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Ghiblicember #5 Spirited Away

Ghiblicember #5 Spirited Away

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With the festive season rolling in fast then there is a need for feel good films to feast our eyes upon. One thing Anime does not do is make an whole lot of festive Christmassy films or series but there is one thing Anime does do and does right and that is feel good, higher than life series and films. No studio really does that better then Studio Ghibli. Knowing this I decided to make the month of December Ghibli month with the top five fan favourite Ghibli films called ‘Ghiblicember’ where we polled through different social media sites to get the fan favourite Ghibli films. We kick off with No. 5 Spirited Away!

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This was a film that I would have thought might have been higher on the list. Marked as one of Ghibli and Hayao Miyazaki’s finest work Spirited Away was released in 2001 and over took Titanic in the Japanese box office as the highest grossing film in Japanese history. It is acclaimed as one of the greatest animated films of all time even taking away the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature at the 75th Academy Awards. It is based on Miyazaki original art style of frame by frame drawing, Spirited Away is a true throw back to traditional animation.

Title:                            Spirited Away
Release date:          July 20th 2001
Studio:                        Studio Ghibli
Director:                   Hayao Miyazaki
Writer:                        Hayao Miyazaki

Spirited AwaySpirited Away (千と千尋の神隠し, Sen to Chihiro no Kamikakushi) follows our protagonist ten year old Chihiro Ogino and her parents as they travel to their new home when they lose their way because of her father taking a wrong turn. They innocently wander into what they think is an abandoned theme park from the nineties but they have unknowingly entered the spirit world. After her parents are transformed into pigs because they ate the food laid out for the spirits by the witch Yubaba, Chihiro is saved by a mysterious boy named Haku. In order to save her parents and go home she takes a job in Yubaba’s bathhouse so she can find and earn her freedom and also her name as part of her contract to Yubaba is that she takes her name and renames her Sen. Along the way her relationships with many of the clients of the bathhouse and with Haku are revealed and developed while also giving Chihiro a chance to grow as a person and discover things about herself.

What makes Spirited Away a clear winner for a Christmassy type of film is the feel good factor that comes with it. Much like other or all Christmas films there is always some arc or message that it is trying to push at the viewer but with Spirited Away it is not as in your face obvious as in most. One of my favourite pieces of it is the message of the importance of friends and family just like at Christmas time when we are meant to be spending time with our families (and eating like pigs! See what I did there?) Chihiro is so desperate to save her parents that she is willing to in essence by Yubaba’s slave and even while they are pigs never loses her faith and love for them where it would have been easy to do so. Friendship in this movie is key to its feel good factor, when Chihiro is kind to the spirit No Face first without knowing him then even after what he had done shows the true innocence and kindness that she possesses which could warm even the coldest and most cynical of hearts. A part of the film that I would consider my favourite and what makes the film for me is the part where the stink spirit is Chihiro’s first customer and where everyone else has shied away and rejected it Chihiro powers through and gives him his bath. Not to spoil the twist here but she is later rewarded for her persistence and kindness by the spirit.

Since the film is for the most part is character driven there is great need to look at some of these characters in more detail. Unfortunately there is no way to go through all the characters in this film because there are so many minor characters that although they have minor roles they are still important to the story.

The obvious place to start is with our main protagonist Chihiro, first seen as a completely ordinary ten year old girl who is angry over her parents up and moving her from her friends and what she knows to a new town. She is just this whiny, moping and spoilt child who does nothing but complain and wants everything her way. This however makes for amazing character development as Chihiro almost has to grow up during the film, she matures with every experience in the bathhouse not only in the fact she now has to work for what she wants but in the relationships that she has with the inhabitants. The major developments that Chihiro has is in her relationships especially her relationship with the mysterious boy Haku where she has a clear past connection. He helps her to discover what she needs to gain her freedom while also helping her personal development. Where Chihiro really shines is her ability to find friendship in the most unlikely people. This can be clearly seen her friendship with No Face where her innocence and ability to find the good in others shines brightest. Chihiro could have been seen as an annoying and whinging character but in reality she is probably one of the best designed characters, she has proper development, we see her transform from a child into a young woman, maturing and growing, “Spirited Away” and Chihiro go hand in hand to give us a well-developed and enjoyable experience.

There are clear elements of other literary references in this film the most pronounced to me being the reference to Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland in the sense of her experience in the spirit world being a comparison to the alternative world of Wonderland. What there also is in reference to this is the journey Chihiro goes on going from childhood to adulthood much like Alice does Chihiro learns and adapts to her surroundings growing and maturing as she does.

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Spirited Away much like all of Miyazaki’s is a beautiful piece of art and if it was not a film should be hung in a gallery somewhere. His frame by frame animation style when digitised gives his films an amazing enriched look where colours and surroundings pop. The bathhouse for example is exquisite every detail has been thought of and delivered truly perfectly from the detail on the walls to the baths themselves. The colour and shading used make it look more like an old Japanese painting of a bathhouse rather than an Anime film. Character design in this film has been thought about and well executed; each character has their own significant details and design perfectly suited to their personalities from Haku’s old time kimono style outfit and hairstyle to Chihiro’s innocent shorts and t-shirt.

Like I’ve said this is one of my favourite Studio Ghibli films and I feel it should be higher on the list, it has every element of an amazing Anime movie, an amazing story, invigorating characters, a soundtrack to die for and animation that is a true feast for the eyes. Even though I think this film should be higher on the list I know what else is coming up and I truly cannot wait to really dive into the magic that is Studio Ghibli.

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