Spirited Away

[Scott]

A movie about a 10-year-old girl has overtaken Titanic as the best-selling movie in Japanese history. Sen to Chihiro no Kamikakushi (English title: Spirited Away), a full-length animated film, opened last summer in Japan and has become a massive hit, now appearing on VHS and DVD.


Spirited Away is the first movie in four years by director Hayao Miyazaki, who is very popular with kids (as well as adults) in Japan. Fans lined up outside theaters for hours to see the movie on the day it was released. The film broke the Japanese record for number of spectators shortly after it came out, and in just 56 days it also took the record as the highest-earning Japanese film ever. This record was previously held by another Miyazaki movie from four years ago, Mononoke Hime (English title: Princess Mononoke), which took about a year to set the record.


In Spirited Away, Chihiro, an ordinary 10-year-old Japanese girl, is moving to a house with her parents when they wander into a mysterious town. Her father claims that it must be an old abandoned theme park. They wander into the heart of the small town and her mother and father are turned into pigs after they eat food that was not meant for them. In shock, Chihiro runs around the town only to meet a boy of her age named Haku. Haku informs her that in order to survive and turn her parents back into humans, she must work for Yubaba, the witch who controls the town. Chihiro ends up working in a big bath house, where the many gods and monsters said to live in Japan come at night, across a red painted bridge, to relax and recover from the day's stress.


Yubaba robs Chihiro of her name, after Chihiro signs a contract, and changes it to Sen. The little girl will not be able to return to the human world if she forgets her real name. She encounters many strange obstacles along the way such as a visit from the "Stinky God" to the bathhouse, and a meeting with Yubaba's GIANT son, who is referred to as Baby. Will Chihiro, who has suddenly lost her parents and been left to care and work for herself, be able to find her way back? Chihiro appears both weak and negative at the beginning of the story, but as it unfolds she becomes increasingly stronger. For those of you who have seen Miyazaki's previous work, My Neighbor Totoro, you will notice that the little black dust bunnies play a guest role in this movie.


The film features subtitles in English, French and Japanese, and dubbed soundtrack in French, and Japanese. The film is provided on 2 DVDs and features many extras, as with all Studio Ghibli's DVD film releases. The first disc contains the movie and on the second disk are many extras. On this disc, you can view the film in storyboard mode, a great way to get insight on the movie and the director. There are also many other things, including an interview you don't want to miss, and a preview for the newest Ghibli movie, Neko no Ongaeshi (The Cat Returns).


Spirited Away, in my opinion, is the greatest movie ever produced by Ghibli. It also has serious potential for being one of the greatest anime movies ever made to this date. Spirited Away is a beautiful film, full of incredible scenes and characters that are especially eye opening. There seems to be a combination of inventions of Miyazaki and snippets from tales in ancient Japan and China.


For those of you who may have heard that there is a reddish tint to the DVD, don't let that throw you. I noticed a SLIGHT red tint which was easily improved by editing the color settings on my TV. After the first minute you forget that there is a red tint and by the end of the movie you're questioning to whether there even is a red tint on the DVD.


I plan on watching and enjoying it many more times after today. I'm also excited to see the results of the English dub when it hits North American theatres this fall, in September 2002. If you're interested in more information, you can visit http://www.nausicaa.net/miyazaki/sen/.


In final, I suggest you buy Spirited Away today. I'm sure you won't be disappointed. It is available at most Japanese themed stores on the net, including http://www.yesasia.com and http://www.cdjapan.co.jp but is available much cheaper brand new at http://www.ebay.com.

[Scott]

Has anyone else seen this movie? If so, post your thoughts as I'm interested to hear them!

[Twisted]

I have it, but didn't have time to see it yet. I was planning to watch it tonight but the weather was too nice to stay home. :gulp:

[thomas]

Japanese film "Spirited Away" impresses in U.S., Canada

=> http://www.japantoday.com/e/?content=news&cat=1&id=231434

[nebosuke]

I caught the captioned version at the El Capitan last weekend. It's simply a great movie, animated or not. I will probably wait to buy the DVD until the U.S. version comes out to see what is available on the disc versus the imported (Japanese) one.

You can read summaries (with links to the entire articles) of all of the critics reviews at Rotten Tomatoes (http://www.rottentomatoes.com/).

[perfectchichi]

Spirited away is only playing in selected theatres in the u.s so I can't see it in my tiny town.

[moyashi]

ugh, tiny towns are the pits. At least you have a theater. I didn't. I had to drive 30 minutes to see anything that wasn't on video yet.

[rhymester*]

yeay i love that movie!! glad to see it did well in the west! it was very popular here in singapore too!

:happy:

[Twisted]

I have finally seen it tonight. Absolutely brilliant!

[thomas]

Still waiting for it... :(

[moyashi]

Waiting for a chance to watch it.

Wife is anti-movie watching lately ... ugh

[billie lean]

I do love movies..... maybe I'll give it a try

[Hoyu]

My wife brought an original VCR tape of "Sen to Chihiro no Kamikakushi" (Spirited Away) home nearly 6 months ago, proclaiming that it was the very best of Hayao Miyazaki's anime she had ever seen. And this says a lot! She has been a huge fan of the whole Miyazaki legacy all her life; The Castle of Cagliostro, Kiki's Delivery Service, My Neighbor Totoro & Princess Mononoke, to name a few.

My advice is... if you watch this, then you should know something about Shinto and Buddhist conceptuality...

or you will be quite lost metaphorically. ;)

[thomas]

Beware of the killer DVD, lolol:

3 sue over color quality of "Spirited Away" DVD

In the suit, filed with the Kyoto District Court, the plaintiffs say the color tone of the DVDs of the blockbuster is different from that they saw on the screen.

=> http://www.japantoday.com/e/?content=news&cat=1&id=241180

[jsantiago77]

I'm curious. What does "Sen to Chihiro no Kamikakushi" means in Japanese? Not the Spirited Away but the real word for word translation? I have seen the movie in Japanese with no subtitle so aside from Otoosan and Okaasan, I got lost. Planning to either watch it again with subtitle or hit my head and wake up as a Japanese.

[Hoyu]

Two Possible Translations

Literal: Sen and Chihiro of the hidden Gods

Figurative: Sen and Chihiro and the hidden place of the Gods

Chihiro is given the name Sen when she starts to work at the bathhouse of the Gods (Shinto Kami), and the bathhouse is in a hidden place. So I guess it makes sense, but after you read the following quote you will have a better understanding of how the names Sen and Chihiro play into the title:

Chi and Sen use the same Kanji. Upon entering this world, you must sacrifice your identity to the boss, even if you still have your memories. Hence the similar name.

Source: http://www.lovehkfilm.com/panasia/spirited_away.htm

[jsantiago77]

Thanks!!:p

[thomas]

It's still raining awards.

New York critics award "Spirited Away"

New York Film Critics Circle on Monday chose Hayao Miyazaki's award-winning animation, "Spirited Away" (Sen to Chihiro no Kamikakushi), as the best animated movie of the year, the third award the blockbuster has collected in the United States this month.

=> http://www.japantoday.com/e/?content=news&cat=1&id=243025

[Integral]

I saw that movie today, and it was REALLY good! :cool:

[thomas]

Grrr, just makes me more curious. ;)

Welcome to the board, Integral! :wave:

[thomas]

"Spirited Away," "Mt Head" nominated for Oscars

=> http://www.japantoday.com/e/?content=news&cat=1&id=249128

[Twisted]

Have you seen it yet, Thomas?

[AbSk]

I got to see Spirited Away in my Japanese 1 class, like 4 months ago. I liked it was the first movie I every seen in Japanese. a student from my class downloaded it from kaza and gave it to are sensai. It was coo.

[thomas]

Originally posted by Twisted
Have you seen it yet, Thomas?

Guess I have to wait until they show it on TV, lol.

Kazaa, eh? ;)

[den4]

I need to see it, too, one of the aeons....heard it's great though....but then, it is Miyazaki..... :D
hope it wins something at the Oscars, but I doubt it.. :(

[Twisted]

If Spirited Away doesn't win, then the whole Academy Awards thing loses it's credibility. The other movies in that category are entertaining, but don't have any depth at all.

@Thomas:
E-mule (http://www.emule-project.net)
Sharereactor (http://www.sharereactor.com)

Happy hunting!

Oh wait... it's a bit illegal to download movies...
If anyone asks: It wasn't me!. :)

[thomas]

It is very, very, very illegal to download entire movies and we do *NOT* condone these illegal practices at all, never have, and of course never will.

Any preference as to which program is more illegal in regard to criminal success? ;)

[Twisted]

I always stop downloading right after the credits start. Are the credits part of the entire movie?

Personally, i don't like Kazaa. For movies i'd go for either E-Donkey or E-mule, but only in combination with ShareReactor. Otherwise you can't be sure you actually get what you want. It's also possible with WinMX, but then you'd run the risk of getting arrested for downloading the wrong movie 5 times... :)

[den4]

with all the spyware riddled on most of the p2p stuff, makes me wary of them....seems like WinMX is one of the few, aside from Kazaalite, that is free of them....:p
How do you get arrested for downloading the wrong movie 5 times? Does it mean you are ok if you do it 3 times or less, or 6 times or more? :D
Academy Politics makes me rather cynical that they actually award Oscars based on actual merit of the movie, no matter how great it is.... :P but that's just my view.... :D

[degpiexoxo]

stupid academy... at least they did something right this year... what a great movie!

[animecartoons]

EEE! I love Spirited Away! ^_^ I just watched it about 2 weeks ago! (These faces are so cute! :blush: )

[noyhauser]

Better than Naussica or Totoro or bed of firefilies?? I dont think so (especially the latter) but then again I havent seen it yet

[noyhauser]

Okay I watched it... and here are my thoughts...

Its a good movie... definately to Miyazaki standard... but is it his best?? No. The first one I saw was Totoro about ten years ago now. It isnt my favorate. Im not a fan of the Miyazaki worlds that are set in our world with like another dimention that exists, which Totoro and spirited are like. . My favorite by far, is Nausicaa... the world he created there had far more vibrance and immersion than any other. A close second for me is Laputa... for the very same reason. There are mysteries to the world that stir my imagination. The scope of those worlds just blew me away. I can be drawn in because I am unfamiliar with it. Still its a good movie, its unfortunate though that the really vintage stuff... Nausicaa and Totoro, wont ever recieve the same acclaim that spirited has. I guess my review is a bit biased though because I have watched the other two. Spirited had a good plot, but it didnt have the deep deep message like the other movies did. It had some expansive scenes, but they didn't catch me like the others.

[atuum]

Saw it just after christmas 2002.
it touched me. the animation. the setting. the creative characters.
and that cool little bird carrying that baby. great!

definitely in my top ten!

Atuum

[yoyoitzeddy]

awesome awesome movie.. one of the best anime movie i seen in a lonnggg time.. :D :D

[SKiNiToToRo]

Holy moly! I finally got around towatching my DVD of this on Friday and it was awesome! The story was great! So much imagination, I got totally lost in it.

I'd recommend it to everyone, especially the Chinese region 3 DVD. The soundtrack was DTS 6.1 Japanese language and it was very good indeed.

Hard to say if it's better than Totoro or Mononoke but at least equal!

[Ami]

I love Spirited Away! Especially Haku! I think this was the best movie Miyazaki has made so far. :victory: :clap:

[Carolgirl00]

yah, I saw Spirited Away in theaters when in came out in the US. I really enjoyed it and the animation was gorgeous.

[Maciamo]

I've finally seen it, along with a few other Miyazaki (princess mononoke, nausicaa, majou no takyuubin...) and it's the best for the music, pictures and general atmosphere.

What I like best in this one is the traditional atmosphere with temples, bath houses, etc.

There was a programme on Japanese TV about "Sen to Chihiro" that was showing the English and French dubbing. The voices are very different in each version, which changes the general feeling of the movie. From the little I've seen of each trailer, I prefer the original in Japanese (I don't like the English "r" in "Chihiwro", for instance).

In the same programme, they surveyed children around the world and asked them which passage they'd liked best or found most impressive. In Korea, it was the one where the parents were turned into pigs. In France, it was the passage with Chihiro riding Haku as a dragon and remembering when she fell in the river when she was a child. Personally, that's the passage like least in the whole movie.

[Maciamo]

Originally posted by Kakuzen
[b]Two Possible Translations

Literal: Sen and Chihiro of the hidden Gods

Figurative: Sen and Chihiro and the hidden place of the Gods


The most literal translation is :

Sen and Chihiro's god's hiding

They explained on TV that in all Miyazaki's films there was a particular Japanese usage of "no" that was always present. The strangest is "kaze no tani no Nausikaa", which is literally "wind's valley's Nausicaa", so "Nausicaa of the wind of the valley" and not "the wind and the valley" as it has been translated.

"Kakushi" is the noun of the verb "kakusu" (to hide), so doesn't mean "hidden" but "hiding". Altogether, the title should be translated, in proper English (with articles...), as "The hiding of god(s) of Sen and Chihiro", but it doesn't really make sense, which is why they chose a completely different translation : Spirited away (linked, I think to the fact that Chihiro's spirit was kept by "Yuubaaba" in her name). In French it's simply "Le Voyage de Chihiro" ("Chihiro's Travel"), as there were no other possible translation that sounded good.

[Ami]

Is Miyazaki planning to make any more films? :happy:

[kirei_na_me]

We got Spirited Away and Kiki's Delivery Service for our boys recently, and while I liked Spirited Away very much, I love Kiki. That is a movie I could watch over and over again. I have never been a big fan of anime, and I thought I could never come across an anime that I would genuinely like, but Kiki really made a lasting impression on me. I will be watching it many more times...

[Ami]

Kiki's Delivery Service was a very relaxing movie. :)

[Jealousy Girl]

I saw the movie long time ago..and i really liked it !!! A LOT! it was awesome ^___^....my friends and I Just Love it ^^!

as all the miyazaki's movies ^^!

[Ami]

How many movies has Miyazaki made? I heard he made around 29 of them... :cool: I want to make a Miyazaki collection! :p

[noyhauser]

Miyazaki doesnt believe he will ever make another movie like Spirited. When he is involved, he draws much of the "critical frames" (drawing most of the first refrence shots) and oversees every frame, redrawing them if they don't seem up to his standard. HE is getting up in age, and doesnt think he can go through such a laborious process again. (being an animator is hell... I couldn't do it as a profession)

I also saw the english version of Spirited... I can't watch dubs anymore of Japanese films. It almost made me sick. Again, I dont think spirited is THAT good a film, a good film but not at the rank of Nausicaa or Totoro, which are the best of Miyazaki films.

[Nikorasu]

This was the first Jiburi film I saw and it knocked me of my feet, absolutely wonderfull, I mean it's so damn pretty, like a Alice in Wonderland x 1000, since then I've been looking forward to every Jiburi movie I've been able to get my hands on (or that HennaSaru got his hands on :bow: )...

[HennaSaru]

spirited away is one of the best anime yet i think. i really like alice in wonderland, the makers of alice most had smoked weed or something, cuz the story is so wacked and fun that no ordinary person could have made that up. :D

[Rose*]

I LOVE that movie. I've seen that only once, but I'd like to see it again.
I think it was kinda spooky now and then, but I love every thing scary.
:evil:

[tetsunihon]

I think I will buy the DVD now that eveyone say its good.

[tetsunihon]

How many people seen "metropolos"?

[Twisted]

I've seen Metropolis. I was quite blown away by the great CGI.