MY NEIGHBOR TOTORO FILM COMIC, Vol. 2

Eleven-year-old Satsuki and her sassy little sister Mei are overjoyed about moving into a historic country house with their dad - but the girls don't realise what a delightful adventure awaits them there. While exploring their sprawling home and the beautiful rural area that surrounds it, Satsuki and Mei meet Granny, a sweet old woman, and her timid grandson Kanta. They also experience firsthand the magic of the Soot Sprites, mysterious creatures that live in the walls, and discover a huge camphor tree that just might be enchanted...

Spunky sisters Satsuki and Mei are adjusting to their fascinating new country home--and to life without their mother, who is recovering in a nearby hospital.

Satsuki makes plenty of friends at her new school, but Mei, who is too young for school, has to stay behind. One afternoon, she follows a funny-looking creature to the trunk of an ancient camphor tree and enters the whimsical world of Totoro, a magical forest creature. Will Dad and Satsuki believe her story?

Hayao Miyazaki was born in Tokyo on January 5, 1941. He started his career in 1963 as an animator at the studio Toei Douga, and was subsequently involved in many early classics of Japanese animation. From the beginning, he commanded attention with his incredible ability to draw, and the seemingly-endless stream of movie ideas he proposed.

In 1971, he moved to A Pro with Isao Takahata, then to Nippon Animation in 1973, where he was heavily involved in the World Masterpiece Theater TV animation series for the next five years. In 1978, he directed his first TV series, Conan, The Boy in Future, then moved to Tokyo Movie Shinsha in 1979 to direct his first movie, the classic Lupin III: The Castle of Cagliostro.

In 1984, he released Nausicaä of the Valley of Wind, based on the manga (comic) of the same title which he had started two years before. The success of the film led to the establishment of a new animation studio, Studio Ghibli, at which Miyazaki has since written, directed, and produced many other films with Takahata. All of these films enjoyed critical and box office successes. In particular, Miyazaki's Princess Mononoke received the Japan Academy Award for Best Film and was the highest-grossing (about US$150 million) domestic film in Japan's history until it was taken over by another Miyazaki work, Spirited Away.

In addition to animation, Miyazaki also draws manga. His major work was the Nausicaä of the Valley of Wind manga, an epic tale he worked on intermittently from 1982 to 1994 while he was busy making animated films. Another manga, Hikoutei Jidai, was later evolved into his film Porco Rosso.