Spirited Away

I hadn’t seen this for years, but I don’t remember it being THIS good. Spirited Away feels like a real achievement in human artwork, and the very maximum effort result of how good animation can be as a film genre. The world that Chihiro finds herself in is unlike any I have ever seen in fiction, ever. Frogs work as staff of a bathhouse, which inhabits tired spirits looking to relax. The buildings are designed beautifully, with both past and present Japanese architecture influencing them. Fun fact - this film was how I learnt about Japanese design, how they sleep, how they design their streets, in fact I think this film really introduced me to the idea of Japan. There’s such a strange feeling about this world that Chihiro wanders into - you would be given all the excuses in the world to say that there’s something off about it, something not quite right - but you just can’t put your finger on it. Despite the fact that spirits wander the halls of the bathhouse, despite the four-armed man Kamanji powering the furnace, being helped by pieces of soot, you can’t help but feel relaxed in it. There are definitely perilous beings in it, such as No Face and Yubabu, but even then they turn out to be not completely evil. There’s almost a ‘home-you-never-had’ feeling to it. I think the main message of this film is about the dangers of greed. Greed is what turned Chihiro’s parents into pigs, Greed is what corrupted Yubabu and caused her to rule the world with an iron grip, cursing anyone who stepped out of line, Greed is what caused No Face’s binge session, and Greed is what caused the workers and inhabitants of the bathhouse to keep feeding No Face, being given the promise of gold. Out of all the characters in the film, it seems Chihiro, the most hard done by, is in fact the least greedy out of everyone, followed by Kohaku. It’s really twisted to see two characters so good to go through such turbulent events, it is entertaining, and it does power the film though. This has to be in the top 3 animated films ever, surely. There’s just something so beautiful about it. The ability to present beauty through things so little, in a film that is dominated by massive events and large crowds. Spirited Away is memorable, beautiful, and an examination into the very fibres of fiction, dissecting and perfecting it to its most bizarre and unique appearance.