Spirited Away: The Best?

Arguably, Hayao Miyazaki’s best work, Spirited Away is truly one of the best-animated films ever created.

 Hand drawn animation makes this film spectacular. The artistry, creativity, and emotions of Hayao Miyazaki are depicted in the film. Firstly, each frame of the movie is beyond belief. The complexity of each frame is superb. From the boiler room to the main floors of the bathhouse, Miyazaki does an excellent job of portraying the setting and making a set of intriguing and awesome characters. The emotions painstakingly given to each character is truly amazing. The emotions enrich the story, and make the overall plot and story telling much better.

 The underlying themes in the film make Sideways or The Reader appear foolish. From the Japanese cultural references to major themes, Spirited Away has so many good underlying themes that it is difficult to know and completely understand all of them. These themes help enrich the story and aid in the development of the audience’s attraction and appeal to the movie.

 Lastly, the film’s ending was satisfying, but heart-wrenching. The ending portrays Chihiro gaining freedom of her family and herself from the other world, at the cost of losing all of her new friends (most importantly, Haku). She also lost her innocence as a cost for maturing. The ending also confirmed that the movie was not a dream. These ending elements give the audience a sense of satisfaction, but a yearn for more.

 In conclusion, Spirited Away remains one of the best animated films ever due to the brilliant story-telling, (This was caused by the superb hand-drawn animation of Hayao Miyazaki), under-lying themes, and the great ending.