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| I once watched this as a kid, and the only thing I remembered was Chihiro's parents turning into pigs while stuffing themselves with food, and as you can guess, it didn't left the best impression... Now as an adult I decided to finally watch it again, and man what a movie!! I loved the heck out of it!! One of the very few animated movies that left me genuinely awed and amazed, god it was such a joy to watch!! I can see why so many people hold it in such high regard, I haven't felt like this after watching an anime in a very long time, I've missed this feeling. 10/10. |
joe_g7Nov 18, 2017 2:52 AM
"At some point, I stopped hoping." |
| Classic. Amazing world-building. I looove the development of character esp Chihiro makes me really really proud. Love her. Loved how they introduced us to the world. And how we feel walking away from it, huge contrast between the two but lovable. Chihiro's parents have no idea how much their daughter has grown, but she has, and she's going to be amazing. Some things are better left unsaid, hah. I wonder if that's cheesy. What can I say, 10/10 |
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| I cry at the end as at long last the two hours of suffering have ended. Truly this is the worst anime that I forced myself to watch in quite while and as to why that is the case... well it's because when usually I see a creepy boring show I drop it quite quickly... here however because it was the famed Spirited Away, as an anime fan I had to eventually watch it but I really didn't know what I was stepping into. After watching the entire thing the only thought in my mind that reminds is... damn I hope I won't have nightmares after this. The animation definitely stands out on the plus side and I pretty much never complain about music in anime but apart from those two... the story, the characters, the development, art and colors used... nah, knowing that people love this movie I won't be even trying to explain the unpleasant experience that was this movie. |
| 3/10 , i didn't enjoyed that movie at all .. weird af |
| Signature removed. Please have a positive iq. |
| I absolutely love his movie. This is about the fifth time I've seen it, and I appreciate it more as time goes on. It's only second to Princess Mononoke. The setting is so fantastical, a bit strange, but the pacing is absolutely perfect and the animation is beautiful. I always loved that Haku was the river spirit that saved Chihiro when she was younger. 8/10 |
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| That old dog Miyazaki, Hayao surely have a disgusting fetish for old ladies in his movies didnt he ? |
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| A film that I have always seen mentioned several times, so I expected great things from it. Unfortunately it was not so, although there are many symbolism and many themes dear to Miyazaki in the narrative, the fact of being the umpteenth power the magic factor, a little demoralized me. Maybe it will be my taste, but I prefer settings closer to reality, in which I can search for places that a context completely immersed in fantasy. All of this does not mean that I did not appreciate the settings, but the air of this magic was too asphyxical. Moreover, the narration at times was not so clear and flowing. Adorable character design and soundtrack. Very beautiful Zeniiba's house, so warm and welcoming and not prugn of taste and pompous like that of the twin sister. 9/10 |
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| Well, that was a special experience, without a doubt. I like how he put ecological issues into the movie (the river spirit being well and making everyone happy and healthy once he is rid of all the garbage through the hard work of everyone), and the revelation that the boy is actually a river was pretty nice, so was the loneliness of the man with no face, so many things happened in 2 hours, don't know where to start. 7/10 so far, and definitely going to rewatch it soon. |
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| So this is my first Miyazaki's film and I just watched this because my girlfriend recommended me this. The story is okay... although it's more on average. I can see there are messages on some stuffs but I couldn't get them. It's like you need someone to explain those stuffs to you or do some research in order to understand the messages behind the stuffs on this movie, and for me, it's not a good thing. Yeah I know that there are some people that manage to get those messages instantly while they're watching but unfortunately it's not on my case and I'm pretty sure I'm not the only one. But I'm sure those messages are very good despite I don't get them, just a gut feeling. Anyway, the message stuff isn't my main problem on this film for me. Chihiro is okay and we can definitely see her she's having character development throughout this movie but something's bothering me about her character and I just couldn't grasp it. It feels like it's lacking or something. Other characters, even Haku, are just nothing to me. I was more interested on No Face instead but sadly we didn't dwell into there that much and that makes me "eh". Not just No Face but pretty much all potential characters here, including Haku. To conclude, to be frank I see everything here as "average" but I couldn't say it's boring. There's just nothing really very outstanding on this movie and nothing really amazes me personally. Still, as a 2001 film, everything is really good. It's not for me however. |
TennoujiAug 19, 2018 7:04 PM
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| finally decided to rewatch this after I watched it like 6 or more years ago. The art is still fantastic, I think the ghibli style as seen here will be fantastic even 10, 20 or more years from now. (Which is the opposite of good looking movies of this time, hand drawn art and detailed backgrounds beat industrial style even if its a Makoto Shinkai work. Might be wrong though. Have to give it another 10 years for that) The OST is beautiful. Story wise though it actually felt a bit lacking. I definitely loved the world but much of that is because of Ghiblis artstyle. Its probably the second best Ghibli movie after princess Mononoke though. (changed the 10 I gave it years ago to a 9.) |
| "This emotion is mine alone. It is for Madoka alone." - Homura or how I would descripe Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magica. |
| Rewatched the movie for the fourth time and it honestly still remains my favorite movie created by studio Ghibli. The story, characters, animation, music and just about everything else is top notch. I never get tired of it no matter how many times I've watched it. |
| I loved everything about the movie except Haku Kohaku didn't get to go back home, I waited even after the credits to check if he ever went home. I see the parents have gotten back their bodies back and I think they don't even remember a thing. As for sen or Chihiro she sure experienced a lot and her parents don't know what she went through to change them from being ham. I see no-face will stay with Zeniba, he sure caused quite a stir at the inn but I still liked him. I loved this movie and everything about it, Chihiro sure was a good MC. My favorite was that spider legged old man and his minions. I hope to see it again in the future. 9/10. |
How I learned to stop worrying and love the bomb --- Dr Strangelove  |
| Not bad but it wasn't something I would watch again. |
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| Beautiful movie, in art and theme. Sad to say I never saw it when I was younger, although I definitely would have loved it. While watching this, I experienced a lot of the same feelings as I did when I saw / read Wizard of Oz, Bridge to Terabithia and The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe for the first time. This film is, obviously, much more quintessentially Japanese. Highly recommend to watch with your young children, if you have any. |
| wtf the ending was so unfulfilling in my opinion lol it felt like the last part is missing and here i was enjying it so much =( |
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| This is an amazing movie, thank you Studio Ghibli for this anime. First of all, since this was classified as an children anime I thought it will not be amazing as the other anime. The goodness of this movie is that they show how relationships works, especially how they changed the personality of the characters here. Trusting and friendship is what makes this show amazing, this is fun, sad, scary and most of all enjoyful. It was nice to see that Chihiro changes while she was working hard for her parents, she also help the other spirits while continuing her task. No face was a fun character too, I thought he will play a big part here. Anyways, loved this movie, easily one of the best movies I've watched. |
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| Movie is nice but not as good as I expected it to be. I loved the aesthetics and it was enjoyable nonetheless. |
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| Great movie, really enjoyed it. The fantasy/world building was interesting, dynamic and felt like very real. Absolutely fantastic in that regard. Never a dull moment, there's always something happening that keeps you engrossed. The attention to detail is impeccable, all the little character movements and the little bits of humor from the side characters interacting is stunningly well done. More often that not, I was smiling at the antics of all the little monsters. Characters were compelling, loved Chihiro, Haku, Lin, No Face and even Zeniba. The animation for it's age is mega impressive. My biggest gripe with this movie is perhaps the story, while being straight forward is not a bad thing at all, at the end of the movie you're kinda left wondering, what the point to it is and also a very, 'Is that it?' kinda feeling. It felt like there was so much more to see. What are they trying to show us? I guess if you read a little deeply into it, there is some kind of social commentary with the inn and Yubaba and also with how Chihiro refuses everything No face gives her while the rest of the inn just flocks to him once they see gold but I feel like if that was something they are trying to portray they should've come on a little stronger to reinforce the theme. Nevertheless, it's a great movie, thoroughly enjoyable and overflowing with charm. 9/10 |
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| Timeless movie. I missed you old friend. |
| Probably one of the best Anime movie I ever watched. It's great you can re-watch them every year in a theater on a huge screens thanks to recent Ghibli movie re-run that's been going on for last couple years. 11/10 |
| The way Chihiro's parents eat is indeed similar to that of a pig. It's convenient how Chihiro even think that dragon is Haku. I thought that there should be something more to the relationship of Chihiro and No Face and yet Chihiro don't even say any farewell word with it. Although it's illogical, there's many metaphor to discover in this film. |
| He who smiles in a crisis has found someone to blame. |
| My first Studio Ghibli film and it didn't disappoint. 8/10 |
| Okay I accidentally deleted the long comment I just finished and I hate myself for that but well, I'll try to summarize my thoughts. Good points : -Chihiro is a very good heroine, much more memorable than the heroines from the Ghibli movies I've recently seen, I can't say I love her but I really like her -I also really like the No-Face, he was a very intriguing and touching character and I would've loved to see more of him -The setting is very original and immersive -It is never boring -The story is nice and isn't too confusing for the most parts -The characters are fun -The music is very good -The animation is great Bad points : -The pacing is very weird, it is fast at the beginning and the end and very slowed in the middle but it really doesn't help the movie in my opinion -The characters, aside from Chihiro, haven't been given enough screentime which led for them to be very underdeveloped (I've always been familiar with the No-Face due to seeing him everywhere (he scared me when I was young) so I thought he was going to be a main character... I was so wrong. And that disappoints me because they could've done great things with him) -Haku is very bland and his relationship with Chihiro is barely explained (it reminds me a lot of Howl from Howl's Moving Castle actually), like, who cares about the pretty dragon boy, give me more of the lonely faceless monster ! -Chihiro's relationship with Haku is incredibly rushed -Everything is solved way too easily with barely any explanation -The world could've been explored more if we didn't spend so much time at the baths -At the end, it is hard to tell how the lessons Chihiro has learned will help her in the future -A lot of things are way too random, like the baby, the witch's twin sister, or Haku's real identity as a river (A RIVER) So overall, I think this movie is overrated, and I hate this word. It has been the same with every Ghibli movie I've recently seen, I always raise my expectations very high due to all the praise and end up being very disappointed. In my opinion, it is always at most good, nothing more. And Spirited Away is good, but really just good. (But I'm confused, is there something I'm missing when it comes to Ghibli ?) |
FafetteMay 28, 2020 2:03 AM
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| The world building and art are incredible ! Really loved watching this movie it was very entertaining and pleasant to watch 9/10 |
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| This is where my Studio Ghibli watching ends for me, When I first decided to watch all studio Ghibli films about a month ago I knew I'm gonna be saving this one for the end due to amount of amazing things I heard about it. And after watching it I knew that the right choice was done. This film is quite simply a masterpiece, I don't remember last time I saw something so phenomenal and creative besides other Studio Ghibli films of course. The amount of creativity and uniqueness put in Spirited Away hasn't been seen before and I probably could name only few animated films that come close. It simply had everything : from quirky and lovable creatures to beautifully crafted emotional scenes Artstyle just blew my mind and the attention to detail was outstanding as always, there are so many things to look at while watching. Same thing can be said about music in this film as Joe Hisaishi took it to the next level that we don't often see in animation. For me this isn't really just a very very great animated film but more of emotional journey full of unexpected occurences and magic. And thats what made me feel so emotionally attracted to it.There are many iconic shots in Studio Ghibli films but I feel like this one takes the cake as there were so many I won't even bother remembering them all. If anyone is still reading this honest opinion of mine about Spirited Away please know that I compare something like this to western animation, I've seen everything best Pixar and Disney had to offer and that really helped me to fully understand the whole praise this film gets. But I don't even know if this can even be compared to something from the west, Thats why I will forever be very grateful to the one and only grand wizard of animation Hayao Miyazaki. Not only did he never gave up on traditional animation but thanks to his super high standarts and dedication to the animation art took it to whole never realms of possibilities. I think it's very safe to say that this is the greatest animated film I've ever seen which set a bar for generations of animators to come. |
| That was a very nice movie to watch. It needed more Zeniba I think. 7/10, a good movie but not my favorite Miyazaki movie thus far. |
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| Weird and misterious but enjoyable. I liked the animation the colors and the charackters. Was really nice to watch <3 |
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| Rewatching this brings back childhood memories. I really love it. |
| Although I saw in September 2017 and it's the first film of Ghibli and Hayao Miyazaki, it's a pure masterpiece! |
| Watched the dubbed version a handful of times as a kid but never got to watch the whole thing in one sitting since I always end up coming across the movie at the Disney Channel at later parts of the film. I loved it before because it was so unique compared to everything else that I've watched and it's safe to say that it's still a damn masterpiece in my eyes to this day! I'd say that I actually liked it even more watching this as an older viewer who's fairly familiar with Japanese culture and folklore. Getting to understand every single piece of dialogue and appreciate the finer details as well as the phenomenal soundtrack enhanced my experience even more~ |
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| "Once you do something, you never forget. Even if you can't remember." After a long time, I finally rewatched this anime! The anime I spent my childhood with! ... Amazing stories and characters ... Still a masterpiece! Definitely one of the best anime movie Thank you Miyazaki Sensei! |
"Raise your words, not voice. It is rain that grows flowers, not thunder"~Rumi |
| I was pleasantly surprised. Not a big fan of Ghibli works (though I've enjoyed them mostly), and so didn't really have my hopes high for this. But this was actually a pretty fun watch! Probably the one I enjoy the most out of all of Hayao Miyazaki's works I've watched. Other Ghibli movies always felt like the pacing was off. Usually too fast (for me personally). But this had great pacing. All in all, an enjoyable experience. It had its weird moments, and I certainly can't say this movie lacked creativity! All of its creatures, spirits, and how they all looked were really original. 8/10! |
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| eh it was ok. I was terrified half the time |
| The point that drew the most attention in this film, without a doubt, is the art that is AMAZING. Honestly, I expected a lot more from this movie when I went to see it (not that it was bad, because it was good) and I ended up being a little disappointed. I liked that Chihiro was able to go back to her world and save her parents, but I didn't like the ending, I thought that some things that were left open should not have been. |
asdasdsadad |
| I dedicate every March to the process of completing as much anime as I can because it's fun and if I didn't have this tradition, I'd probably not watch anime. In 2015, I decided to have a theme, "Miyazaki Movie Month" where I'd go through and complete all the Miyazaki films. I only ended up going through four but if every Miyazaki film was as good as Spirited Away, I would've actually finished them all. Not to disparage the ones I've watch, they were all fine but Spirited Away is my favourite Miyazaki film now. And that all comes down to it's inventiveness. Just so many endlessly creative designs and beings, brought to life with high quality character animation. The way everyone reacts or moves, is just so expressive or unique. And this helped the movie remain almost endlessly charming. The Susuwatari's were my favourite, I love those little guys. Like, you can ignore plot, you can ignore character, and you could still enjoy this movie a lot just as an endless parade of creativity. But the movie's not just that, character-wise it's relatively solid. Chihiro is probably the only one in the film that is truly a great character, at least in a traditional sense but I don't think there's a bad one in the lot. I enjoyed pretty much everyone, I don't think there was a character I didn't find endearing in some sense. Despite what are realistically dire circumstances, the charming nature of every individual character made this experience a pleasure from beginning to end. And No Face is a rather great character in a less traditional sense, as he tends to serve as sort of a mirror to what surrounds them, and in that was is one of the strongest ways they portray their themes. Now when it comes to the plot and themes, this is where some criticism starts to come in. For the most part, what this movie felt like to me was a supernatural-laden analogy for Chihiro's situation of moving into a new place with new people. Like you can't take your parents with you to school, and the new students at the school may bully because you're the new kid, but you can eventually get past that and develop new relationships. The Bath House employees reaction to Sen really fits this, most of them are jerks to her because she's human, she needs No Face to steal the Soak Herbel Token, but by the end everyone's pretty much her friend. The one guys questions about sending Sen in to face No Face alone, they all celebrate when she passes the test. And I like that, it's not an issue but it's also not much more than pleasant entertainment experience. There's other themes of environmentalism (the river stuff) and greediness (Yubaba, bathhouse, etc.) but they're all kind of incidental. They're definitely present, especially the greed stuff, but I wouldn't say these were major components of the film. Which isn't necessarily a bad thing, just makes it a bit less interesting to chew on. And when you just look at the plot itself, yeah I agree with the sentiment of those who say the ending feels a tad rushed. It's a surprisingly easy and civil climax at like, the last five minutes of the movie. It's a little weird. And the music was good, stood out in a few places but not exceptional. 8/10. A high 8 though. |
| Without a doubt an OUTSTANDING anime |
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| good movie, nice visuals, cool digs at capitalism and its system but i cant put my finger on why i dont think its great |
| good opinions on anything, block = I own you |
| This is a must watch, either cuz you will be able to recognize a lot of references to this movie and cuz it's an amazing movie, such a good adventure... It felt completely original even thought I usually don't like adventure movies cuz of the cliches you see in so many of them. It had many beautiful moments, both visual and sentimental. People calling it a "children" movie and by doing so, saying it's not a "respectable" and "serious" movie, simply never had a memorable childhood, I would say? Can you really watch this and not get nostalgic? I'm sure that was one the intentions of Miyazaki... |
 In most cases, the MAL Average Scores don't mean anything, here is a question: were the works made before 2000 all shit? Why are they so damn scarce in the Top 50? Think about how MAL is quite literally a filtered amount of the Anime fanbase. Here's a timeline of the Top 15 in which you can check that, almost always, the scores are affected by the freshness, popularity and other factors that have nothing to do with quality. |
| such a fantastic movie, I love it just as much as the first time I watched it. |
 .[We Are The Ocean]. - "Nothing Good Has Happened Yet" |
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