Gake no Ue no Ponyo

A goldfish sneaks away from home and floats off on the back of a jellyfish. After getting stuck in a glass jar, she drifts to the shore where she is freed by Sousuke, a five-year-old boy who lives with his mother Lisa in a house by the sea while his father Koichi works on a fishing boat. After healing a cut on Sousuke's finger by licking it, the goldfish is named Ponyo by her new friend.

Unknown to Sousuke, Ponyo already has a name and a family. Her father Fujimoto, a sorcerer who forsook his humanity to live underwater, searches frantically for his daughter Brunhilde. When found and captured, Ponyo rejects her birth name and declares that she wants to become a human. Using the power received from Sousuke's blood, she grows arms and legs and escapes to the surface once more. But the magic released into the ocean causes an imbalance in nature, causing the Moon to start falling out of orbit and the tides to grow dangerously stronger. Reunited with Ponyo, Sousuke must pass an ancient test to restore order in the world and let his companion live on as a human.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Ponyo Main

Kouzuki, Yuria Japanese

Sousuke Main

Doi, Hiroki Japanese

Fujimoto Supporting

Tokoro, George Japanese

Lisa Supporting

Yamaguchi, Tomoko Japanese

Granmammare Supporting

Amami, Yuuki Japanese

Yoshie Supporting

Naraoka, Tomoko Japanese

Kumiko Supporting

Hiraoka, Eimi Japanese

Toki Supporting

Yoshiyuki, Kazuko Japanese

Koichi Supporting

Suzuki, Toshio Producer

Miyazaki, Hayao Director, Script, Executive Producer, Screenplay, Animation Director

Kimura, Eriko Sound Director

Medel, Jennifer Script

Reviews

Jun 17, 2024

bergars

Recommended

You know? Maybe I can like Hayao Miyazaki movies.

“Ponyo” wasn't the regurgitated formula of “the world is the story” that so many others sell me when talking about his movies. All I needed was a proper main character to experience this world while having a story of his own. Both intersect, and both feed into each other, but it isn't just a one-sided fight.

It felt like the world, and the characters were dancing together with a beautifully slow song. A ballet of calmness, where even in the strings of intense moments, there wasn't ever a feeling that there were no stakes. The world is ... crumbling, but from the perspective of characters that don't particularly suffer from it.

The innocence in such a cataclysmic event filled my heart every time I saw those relaxing moments, juxtaposed with impending doom over something as cute as two kids accepting each other however they look, or are. Proper movie, proper problems that MUST be solved, but equally, a cast of characters that WANT IT to be over.

Everybody advances the story, the world reacts accordingly, and there isn't a second or third act separation, none of that BS. Proper trust, and support from everybody on every occasion, and the organic conflict that is people wanting different things feels like a natural eventuality.

Reminded me of my childhood, and how much I liked “The Little Mermaid”. Instead, this pictures love as something incredibly pure, without the over-the-top villains, and frames it in well-mannered kids that surprise me for being 5 years old. I guess a gripe would be the impossible maturity in these kids.

Stunning animation, incredible sound design, the music was fun, the story was great, and I almost have no issues with it. There were some moments of disengagement, but c'mon. Even I can't look at this and point fingers. It's such a good movie, with such a beautiful world and story.

9.6/10. First Miyazaki movie I've thoroughly enjoyed.

Reviewer’s Rating: 10

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Jul 27, 2021

SnailKai

Mixed Feelings

At first I thought this movie was gonna be very different than what it was actually like, I was expecting something more along the lines of an ordinary every day kids cartoon but instead it was like if the writers of Emperor's New Groove had taken LSD then tried to write an anime. All aside this movie was very interesting and unique, i feel like they could've definitely gone a different direction but im definitely okay with how it went. The beginning is very weird with a magical person seducing fish then chasing a fat baby to land after it hitched a ride inside a ... jelly fish? I wish we had a bit more context at the start with Ponyo and her father and what their relationship was like and why Ponyo doesnt like her father.
I like how Sosuke actually acts like a 5 year old, in other shows you'll see children acting very differently than how a regular 5 year old would but nope, Sosuke hangs out with the elderly women at the senior centre because they find him cute, he puts a fish in a bucket after finding it in the fucking ocean (where it lives), forgives his dad for being an absent workaholic, doesnt question why a "fish?" is speaking to him? Y'know normal stuff. We dont even find out what Ponyo even is even after it nearly killed him by flooding the island him and his village live on.
Finding it very odd that the mum doesnt even suspect anything when Ponyo comes back as a little girl she just dries her off from the ocean and is like "welp yeah you're here now"

Reviewer’s Rating: 6

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Dec 27, 2020

TangyAbleOrange

Not Recommended

The animation is great as ever when it comes to Studio Ghibli. The difference here is the story lacks the same charm and purpose as other Ghibli works. Not only that, the story is awful. It's like if the story started with a concept and then forwent developing it and instead went the opposite direction of anything meaningful and worthwhile. I didn't care about either of the protagonists, and the other characters were amazingly flat. I suppose I enjoyed some of the orchestral works, though the title song is obnoxious. This is obviously intended for a younger audience, though that didn't stop former family Ghibli ... films from instilling a sense of magical wonder even adults could connect with. Overall, it's skippable.

Reviewer’s Rating: 4

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