Spirited Away

Name: Spirited Away Anime Review
Item: Spirited Away
Rating: 95
Author: Shilotsugu

ARCHIVIST: Shilotsugu

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LOGGED: 2001-08-25

95%

Editorial Score

Consensus Grade: Aged Like Wine 🍷

📊 Production Parameter Matrix Scale 1.0 – 10.0

S+ [STR] Story & Narrative Direction 10 / 10

S+ [AGI] Animation & Cel Craftsmanship 10 / 10

S [INT] Character Dynamics & Cast 9 / 10

S [SYN] Voice Acting & Soundtrack 9 / 10

Consensus: Aged Like Wine 🍷

CLASSIFICATION S+ TIER

[+] Strengths & Highlights

This film seems like a "best of" works, combining themes from all previous works. Miyazaki fans will recognise aspects of his films such as palm-sweating cliff hanging scenes from Laputa and Castle Cagliostro, the strange spirits of Mononoke Hime, even the black soots from Totoro have an expanded role here. Haku’s interesting secret identity seems unusual for a Miyazaki film, but fits this story well.

[-] Vulnerabilities & Flaws

What’s to dislike? This is a Miyazaki movie after all. Although maybe the only thing to dislike is that this may be his last film.

⤢ Fullscreen • Hover 2001

Aged Like Wine 🍷

Modern Consensus: The 2001 reviewer's high praise for Spirited Away's visual craftsmanship and narrative impact aligns perfectly with modern classic status.

📖 Overview

A girl and her parents get lost in the spirit world on their move to a new town.

🎬 Storyline & Narrative

While Chihiru and her family are moving to a new house in the suburbs, they stop to explore an abandoned theme park. Somehow Chihiro gets separated from her parents and is forced to work at a bath house for gods and monsters run by a giant-headed witch. Some humans also work there, but if they goof off too much, they will be turned into monsters as well. Can Chihiro find her parents? Will she ever return to her own world?

👥 Characters & Dynamics

Chihiro - A 10 year old girl forced to leave her friends in the city to move to the suburbs with her parents.

Chihiro’s parents - Average mainstream parents with perhaps a dangerous amount of curiosity...

Haku - A mysterious 12 year old human boy working at the bath house. He is instrumental at saving Chihiro and helping her get a job at the bath house.

Rin - Another human girl who shows Chihiro the ropes (literally).

Yuu-baba - The witch who runs the bath house with an iron fist.

Kamajiji - Old man stoking the boiler for the baths and mixes herbal medicines for the guests.

Kaonashi (No-face) - Mysterious dark figure, neither man nor god.

🎨 Animation & Visual Direction

Another great release from director Hayao Miyazaki and Studio Ghibli, and is said to be his final movie. You can expect the fluid animation and full yet subdued colors without a lot of flashy special effects that are the Ghibli trademark.

🎵 Voice Acting & Soundtrack

Though this movie is still in theatrical release in Japan, I believe that Disney will do a good job of dubbing, based on the other Miyazaki movies they have done.

🟢 What We Liked: This film seems like a "best of" works, combining themes from all previous works. Miyazaki fans will recognise aspects of his films such as palm-sweating cliff hanging scenes from Laputa and Castle Cagliostro, the strange spirits of Mononoke Hime, even the black soots from Totoro have an expanded role here. Haku’s interesting secret identity seems unusual for a Miyazaki film, but fits this story well.

🔴 What We Disliked: What’s to dislike? This is a Miyazaki movie after all. Although maybe the only thing to dislike is that this may be his last film.

💬 Early-2000s Fandom Pulse Community Rating: ★ 5/5 (1 historical responses)

• Community Praise: Fascinating, great, you will fall right into the great strange world where everything is going different but it seems completly normal :) I was very impressed! Better Animations than Mononokee!

• Contentious Points: What’s to dislike? This is a Miyazaki movie after all. Although maybe the only thing to dislike is that this may be his last film.

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