Chef Miyazaki forgets a few ingredients, and spoils his meal

Rating: 5/10 (30 December 2014)

My sister lent me this movie over my winter break in December 2013. I had heard a lot of great things about it ever since I saw in it a Hollywood video store when was around eight or nine years old. On IMDb, it had an 8.7/10 back then, and the back of the DVD case had quotes like "A masterpiece, pure and simple" and "Spectacularly inventive." So, as you can imagine my expectations for this film were very high. I will start off by saying that I love anime and animation to their core. I grew up watching shows like Pokemon, Digimon, Avatar the Last Airbender, Dragonball Z, and cartoons on Nickelodeon and Cartoon Network. Many times the creators of these delicate experiences are able to submit excellent messages of friendship, honor, perseverance, bravery, physical and mental strength, etc. Mr. Miyazaki is well-known in many anime fans' minds as a "master storyteller" or "brilliant animator." Unfortunately, in "Spirited Away", the hype undershoots the expectations.
First problem: character development. When people in movies are not given enough background, emotion, and basic traits, the concern from the audience toward the characters tends to decrease or pique at a certain level. Sadly, the main character, Chihiro, is never really given any sufficient background outside of being the clichÃ©d, bratty, spoiled child that is moving to a new house. Granted, throughout the movie, she does grow out of that, but the story never gives her time to expand on why she was like the way she was. As I was watching, I kept having a feeling of being completely disinterested in most of the actions and decisions that were taken and made by Chihiro.
Second problem: plot and pacing. The story is not exactly the most original idea ever. The best way to sum up the story is like this: main character must persevere in order to get back home by using the power and strength they never knew they had. This plot hinders the overall message that is trying to be conveyed. Also, the story calls for plenty of problems and scenarios that seem very impeding to be solved all within a small time frame. In other words, they will all be dealt with in very convenient, rushed, unexplained, and ridiculous ways. For example, in a dream Chihiro has one night, she is in a barn screaming at the pigs (her parents), but she can't pick out which two pigs are her parents due to them all looking the same. Then, at the end of the movie, the antagonist gives her a test to pick out which pigs are her parents, and Chihiro is able to conclude in about ten seconds that NONE of them are her parents and, wouldn't you know it, she's right! This was the scene that made me pause the movie, stand up and say, "Um, excuse me! Previous scene, anyone? She couldn't tell the differences between any of them in her dream. So, how is she just able to do the exact opposite after about a day or two?" I guess this was intended to show how she's "grown" or "matured" since the beginning of the film, but it's really just a cold slap in the face of continuity and logic. In fact, many scenes don't seem to have any real bearing on the story or character development; they are just filler for any dorky fool out there looking for some eye-candy. It's almost like the movie is saying, "Hey, we could delve more into our characters' stories, emotions, and motives, but we're just going to splash something pretty on the screen. It doesn't have to make sense or connect at all with the rest of the movie, so long as you are filled with a sense of awe." Unfortunately, this leads into my next and final problem with this film.
Third problem: the logic of the spirit world and the human world. In the beginning of the movie, Chihiro and her family get stuck in the spirit world because they apparently venture in at the wrong time or when the sun sets and night falls. Afterward, Chihiro can't escape for some reason. But, this raises several questions like "Did she ever try to escape during the day?", "How can humans wander into the spirit world no problem, but once the sun sets, can't exit at all?", "Have any spirits gone out and entered the human world if there is no clear gateway between the two worlds?", and "Why do the spirits only come out at night when Chihiro first enters, but they are all up and at it during the day throughout the rest of the movie?" I kept feeling like the writers of the film sat down and decided to make a by-the-numbers anime film, or just hit the points they needed to hit. For example, hit the beginning, character does this and that, magical junk in between, bad-guy-is-bad moment, weird-thing-or-obstacle-protagonist-has-to-deal-with moment, more magical junk here and there, all-problems-somehow-wrapped-up-toward-the-end moment, and character-reunites-with-family-and-lives-happily-ever-after moment. There is no flow nor segue of story; stuff just happens the way it's either supposed to or how it's written. This was by far my biggest gripe of all with the movie.
To conclude, "Spirited Away" was alright, it wasn't great or terrible but average. The plot was incoherent, the characters were shallow and uninteresting, and the "logic" of the settings was completely ludicrous. It definitely won't be finding its way into my DVD/Blu-ray player anytime soon or even again, that's for sure. This movie could have been so much better if they had taken the time to putting thought in the right areas. It suffers so much from the reasons listed above and, in the end, fails to impress or even entertain at a decent level. It's a shameful predicament that will cast itself in the anime universe forever.