Character of the Month: Porco Rosso



Greetings, fabulous people of the Internet!   Miyazaki May is coming to a close, and that means it’s time once again to talk about Character of the Month.  I’ll be completely honest here, this month’s pick was kind of hard because both of the movies I reviewed for Miyazaki May were pretty average.  Nothing really stood out, but what this pick came down to was the performance.  So, with that being said, let’s talk about Miyazaki May’s Character of the Month, Porco Rosso from (well) Porco Rosso!
For those who missed my review on Porco Rosso, Porco Rosso is a rogue pilot who has an unusual cursed placed on him that turns him into a pig.  The film follows him after his plane is destroyed by an American pilot, forcing him to get a new plane in Italy-where he’s wanted by the government.  He soon escapes with a new plane and assistant only to be caught by sea plane pirates and the American pilot from before with his only way out being a duel between him and the American.  And to make a long synopsis short, Porco wins the duel and everyone goes about the merry way.
Though I don’t think this would be a shock to anyone, Kaguya from The Tale of the Princess Kaguya was my other option for Character of the Month.  And as I mentioned before, both Porco and Kaguya are average characters from average movies.  Both of them are serviceable in their respected films in terms of moving the plot along but don’t have enough depth or intrigue to make them stand out.  But Porco won the spot for me over Kaguya because of the performance done in the English dub.  If you watched my review on The Tale of the Princess Kaguya, I mentioned how I wasn’t a big fan of the dubbing.  Not that the dub was bad, I just felt that everyone seemed to give the bare minimum.  I didn’t get that with Porco Rosso;  Michael Keaton does a great job portraying Porco, even though you can tell it’s Michael Keaton doing a voiceover.  He gives a genuinely good performance here.  And while that’s not to say that Kaguya’s English voice actress, Chloë Grace Moretz, didn’t do a good job herself in her performance in The Tale of the Princess Kaguya, there were a lot of times I felt she could have given more.  More passion, more drama, just more of something!  Again, it was a close call this time around, but I had to give it to everyone’s favorite pig pilot.  So keep giving meaning to the phrase “when pigs fly,” Porco Rosso, cause you’re Hanime on Anime’s Character of Miyazaki May!

And so, that wraps up 2019’s Miyazaki May.  Be sure to stay tuned June 2nd for another video review on one of the most talked about Winter 2019 shows, more or less for the better. 

-Hanime on Anime


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