Even though Miyazaki did the storyboards and the writing, that movie was still great. It's one of my favorite Ghibli films.
Anyway, I haven't seen Tales of Earthsea. I heard it didn't turn out too well even getting shame awards from Japan, which is the same thing as the Raspberry awards here in the US.
I hated it at first (as a fan of the books) but liked it well enough on second viewing. I think that Goro has potential. He needs to work on humour and entertainment a bit more, have that playful gentle humour Miyazaki films can have. But its not bad at all, I would level peg it with Nausicca personally.
They dont explain the bit at the end which is silly and I had all the backstory so I suppose it meant more to me.
Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea (DVD) (Normal Edition) (English Subtitled) (Japan Version)
Miyazaki Hayao's 2008 animated masterpiece Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea finally comes to DVD! As with any Miyazaki film, this magical tale of a young goldfish who yearns to become a human girl is not only a movie, but an event in Asia. Released theatrically in Japan in July 2008, the auteur's ninth Studio Ghibli film took the local box office by storm, grossing over 15 billion yen to become the highest-grossing film of the year by a large margin. It is also the first Japanese film to pass the 10 billion yen mark since Miyazaki's previous Howl's Moving Castle. Pointedly sticking to traditional animation in the age of CG, Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea is completely hand-drawn to fine detail, from magnificent rippling waves to magical underwater creatures to Ponyo's every gesture. Dotted with the strong environmental themes and fantastical leaps of imagination signature to Miyazaki's works, the film turns an endearing pint-sized love story into a visually and emotionally enchanting experience of grand proportions. A heartwarming family feature for all ages, Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea inspires the kind of wide-eyed wonder only possible in a Ghibli film.
Five-year-old boy Sosuke lives on a cliff by the sea with his headstrong mother, Lisa. One day he rescues a curious-looking fish from the sea, and names her Ponyo. Sosuke vows to love and protect Ponyo forever, but little does he know, his new pet is no ordinary fish. Ponyo is actually the runaway daughter of an eccentric sea wizard who soon comes to retrieve her. Enchanted by her first taste of the world above sea, Ponyo determinedly steals her father's potions to become a human girl, and happily returns to Sosuke on the tails of a terrific storm. Her little escapade, however, has released a great destabilizing magical force into the world. When Sosuke and Ponyo wake up the next morning, their town has been completely submerged underwater.
$53
£36
http://twitchfilm.net/site/view/ponyo-on-the-cliff-now-availabe-to-order-on-dvd/
Ard noted a little while back that Hayao Miyazaki’s Ponyo On The Cliff was due for a Japanese DVD release - English subtitles included - this July and now that edition is available for order. It comes in two varieties: the basic edition and a luxury nine disc set that includes the film, a twelve-hour five-disc making of documentary, and a two disc live performance from Miyazaki’s regular composer Joe Hisaishi. With the domestic release of the film also due this summer the patient among you - or those with young children who will require the dubbed version - will want to wait, but for the impatient the time is now. Oh, and that crazy doc? Also available on it’s own, though it doesn’t appear to include subtitles.
OMFG? Is that the Ghibli concert thing on DVD? ZOMG????? 
Holy crapola the prices! 
yesasia.com
Standard edition £36/$53
Making of DVD set £68/$101
Special edition with 5 disc making of & 2 disc concert £141/$210
Yeah, a 9 disc set. £141
I really want the concert and movie. Screw the making of.
But even the normal edition is £36/$53????
WTF man!
BVi France the French Distributor has put up 7 high quality clips and a trailer on their youtube portal.
http://www.youtube.com/user/BVIFrance
All videos can be found here:
http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=152A66E2E2AC1DCF
Make sure you hit the HQ option and it helps if you speak French for the subtitles.
Ponyo is a feast for all fans that were wishing Miyazaki would return to his pre-Mononoke era, and for those people it might even reach the same heights as Totoro did. The only reservation I have is the fast introduction of dramatic tension, which was hardly appropriate, but ignoring that there is plenty of magic to go around. A lovely film to watch in theaters with an appreciative audience and one little Japanese toddler in particular, who started crying halfway through (when Ponyo was abducted) but at the end of the movie was happily dancing along to the theme song. It is good to see Miyazaki return to his former self after 15 years, Ponyo is definitely up there with the best of his work and is a good step up from Mononoke, Chihiro and Howl. Hope he keeps making films like this for a long, long time. Ponyo is the feel-good movie of the year, hands down.