A Fantastic Piece of Animation that cannot be overlooked

Rating: 10/10 (6 August 2012)

This truly is Japanese animation and story writing at it's finest, Spirited Away combines fantasy and romance through the magic that is animation, and when I say animation, what I really mean is absolutely fantastic animation! This film has so many brilliant aspects put together to create a piece of cinematic theatre that really does top the bill! The characters are complex and well developed, the soundtrack is brilliant, the scenery and layout of the locations is memorising and to top it all off, it has a fantastic story that is really very original.
The story begins with a lazy ne'er-do-well girl named Chihiro and her family arriving at their new town. Whilst en-route, they come across an old country lane which they mistake for being the way to their new house. At the end of the lane is a dark tunnel. They get out of the car and begin to walk down it on foot with Chihiro reluctantly in tow. At the other end they arrive in what appears to be an old train station and beyond that a wide open field with what appears to be an abandoned Amusement Park on the other side. As the trio explore the amusement park, the parents get an insatiable urge to eat all the food at one of the stalls. Even though Chihiro tries in vain to stop them, she eventually goes off to explore elsewhere. Finally she comes across a castle which is stood upon its own precipice with only a wooden bridge connecting it to the land. As she takes a step onto the bridge, she is suddenly confronted by a strange boy who demands that she leaves immediately. When she tries to get her parents, it is revealed that they have been transformed into Pigs and that the wide field has now been turned into a river the size of the English Channel. Unable to return to what could only be described as 'The Mainland', the strange boy from before assists her in reaching the strange castle without gathering the attention of the animal like spirits that have inhabited the Amusement Park. Successfully getting her onto the castle grounds, the boy leaves her to confront the Spider like Boiler-man Kamaji and demand a job from him. She is eventually taken upstairs by another woman named Lin. As she enters the castle, it is revealed that it is in fact a spiritual bath house where all kinds of spirits come to cleanse themselves. With the help of Lin and another Spirit, she eventually reaches the office of the evil witch Yubaba, the owner of the Bathhouse. Following the advice the boy gave her earlier, she demands that she be given a job to save her from being transformed into an animal. Yubaba reluctantly agrees in order to stop Chihiro's yelling from disturbing her over-sized baby and she is forced to work in the Bathhouse as a servant girl. Can Chihiro work for her freedom? What will become of her parents? Can she return to the normal world? You have to watch this masterpiece to find out!
Overall, a fantastic piece of cinema that I recommend to people of all ages. Even if there was no dialogue, no sounds, just the soundtrack, I'm sure through the artistry and craftsmanship of the animation you'd be able to fathom what the story is. It is a wonderful film!