Spirited Away

Rating: 10/10 (1 March 2015)

The film "Spirited Away" by Hiyao Miyazaki is an excellent example of Japanese animation for multiple reasons such as the overall message, musical content, colorful visual arts, character depiction, and underline backstory. Spirited away is an animated fantasy about a ten year old girl named Chihiro who was moving to a new home in an unfamiliar place with her parents. She enters a fantasy world where she takes a journey with Haku a mysterious boy who helps her map through this unknown world.
The film begins with Chihiro and her parents driving to their new home where they end up lost when her father decides to take a shortcut through the woods. They stumbled upon an abandoned amusement park. They discovered a shack filled with delicious food in which Chihiro's parents indulged themselves until they literally turned into pigs. As the day turned night you could see the spirits come to life as the seemingly abandoned amusement park comes to life. While trying to find a job Chihiro is assisted by Lin who was bribed into taking her to see Yubaba. The whole time Chihiro was in the bathhouse she was sneaking around usually with the assistance of someone else. It didn't really help that the whole time hungry spirits could smell her human scent which made it difficult for her to hide anywhere.
When she finally reached Yubaba and convinced her to give her a job, Yubaba made Chihiro sign a contract in which she stole characters from her name renaming her to Sen. This was probably the most adventurous scene of the entire movie. There was a scene midway through the movie where Haku takes Chihiro to see her parents. He wants her to remember which of the pigs her parents were. At the end of the scene Haku turns into a dragon and flies away. Chihiro also sees the faceless spirit known as "No Face" who has been stalking her since she first arrived at the bathhouse. This scene quickly reminds you that this story is very much a fantasy story.
Another important scene from the movie involves "No Face" the mysterious creature who has been obsessed with Sen. He started eating all of the bathhouse employees after Sen rejected his money offering. Upset Sen will not acknowledge him he attempts to eat her. Sen gave him a piece of magical cake she received from a water spirit. This gluttonous angered spirit chased her all over the bathhouse puking all of the things he has swallowed. "No Face" turned back to normal and assisted Sen on her journey to return the stolen scroll to Yubaba's twin sister Zeniba. This scene is the epitome of what a fantasy adventure should be.
The final scene ends with Chihiro and Haku leaving Zeniba's home. Haku is in dragon form and Chihiro is on his back. As they are flying back Chihiro remembers when she first met Haku and that his real name was the Kohaku River because he was the Kohaku River spirit. This broke the spell turning Kohaku back into human form. Kohaku's dragon scales disappear as Chihiro and Kohaku free fall from the sky remembering everything they had forgotten.
There are many reviews on the "imdb" website that would almost completely disagree with me. They have gripes that the movie story line was not complete enough. Complaints that "Spirited Away" was never direct in delivering messages; one in particular the love story between the two main characters. Some people simply did not like the English voice actors. Even though the "Hated it" section has a lot of hate for the movie, their love for the visual works of the movie are consistent. Most of them really enjoyed the visual works of Hiyao Miyazaki.
Not only did this film have a beautiful message it was accompanied by a beautiful musical soundtrack. The music was composed and produced by Joe Hisaishi and performed by the New Japan Philharmonic. Some of the songs include "One Summer's Day" and "Always with Me." These songs give the film a nostalgic, calming and a fairytale like feeling; it really helps the viewer get in the correct mind state to effectively grasp the concept of the movie.
In addition to wonderful music, the exquisite visual arts the director provides only enhances the viewing experience. The visual arts showcases the Japanese culture in the best way possible. It gives you a look into the beautiful colors and the architectural aspect of a Japanese city while still maintaining to give the amusement park an American familiarity. The way the characters are drawn does the same thing as well, watching the movie in English you might forget that the movie originally came from Japan but the director was sure to infuse his culture into the movie so subtly yet heavily that it is difficult to forget where the movie originated.
Chihiro is the main character of the movie. When the movie starts she is a typical scared young girl. As the movie progresses she becomes a hardworking, responsible, and brave young girl. She is also very kind hearted in nature. Many times throughout the movie her kindness gets her into trouble but it usually equals out to her kindness getting her out of trouble.
Haku is another main character in the movie. He is a few years older than Chihiro and carries the title of my favorite character in the movie. At a glance he seems a bit rude and he is very serious when it comes to his job. When you come to know his true character he is very kind hearted and considerate.
"Spirited Away" has and always will be one of my favorite childhood movies. Weather it is the breath taking art work, the phenomenal story line or the amazing music, I will always watch this movie over again to remind myself why I love this excellent animated film.