ET.23 - Spirited Away as an Anime.

So as Chairman Rey grew up in the 'dark' ages, I will 'enlighten' him as he commands.

Spirited Away

This is the first anime movie shown in the FILM101 course, and probably the last. Despite it being potentially the only anime ever to be shown, it strikes me deep compared to every other movie screening I've ever seen. Well for one reason, it's one of the earliest anime films to be developed. Instead of using computer technology to animate the movie, it's made by painstakingly drawing slide after slide. The quality was surprisingly remarkable and it even outshines most anime shown around the world even today. It's good to take a break from all the Noir films being shown lately, and see something colourful for a change.

Thus, how does this anime set itself apart from other anime? For starters as mentioned, the method of developing this anime only by hand. Asides from that, we must keep in mind that this is a very early form of animation. Also a little bit of 'girl finds guy, girl loses guy, and girl gets guy back'. The story and plot is based on a journey of to-and-fro like most movies shown in FILM101 course, and also a journey of 'growing up'. Many other animations can be compared with much similarities such as Alice in Wonderland, Cinderella, Finding Nemo, Hansel and Gretal and many more. Spirited Away falls under the genre of 'movie animation' and must not be confused with other types of genre like 'animation series'. Because this is a Japanese anime(anime originated from Japan anyhow), it shows bountiful forms of rich Japanese culture, living, and its myths of different ghosts and spirits that dwells in the spirit world. Mise-en-scene, choreography are not present in this genre particularly, but it retains other plot characteristics such as protagonists, antagonists, the journey, and Joseph Campbell. 


I cannot stress how much Joseph Campbell's influence is found in this movie, particularly because he influences almost all of the movies up till today. Dragons for instance. "All heroes are one hero" - The Journey, speaks loudly in Spirited Away. This is not just some cheesy movie as Miyazaki describes, instead he wanted a character in which people may look up to as a heroine, hence Chihiro. Alongside heroes are Haku, Lin, Kamaji, Zeniba, the Polluted-river Spirit, all contributes to Chihiro's return back to the living world. The thesis for Campbell's Hero with a Thousand Faces also included the monomyth which can be found in this movie. The labyrinth, which Chihiro and her parents are led into, is the 'abandoned amusement park', the Spirit World. In it are dark forces and monsters the hero encounters; Yubaba, Yubaba changing Chihiro's name to Sen in order to trap her in the spirit world forever for instance. The final battle; Sen must choose which of the pigs are her parents. Conquering the final battle and return to the real world with new knowledge; the crossing of the river. The 'elixer' being brought back; the hairband that ties her hair up made by Zeniba and No-Face.

 "Kamikakushi is a verdict of 'social death' in this world, and coming back to this world from Kamikakushi meant 'social resurrection'." - Reider, Noriko T

Kamikakushi literally means "spirited away". The term 'spirit away' simply means to remove without anybody noticing. Just another way to put Joseph Campbell into the picture. Kamikakushi in Japanese folklore, is used to refer to the mysterious disappearance of a person that happens when an angered God takes a person away. But instead of a God, the Kamikakushi journey for Chihiro is from an obnoxious young girl growing up to be a teenager, losing her identity and gaining a new one but remembering her old name from the goodbye card, losing her parents, and later getting them back, and ultimately leaving the spirit world knowing and experiencing what love is, only to leave it behind when Haku says: "Don't look back". I could see a different girl from when she first walked into the tunnel, and back out.



Miyazaki did not create this anime for the sake of just making a movie, Spirited Away was made from an inspiration of a bath-house nearby his home. He had always wondered what was behind a mysterious door next to a bathtub. He made up several stories about that door, one of it inspired Spirited Away. The buildings seen in Spirited Away are also based on buildings near his hometown. This story is very much based on the theme 'coming of age'. Yubaba steals Chihiro's name and changes it to Sen, in Japanese folklore it means to kill her past, hence she is unable to return the way she came from, and can only move on to adulthood. Thus, she must overcome the challenges and obstacles similar to the tribal rites-of-passage format. Beneath the coming-of-age theme lies the truth about the Japanese's post-war era. Just like Chihiro who seeks her past identity, the Japanese were trying to make amends and and reconnect past values during the period when Spirited Away was about to be released. The spirits found in the bath-house were all figments of Japanese's mythical creatures and ghosts of the Japanese culture. I recognize most of them like No-Face and the Jumping Lantern from Zeniba's house from Doraemon comics, which is another Japanese anime and comic hit. So it pretty much sums up that this film is 100% Japanese from head to toe.

What do you think that makes anime so popular?

Since anime does not rely on actors or sets to make a movie, it found a place as its own genre. Anime can be made according to one's imagination, hence the producer can create images that normal actors and mise-en-scene cannot produce. In other words, anime serves as drawings vivid imaginations being put into motion pictures with things such as monsters, actions, and special effects that normal studios are unable to produce through live actors. Anime mostly focuses on the topic of love and journeys and it allows audience to bask in its presence of eye-opening animated cartoon pictures and beautiful music. Most young people are attracted to anime because of these reasons. Indeed, anime has lovely music soundtracks, including the ones in Spirited Away. On a lighter note, some old people are obsessed with anime because they find themselves unworthy of the living world in any way, thus deciding to trap themselves in the world of anime because anime possesses lifelike images of anything they can fantasize about, leaving most of them in limbo of their fantasy. Hence, in Layman's terms, anime is popular also in terms of fulfilling the fantasies of any kind that man wishes to have.

I am not a hardcore anime fan, but I see anime as a respectable form of genre and I find great pleasure in viewing different types of anime. I do not know many types of anime movies, but I do know some anime series such as The Law of Ueki, Naruto, Bleach, One-Piece. I only like The Law of Ueki and Naruto, but not Bleach and One-Piece. But I digress. Law of Ueki has significantly shorter set of series compared to the others. Many other movies and series such as Pokemon, Digimon, Beyblade are all my childhood shows I watch during Saturday and Sunday mornings before there was Astro. If you wish to seek more anime you could take a look at Popular Bookstores CD sections or even just Google them.



Work-cited list.


Satoshi, Ando. "Regaining Continuity with the Past: Spirited Away and Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. "Bookbird 46.1:23-29. Project MUSE. February 11,2009


Miyazaki on Spirited Away // Interview //. Nausicaa.net (July 11, 2001)


Reider, Noriko T. "Spirited Away: Film of the Fantastic and Evolving Japanese Folk Symbols. "Film Criticism 29.3:4-27. Academic OneFile. Gale. February 11, 2009


Napier, Susan J. "Matter Out of Place: Carnival, Containment and Cultural Recovery in Miyazaki's Spirited Away." Jouenal of Japanese Studies 32.2:287-310. Project MUSE. February 11, 2009