Maturation In Spirited Away

Hayao Miyazaki’s film, Spirited Away, portrays the journey of a young girl, Chihiro, into the spirit world, the loss of her identity, and the struggle to save her parents and return home. The story of a girl who finds herself in a world of spirits and dangers yet comes of age in unexpected ways. Chihiro’s journey is nothing less than a coming of age story. A journey that leads to her transition into adulthood. Chihiro’s maturation is an obvious change in this film. Prior to her experience in the spirit world, Chihiro behaves as a stubborn child unwilling to accept and also fearful of change. She describes her first bouquet as depressing because she received it as a goodbye gift and when reminded of the rose her father gave her on her birthday she delivers a snide response showing just how ungrateful she can be. It’s quite funny that that same ungrateful child is the

Maturity and taking responsibility is what society must do to move beyond the point it’s at. The film symbolizes the transformation from childhood to adulthood through scenery and setting. It begins in modern Japan, where everything is simple and easy, and eventually ends up in an old-fashioned Japan as the spirit world, a world of tunnels, bridges, and trains. Through the use of symbolism, metaphors, and reflecting society’s flaws, the transformation from childhood to adulthood is thoroughly depicted in this film. Even though Chihiro’s parents are already adults, the carelessness and ignorance they possessed in the beginning of the film, no longer live in them at the end. Whilst Chihiro is running to them, she can hear them calling out her name as if she’s the one who ran off into some random abandoned amusement park and got herself turned into a pig. While they have no recollection of what had occurred, it seems like they were left with a sense of responsibility and carefulness that they previously didn’t