Spirited Away Analysis

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Spirited Away: A bridge of the Fantastic and Realistic
Introduction
I choose Reider’s “Spirited Away: Film of the Fantastic and Evolving Japanese Folk Symbols” as my article because of my interest in the film. I first saw Spirited Away back in 2002, and, since then, I have come to recognize and think about the symbolism and storyline deeper. My database search began by searching for animation; however, animation is too broad of a topic to search through so I narrowed it down to “Studio Ghibli,” which has been one of my artistic inspirations for years. I stumbled on the article pertaining to Spirited Away specifically by chance after narrowing the formats of the articles to scholarly journals in English. I picked this article in particular because …show more content…

According to Tzvetan Todorov’s definition of the fantastic: the hesitation experienced by someone who only knows the laws of reality, confronting an otherworldly event, Spirited Away fits the definition due to the uncertainty felt by both the Chihiro and the audience. Thrown into the realm of the spirits, Chihiro’s every action could lead to something terrible happening to her, such as the constant threat to be turned into a pig herself. Not only does Spirited Away fit well with Todorov’s definition of the fantastic but Susan Napier definition as well: fantasy being a conscious removal from accepted reality. This conforms to pop culture understanding that fantasy is an escape from …show more content…

As can be guessed by his name, No Face wears a Noh mask, in which makes him unreadable; it doesn’t help that he doesn’t talk much until he seems to be driven crazy by the bathhouse. Noh masks have appeared in a numerous Japanese animations, such as InuYasha, and usually carry a negative connotation as they seemed to be cursed. No Face does not correlate with characters in Japanese tales, unlike most characters in Spirited Away, but he does relate to tatarigami, cursed spirit, in Miyazaki’s Princess Mononoke (1997). He could have easily become an antagonistic character, but due to Chihiro’s intervention, he returns from his crazy state and finds his place, away from the bathhouse of course.
Spirited Away’s story shows that folk beliefs and customs continue to thrive within the modern, technological world. Miyazaki helps children understand the roots of their culture and Japanese tradition. Kamikushi, rather than held in a negative light, can be seen as a period of rest from the world for young people who are having trouble and afterwards, they are ready to start a new life. These ideals bridge the realistic world and that of the fantastic.

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