Research 16 - Spirited Away

Spirited Away remains to this day as the biggest block buster movie to come out of Japan. Its about a young girl named Chihiro who is moving to another town with her parents, and she's not happy. Her father tries to take a short cut and ends up in front of an abandoned tunnel of which the family decides to enter, going through the tunnel they happen upon what appears to be a deserted town but it is fully stocked with piping hot food that her parents start to gorge on. This concerns Chihiro and she runs away finding a young boy who asks her why she's here, telling her to go away. Frightened Chihiro runs back to her parents only to find that they have been turned to pigs. As the day turns to night the streets begin to bustle with shop keepers and customers of the spiritual variety showing a wide breadth of shapes and sizes. As Chihiro starts to disappear from the world because humans do not belong there the young boy comes up to her and forces her to eat so she can stay there with out turning into a pig. From there the boy, Haku, sends Chihiro to see Yubaba and demand a job no matter what and so her life in the spirit world begins.

Spirited Away is most definitely deserving to be called a master piece of animation. It immerses you in the rich Japanese cultures and beliefs of the people and for those who didn't believe in these things paid for it just like Chihiros parents did when they didn't heed the warning of the statues around the tunnel. It wasn't a place for humans. Once again Miyazaki is bringing our attention to change. how younger generations, even young generation parents, no longer had the willingness to believe what they were doing, Chihiros parents are a good example of this where they chose food over their daughter, took it with out asking, hadn't even questioned where it had come from and yet took it like it was theirs.

Unlike Nausicaa, Spirited away doesn't look at change on the world but on the people and its a great way to show the changes hat have occurred in society today. We believe in myths less, we take and don't give back, wanting only for ourselves. I realise i focused mostly on the parents gluttony here but i also really like Yubaba as a character for her fearfulness, as well as how much you can come to dislike her.