Fantastic (in any sense)

Rating: 10/10 (21 June 2004)

What a wonderful film! I was completely captivated within minutes, and "spirited away" along with Chihiro into this wondrous and mad fantastical world. The main character initially seems disaffected and weak, but she rapidly finds her true self in this trial by fire (and water, and muck, and...).
The character development is as fast-paced as the rest of the wildly imaginative world, yet is somehow believable. I liked just about all the characters in the story, even the "bad guys"; I suspect that's intentional.
Since I don't know much about Japanese culture, I have no idea how much if any of this is based on traditional mythology and how much is original, but either way it is enormously creative. It's also visually beautiful. The scenery alone is a sufficient reason. (Technical problems gave me a chance to view a still scene that only had a tree in it, and even that was fascinating to look at!)
Normally I'm not a huge fan of anime, and in particular this director's "Princess Mononoke" didn't do much for me, but this movie is really fantastic! I would recommend it to just about anyone.