Flying castles, powerful themes
Despite the swirling whirlwind of characters, magic and metaphors, this is the kind of film that just works. It leaves newcomers enchanted and longtime fans reassured that yes, Hayao Miyazaki is still unmatched in crafting magical mayhem that makes emotional sense, even if the plot occasionally does not.
Plot wanders, but so does the castle
Narrative structure in Howl's Moving Castle is less of a straight line and more of a magical staircase that may or may not lead to a door on a chicken leg. The film often swerves into strange territory with little explanation, but these detours feel more intentional than incoherent, like a creative choice, not a mistake.
At times, characters make baffling decisions, entire subplots wander off and never return and motivations appear as if summoned by a spell. And yet, everything is soaked in so much heart and beauty that none of it really matters. The confusion becomes part of the charm. In a world where castles walk and love can literally break curses, strict logic was never really the order of the day.
Visuals worthy of a thousand screencaps
Rewatch or not, the animation is what truly justifies this rerun. The titular castle, an impossibly elaborate pile of metal, pipes, smoke, legs and magic, is one of animated film history's most iconic set pieces. Every frame of this movie looks like it belongs in an art museum and the richly painted backdrops are as detailed and whimsical as a fever dream rendered in watercolour.
The skies glow with sunset hues, battle scenes burn with surreal intensity and cosy kitchens radiate a sense of lived-in warmth. It is a rare feat: a film that dazzles on the big screen almost two decades after its release and still makes modern CGI look like it is trying a little too hard.
Themes that are feather-like, then hit like a bomb
Beneath the magic, there is muscle. Howl's Moving Castle weaves in themes of war, ageing, identity and compassion, all without ever breaking its whimsical tone. Miyazaki's anti-war sentiment is not shouted so much as threaded through the visuals, with imagery that evokes real-world destruction paired against moments of serenity and softness.
The result is subtle but stirring. It is easy to enjoy the film as a whimsical fantasy, but those who choose to look deeper will find layers of political commentary and philosophical questions about choice, cowardice and change.
There is a pointed critique of militarism and power structures, wrapped in enchanted rings and animated scarecrows. It is a magic trick of storytelling, making something profound feel digestible, even delightful.
Not your typical fairy tale leads
At its heart, this is a story of transformation: Not just physical, but emotional. The leads are refreshingly unconventional: a young woman who finds agency only after being cursed with old age and a wizard whose confidence is mostly hair-deep. Their dynamic is equal parts awkward, heartfelt and unexpectedly tender. And while romance does play a part, it never overshadows the film's larger journey of self-discovery.
In true Miyazaki fashion, there is no singular villain or clear moral binary. Characters grow, falter and learn and even those who seem antagonistic are eventually revealed to be more than their curses or titles.
Glorious rerun worth a fresh ticket
While this rerun might draw crowds of devoted Ghibli veterans, it is a gift to first-timers. Despite its age, Howl's Moving Castle feels timeless, visually spectacular, emotionally resonant and gloriously weird. It is the kind of movie that can feel like a mess on paper but somehow sings in motion.
Miyazaki's style may not appeal to those who prefer tight, plot-driven stories with clean resolutions. But for those willing to float through its dreamlike logic, the reward is rich in artistry, empathy and imagination.
Whether it is the viewer's first time or their fifteenth, this return to cinemas is a reminder: Studio Ghibli does not just make movies, they make worlds.
Howl's Moving Castle is not a film that answers all its questions. In fact, it might leave audiences with more questions than they started with. But that is part of the magic. It invites curiosity, awe and perhaps a little bit of head-scratching and it does so with hand-drawn grace and emotional intelligence.
It is a rerun worth watching, not just for nostalgia, but because it still has something new to say or at the very least, something beautiful to show.
DIRECTOR: Hayao Miyazaki
CAST: Takuya Kimura, Chieko Baisho, Tatsuya Gashuin, Ryunosuke Kamiki, Akihiro Miwa
E-VALUE: 8/10
PLOT: 8/10
ACTING: 9/10
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Free Malaysia Today
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- Free Malaysia Today
Studio Ghibli marks 40 years, but future looks uncertain
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Oscar-winning Japanese animator Hayao Miyazaki in 2015. (AFP pic) TOKYO : Japan's Oscar-winning anime house Studio Ghibli turns 40 this month. Here are the studio's top five films that have delighted fans over the decades: 'Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind' (1984) Studio Ghibli was founded in 1985, but this post-apocalyptic story featuring a young, independent princess curious about giant insects is considered its first film. It was based on a comic-strip series that Ghibli co-founder Hayao Miyazaki wrote for a magazine targeted at anime fans. Set 1,000 years after a war that destroyed human civilisation, the story takes place in a valley protected from toxic air emitted from poisonous forests. Miyazaki won critical acclaim and a cult following for the film about Nausicaa, who discovers the forests' secrets after getting embroiled in conflicts between countries trying to revive a lethal 'giant warrior'. 'My Neighbour Totoro' (1988) This beloved Ghibli classic is set in the 1950s Japanese countryside where two young sisters with a sick mother move from the city. They encounter the cuddly yet mysterious forest spirit Totoro and Catbus, a 12-legged grinning cat with a hollow body in the form of a bus – two characters who have become the Studio Ghibli mascots. The film was turned into a play for the first time by Britain's Royal Shakespeare Company in 2022. 'Princess Mononoke' (1997) The tale of a girl raised by a wolf goddess in a forest threatened by humans was a smash hit in Japan and raised Miyazaki's profile internationally. A young prince on a journey to find a cure for his curse meets San, also known as Princess Mononoke – meaning a spirit or monster in Japanese. The prince sets out to find ways to avoid wars between destructive humans and animal gods, centred around the ultimate god which is nature itself. Ghibli expert and Tufts University professor Susan Napier described 'Princess Mononoke' to AFP as 'serious, dark and violent'. 'Spirited Away' (2001) Miyazaki won his first Oscar with this film about a girl who gets lost in a mystical world of gods and spirits where she tries to save her parents, who are turned into pigs. In order to survive, 10-year-old Chihiro is told by a mysterious boy to get a job at an enormous Japanese bathhouse run by a witch. In a story infused with Japanese beliefs and traditions, Chihiro gains confidence through her work and solves the boy's curse before rescuing her parents. 'The Boy and the Heron' (2023) Miyazaki's second Oscar-winning film – and likely the 84-year-old's last feature – follows a boy struggling to accept his new life after his mother dies in the haunting fire-bombing of Tokyo during World War II. Everything changes when he meets a talking heron and embarks on a journey to an alternate universe, shared by the living and the dead, to find his missing stepmother. In a documentary, Miyazaki, visibly affected by the 2018 death of Ghibli co-founder Isao Takahata, said the pair had had a 'love-hate relationship' and that he had based the character of the grand-uncle on him.
Sinar Daily
06-06-2025
- Sinar Daily
Studio Ghibli marks 40 years, but future looks uncertain
TOKYO - Japan's Studio Ghibli turns 40 this month with two Oscars and legions of fans young and old won over by its complex plots and fantastical hand-drawn animation. But the future is uncertain, with latest hit "The Boy and the Heron" likely -- but not certainly -- the final feature from celebrated co-founder Hayao Miyazaki, now 84. The studio behind the Oscar-winning "Spirited Away" has become a cultural phenomenon since Miyazaki and the late Isao Takahata established it in 1985. Its popularity has been fuelled of late by a second Academy Award in 2024 for "The Boy and the Heron", starring Robert Pattinson, and by Netflix streaming Ghibli movies around the world. In March, the internet was flooded with pictures in its distinctively nostalgic style after the release of OpenAI's newest image generator -- raising questions over copyright. The newly opened Ghibli Park has also become a major tourist draw for central Japan's Aichi region. Julia Santilli, a 26-year-old from Britain living in northern Japan, "fell in love with Ghibli" after watching the 2001 classic "Spirited Away" as a child. "I started collecting all the DVDs," she told AFP. Ghibli stories are "very engaging and the artwork is stunning", said another fan, Margot Divall, 26. "I probably watch 'Spirited Away' about 10 times a year still." This file photo taken on July 13, 2015 shows Oscar-winning Japanese animator Hayao Miyazaki taking part in a press conference in Tokyo. - (Photo by YOSHIKAZU TSUNO / AFP) - 'Whiff of death' - Before Ghibli, most cartoons in Japan -- known as anime -- were made for children. But Miyazaki and Takahata, both from "the generation that knew war", included darker elements that appeal to adults, Miyazaki's son Goro told AFP. "It's not all sweet -- there's also a bitterness and things like that which are beautifully intertwined in the work," he said, describing a "whiff of death" in the films. For younger people who grew up in peacetime, "it is impossible to create something with the same sense, approach and attitude", Goro said. Even "My Neighbor Totoro", with its cuddly forest creatures, is in some ways a "scary" movie that explores the fear of losing a sick mother, he explained. Susan Napier, a professor at Tufts University in the United States and author of "Miyazakiworld: A Life in Art", agrees. "In Ghibli, you have ambiguity, complexity and also a willingness to see that the darkness and light often go together" unlike good-versus-evil US cartoons, she said. The post-apocalyptic "Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind" -- considered the first Ghibli film despite its release in 1984 -- has no obvious villain, for example. The movie featuring an independent princess curious about giant insects and a poisonous forest felt "so fresh" and a change from "a passive woman... having to be rescued", Napier said. - Natural world - Studio Ghibli films also depict a universe where humans connect deeply with nature and the spirit world. A case in point was 1997's "Princess Mononoke", distributed internationally by Disney. The tale of a girl raised by a wolf goddess in a forest threatened by humans is "a masterpiece -- but a hard movie", Napier said. It's a "serious, dark and violent" film appreciated more by adults, which "was not what US audiences had anticipated with a movie about a princess". Ghibli films "have an environmentalist and animistic side, which I think is very appropriate for the contemporary world with climate change", she added. Miyuki Yonemura, a professor at Japan's Senshu University who studies cultural theories on animation, said watching Ghibli movies is like reading literature. "That's why some children watch Totoro 40 times," she said, adding that audiences "discover something new every time". - French connection - Miyazaki and Takahata -- who died in 2018 -- could create imaginative worlds because of their openness to other cultures, Yonemura said. Foreign influences included writer Antoine de Saint-Exupery and animator Paul Grimault, both French, and Canadian artist Frederic Back, who won an Oscar for his animation "The Man Who Planted Trees". Takahata studying French literature at university "was a big factor", Yonemura said. "Both Miyazaki and Takahata read a lot," she said. "That's a big reason why they excel at writing scripts and creating stories." Miyazaki has said he was inspired by several books for "Nausicaa", including the 12th-century Japanese tale "The Lady who Loved Insects", and Greek mythology. Studio Ghibli will not be the same after Miyazaki stops creating animation, "unless similar talent emerges", Yonemura said. Miyazaki is "a fantastic artist with such a visual imagination" while both he and Takahata were "politically progressive", Napier said. "The more I study, the more I realise this was a unique cultural moment," she said. "It's so widely loved that I think it will carry on," said Ghibli fan Divall. "As long as it doesn't lose its beauty, as long as it carries on the amount of effort, care and love," she said. - Natsuko Fukue / AFP
