Spirited Away | 2001 - Nica Fictional Fandoms

So movie nights with my busy bee boyfriend was finally successful with this amazing Anime Fantasy Movie a few weeks ago. Did I enjoy it, yes! This movie has won so many awards already and it’s absolutely well deserved.

SYNOPSIS

Chihiro and her parents are moving to a small Japanese town in the countryside, much to Chihiro’s dismay. On the way to their new home, Chihiro’s father makes a wrong turn and drives down a lonely one-lane road which dead-ends in front of a tunnel. Her parents decide to stop the car and explore the area. They go through the tunnel and find an abandoned amusement park on the other side, with its own little town. When her parents see a restaurant with great-smelling food but no staff, they decide to eat and pay later. However, Chihiro refuses to eat and decides to explore the theme park a bit more. She meets a boy named Haku who tells her that Chihiro and her parents are in danger, and they must leave immediately. She runs to the restaurant and finds that her parents have turned into pigs. In addition, the theme park turns out to be a town inhabited by demons, spirits, and evil gods. At the center of the town is a bathhouse where these creatures go to relax. The owner of the bathhouse is the evil witch Yubaba, who is intent on keeping all trespassers as captive workers, including Chihiro. Chihiro must rely on Haku to save her parents in hopes of returning to their world.

THOUGHTS

WEIRD FANTASY ELEMENTS

To start off, let’s just all agree this gets really weird at times. t has some evil queen and people turning to pigs. We have some really cool characters or spirits to be more precise. This can get a bit nonsensical at times, giving you the vibes for Alice in Wonderland & The Wonderful Wizard of Oz.
I absolutely enjoyed it though! Truly deserves to be a classic.

ENVIRONMENTALISM

Another interesting aspect of this movie is how it weaved in the damage humans have done to the environment. It underlies serious issues like water pollution and deforestation to name a few.

JAPANESE FOLKLORE

This is based around the Japanese Folklore of the journey of spirits to their afterlife. It’s fascinating to see how well the bathhouse setting is carried out in the entire movie. We have demons, evil gods, and spirits all that come to this bathhouse to relax. I absolutely loved the No-Face character who reflects the characters that surround him, learning by example and learning the traits of whomever he consumes.

RATING : 5/5

Overall, Spirited Away covers some important these like environmentalism,and Japanese Folklore along with some really creative fantasy elements for you to be entertained throughout.
I would recommend this for kids and adults both, as there is something for everyone in this movie. Highly recommend!