Howl no Ugoku Shiro

I have watched this movie many many times since it is one of my favorite Miyazaki films, so why not write a review? I have also read the book, which takes a much different direction than the film does. And yes, it may seem like I rate highly but for some i was between 9 or 10, and I have explained things that I disliked that may not reflect in my number ratings.

Story: the story is about a girl named Sophie who gets turned into an old woman and ends up living with a wizard named Howl in his moving castle. The story is the ... only part I felt was lacking in this movie. Though I have to admit I see more flaws with the story after reading the book (even though I find the movie much better). Overall, I felt many of the war scenes were overdramatized and left a lot of questions. There were also a lot of small things throughout that they could have done a better job at explaining. Even after watching the movie so many times I cannot fully explain some scenes and still have questions about the movie.

Animation: The animation is absolutely stunning and many of the backgrounds look realistic. I also have to say that I am impressed with how Sophie is animated, and how it is so easy to tell when she is aging/regressing just simply by looking at the animation (her voice also helps). Overall this is the most impressive Miyazaki art I've seen and I really haven't seen much that can top it.

Sound: I'll just start off by saying the music in this movie is so beautiful. I love every single background music in this movie, and the only song I don't like so much is the theme with the words that plays at the end. Aside from the beautiful soundtrack, the sounds in the movie are so dead on. Hearing Sophie's bones crack as an old woman is really painful, and as much as I don't like Sophie's voice, her seiyuu does a great job at portraying the character and how she fluctuates between young and old so frequently throughout the movie. I think all the seiyuu in the movie were good as well.

Character: The characters in this movie make up for all the lack of closure in the plot. Each character has their good points, even the Witch of the Waste. I personally adore almost all the characters, though I actually like Sophie the least of all. Calcifer, Heen, and Turnip head are such adorable and fun characters to watch (and Heen and Turnip have pretty much no lines in the whole movie). Howl is also another loveable character as well. The characters have such different personalities that you will probably like at least one character or more.

Enjoyment: Obviously I enjoy this film a lot. I've watched it so many times! Each time I sit there in awe of the animation and empathize with the characters. It's one of those movies that I love to watch and I have not gotten bored of it yet. I do have to say that towards the end I get slightly bored with the stressed focus on the war, but that only lasts at most 15 minutes.

This movie is defenitely worth watching, and even if you watched it and didn't like it, you only spent two hours watching it since it's a movie. I think it's defenitely one of Miyazaki's better works. If you have time or interest, I think it's worth checking out the book, since it's a completely different take on the story. It's got a lot less romance between Sophie and Howl in it, but it brings a lot more character development to Markl and Sophie's sisters (she has more than one in the novel). But if not, just watch the movie!!

I'd figured that waiting so long to see this made me a bad Miyazaki fan, but after seeing it, I wasn't much bothered by my long delay anymore.

STORY - This movie was apparently based off a book, but as I haven't read the book, I'm judging this movie as a work all on its own, for better or worse. So I suppose this was, in a way, a story about courage and facing one's fears, but it was approached in such a roundabout way that I'm really not sure, even now. The premise of the movie -- Sophie getting bewitched into an old woman -- ... seemed almost completely random, and I was left wondering why? and what was the point of that? Those questions were, for me, repeated a ridiculous number of times throughout the course of the movie. Indeed, most of the scenes seemed haphazardly spliced together with little rhyme or reason connecting them. Eventually, the focus of the movie fell onto Howl and his troubles, which was fine, except that we seemed to forget entirely about Sophie's initial dilemma because of it.

In some ways, Howl's reminded me of Spirited Away, what with its eclectic assemblage of characters, all with their own problems and goals. But while Spirited Away maintained and remembered its initial story and theme, Howl's Moving Castle was seriously all over the place. The further we progressed into the movie, the more it seemed like Sophie's problems were taking a backseat to Howl's, and even her position as a member of his castle and one of his helpers didn't seem very important. One of the things that annoyed me the most was also the fact that the spell placed on Sophie was never explained the depth -- all you knew was that she couldn't tell anyone about it (which was pretty useless since most characters seemed to be able to tell anyway). Nothing was explained as the spell seemed to gradually fade; when Sophie randomly appeared to be her old self, you were never sure whether it was for real or a dream. Eventually, you sort of accepted that she was slowly regaining her old self, but even then, you weren't sure why.

There's also the matter of the war. Throughout the entire movie, it seemed like more of a background element more than anything else. We were never told why the war was going on or against whom they were fighting; thus, it didn't seem like all too important of a thing, even when leaders were requesting the aid of magical folk. In a way, I find this impression interesting as there seems to be a distinct separation between the affairs of our characters and the world around them. Despite the war, they're in their own little world, even with airships attacking every so often and Howl's subsequent injuries. I'm not sure why that is or whether it's a positive or negative element, but it's there all the same...

CHARACTER - I wasn't really all that impressed by any of the characters in this movie. Most of them seemed to be typical of Miyazaki both in personality and goals and were consequently predictable. Sophie is an all around "good" character who only wants the best for her family and friends. Howl is the mysterious one with great power and internal insecurities. Calcifer is the sharp-tongued, sarcastic one who just wants to be free, despite a seemingly good relationship with his master. And Markl is just a good kid, more or less in the same vein as Sophie except younger, and the Scarecrow was a similar personality as well. The Witch of the Waste is a completely stereotypical semi-villain, as is Suliman.

Though there are certainly attempts at expanding on some of the characters' very flat personalities, I don't really feel as if any of them are successful. Sophie's fascination and eventual love for Howl was a little interesting, but the feelings could be attributed very easily to the typical goodness of her personality, and it didn't seem like Howl was very special to have her affections. Similarly, Howl's feelings for Sophie seemed generic, or perhaps he (and all the other characters) could not help but be attracted to her goodness, as there didn't seem to be very many flaws in that purity at all.

ARTSTYLE & ANIMATION - This is easily what contributes the most to the entire movie. As we have come to expect from Studio Ghibli, Howl's Moving Castle was an exceptionally beautiful film. The highly detailed background renders were superb and featured all sorts of fantastical elements, giving the environment a wonderful personality. The streets and storefronts were inviting and cheerful, and the darker alleyways held a mystery of their own. The characters were all wonderfully animated, especially Howl, who transformed slickly between his human and harpy-like form.

The design for the castle was especially fun. As more or less a gigantic heap of metal parts, its lack of uniformity gave the viewer a lot to look at, and all of it was interesting. It was also great to see rooms and halls within the castle shift, contract, and expand as Howl magicked them around.

MUSIC - I don't remember anything especially extraordinary, but I think it's safe enough to say that most of the music was satisfying and fitting for their scenes.

VOICE ACTING - I've only seen the movie subbed. The voices were about average, but I would say that's more because of the characters' flatness more than lack of talent on the part of the actors. Calcifer is the only one that had a particularly memorable voice -- it was a little whiny and a little scratchy: absolutely perfect for his grumbling character.

OVERALL - Howl's Moving Castle was a very fun movie to look at. The visuals were gorgeous and everything smoothly animated. Unfortunately, the story and characters definitely left a lot to be desired; there was so little substance that I might have gotten about the same impression if I'd seen the whole thing on mute (or without subtitles). I've been told that the original novel is better, and I wonder if Miyazaki's downfall is only in that he was trying to adapt someone else's work, because certainly I know the man's capable of telling a story better than this.

TITLE: How's Moving Castle

NOVEL, ANIME: Howl's Moving Castle was originally a young-adult fantasy novel written by Diana Wynne Jones in 1986. It won a Boston Globe-Horn Book Award in 1987, and was also was designated an ALA Notable Book for children and young adults.

Howl's Moving Castle was produced by Studio Ghibli (Ponyo on the Cliff, Spirited Away), and directed by Hayao Miyazaki (Spirited Away, Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind). Howl was released in theatres in Japan on November 20th, 2004, and showed dubbed in theatres Stateside starting on June 10th, 2005, courtesy of Disney, and is available both subbed and dubbed ... on DVD.

STORY: Sophie Hatter is a young, self-conscious young woman who, after a chance encounter with the wizard Howl, is cursed with the body of a ninety-year-old by the spiteful Witch of the Waste, and is unable to tell anyone about the curse. She ends up going into the Waste, and, with the help of an animated turnip-headed scarecrow that she helps, ends up finding Howl's home; a legged, walking, amalgamation of a castle. In order to break her spell, she makes a deal with the fire demon who powers the castle, Calcifer; if she can break the spell on him and Howl - which he also can't tell anyone about - he will break hers.

Howl's Moving Castle isn't necessarily one of Ghibli's strongest movies, story-telling wise. There are a lot of disparate plot elements floating about, with not a lot of explanation given, or even development, for that matter; the movie kind of just drifts from scene to scene, as if it can't decide what plot element it wants to focus on. Probably the biggest example of this is Sophie's curse. There are times in the movie where she'll appear younger or older; it's hinted that this difference in physical appearance is tied to her self-confidence, but it's never explained, it just happens. The ending is kind of unsatisfying, as everything's quickly wrapped up in a neat package with even little to no explanation of sudden plot elements that end up popping up.

The characters themselves are all fairly well fleshed out, though, and are at least intriguing to watch; the moments in this movie that center around the characters alone are where it really shines, such as Sophie going through and cleaning the house, Markl going to market with Sophie, or Calcifer and Howl talking by the fire.

Taken in terms of the original novel, Howl is a nice retelling. The basic plot elements from the novel are mostly intact, though a great deal of the actual plot has been changed around. If you don't mind a looser retelling of the novel, then you should be fine with this; however, if you're looking for the novel translated exactly onto the screen, then you may not want to see this.

ART: As always with Studio Ghibli, the art for this is beyond beautiful, that goes without saying. There are three big things that stood out for me with the art, though:

-The castle. I can't say enough about how intricately this was done; just the design itself is amazingly thought out, and the animation of the movement and all the little parts moving and operating on their own and as a part of the larger whole is incredibly steampunk.
-Anything to do with magic being used. Incredibly created, especially in how it manifests from character to character, and with beautifully intricate detail.
-The war sequences. Incredibly realistic and devastating, though it should be noted that production on this was happening while the Iraq War and the bombings were just beginning.

MUSIC: Joe Hisaishi does the composing work on this, as he always does. While his music has most of the normal chords and progressions it normally does, the music here tends to be variations on several instruments of the main theme song, which, while not my favorite ever, is passable. Not the greatest soundtrack he's ever done, but still fairly solid.

SEIYUU: The cast for this is fairly new to voice work, but it doesn't show; there are some excellent performances in this, especially the voice actor for Calcifer. I actually like the sub and dub about equally, so I can't state preference here for any one cast. I do like that there is a single seiyuu for Sophie, whether she's young or old, as it just shows you the range of the seiyuu.

VOICE ACTORS: The English dub for this has some fairly big names for the performances; Christian Bale does a pretty good job (and even utilizes the Batman!growl) as Howl, Jean Simmons does an amazing job as the older version of Sophie (even though I don't really understand why there needs to be two separate voice actors here), Billie Crystal does a good job of being the comedic relief in Calcifer, Lauren Bacall is an amazing Witch of the Waste, and Crispin Freeman even shows up for a few lines. Overall, a solid performance.

DUB: I have absolutely no criticism whatsoever for the dubwork on this. Translations are done accurately, there's no intentional flubbing of the original meaning, and it's fairly well done.

LENGTH: The movie does tend to drag at times, especially with how the movie tends to float from scene to scene. The whole thing feels kinda dreamy, though, and you tend to not notice where the time's gone at the end of it.

OVERALL: Not Ghibli's best story or score, but still has wonderful characters, amazing animation, and a fairly solid dub, and cast in both languages. A dreamy sort of film, good for a rainy afternoon.

STORY: 7/10
ART: 9/10
MUSIC: 7/10
SEIYUU: 8/10
VOICE ACTORS: 8/10
DUB: 8/10
LENGTH: 8/10

OVERALL: 55/70; 79% (C+)

Howl's Moving Castle is, ultimately, just one example in the ever-growing pile of evidence as to why the word "miss" is never associated with Myazaki.

Story: 10 (Outstanding)

It's hard to say that Howl is original when not only does it draw very heavily from established conventions and tropes from high fantasy and nostalgic works but also happens to be the anime adaptation of the British book of the same name, but it manages to be surprisingly original nonetheless. The story begins with Sophie really just minding her business when she happens to cross paths with an ornery witch who curses her with advanced aging. Desperate to ... find a cure, she later bumps into another magical being, the mysterious magician Howl and his moving castle. Howl quickly reveals his true colors as a friendly and simple nice guy and shelters Sophie while he helps her track down the witch responsible for the curse, who just happens to have been jilted by Howl in the distant past. All of this gets swept aside as Sophie, Howl, the witch and their companions are caught up in a devastating war between two powerful nations and are left to fend for themselves and remain a step ahead of warfare's perils.

Art: 10 (Outstanding0

Nothing more can really be said other than "it's Myazaki". As usual and par for the course for him, the scenery is breathtaking, and is just as much a part of the actual storytelling as the narrative. Myazaki went all out for this one and his imagination went full tilt to give us a world populated by early 20th century European sensibilities with just the right amount of magic thrown in.

Sound: 10 (Outstanding)

Once again, Myazaki is an expert in terms of choosing who to score his work, and the musical score is just as outstanding and breathtaking as the visuals they compliment.

Character: 10 (Outstanding)

The characters are both lovable and deep, from Howl to Sophie to the scrappy little Calcipher (brilliantly voiced by Billy Crystal, perhaps one of his most memorable roles period) to even the mean-spirited but later gentle witch responsible for cursing Sophie, who is also very memorably voiced by none other than Hollywood legend Lauren Bacall.

Enjoyment: 10 (Outstanding)

Anything less would be an outright failure for a Myazaki work, and Howl's Moving Castle is certainly not a failure. It's a solid work through and through, and there's little wonder as to why Zack of Anime News Network's Answerman column would adopt the personality of Howl as his favorite.

Which leads us to an unsurprising final score of:

10: Outstanding

Howl's Moving Castle is a movie which is greatly acclaimed and loved. I wanted to see what I was missing out on so I watched it.

This movie is about a woman named Sophie who owns a hat shop. On the way to meet her sister, Sophie is saved from shifty men by a handsome, wizard named Howl. The witch of the waste then decides to intervene and casts a spell on Sophie out of jealousy. On a journey to recover her old self, she ends up on the moving castle as a cleaner. Then there's lots of magic, secrets, an adoptive family and a ... war?

Story 6/10 - Many will say that I am scoring the story with too much of mercy, I agree that I am. The plot of this movie was all over the place. When a storyline started to pick up, it would get drowned out with something else. There was nothing that was thoroughly solved or even explained. I liked the magic and the occasional humor but they never led to anything. At the end I was left feeling cheated and deprived of an actual ending.
Art & sound 9.5/10 - This is where this movie shines. The art and sound were both exceptional. The scenery at every single scene was so detailed, my favourite scenery being the intricate details of Howl's room. The art was perfectly done and the music also kept up in pace with the art. The music was well timed and set the mood perfectly.
Characters 8/10 - I absolutely loved the heroine, Sophie. She had an entertaining personality and I liked her comments and reactions to situations. The witch of waste, Calcifer, Markl and Turnip also had really good characteristics, they kept the show entertaining. I don't think that Howl was portrayed in the best way, at times he was a very weak character and instead of mysterious, he came off as lacking which was a let down.

Overall, 7/10, I couldn't score it any less due to the art perfection. I don't think I enjoyed this anime as much as other viewers but it is still worth a watch, if you enjoy kisses solving all the world's problems.

First off this is another great film from Hayao Miyazaki I personally loved this film the characters are bright, and vibrant with great personalities which is one of the things that makes me whatch this film over and over again.The film is also good because it can be watched by an entire family and be enjoyed on many diffrent levels,the enviroment in the film are beautifuly rendered and the range from beautiful fantasy, to early modern war periods I would reccomend this anime for anyone first off who is a Hayao Miyazaki but most importantly who is intrested in seeing a masterpiece of its own ... kind.

Hayao Miyazaki is rightfully considered one of the great artists working in the anime form. Eschewing the hard-edged violence that many American viewers (rightly or wrongly) associate with the form, Miyazaki creates painterly, pastoral visions filled with beauty and eccentric charm. And unlike much of anime, his characters are really animated: they live and breathe and move; they don’t just stand there filling up the composition while the extreme camera angles, moody lighting and striking character design strive to compensate for minimal movement. Moreover, the writer-director is not just a painter of pretty pictures; he fills his films with deeply felt themes (environment, war, etc) ... that are expressed through the grandness of the visuals. Unfortunately, the narrative thread binding these themes together is almost never as important as important as how beautiful the billowing white clouds look while cresting the snow-capped mountains and throwing their shadows on the verdant valleys below.

In this regard, HOWL’S MOVING CASTLE is a perfect epitome of Miyazaki’s work, in all its strengths and weaknesses: it’s beautiful and filled with numerous heart-felt story elements and themes (about greed, cowardice, and the futility of war), but how these elements connect on a plot level is subjugated to how beautifully they are rendered on screen.

The story follows Sophie, a young woman who is rescued from being accosted by two soldiers when the mysterious and handsome wizard Howl intervenes, literally flying her through the sky. Howl has a reputation for devouring the hearts of beautiful women, but Sophie doesn’t feel threatened because she doesn’t believe herself to be beautiful. Unfortunately, being rescued by the wizard is a case of going from the frying pan to the fire, as Howl is being pursued by the minions of the Witch of the Waste. The Witch puts a curse on Sophie, turning her into an old hag and preventing her from explaining what has happened. Unable to face her mother, Sophie leaves home and stumbles upon the titular castle, where she takes up work as a cleaning lady.

Domesticity takes a back seat when war breaks out and Howl is ordered to report for duty. Howl admits to Sophie that, despite his powers, he is a coward; even his magnificent moving castle is just a way to run from trouble. He sends Sophie to turn down the call to arms. Along the way, Sophie meets up with the Witch of the Waste, who has her powers stolen from her (we have no doubt that the same would have happened to Howl had he reported for service as ordered).

When full-scale war breaks out, Howl finally decides to stop running, but when his defense of the castle brings him to the point of death, Sophie destroys the castle so that he will no longer risk his life. More through luck than design, Sophie manages to lift a curse that has been binding him to the fire demon Calcifer that powered his castle. She also lifts a curse on a missing prince (whose disappearance was the cause of the war). And she herself returns to her youthful appearance (although her hair remains silver-hued.

The film is filled with sweeping visuals that pull the viewer along: the castle tromping across the countryside, a fiery aerial bombardment, Howl in bird form swooping through the skies as he is battered by the enemy. But the logic behind these events is frustratingly vague, and you’d be hard-pressed to explain the logic of the film’s happy ending (at least three curses are lifted in the last few minutes, but the details of how this is achieved are glossed over). Howl seems to recognize that the old woman who cleans is castle is the same young woman he rescued, but how or even exactly when is not clear. Sophie seems to regain her youth when she expresses concern for others, but this carries little dramatic weight, since she was never particularly self-centered to begin with. Apparently Howl’s problem has something to do with trading his heart to Calcifer (in exchange for what?), but the exact nature is never clarified, so it’s hard to tell how Sophie figured out a way to undo the damage.

Perhaps detailed explanations are not necessary. On a simple, primal level, it is clear that the characters are being rewarded for their altruistic behavior, even if the exact mechanism for how this works is never explained: if we know the “why,” the how is unimportant. But in some cases, even this emotional attachment is lacking: for example, there is a throwaway “plot twist” wherein Sophie’s mother betrays her, but this thread is cut before it can develop — it might as well have simply been cut out completely for all it contributes to the story.

The animation is all beautifully done. Miyazaki uses the screen lke a canvas, filling it with breath-taking vistas that are populated by amusing characters and bizarre images: including a legless scarecrow hopping about on its wooden post and an asthmatic dog that befriends Sophie. Both of these are the sort of cute characters that are immediately endearing, lighting up the screen whenever they appear, regardless of story deficiencies. Even if the plot points are not always clear, the visuals tell us what’s happening in a way that feels emotionally right (as when the formerly imposing Witch of the waste is turned from villain to victim, reduced to flabby, diminished version of her former self).

The English dubbing is very effective. Emily Mortimer and Jean Simmons seamlessly integrate the two versions of Sophie, young and old. Billy Crystal doesn’t overdo the jokes too much as Calcifer, and Lauren Bacall strikes the properly haughty tone as the witch. In the title role, Christian Bale is suitably enigmatic and ambivalent as Howl, alternating between awesome and alluring on the one hand and childish and craven on the other. Sadly, the look of the character seems to become increasingly boyish throughout the film, until it starts to resemble the familiar cliché of the too-cute wide-eyed anime hero.

Ultimately, HOWL’S MOVING CASTLE is not as impressive as Miyazaki’s
ambitious PRINCESS MONONOKE, but it captures the pastoral beauty and charm that we have come to expect from the creator of LAPUTA: CASTLE IN THE SKY and MY NEIGHBOR TOTORO. That’s more than enough to make it worth seeing.

Howl's Moving Castle is a revolutionary masterpiece that defies common plot structure and character development techniques. As a result, some people mistake a number of its best traits for flaws.

Story: 10

The story is a “typical” Hayao Miyazaki female coming-of-age plot (if you can call anything that Miyazaki does as typical), and has an air of magic and wonderment very like a fairytale. His extensive use of metaphors and symbolism, as is typical of much of his work, leaves the viewer feeling that the movie is extremely thought provoking. The themes he addresses, love, war, forgiveness, self-confidence and self-deprecation, are all explored multi-facetedly ... and in great depth. At the same time, rarely is anything specific mentioned that drives the reader to a certain conclusion. What Miyazaki does instead is present facts in abstract ways that leave a sense of wonderment and encourages each viewer to come up with their own conclusions about each subject.
One of the unique features of this story is that, at times, the story doesn't appear to make sense. Usually, that would mean that the story is lacking or not fully developed; however, in the case of Howl’s Moving Castle, it actually enhances the charm and beauty of the story. The mysterious and sometimes confusing reaction it creates will leave you thinking about the movie long after you are finished watching it. Another characteristic of the story is its pacing, which may appear at times to be disjointed or questionable, but upon further reflection, actually adds a little bit of reality to this otherwise fantastical masterpiece.

Art: 10 (Sound and Animation)
Flawless. Perfect. Intricate. Amazing. Everyone should watch this at least once, even if it is only for the art.

Character: 10
Howl’s Moving Castle definitely has some unconventional, albeit amazing, character development. There is very little back-story of the supporting characters, and even some of the main characters have much less back-story than usual. Instead of the movie focusing on the characters history, it focuses much more on their souls. You get to know the characters simply by the actions they take, what they say, and the way they act and react. Again, this method adds a touch of realism to the magic of the story.


Enjoyment: 10
It is a true work of art, and one of my favorites.

Overall: 10
I'll say it again, this is not your traditional story. It leaves you wondering "what was that about?" and "How did that happen?" at some parts. Some people think that this detracts from the movies quality. I, on the other hand, think that it is the true genius of this movie. I would definitely recommend this to everyone, but would also suggest leaving any expectations you might have on how a story should be aside, and let yourself take this masterpiece in with a clear mind.

Howls moving castle to me, is just exactly the right amount of Ghibli that I expect, therefore, it's definitely my favorite no question. Yes, there are flaws and many "what and why someone explain" moments in the plot, but overall, I like to admire this movie for it's series of events. The introduction, the whimsical first journey, not knowing what is real and what is happening, the joy of expressions, the likable cast, the deep themes about fighting, and even the whimsical showcases of magic.

By far, Howls moving castle is a film I can gloss over dumb plot holes and things that were never explained, ... just for the sake of enjoyment to the story overall.

Many people say older films were the peak, but this movie really did showcase the best bringing together amazing animation production quality mixed in with 3d renders. It's a movie when 3d was being mastered in the industry. A peroid before our modern "everything is 3d so nothings really special."

Howls moving castle, is one of the films I would recommend new fans to watch first. Some say Spirited Away is the ONLY good film, but Spirited Away is almost "too surreal" to take seriously compared to Howls moving castle or Kikis delivery service or My neighbor Totoro.

Howls moving castle IS at best absurd, confusing, and a bit long to digest, but ONLY in its later half. Unlike Spirited Away which is just inconsistent through out.

But this is not a Spirited Away vs Howl review, this is simply to say Howls moving castle contains the best of what Ghibili attempts to do that to name just 1 Ghibili masterpiece, I would vote Howl's crazy story to Spirited Aways empty story, anytime.

What made me watch this movie was a previous one called Spirited Away. This one was said to be just a good. And I agree.
I put 8 for the story, there is a nice plot through out, though I some times found it hard to understand.
I just had to put 10 for the amazing artwork. What I loved was the scenery. The artist really got creative and there are tons of wonderful things to see.
The sound was great. I don't know if this is part of sound, but actually enjoyed watching this in English, the voice actors did a fantastic job.
Like in ... Spirited Away, the Characters a wonderful, and strangely spectacular. They each have a attitude, good or bad they don't get on your nerves and you enjoy each one.
I truly enjoyed this film. It just nice to watch and feel the magic that comes with it.
I highly recommend this if you like fantasy, nice light romance and pure fun.

A friend of mine who is a huge fan of the Studio Ghibli works recommended this to me. And thank goodness she did. This movie remains one of my favourites, even after watching most of the Studio Ghibli works and quite a few from other studios.

The movie starts with Sophie, a young girl working as a hatter at her late father's hat shop. She meets Howl by complete chance, and catches his attention, much to the irk of the Witch of the Waste who wants Howl's heart for herself. The With of the Waste then casts a curse on Sophie, transforming her to the body ... of an 80-year old woman. Finding Howl once again, this is the story of how she regains her youth and gains Howl's love in a moving tale set around a fantasy world in the midst of war.

While a lot of questions remain unanswered, and it's a lot less focused on the romance than that of the story it's based on (by Diana Wynne Jones and well worth a read) this movie remains a fantastic epic abstract in only the way Studio Ghibli can pull off.

The sound matches the movie perfectly. The main theme almost seems to swoop through the bars of endless strings and piano, lulling you into the tale, wanting for more. The sound effects are amazing as well, although I have only seen the dubbed version, so I'm guessing they are as up to scratch as the original.

I loved Markl and Calcifer. Calcifer, a fire demon who made a deal with Howl when he was a young boy, is a comedic character who will never fail to put a smile on your face, brilliantly voiced by Billy Crystal. Markl is explored in a lot more depth than that of the book, and he's so sweet and innocent, while trying to remain serious and idolize Howl.

A lot of questions remain unanswered, and no character is really delved into in depth, apart from Howl and Witch of the Waste (though not nearly enough if you ask me). But then again, would this ever be a true Studio Ghibli film if they did?

All in all, this is a movie I thoroughly enjoyed and would recommend to anyone. Even the anime-haters among you (though, on a site recommending anime you will be few-and-far-between) should watch this brilliant film. It will definitely change your outlook. Beautifully drawn, wonderfully cast, and bittersweet story.

Howl's Moving Castle is the second biggest film from Ghibli studios .. the hype was huge, the feeling from the cover was huge .. the title was promising (a fucking moving castle !!), everything in this movie was promising because it's from Ghibli and everything from Ghibli it's piece of art..

But this wasn´t the case. When I finished this movie my mind was about to blow trying to compile everything and trying to find a way of understanding this movie because literally in the end there were so many things that I did not understand that I just gave up.

Where do I begin ... .. this movie does not follow any specific plot line, throughout the entire thing they simply skipped, jumping around developing multiple stories with no conection what so ever and in the end none of it it's explained properly and we end up being compeletly confused about what the fuck just happened.


We have 3 main plot lines here:

- A war between some people (literally the plot moves on because of this war, but they never explained who was figthing and why they were figthing in the first place !)

- Our main protagonist problem (I think Shopie was the main protagonist, but i'm not sure since they really didn´t gave 2 fucks about her)

- Howl's problem and everything related to him.

Only the last one of those 3 gets resolved !! The other 2 are never explained, we do have some development but it's so nasty, so confuse, so out of position that it's safe to say that they never cared about it even though they were crucial for the story and more interesting than the third point.

But wait a second there is more, the last point, Howl's problem, even though it was resolved, it is not explained ! THE FUCK ?? Let me explain. We never know why Howl had that problem, they never told us. What exactly was the relation between him and the other characters? What about Markl, where the fuck he came from? What about Calcifer ? Why he needed him?

The story is so confuse, so nasty that blowed everything up. I could´t stop thinking "why this is happening !! " ; "Why is he still alive?" ; "Why the fuck that old lady wants his heart?" ; "How the fuck was he able to open that portal in the end ?" ; "How exactly opening that portal could resolve the problem?"

I don´t wanna spoil you anything but who watched the movie will understand everything that i'm talking about.

About the art .. it's Ghibli's studios what you were expecting .. 10/10 no doubt. If there is one thing that this movie has to offer, just like "Spirited Away" it's his astonishing art. Everything made so perfectly well.. Howl's castle by itself is enough to make fate series look like a floppy cartoon. How far can they go, how much detail can they put into something, how well an animation can be made. This movie will show that there is no limit for that, you can always make things a litle bit better.

The backgrouds, the foregrounds, the animations, everything looked just great. The movie may be weak but for sure the animation makes up for it.

The super detailed backgrounds makes you pay attention to them. Makes you stare at it, noticing every single thingl. It's beyond amazing, I have no words to describe what I felt while I was enjoying this amazing art.

The sound tho, was weak. Unlike "Spirited Away" and it's mind blowing tracks, this movie didn´t have anything that called out my attention. Only the final track was appealing. The rest was "normal". Nothing really stood out, which is a shame because when you have such amazing art, you should also get an amazing soundtrack.

About the characters, they are like every other character. We have the main protagonist that cares about everyone. The other protagonist with some dark mystery, the "semi-villian" character, the character that is there just because it is there and some other characters that are there only to light up a bit the comedy of the show. Nothing really great, nothing really bad.

If it wasn´t for the nasty plot that was left withotout any kind of explanation, I would have enjoyed this movie so much ! But well not everything is perfect and we have to deal with it. If I was a kid, I could accept it well because let's face it, kids don´t give 2 fucks about the plot and if it makes sense or not. But I care, and a lot! The art saved the day once more, but I needed more to call this movie a good movie.

Overall, even though the story doesn´t make any sense and only the art was good, I still reccomend this movie. Why? It still managed to create a wonderfull world, the fantasy was amazing. And you just have to see with your own eyes that moving castle ... W O W.

The story is a bit odd and lacks meaning and also not explained very well.

The art style/animation is absolutely amazing, I love every frame in this movie so much, especially the landscapes, so much detail, and the art style is so warm and vibrant.

Characters were also very good, I liked all the characters and they are all special, from the main characters all the way to the dog they’re all enjoyable to watch.

I also like all the “not important” scenes in this movie so much, little stuff that are just so funny/wholesome.

I think 9 out of 10 people who’ll watch this movie will like it, ... I really can’t think of any reasons to not love this movie.

To start with, I haven't read the book that this movie is based on. As such I can't comment on how good of an adaptation this is. I'm sure you're all completely devastated by the fact that you don't have to listen to me rant about adaptation decay but you'll just have to move on.

The story follows a young hat maker named Sophie. A coincidental meeting with a wizard named Howl results in her being cursed by a witch and transformed into an elderly woman. To return to normal she makes a deal with a demon named Calcifer to free him from Howl's control. All ... she has to do is discover the truth about the enigmatic wizard.

The story deals with three primary themes. Transformation, love and war. Two of these themes are handled really well. The theme of love... well it suffers from an old cliché I like to call "They met and can stand each other, it must be love." This happens when two characters who barely know each other fall in love for no reason aside from the plot saying that they should. To be fair this could be a weakness of the original book or it could be the result of time constraints, but since this happens all the time in media I'm not going to give Studio Ghibli the benefit of the doubt, even if they are generally awesome.

The only other major story weakness is that everything wraps up far too quickly and neatly. They basically wait until the last ten minutes to start wrapping things up. If they'd used a little ambiguity for some of the secondary plots it wouldn't feel so rushed, but they try to tie everything together and it just seems like a really cheesy ending as a result.

The characters are pretty interesting, Howl especially. All of the major characters are pretty three dimensional and solid. The only problem is that some of the secondary characters are pretty pointless. The major example of this is Sophie's sister who shows up in one scene, has a conversation with Sophie and is never seen again. Even the conversation is pretty pointless since all it does is show the audience that Sophie isn't confident in her appearance, which is done in other ways throughout the film. Actually, this becomes a problem with Sophie's character because she mopes about not being pretty multiple times and it gets pretty grating.

The visuals are just what you'd expect from Studio Ghibli, stunning. Studio Ghibli draws the viewer into the story's world with rich and unique visuals. Which is really one of their big strengths as an animation studio. The colours are very bright and vivid. The scenery is rich and beautifully rendered and the characters are highly stylised.

The voice acting is decent, but nothing stellar. The music is atmospheric and pleasant to listen to. Which is another thing that Studio Ghibli tends to be very good at.

This is another anime with no yuri, which is probably a good thing since the major and secondary female characters are either elderly or related. So the yuri factor is 1/10.

My final score for Howl's moving castle is a solid 8/10. It's a very good movie. It has a few problems, but there's really nothing so bad that it should seriously affect your enjoyment of the film. The visuals and music are top notch and the story is pretty solid. If you haven't watched it yet, you should check it out.

Another Ghibli movie, eh? Well, Ghibli always got me hooked with its works. They're are all unique in their own way. And so is Howl's Moving Castle.

So the story is about a decent lady named Sophie and her meeting with Howl, an infamous wizard known for his reputation for eating hearts. The story lacks of intensity, got to say. It has no main goal to achieve; and in the end we're left with so many questions. For example: how the heck did Sophie got her usual appearance back? What is this war Howl was participating in? What the heck happened with Howl's teacher (that woman ... mage) and why did she stop chasing for Howl? Who exactly is Howl anyway? The story just wanders wherever it wants to go, and that was kinda mystifying. They haven't solved any mysteries at all when suddenly the story ends. Da-dah. Yes, it's kinda mindf***ing but at least it's enjoyable enough for us to keep watching 'til the end.

The artwork, there's nothing left to say. Ghibli is always fascinating with its beautiful artworks. It's simple, but it doesn't lack of details and creativity. There's nothing mainstream about the art! I love how they even noticed the smallest of things like how shadows move as the object moves. And how they design old ladies, it's always cool. The background is soooo awesome and breathtaking, with lots of colors. We'll never deal with normal humans in Ghibli movies. That's it.

Sounds are also awesome. The BGMs were also beautiful and the seiyuus really fit the personality (i was kinda shocked to know that Sophie's seiyuu is a real granma). Well... nowadays seiyuus are trying their best to match with the characters but sometimes they exaggerate a bit. That never happened here, it's all natural, it's as if we're listening to normal people speaking in real life... and oh, i love Calcifer's voice.

What's left is the characters... seriously, in all Ghibli movies, I've never found a character I got to hate. All of the characters are soooo lovable even if they used to be the antagonist (for ex, Witch of the Waste in this movie). Some antagonists just remain annoying as usual, but we've shown some traits of them that we can't just afford to hate. And if we even like the antagonists, what about the protagonists? Heck yeah! In this movie, we have Sophie as the main character. I kinda like her strong and clever personality, she just fits to be a granma (ha ha). Then also the flamboyant Howl is just so...... so..... so.... indescribable. Besides the main charas, i also love the supporting charas, such as Calcifer and Turnip. Graaaahhh weird creatures are always the best in Ghibli movies! I suddenly remembered that certain ghost from Spirited Away which I really really loved.

Well.. this movie has lots of flaws in the stories, but the other aspects were as fabulous as ever, sasuga Ghibli! It's not my favorite Ghibli movie, but it's still notable to me since the characters were just too cute. To me, this movie is kinda enjoyable, and i believe you too will enjoy it, unless you're too stuck and can't understand the story just as it is. Overall it's good, i still recommend it to get some fun when you're bored!

This movie made me so happy! I stumbled upon it and just thought the idea of a moving castle was great. This movie opened me up to the world of anime, so I guess I have a soft spot for it. The animation was beautiful, the characters were endearing and comical, and I really didn't want it to end. Watching this movie made me feel like a kid. Not like I was an adult watching a kid's movie, but like I suspended my disbelief just like a child. I think the only way you might not enjoy this is if you are most attracted to ... action films. But honestly, I would recommend it to anyone. And I do, all the time!

Howl's Moving Castle is an amazing movie. Studio Ghibli never fails, and Howl's Moving Castle is probably their best, besides maybe Princess Mononoke. It is by far my favorite movie.

- STORY - 8 - If you have seen Studio Ghibli, you know how crazy and weird they can be (if you haven't seen any Studio Ghibli movies, DO IT NOW!!!!) this one is no exception, but it one of the more laxed and normal ones, although it is still- crazy. I did love this movie, but if you think about the story, it really is quite abnormal, and not in a bad way, but ... not exactly good either. I mean, a girl that is cursed to be an old woman by a hugely repulsive witch, who goes on an adventure to meet a wizard said to steal and eat the hearts of women everywhere? The movie just made it work. (IF it sounds stupid now please don't give it up, if you don't like it, it only wasted 2 hours of your life.)

- ART - 10 - Again, Studio Ghibli is amazing. Their artwork is always beautiful. ;3

- SOUND - 10 - IT had AMAZING music, not to mention it was amazing in both dubbed and subbed, not something all animes can say.

- CHARACTER - 10 - I LOVED ALL the characters, especially Calcifer. He'll really make you laugh, as will the others. The characters were all amazing, and they really went into depth all of their personalities.

- ENJOYMENT - 10 - I literally enjoyed every single last millisecond of this movie. It was funny, but both serious and sad at times. This is definitely an anime you do not want to pass up.

"Now I’ve got something I want to protect. It’s you"

A wonderful movie by Studio Ghibli, a studio that a lot of people consider to be the best animation studio ever. With elegant script writing, producing, and directing by Miyazaki, who also a lot of people consider to be the best animation mangaka, director, producer, and writer of all time. When I watch a movie, one of the things I always check is to see if this movie is made of new or repeated mixed stories and ideas. While they say that the world of writing is currently composed of remixes of old scripts and stories, ... Hayao Miyazaki comes to disprove those sayings and shows us that there is still space to submit new ideas and new ways of processing an idea in creative ways. Do I Recommend It? Short Answer: Definitely YES.
The movie talks about Sophie, a teenage beautiful girl who likes to work in hat crafting. A sudden turn in her life occurs when she gets cursed by a witch and becomes an old lady in her 90s. She decides then to go to Howl's moving castle looking to break her curse or at least to find a happy peaceful life. It doesn't take long before she starts working for him out of love.

The movie is like a showoff by Miyazaki and Studio Ghibli, it gives a beautiful and smooth animation for a 2004 movie, a great art style that focuses on precise facial expressions and showing human feelings and reactions more realistically. Coloring scenes and frames so well gave me strong feelings that go along with the movie era and world, combining art style, animation, coloring, and script writing was greatly executed. For most of the movie, I felt like I'm watching a Disney movie and not an animation of a Japanese theme.
Interesting and ear-pleasing voice acting, where appropriate and suitable voice actors were chosen for all the characters in the film, without exception. What stunned me most is that only 10 minutes were enough to display all I've written above. Astonishing.

The movie tells some beautiful life lessons such as What goes around comes around (Just like the blade on the chainsaw) where bad and evil people always get what they deserve from punishment for all the bad they did in their lifetime. Also, another lesson is to be careful about who you trust because even your closest friends and family members can use you, harm you, and even betray you to benefit from you and get what they want and need without caring about what happens to you or how would that make you feel.

[SPOILERS] Though all the praise I had some problems understanding a few things as if there were holes in the plot, for example, we saw how the witch of Waste was sorry for what she did to Sophie and that she can't remove the curse and expressed that she specialized in casting curses not removing them, at least she should be able to tell her how to remove it.
Another problem is we saw Sophie throughout the movie go young and grow old again suddenly and randomly, I didn't understand what happened, maybe I missed something but I think there was supposed to be a clear explanation of why that happened.

Ratings:

Plot: 8/10. Simple yet amazing, well-presented, and perfectly executed.

Characters: 7.5/10. Very good characters, major and minor (main and secondary), my favorite was Markl and Calcifer.

Sounds: 8/10. Voice acting, main theme, OSTs, and even sound in general were all really really good.

Animation and artstyle: 8.5/10. I enjoyed them so much, and they gave me old Disney movies vibes.

Enjoyment: 8.5/10. So happy that I watched this movie and completely recommend it to everyone else.

Overall: 8/10. Very Good.

Ghibli doing what Ghibli does best. Giving you a complete immersive experience of a world that probably doesn’t exist.

THE BAD –
I was left with many questions when I finished the movie which remained unanswered. Mostly about characters and their background, I believe for a 2-hour long film this shouldn’t be impossible. For example, the history between Howl and the witch of wastes, the curse on scarecrow, the relation between Howl and Calcifer and few more. Like few rough patches in a beautiful painting, it kept daunting on me.
This one is not particularly a bad aspect of the movie but I felt the soundtracks were not ... up to the ‘Ghibli standards’, I can’t remember a single OST except that outro, that was beautiful.

THE GOOD –
You know when I say Ghibli, the first thing that will come to your mind is its heart-warming Art and Animation, nostalgic and pleasant. So yeah that didn’t disappoint, rather it was one of Ghibli's best. Mesmerizing sceneries plus pretty character designs, great work done by voice actors to compliment one aspect with another, I don’t know how to explain but the voice felt genuine, genuinely matching the characters they were associated to.
The plot felt fresh, maybe because I haven’t watched much fantasy romance. But it wasn’t like other “prince saves the country girl” type of used up material, I might just call it ahead of its time, A Love story beyond beauty and insecurities. I don’t wanna dive deep into and spoil things for you so I might just leave it here.
I enjoyed it thoroughly, I would recommend it to anyone honestly. It’s a great 2 hour break you could ask for from your busy day. But I still feel it was missing something and I can't pinpoint it. So yea this was my short review, thanks for reading!

It would appear I owe Hayao Miyazaki-sensei an apology. For the longest time, I've been saying that Howl's Moving Castle is one of the worst Ghibli movies. Incidentally, it's the very first Ghibli movie I've seen. Alas, my first viewing, some, oh, 6-7 odd years ago, was colored by the company and intrusive circumstances I found myself surrounded by at the time. Without going into too much detail, I was exhausted, constantly distracted, and even fell asleep half-way through. As such, it is of little surprise that much of what was happening made little sense to me.

Having now rewatched it properly, I must confess myself ... very pleasantly surprised.

The structure of the plot is rather fragile and vulnerable to spoilers. All I can say is that you will accompany Sophie on a magical adventure laden with surprises, excitement, the unknown, faith, and heartache. She is a simple girl living in an unnamed town's tailoring shop. We are given to understand that she is rather attached to the shop, seeing as it held some emotional significance to her presumably late father. Then, one day, her uneventful life if interrupted by the appearance of Howl, a world-famous, yet mysterious wizard, and their fates become entwined. What's more, it appears that Sophie's nation is gearing up to go to war with an unknown enemy. How much truth is there to the rumors surrounding Howl's personage? What is the rhyme and reason for the war? Is there a place for Sophie amidst this dangerous world of magic and wonder? Watch to find out!

Princess Mononoke held the record for the highest grossing anime movie of all time for a fair number of years. It wasn't until the release of Howl's Moving Castle that its reign ended. It finally took the phenomenon that was Spirited Away to dislodge Howl from its #1 spot. The Ghibli monopoly was only broken with the advent of Your Name. Since then, I hear that a Demon Slayer and one or other of the My Hero Academia movies have done extremely well and broken all manner of records, but I feel confident in saying that Howl still rests comfortably in the top 10 of all time.

Point in case, Howl is considered by many anime fans to be their favorite movie of all time, and for a not-at-all negligible number of Ghibli afficionados, it constitutes Miyazaki-sensei's best work.

My thoughts?

In terms of it being Ghibli's best, I don't think I will ever change my mind that Princess Mononoke is Hayao Miyazaki-sensei's magnum opus. Truthfully, there is nothing original in Howl. You've got the mysterious locations and technology from Castle in the Sky, the black, gooey monsters and creatures from Princess Mononoke, and the large warship designs from Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind. Understandably, studio Trigger is not the only creative outlet prone to reaching the point of recycling old ideas. Ghibli, and more precisely, Miyazaki-sensei is vulnerable to the same creative ailments as any other artist. That being said, when Trigger runs out of ideas, they churn out vacuous bullshit like SSSS.Gridman. On the other hand, Ghibli graces us with Howl's Moving Castle.

I've long said that you don't need to reinvent the wheel every time you engage in a creative endeavor. You don't need a new gimmick. Originality is overrated. As long as you create what you create with sincerity and passion, that will translate to your audience. As if to make my point, though Howl brings nothing new to the table in terms of ideas and themes, it's one of the more visually ambitious and impressive Ghibli projects. In particular, the 3DCG animation used for Howl's actual "moving castle" stands head and shoulders above the film's constituent elements as its pièce de résistance, for it is so beautifully smooth and delicately blended with Miyazaki's signature hand-drawn animation, that it is, in my estimation, the ultimate ideal that all animation studios ought to strive towards.

The one thing that stands to the movie's discredit is the justification of some of the plot devices. If you're like me and want to have a plot where everything makes perfect logical sense, where every question is clearly answered, and you cannot be satisfied with answers in the vein of "Just because!", then Howl will to a greater or lesser extent frustrate you.

The OST's piano melody is so iconic that if you enjoy lofi hip-hop music, there's a good to fair chance you're already familiar with it.

Howl's Moving Castle, to the attentive and engaged viewer, is 2 hours well spent.