[This is a review of the whole series.]We sometimes encounter things—moments, vistas, sounds, ideas—that wholly disarm us. Things that slide so neatly between our hope for the world and our experience of the world that our rational mind is sheared momentarily from the engine of our dreams, that part of us that fuels and crafts desires, longings, hopes, and wishes. We sometimes encounter things that divorce us from the corrupting coolness of reason and leave us in a state, however temporary, of unblemished joy. These things are treasures. These things give us a glimpse of What May Have Been and sometimes even What Could Someday Be. These things are rare and wonderful.And sometimes these things are books.Yotsuba&amp;! is one of these sources of magic for me. And, I suspect, for a great number of others as well. Kiyohiko Azuma’s series is an unexpected pleasure. Even if one approaches the work with the knowledge that Yotsuba&amp;! bubbles forth as a fountain of joyfulness, this little girl’s nature and adventures will still surprise in how purely they deliver one into this momentary Other Place.Plainly put, Yotsuba&amp;! is one of my favorite reading experiences of all time and the only one to so wholly transport me into a world of smiles and laughter.Azuma’s story concerns a strange young girl—a five-year-old with green hair and pigtails—and the way she interacts with the world about her. (Her name, Yotsuba, means four-leaf and refers conveniently enough to the way she wears her green hair in four distinct pigtails.) While there is always some exploration of the outside world, the book primarily revolves around Yotsuba’s interactions with her father, Koiwai, and her next-door neighbours and their three daughters.Plot descriptions, of course, cannot remotely approach conveying any sense of why these stories are such a joy. Really, they have to be experienced firsthand to fully apprehend their power to carve out so magical a world, but here: let me at least try.Yotsuba’s sense of wonder in the way she approaches an environment with which she apparently has had no experience is astonishing in its guilelessness. Yotsuba brims with enthusiasm and the pleasure with which she takes on each new experience leaves us breathless as that enthusiasm spreads. Her father is consistently amused by her naïveté and her neighbours are never certain what exactly to make of her. And yet, she really does inspire affection in everyone she encounters.Again, my descriptions can only serve as a diminishment to what pleasures are actually found in the book. I am entirely out of my depth to sound out Yotsuba&amp;!'s charms, but perhaps we should just leave it at this: whenever a new volume arrives in the mail, I curl up comfortably with my wife, finding the best lighting possible under such snuggly conditions, and I read each chapter to her aloud, trying to muster in my own voice the clear enthusiasm in Yotsuba’s own.And then we both smile a lot.______________________It should be noted that there are two English translations available. ADV Manga held the license for Yotsuba&amp;! for a number of years but as the manga bubble burst due to over saturation and ADV experienced its own problems that from the outside simply looked like poor business management, the company let slip the license to publish the book in America. Yen Press thankfully picked it up and has been publishing ever since, both taking on the new volumes and republishing their own translations of the previously released volumes.While I am very thankful that due to Yen Press’ work, Yotsuba&amp;! is still available to readers today, I really did prefer ADV’s translation. While I don’t speak or read Japanese, it looks like Yen Press’ translation is probably more faithful to the original language, retaining honorifics such and -san and -chan. That’s good and I applaud their fidelity, but as a reader, ADV’s work just flows better and breathes more life into Yotsuba and her supporting cast. While the books are still greatly enjoyable, whenever I read the books out loud, I find myself translating from Yen Press’ English into ADV’s on the fly. It’s tiring, but it makes for an altogether better experience for readers/listeners.[review courtesy of Good Ok Bad]

As the 21st century approaches, a new 20th-century museum has opened in town, for the adults to relive their childhood. However, the owners of the museum seem to have other plans for it. The adults start to behave strangely, and one morning, they abandon their children for the 20th-century museum. Shinnosuke, along with his friends, must now rescue his parents and stop the world from returning to the 20th century before they get captured.

An (almost) live action documentary movie, this independent movie was produced by Nibariki (Miyazaki's personal office), with the royalty revenue from Nausicaä. At first, it was supposed to be an animated film which took place in the town of Yanagawa. After the success of Nausicaä, Tokuma wanted to produce another animated movie (of course, they wanted a Nausicaä sequel), and Miyazaki was looking for a good project. Miyazaki visited Yanagawa, and was impressed by the beautiful town with its canals, and came up with an idea for a film about high school boys and girls in Yanagawa, and thought that Takahata, who worked as a producer for Nausicaä, should direct such a film. However, when Takahata visited Yanagawa for research, he came to be more interested in the history of the town, especially how local people fought to preserve the canals which have been a part of the community for a long time, and how they put a great deal of effort to clean up the once polluted canals. As a result, it became a live action documentary, and Miyazaki decided to spend his own money on it. It took three years for Takahata to complete this film.

Ahiru (literally 'Duck' in Japanese), is a young girl in a junior high school's beginner ballet program. She's prone to stammering and clutziness. She has a huge crush on her senpai, Mytho, a melancholy young man who doesn't speak much. Ahiru discovers that Mytho is actually the prince out of a story written by the mysterious Drosselmeyer. When Drosselmeyer died, the prince and the evil crow that were battling in his novel escaped. The prince defeated the crow, but only at the expense of shattering his own heart. Mytho is a boy without feeling or understanding. Drosselmeyer, however, has somehow returned, and has offered Ahiru a chance to help Mytho. She must become Princess Tutu, a magical ballerina, and help reclaim the pieces of her prince's heart. There is a catch, of course--Mytho is being controlled by his roommate Fakir, also a dancer, who seems to want to keep the boy soulless and heartless. Drosselmeyer also told Ahiru that a certain dream she's been having is real. She really is just a little duck, and has been transformed into a girl only so that she can become Princess Tutu. If she starts stammering-- quacking like a duck-- she'll turn back into one.

Our intrepid adolescent heroes wake up to find their beloved television stolen, and embark on an epic journey across America to recover it, and, who knows, maybe even score. On the way they encounter a murderous smuggler of a deadly virus and his treacherous wife, an FBI agent with a predilection for cavity searches, a couple of rather familiar looking ex-Motley Crue roadies, Mr. Van Dreesen singing "Lesbian Seagull", a little old lady and of course Mr. Anderson and his trailer. Can the Great Cornholio save the day? Uh-huh. Huh-huh.

1996 animated film directed by Mike Judge

In 2029 the mutant population has shrunken significantly due to genetically modified plants designed to reduce mutant powers and the X-Men have disbanded. Logan, whose power to self-heal is dwindling, has surrendered himself to alcohol and now earns a living as a chauffeur. He takes care of the ailing old Professor X whom he keeps hidden away. One day, a female stranger asks Logan to drive a girl named Laura to the Canadian border. At first he refuses, but the Professor has been waiting for a long time for her to appear. Laura possesses an extraordinary fighting prowess and is in many ways like Wolverine. She is pursued by sinister figures working for a powerful corporation; this is because they made her, with Logan's DNA. A decrepit Logan is forced to ask himself if he can or even wants to put his remaining powers to good use. It would appear that in the near-future, the times in which they were able put the world to rights with razor sharp claws and telepathic powers are now over.

A troupe of travelling players arrive at a small seaport in the south of Japan. Komajuro Arashi, the aging master of the troupe, goes to visit his old flame Oyoshi and their son Kiyoshi, even though Kiyoshi believes Komajuro is his uncle. The leading actress Sumiko is jealous and so, in order to humiliate the master, persuades the younger actress Kayo to seduce Kiyoshi.

When renowned crime novelist Harlan Thrombey (Christopher Plummer) is found dead at his estate just after his 85th birthday, the inquisitive and debonair Detective Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig) is mysteriously enlisted to investigate. From Harlan's disfunctional family to his devoted staff, Blanc sifts through a web of red herrings and self-serving lies to uncover the truth behind Harlan's untimely death.

Huge advancements in scientific technology have enabled a mogul to create an island full of living dinosaurs. John Hammond has invited four individuals, along with his two grandchildren, to join him at Jurassic Park. But will everything go according to plan? A park employee attempts to steal dinosaur embryos, critical security systems are shut down and it now becomes a race for survival with dinosaurs roaming freely over the island.

An ancient Ring thought lost for centuries has been found, and through a strange twist of fate has been given to a small Hobbit named Frodo. When Gandalf discovers the Ring is in fact the One Ring of the Dark Lord Sauron, Frodo must make an epic quest to the Cracks of Doom in order to destroy it. However, he does not go alone. He is joined by Gandalf, Legolas the elf, Gimli the Dwarf, Aragorn, Boromir, and his three Hobbit friends Merry, Pippin, and Samwise. Through mountains, snow, darkness, forests, rivers and plains, facing evil and danger at every corner the Fellowship of the Ring must go. Their quest to destroy the One Ring is the only hope for the end of the Dark Lords reign.

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