Princess Arete
 

Thank you so much for sansubbing this! Haven't been able to watch it yet (downloading as we speak) but if its up to Studio 4C's usual standards, I'll love it. It's really nice to see something outside mainstream anime fandom get translated. You guys rock.

Yep, yep! Thanks for fansubbing this! Great job, you guys! Hats off to Solar and Genbu!

I've been such a nag about this, but it was worth the wait, the fansub was very PURDY :)

"Like the Clouds, Like the Wind" is still my fave sub, though kekeke :P



R.I.P. Mirakuru

Good times :)

Watched it yesterday. I absolutely LOVED it. Studio 4 c is great. Nice, relaxed, great characters, great music, great story, great setpieces, great ending, great frogs:)

This can match up to Ghibli works in my book. Go see it

Breathtaking in every way - story, music, characters and message. My favourite scenes were


Much love goes to Studio 4C and its amazing animators for creating this masterpiece, and to Genbu / Solar for subbing it and bringing it to an English-speaking audience. :)

P.S. I wonder what language the opening theme was written in - I think it's an European language - doesn't sound like English or French, however.

A very classical anime movie, wondefully made and a great soundtrack
The opening theme music is SOO nice and soothin :) wow
movies like that should be made everyday :)

A brilliant movie. Even though it may not possess much eyecandy or anything, I personally think this has excellent animation. Simple, but is very good at retaining the real charm that I want to see from animation, that charm you get when you watch Ghibli films... It looks so deceptively simple, but do you know every time Arete tried to cross that gap, I always held my breath? When she , I was so scared she would be found.


When she , I really felt the freedom and joy that she would have felt.

I really did enjoy this movie very much. It was a very thoughtful piece on people's individual lives. Arete is a very interesting character, truly an admirable sort of person. She would grow up into a very, very good type of person... She really is very smart, and thoughtful, and yet she doesn't show it off...

The movie really managed to set the mood very well. I was into it the whole time... Excellent. I LOVE that insert/opening song. It's absolutely beautiful, and when they played it in the middle, it was just.....
I really have to have that song. I really do!
It's called "Krasno Solntse", lyrics by Origa, Music/Arrangement by Senju AKira, and sung by Origa. I wonder what kind of European language this is? I really like the way they did the ending credits too.

Really.. a wonderful film. How every little understated detail can enchant you with it... Okay, maybe I'm getting carried away. But it was well worth the 1h 44 mins for me. (I didn't know this was based on a story by someone else either - the original story is apparently by Diana Coles, the name is "The Adventures of Princess Arete".)

EDIT: Genbu and Solar, THANK YOU VERY MUCH for subbing this. I am so glad I got to see it!

The song is in Russian (Origa's real name is Olga Yakovleva). Here's the full translation: http://www.animelyrics.com/anime/pri...asnosontse.htm
Origa also sang Inner Universe and Rise, GITS:SAC 1st and 2nd season opening themes, though they're only partly in Russian.
Thank you, we're really glad you enjoyed it.
Here you can find an interview about the creation of Arete:
http://www.retas.com/info/ (click "Articles and interviews").
And here's a gallery of high-resolution screenshots:
http://www.retas.com/gallery/gallery-large/arete.html

seriously, thanks so much from yet another person for subbing this. i've had my eyes on this for some time, and am glad i can finally watch it :)

Is this movie really as great as is advertised? If so, I just may have a look. I haven't really looked into Studio 4C's stuff, but I'm a nut about Ghibli. What's it about? (without giving away too many spoilers :heh: ) Thx.

Studio 4C does some interesting stuff. There has been a couple of short movies of theirs fansubbed. Comedy for example.

This movie has a basic fairytale framework. Princess confined to a tower, magic, frogs, and just about any other fairytale ingredient you can think of. It is a pretty well thought out story. More complex than a typical fairytale. If you like that sort of thing, it's worth watching.

I can't rave about the movie as much as Wao has, but it is good.

I've been wanting to see Comedy, but your link doesn't work! Pflah!

Yeah, that suki mirror is down. Just find it on another one.

Here

Wow, I've been looking forward to this one for quite a while, and now, it's finally fansubbed! I'm so happy! But I didn't see it yet....Ooh, it has magic in it? Well, I did hear something about a transformed princess! :)

I thought the middle bit was too slow and/or too long. It's always better to evoke boredom and emptiness in the viewer than to inflict it on the viewer. A fairly big flaw in an otherwise very good film.

The story is slow, reflective and sombre. The colour palate is sombre. There is no fighting, no chase scenes, no war. Yet to my eyes, it is wonderful, beautiful beyond words at times. In some ways, it is a sad tale. Yet the melancholy is gilded with hope. There is beauty here, and quiet joy. It is the same joy felt by Arete as she becomes overwhelmed by the lives of so many people in the city, each life a world unto its own.
That is the moment when I thought, I LOVE THIS MOVIE! I am happy for Arete; I share her sense of relief and joy.

The message is one of hope, for in this story, superior intelligence overcomes superior technology. I fear that is not what always happens in life.

There is magic here, yet as in Scrapped Princess, Galaxy Angel, and countless Japanese RPG's, it is magic created by a lost technology. What sets this apart from most of those other tales, is that magic is not Arete's saviour. What saves Arete is the sharpness of her mind. The fools are those ministers at the beginning who covet magic, without coveting knowledge.

Many elements of this story remind me of Joanna Russ's stories I read years ago, but without their vengefulness and violence.

Rave all you want about this flick, but don't quote my posts unless you have something to say about them. You make it sound like I said I fell asleep.

Good movie.
I liked the magician's imperious tone whenever he made a proclamation he wanted heard. Good voice acting.

You made a point. I made a point triggered by your comments. I am sorry if you thought that was wrong.

You know, that wasn't a real apology.

It was not meant to be an apology in the sense that it was not an admission of any wrong-doing since I do not believe that what I did was wrong. It was an expression of regret that Babbito felt the need to complain. I did not misquote Babbito. I did not quote Babbito out-of-context. I did not attack Babbito. Babbito posted in a public forum. My post was a response to Babbito's post, an expression of a different point-of-view from what had been posted, and thus quoting that post was relevant.