What Is The Main Theme Of Kitoto The Mighty?

A very practical theme of communication and its failure is developed in the stories: missed calls and texts that do not arrive, names forgotten, letters that arrive late. Most of the plots are constructed around the communications between the two body-swapped characters and the failed attempts to understand each other in the world that they are both in to return to. The moments of clear and perfect understanding in all the stories are extremely rare and precious against the background of so much ‘noise’. The themes are not limited to romantic misunderstandings but extend to the basic problems of human communication in order to convey one’s inner world to another human being. The supernatural elements in the stories are often used as a metaphor for such communication: a magical connection that goes around the normal ways of human communication and conveys the message of the supernatural connection that is so difficult to achieve in real life.

A children’s manifesto – ‘I Like Myself!’ is a joyful celebration of kid-sized self-empowerment. Written and illustrated to convey unshakeable self-love via some very unusual and humorous differences (covering yourself in spots, having a warthog’s nose for example), this charming little book asks kids to declare their love of all things ‘me’. This is so much more than accepting differences; it’s actively celebrating them in an enthusiastic manner. The wild, exciting, often-chaotic world of illustrations beautifully mirrors that of a kid’s imagination, which lends credence to the book’s delightfully natural message of confidence – and of learning how to tap into it – via laughter.

This is compared with other disaster movies of the era. Many of these end with a clear moral to the story or with a heavy-handed commentary on society. However, as was stated earlier, ‘The High and the Mighty’ ends on a completely different note. The change that takes place in the film is between individuals, and not between society as a whole and the airline. The airline is not condemned in the film, the pilots are heroes. Instead of concentrating on the passengers and their interior lives instead of looking for blame or a way to reform society the focus of the film is with the passengers as they go through change because of a disaster. The disaster is not the plane crash at the end of the film, the disaster is the emotional and spiritual stagnation of the passengers. Their rescue from this disaster is the crisis that occurs and leads to change in their lives. The safe landing of the plane is simply the means to an end.

The Fourteenth Goldfish is a story at its soul about childhood and its complexities and the consequences of adulthood. Ellie’s grandpa, having been turned into a teenager by science, becomes the focal point of an existential crisis that Ellie must face. Grandpa’s obsession with reversing his aging process leads Ellie to a realization that her grandfather’s search for eternal life may mean missing out on the best part of life right now. What made me laugh in this book was Grandpa’s grumpy-genius shtick. I never knew that a Nobel laureate could throw a fit about the quality of the institutional food served in a university. But in the midst of much humor, there is also much tenderness. Ellie has to learn Science with the same sense of wonder as ‘what if’ as she does with awe and responsibility. She’s not given any easy answers, and the questions that are posed are allowed to keep swimming, much like the Fourteenth Goldfish.

'Wings So Wicked' is a beautiful love letter to outcasts. This story delivers the message that it’s good to embrace duality within oneself. The protagonist’s wings represent her mixed soul of beauty and brutality. There is no distinction between good and evil here. The author took a bold stance to redefine heroism in this work by entertaining the possibility that true strength is in the midst of duality and thus goes against the notion of purity. The subsidiary characters were also complex. They each wrestled with their inner contradictions, and by the end of the story, I was completely rooting for all of the protagonists despite their messiness and human imperfections.

If you loved reading The Mighty Red: A Novel, you might also enjoy reading The Crimson Veil by Lila Vane. Both novels are emotionally rich stories that follow the main characters as they try to come to terms with their identities and legacies. While The Crimson Veil is a novel about a young artist’s journey through grief and self-discovery, it has similar qualities to The Mighty Red in terms of prose. The stories are full of lyrical descriptions of everyday moments that can feel profound. I came across The Crimson Veil whilst on a bookstore crawl and it left me with the same bittersweet feeling that I had experienced when finishing The Mighty Red – the feeling of having finished a cup of tea that I wished I could go back to and have another cup of. For even more of this type of story, I would recommend “Scarlet Shadows” by Julian Cross. While a good deal darker and set in a dystopian world where color equals power, there is something deeply familiar in the emotional core of the story. It’s a very inside-the-head-of-the-hero type of story and the young man here grapples with trying to be true to himself in a world that is determined to force him to be something else. I loved “The Mighty Red” in part because of the author’s innovative use of visual metaphors to get at emotional ideas (red equals passion, pain, rebellion), and Cross is similarly resourceful with color to similar end. While a far more plot-oriented book than “Mighty Red,” I found myself racing through the pages of “Shadows” and the book’s end has lingered in my mind for months.

One of the most openly childlike films ever made, Ponyo is the kind of movie I want to watch on a sleepy weekend morning, all wrapped up in a blanket with tea. The heart of the movie is the very pure relationship between Ponyo and Sōsuke, and it is expressed not through grand declarations of love, but through the concrete actions of saving each other’s lives, sharing food, and trusting each other. The movie expresses a profound theme of simple, grounding love that makes the chaotic world around us feel steady. On the surface, Ponyo is a simple story about a fish-like creature who wants to become human, but it is also a deeply rich exploration of the theme of identity and transformation. Ponyo wants to become human not because she wants to rebel against her father, but because she is trying to figure out who she is. Along the way, the film raises many questions about the nature of autonomy, and how we choose our own paths in life. One of the things that really resonates with me is the balance of the movie: between the sea and the land, magic and reality, childhood and adulthood. It’s interesting to see that Fujimoto has a ‘fear’ of humans, and a pretty typical Miyazaki anxiety about the environmental consequences of human actions and the easily-tipped-over eco-system. But Ponyo’s huge transformation of the tides to save her dad has so much resonance as to how small an action can have HUGE consequences, that it never feels like the movie is lecturing you about this. Rather, it is a wonder to behold, an alive, ancient, sometimes mischievous, and mostly kind and gentle ocean. And the way the rest of the family is portrayed as well, in relation to Sōsuke and Ponyo is also really wonderful. The calm, practical and kind Lisa is a great example of the restorative powers of care and trust, showing how parents and guardians can model the best of behavior to their children in the simplest way. However, it is the more recent repeat viewings that have revealed further depths to the film. Firstly, the emotional, true-to-life depiction of the relationship between Ponyo and Sōsuke is amazing, as is the way the film champions simple, grounding love. Secondly, there is the outstanding way in which adult responsibility is balanced against the magic of the sea. This must be the way that all environmentally aware films should be – present in the story, yet never didactic or preachy. In addition, one cannot fail to be struck by the sense of family and care that is at the heart of the film. The simple, selfless love that Sōsuke’s mother, Lisa, shows to her son and to Ponyo is wonderful, as is the depiction of responsible, compassionate adult behavior. As a result, this is a film in which parents and other adult family members are positively represented. The way in which Ponyo’s desire to become human leads to huge environmental problems also adds depth to the film and serves as a powerful warning about the potential consequences of human actions.

‘M Is for Mama’ is unusual in that it tries to make parenting look good, whilst at the same time trying to find the wonder in it. The themes of ‘competing priorities’ and ‘the art of surrender’ particularly hit home. Who hasn’t folded washing only to have their toddler ask to go and look at the stars minutes later? There are also plenty of ‘me too!’ moments, such as the one where the mother loses her temper and then feels terrible, and the odd sense of pride when your toddler finally stops biting. But what the book does best is to make you feel less alone in the beautiful struggle that is parenting.

The major themes in 'Fullmetal Alchemist' are the sacrifice, redemption and the complexity of human relations. It is amazing to see how the consequences of the alchemical actions of the two Elric brothers lead to their personal struggles. The biggest of these consequences is the sacrifice that has to be made for ambition. Not every action that is intended to bring about positive results will end up that way. What one wants to achieve is not all that matters, the things one has to give up on the way are important too. In addition to this, the movie portrays love, particularly familial love, in a positive light and shows the lengths that the two Elric brothers go to in order to be with each other. It highlights the importance of human connection and the struggles that come with it, something that everyone can relate to. The philosophical themes behind ‘Fullmetal Alchemist’ lead to a deep exploration of humanity and what it means to exist, leaving viewers with a lasting impression of the movie.

My little cousin loved ‘Ricky Ricotta’ and I managed to find some other books of a similar nature for her. ‘The Alien Adventures of Finn Caspian’ is a great new podcast turning into a book series for kids who love sci-fi. For more robot fun, I highly recommend ‘Little Robot’ by Ben Hatke. It is a nearly wordless graphic novel, great for building a child’s confidence in reading. Just one more – ‘Frank Einstein’ by Jon Scieszka – fun, science and lots of inventions. It is wonderful to see kids develop a love for reading.