Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea

I haven't seen many movies recently, since I don't have enough time to go to theaters. But I watched the movie called "Gake no Ue no Ponyo" in the September. (The English title of the movie is "Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea".)

This is the latest Miyazaki Hayao’s movie, and the story is an original one, not based on novels (although, many people believe that it was based on Andersen’s “The Little Mermaid”.) One of the notable things about movie is, the film isn’t animated in computer graphics but in hand-drawn. It has taken 14 billion yen as of September 15th.

This move takes place in a port town in Japan, which name is unknown. One day, human boy called Sousuke saved a gold fish girl, Ponyo, who was stuck in a bottle. They became to like each other, even she wised to become a human girl. But her father, Fujimoto, took her away to sea. He was planning to cause a flood on Earth and turn it into part of sea, by filling his well with "Water of Life". When Ponyo managed to escape from there with helps of her sisters, she filled the well with the water, not on purpose. Soon, a huge storm started to blow and the town was being struck by a tsunami! The world’s destiny is in Sousuke and Ponyo’ clutches…

...Well, in some reviews on the Internet, they say "the story is not good, it’s just for little kids, unlike other Miyazaki’s movies". Surely, it IS for kids, so I didn’t expect the plot to be complicated. But I thought design of characters, props and backgrounds were simply awesome, they were very beautiful! Especially, when the most of the town disappeared under the sea… As for characters, all of them are nice people by heart, which made me feel good.

I recommend this movie to you, who wants to see sweet and heart-warming one.

My Summer Vacation

During the summer vacation, on August 21st to 23rd, I went to Osaka for a camp of university drama club. One week later of that, I went to Mie Prefecture for a camp of Department of British & English Studies. Both of them were good experiences for me, but this time, I’m going to write about my part-time job.

I didn’t feel like nor even wasn’t interested in working. But my mother had always told me to get a job and yarn money for my commuter passes & cell phone bill. So, I started to find one after the end of the 1st semester. At first, I applied to a cashier of a bakery store, but I was rejected. Next, I went to a job interview of a clerk at a bookstore, though I couldn’t get a job again. Then, I applied to a worker of a convenience store. Finally, I was able to get the job.

On the first day, I was very nervous about working at a convenience store. There are so many things to learn like: working at a cashier, putting products on shelves, making French fries and fried chickens…etc. I’m not good at memorizing and I’m clumsy, so I couldn’t do the job pretty well on that day.

But now, with the help of other workers and the manager, I’m getting used to working little by little. I can’t say that the pay is not very good, but when I finish working of a day, I can bring food products, which expired dates, to home.

I can’t be lazy on all day at weekends anymore, but it’s good that I don’t waste time and getting money. I want to save money for a trip to meet friends who live in other countries. Still, I still prefer drawing & painting pictures to working, though.

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