Totoro, TO-TO-RO!!

One of my greatest obsessions in life has to do with Studio Ghibli films, which is, using a not so good analogy, kind of like the Japanese Walt Disney. I was first introduced to Studio Ghibli thanks to my parents, who both served a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints to Japan in their early twenties, before they knew each other and were married. Because of that, me, my brother and sister often grew up with Japanese influenced things, like yummy food (which I still LOVE to cook!!), random phrases, Japanese shoes (geta) and kimono, and of course, anime. Blessed, blessed anime. When we were little we watched the movie “My Neighbor Totoro” for the first time. I’m not going to lie, Japanese cartoons can be a little confusing if you’re not really familiar with the culture, but oh buddy are they worth it. Pretty much ever since watching “Totoro”, I’ve wanted my very own forest spirit living in my backyard, especially a ginormous fluffy one that I can cuddle. Adorable. Since “growing up” (as if that is even possible), I’ve become very attached to “Spirited Away” as well, it always helps me gain the courage to get through the rough parts of life. I’ve also recently fallen in love with “Howl’s Moving Castle”, as you could probably note from my earlier post “The Perfect Guy…”. “Ponyo” is also fantastic. Is it odd that I want my love life to reflect that little friendship of two 5 year olds? Probably… I’m slowly working my way through the rest of the Studio Ghibli classics. Hopefully this is an amazing tradition that I can pass on to my kids as well, because let’s be honest, these movies are much better than most American cartoons by far!