Love Isn't Magic

Rating: 10/10 (11 November 2015)

First kiss, new boyfriend/girlfriend, sex, and heartbreak: The unoriginal portrayal of romance in every popular TV series and chart-topping movie since who knows when. Some people enjoy that, I'm not going to lie, but when something as commonly accepted as those steps to love are practically nonexistent in a romance--and this movie is impeccable--it has to be worth checking out.
Howl's Moving Castle (animated fantasy/drama film) is just another masterpiece of Studio Ghibli's, yet I'm sure you've never heard of the film or the book in which it was based off of. It can be a little hard to grasp the unique flavor at first; after all, this was originally produced as a Japanese film.
In brief, it's about family. From the sounds of it, Sophie didn't have the most together birth family, but the one she managed to fall into with Howl and Markel made up for it tenfold. It's the people you love that bring out the best in you. Howl shows Sophie how courageous and beautiful she always has been, and in turn, Sophie proves to him that he isn't the cowardly monster he believes he's become. Spells, nor our past can control who we chose to become. And out of the rubble, a happy ending emerges.
I would give this movie five glowing, gold stars for it's cohesiveness, well-developed plot and character relationships, and the outstanding truths which we can all take to heart.