The World of Fantasies---Spirited Away

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Ivy

Spirited Away

The fantasies in the movie, Spirited Away, make it an unique animation movie. The wandering spirits and gods though make people feel creepy, probably it is what really happens in real world. It gives people, especially children, thoughts of the world after death and the world of gods, which are full of mysteries. Children may learn the concept of spirits.

The first client that Chihiro services is originally considered as a Stink Spirit, but it later turns out to be River Spirit. When the River Spirit comes to the bathhouse, he is not only dirty and full of dust, but also carries an unbearable stinky odor. After the bath and Chihiro’s help of pulling the garbage out in him, he becomes clean again. This part conveys an environmental issue, which are the water and garbage pollution problems.

As technology improves, people tend to focus on their own interests instead of considering the best way of earning money based on the benefits of both the environment and all human-beings. Although the industrialized civilization has led humans to live a convenient life, it may, on the contrary, leads people to the end of the world. The purpose of this part is to educate people to have the right attitude toward nature. It teaches the audience not to throw junk into the river and not to pour industrial wastes in it. We should keep the environment clean.

Many scenes in Spirited Away are taken place in the bathhouse, where represents one of the cultural values of Japan. When Buddhist culture was introduced to Japan, people could have saunas in temples. Those bathhouses are called oyūya. In Japanese, the bathhouses are also called sentō. In the old times, not every family has its own bath, so people go to sentō to take bath once in a while. The bathing manners are important in bathhouses. It is also a social place for people to have some small talk. However, the number of bathhouse is declining in Japan, because most of the people have their own baths nowadays.

The architectures in the animation movie is full of Japanese feature and styles. The oyūya is based on the design of Japanese buildings. Moreover, it blends western interior designs in Yubaba’s room. We can tell the influence of Meiji Restoration rooted in this movie and also the Japanese culture. The westernized ingredient adds more flavour to Japanese culture.

It is said that the setting in Spirited Away is based on the landscape of Jioufen, which is located in Taipei county in Taiwan. Jioufen had been reclaimed by Japanese, so the architectures there have antique Japanese styles. In the evenings, the lanterns on the streets in Jioufen are lit up, which is very much like the scenes in Spirited Away. Many Japanese tourists have come to visit this beautiful place because of the animation movie.

In the movie, it depicts the mental status transition of Chihiro. Through the obstacles that Chihiro has encountered, she has conqured them and have become a matured girl. She is not a geedy person, either. While others are greedy, the only thing she cares are her parents and Haku. Her generous and kind mind wins the hearts of the audience. In the end, her courage and love of her loved ones helps her to overcome the difficulties.