Tales from Earthsea: A Viewer's Tale in Tokyo

I want to share with you my amazing discovery yesterday.

Cousin Yudo, my favorite movie-going buddy and I were discussing about a movie that we wanted to go watch.
After much debate over "Pirates of the Carribean 2", "Mission Impossible III" and "Cars"... he talked me into seeing something completely different.
He kept on saying, "Let's go watch that Gedo something movie. It's a Studio Ghibli production and Miyazaki is directing it, I reckon it must be good."
On my comp day yesterday, I finally caved in.
I went with him, not knowing what to expect, except that the movie is an animated one, of a fantasy story.

So, we watched the movie. It was very enjoyable, although I think it's a little heavy for children.

As we were watching the movie, I noticed the set of the story was from some country's seacoast. I kept on thinking and said, "Hmm, this reminds me so much of Spain. The Galician coast, to be exact. Where is the book supposed to be set in? Is it Spain?"

"I'm not sure. It's gotta be somewhere in Europe, though. Look at the old buildings."

"It must be Spain or some Mediterranean country, since the characters seem to have darker skin tone."

Shortly after I said that, the soundtrack music started playing. It was a bagpipe based music.

I said, "I'll be damned, but this is Galician bagpipe."

"If it is a bagpipe, shouldn't this be Scottish, then?"

"Not necessarily, you see bagpipe is also a part of Spanish culture, and I can be wrong, but this music really sounds like the works of Carlos Nunez."

"They do have darker skin tone, they can be Spanish I suppose..."

"Trust me, I know my bagpipes. This one is not Scottish, this one is definitely Galician."

So we continued watching the movie. And it ended beautifully. However, I was still a little unsure about the story-line even after the movie finished.
When I raised my opinion, Yudo said, "Well if you haven't read the books, then I supposed it will be a little difficult to understand the story, especially because this one is not of the first book."

When I inquired about the books, he said, "It's a part of a series. Some western author wrote it, maybe she's European, although I'm not so sure. I can't quite remember what the name is, it's not easy to pronounce. But the series is called Tales from Earthsea."

and then I said... "Wait a minute, is it Ursula Le Guin?"

my cousin yelped, "YES! That's it"

I said, "You've got to be joking! Ursula Le Guin is my client's mother. Oh my goodness. Now everything makes sense!!"

Theo Downes- Le Guin, one of my most cherished clients, often travels to Japan for research projects. Every time he's in town, we always go out for a meal. One of the subject that always comes up is his 'side' business trip that he does for his mother. He often animatedly told me about meeting Mr. Miyazaki, or visiting the Studio Ghibli production house.
The works of Ursula Le Guin is highly noted in the fantasy world. She is a cherished author, and I'm a little ashamed that I haven't yet read any of her books.

Anyway, so we talked about the books and Mrs. Le Guin while waiting for the lights to come out.

As we were talking, we were reading the names of the voice cast, and I wanted to make sure I see who contributed in the music for the soundtrack. When I least expected it, there standing proudly and singularly the name "Carlos Nunez".
Hahaha.... STRIKE 2!!
Carlos Nunez is a good friend that I met at a music festival in Japan in Summer 2005. He is, in fact, my first introduction to the Celtic music. We befriended each other since then. Carlos is a phenomenal musician who was very kind to show me around Galicia when I paid him a short visit in November 2005.
I recalled Carlos was in town for a month earlier in Spring this year. We caught up for meals and phone calls whenever the opportunity presented itself. During which time he often spoke of the works and the recordings that he did. Only yesterday I remember he was speaking very fondly of a work he's doing with an "animation movie about the sea" - that's how he simply put it.

What an amazing coincidence!!!
Never in my wildest imagination would I expect to discover such connection in one small occasion. I would never have put the two and two together.
Going to see the movie with zero expectation and genuinely enjoyed it is one thing, but discovering the amazing surprise elements after watching it has made this movie even more special to me.

Great work, Everyone!!