Only Yesterday, Trese Got a Wish Dragon! - Renegade Animation #24
On the latest episode of Renegade Animation, our animation amigos peep Netflix's Trese, the new Sony Animation film Wish Dragon, and Captain Kaye continues his Ghibli excursion with Only Yesterday!
Hey guys, THE DIRECTOR is back again to bring you the newest episode of the most popular animation podcast of… well, this site! Captain Kaye and Cam the Animation Guru have a pretty meaty episode for all of y’all, so let’s not waste any time, and jump straight into it!
TRESE (2021 - current)
“While the animation itself isn't always perfect, it has an incredible voice cast, some terrifying imagery, and a thrilling action climax in the season finale. I would love to see more, as I'm now completely invested in this world.” - Captain Kaye
WISH DRAGON (2021)
“Ok, let's rip this band-aid off now: yes, there are plenty of parallels between this movie and Disney's Aladdin, from the "peasant boy" who comes into possession with a wish-granting deity, to "the girl" he's pining over, and even some sort of adversary who is after the magical artifact. Here's the thing though, that is literally where the similarities end, and not just because the two films have completely different settings. Ironically, despite this movie taking place in the present, there are no obstructive pop culture references outside of one reference to ancient Chinese history, though a lot of the humor comes from Long's fish out of water oblivion to the modern world. The other deviation is, for better and/or for worse, Din's platonic relationship with his childhood friend Li Na Wang. On the one hand, I kinda respect the deliberate subversion of expectations, for we don't necessarily need every single animated film to have a romantic subplot, especially if it's already being negatively compared (fairly or not) to a classic film from the Disney Renaissance. That being said, it still goes through the motions, even down to Din lying about his identity in order to impress Li Na and, by extension, the guests at her fancy birthday party. As for the villain, he was certainly a worthy adversary for this narrative. Pockets has a great character design, and Aaron Yoo's vocal performance is exactly as menacing as it needed to be. On the whole, this is a very good first feature film from Base Animation. What they might lack in "originality" story wise, they absolutely make up for it in the animation itself. The design of the titular wish dragon is excellent, and his introduction is the spark that lights up the rest of the movie.” - Captain Kaye
ONLY YESTERDAY (1991)
“I'm not sure why it took 25 years for this film to come stateside, with the exception of perhaps one segment involving a lot of talk about periods. Other than that, I found this movie simply delightful, and it's another example of Takahata's specialty in terms of storytelling. "Plot" is honestly one of the least important aspects of a Takahata joint, and that isn't to say this film doesn't have one. Instead, the focus is primarily on the characters, getting to know them as individuals and seeing them interact with other people. My favorite thing about this is how organic they are all developed, specifically the bond that Taeko and Toshio, voiced by Daisy Ridley and Dev Patel respectively. Speaking of the dub cast, there's a great mix of recognizable names in the leading roles, while professional voice actors such as Grey Griffin, Laura Bailey, Tara Strong and Matthew Yang King round out the supporting cast. I'll have more to say on the next Renegade Animation podcast, but overall, I'm really starting to love the filmography of Isao Takahata, and Only Yesterday is one of his very best.” - Captain Kaye
Abadeabade that’s all folks! Keep a weather eye to the horizon for the next episode, and give a special hand to Cam for handling editing for this episode!
