Spirited Away

When i watched this anime Spirited Away I didn't know what to expect as I wasn't familiar with Hayao Miyazaki --yes, believe it---HANGS HEAD IN SHAME. It came on television here (here is England ---SNIFF SNIFF--Imy is the one basking in constant sunshine in the Maldives) at Christmas a few years ago and luckily i decided to watch it. Well, I wasn't expecting to be blown away by such an amazing animation and it's completely understandably why this animation was awarded Best Animated Feature Oscar in 2003!!!!

Spirited Away is a beautifully animated story...actually let me use that word...it's a MASTERPIECE!!!! If you haven't watched this anime already then what are you waiting for the APOCALYPSE or something. If you have 2 hours of free time---then GO GO GO now and watch it for yourself.

If that isn't enough of a push and you need more persuasion I will give you a small idea what it's all about. You've all been young at some point but maybe you haven't had to move home before---start afresh new school, make new friends---SUCKS right!!!! Well, meet Chihiro a young girl about to leave her old world behind and start anew with a move to a new house with her parents. While driving to the new destination the parents curiosity leads them to an abandoned amusement park and Chihiro in my opinion senses that something is amiss. But you know that TONE parents have ...where they know it all because their like OLDER----well, after a long drive they're like totally hungry and can't refuse eating a load of delicious looking food. They manage to start scoffing the food like PIGS without even thinking about why there might be so much TEMPTING TREATS left unattended at an empty fair. Now anyone with common sense might think that this is a bit out of the ordinary and wouldn't eat BUT their approach is we can just throw MONEY at it and all will be well.


But this is not the case and Chihiro is the only one who doesn't eat any of the food and as such she doesn't fall victim to the enchantment. Instead she befriends a boy called Haku and he explains the situation that she has found herself in. She becomes trapped in a world full of spirits and like humans and animals alike they're all different kinds of spirits in this spirit world. Chihiro must remember her real name and she must face the feared Yubaba BUT on top of all that she must learn that she must make a contribution to society through WORK. She gets a job which she doesn't enjoy (who does, who does!!!) and she soon learns what is RIGHT and WRONG and manages to survive in a unfamiliar world by standing steadfast to her own conscience!!!!

This is just my interpretation of what is happening behind this wonderful animation but the fact is the way that the story is depicted in the animation is what makes it so brilliant. The story is told itself with minimal dialogue which is try to real life as facial expressions and body language sometimes show what someone really MEANS. The characters and the story and the animation is just magical and gives a new meaning to the world of animation and creativity in my opinion. This fantasy world shows you that imagination is limitless and the person behind this masterpiece is a GENIUS!!!!!

I hope this is enough to persuade you to watch SPIRITED AWAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!