Film Diary 4 The Castle of the Sky

This is a such famous animation. Hayao Miyazaki, with no doubt, is one of the most wellknown Japanese animation makers in the world. I just watched two animations by him, one is Spirited Away, the other is this one. no matter how highly praised these animations are, they don't work for me. Maybe in my bone, I don't have romantic spirit at all. I don't believe in black/white pictures. I am not moved by the childish story of a giant killer robot picking up pinky little flowers.

If there is one interesting figure in this animation, that will be the pirate captain. A very powerful female figure. She's nobody's wife or mother, and she is the leader of a male crew. They called her "mother." She wants treasures in Laputa, but she is not greedy. She is determined and cool, but she is not close-minded and cruel.

Also, I don't understand why the animation's setting is in Europe, or an Anglo-saxon world, and the princesses' name has to be that long. What are the implications? Or it simply just makes the story more exotic or unreal? Or it is because of the inner admiration of Western culture? How come that the castle of sky could not be made by, say, Japanese who have no blood ties with European continent?