Too much for me

Rating: Null/10 (12 July 2004)

OK, the animation per se is great. But that's it.
This is a romping, non-stop fantasy that takes us from one station to the next with no map in between. Wherethehellarewe?
It is actually a scary movie, and I didn't understand the point in it.
Our protagonist, Chihiro (sounds like Tihiro in the movie), is moving to a new town, which will bring a new school, and new friends, and she's not sure she can handle that. When their parents take a wrong turn, and Dad gets out of the car to explore the landscape, they end up in a "trap", in which her parents are tempted by delicious food, and turned into pigs. With me? Hold on.
Now, Chihiro is befriended by Haku, a young feller who should be a romantic interest for her. But this doesn't really pan out, maybe because she is so young. Haku befriends her, and instructs her in how to get her parents back. She must do this by passing many tests. One of which is being able to identify her pig-parents from amongst the many pigs in the sty. What's the point here? Dunno.
So, she's got to go through this bath-house where spirits come to get washed up. Huh? Yea, well, hold tight there . . . Seems the lady in charge (with a really gross huge face reminiscent of - yes - the Queen of Hearts of Alice fame) is a witch by the name of Yababa (sounds like I'm-baba in the movie), and for some reason she can get Chihiro out. But she first steals her name. OK, nevermind.
Hoo-boy.
If you are American or European, forget it. Especially if you don't like fantasy (I don't, can you tell?)
What I *did* like was seeing hints of Japanese culture, such as:
* They drive on the left side of the road.
* The new town is in the hills. Where are there NOT hills in Japan?
* They eat with chopsticks. Cool.
* Protocol - ie, how you behave and manners - is very important.
Chihiro doesn't know when she is going "inside", and so when she forgets to leave her shoes she is reminded that she is going inside. 'Nuff said.
* This is the best - the most horrible monster is a Sludge Monster, who brings sludge and guck into the bathhouse. This is the most frightening thing - not a thief, not a drug pusher, not a rapist, not a murderer, no, no, that's not scary. The most frightening thing is to get sludged and all dirty. To the clean-conscious Japanese this must be a horrible prospect indeed.
* When Yababa steals Chihiro's name, she does so by taking four of the five Kanji characters used to spell "Chihiro", and leaving one, thereby spelling "Sen". I do not read Japanese, but this was clear to me. Super Cool.
* Trains are used for important transportation, as they are in Japan.
* Chihiro and Len sit down and eat this Japanese food that looks like falafel, wrapped up all neat. Anyone know what it is?
* Finally, and this I learned by reading the posts here, Shinto, the Japanese religion, is animist. This means that inanimate objects are imbued with a "spirit" . . . . <***SPOILER***> ------------------------------------------ Chihiro says she "knows" Haku, and apparently Haku is not a feller at all, but a river spirit re-incarnated into human form. Well, he's occasionally a dragon. He's a switch-hitter. First time Chihiro sees him as a dragon, she knows it's him, but why this is so is never made clear. Anyway, Haku the river spirit once saved Chihiro's life when she fell into the river at one point.
Bottom line: just BORROW the video, don't spend a dime on it. Or a yen. Whatever.