This probably should have been the first anime I covered for my taste triangle, but Macross Δ somehow snuck in first. Better late than never though.
This probably should have been the first anime I covered for my taste triangle, but Macross Δ somehow snuck in first. Better late than never though.
My History / So it's like Disney but anime?
Please follow the link above to the Macross Δ triangle (maybe that's how it got in first, it literally has a triangle in the name!) for my history with anime. Spirited Away wasn't my first anime, but it was the first one that really cemented my opinion of the medium.
Spirited Away is one of the most famous (at least in the west) films from renowned animation studio Studio Ghibli. To give some perspective of their reach, 3 of the top 5 highest grossing anime films ever are theirs, with Spirited Away comfortably at number 2. They are compared to Disney a lot, which I feel is short-sighted, but it does get across how big of a deal they are.
Did I know any of this when I ordered the DVD on a whim while trying to find new anime series to try and the recommendation engine suggested this? Of course not, it just looked interesting.
Plot summary / Not-Alice in sort-of-weird-but-still-wondrous-land
Looking back I probably should have slotted Spirited Away next to Inside Out given the superficial plot similarities, maybe even turned it into a double feature which is something I intend to give a shot as well. Whelp, this is turning into a non-starter for this segment, let's start over.
Chihiro is a young girl that is sad because she's moving to a new city. Her parents are dismissive about her concerns, and assure her she'll make new friends and memories before she knows it. It's this same easygoing attitude that leads her father to take a shortcut through the forest, which leads Chihiro and her parents to what they believe to be an abandoned amusement park but what is actually the world of supernatural beings from Japanese folklore.
After being separated from her parents (in a quite disturbing way) Chihiro has to figure out how this new world works so she escape it with her parents, all while working in the bathhouse for demons of the witch Yubaba. Despite the fantastical nature of her new surroundings it's presented as scary, more as a different way to have an everyday life and Chihiro quickly makes friends with many different employees of the bathhouse.
Something nefarious is going on as well though, one of the servants that helped her on the night she came to this world is behaving oddly and Yubaba sees enemies everywhere, actively working against Chihiro so she will stay at the bathhouse.
Corner 1: Adventure 8.5/10 / "Someday I'm getting on that train."
- 🚀 It's such a classic adventure story format
- 🚀 -all gorgeously dipped into a folklore that I'm barely familiar with.
- 🚀 The bathhouse and its denizens feel both inhuman and human at the same time.
- 📋 Despite the somewhat disturbing circumstances that landed Chihiro in her predicament the tone of the film pretty clearly sets up a happy ending.
- 🚀 It's such a classic adventure story format
- 🚀 -all gorgeously dipped into a folklore that I'm barely familiar with.
- 🚀 The bathhouse and its denizens feel both inhuman and human at the same time.
- 📋 Despite the somewhat disturbing circumstances that landed Chihiro in her predicament the tone of the film pretty clearly sets up a happy ending.
Corner 2: Smart 7/10 / "You don't remember your name?"
- 💡 A solid introduction to Japanese folklore without expectations from the viewer or a steep learning curve. (Which probably helped a lot with its international recognition)
- 💡 Chihiro's initial problem is used as a backbone for her arc in the demon world and helps resolve that problem.
- 💤 Memory loss is used in multiple corners of the plot, which isn't the most creative narrative device.
- 💡 A solid introduction to Japanese folklore without expectations from the viewer or a steep learning curve. (Which probably helped a lot with its international recognition)
- 💡 Chihiro's initial problem is used as a backbone for her arc in the demon world and helps resolve that problem.
- 💤 Memory loss is used in multiple corners of the plot, which isn't the most creative narrative device.
Corner 3: Heart 9/10 / "No, but for some reason I remember yours."
- 💖 Family film that isn't talking down to anybody, basically universally recommendable.
- 💖 It's not a love story, it's not a violent story, yet it's somehow a solid story where everybody has well developed motivations, character arcs and resolutions.
- 💖 Joe Hisaishi has composed a lot of phenomenal scores for Studio Ghibli, with Spirited Away's being a prime example of him firing on all cylinders. It's excellent.
- 💔 I already complained about the memory loss over in Smart, but it did cost the film a bit here as well. For once I'd like long-forgotten memories to stay forgotten, or having been remembered all along or something.
This should be good, it basically didn't drop the ball in any of the categories.
Yeah, that's about what I was expecting, that looks larger than the Star Wars triangle as well, it's a good thing Hugo beat it as well, otherwise it'd be just anime so far which feels unrepresentative.
- 💖 Family film that isn't talking down to anybody, basically universally recommendable.
- 💖 It's not a love story, it's not a violent story, yet it's somehow a solid story where everybody has well developed motivations, character arcs and resolutions.
- 💖 Joe Hisaishi has composed a lot of phenomenal scores for Studio Ghibli, with Spirited Away's being a prime example of him firing on all cylinders. It's excellent.
- 💔 I already complained about the memory loss over in Smart, but it did cost the film a bit here as well. For once I'd like long-forgotten memories to stay forgotten, or having been remembered all along or something.
This should be good, it basically didn't drop the ball in any of the categories.
Yeah, that's about what I was expecting, that looks larger than the Star Wars triangle as well, it's a good thing Hugo beat it as well, otherwise it'd be just anime so far which feels unrepresentative.
86.17
Yep, that's a high score alright, even if it's not, you know, the High Score.
Let's see if I can knock out something a bit more ambitious for the next one...
Let's see if I can knock out something a bit more ambitious for the next one...
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