Howl’s Moving Castle is an exciting anime film done by Studio Ghibli. The movie was directed and written by Hayao Miyazaki. Honestly, this is one of my most favorite Studio Ghibli films, if not my favorite. I just loved everything about this film – the animation itself, the colors, the background, and the characters. Everything was just so beautifully done to my eyes; they also hired a great crew of voice actors for the film. The movie is about a young, responsible 18 year old girl named Sophie and her travels with an attractive wizard named Howl. Sophie is cursed by the Witch of the Waste and is turned into an old lady. She runs away and comes across a scarecrow whom she calls “Turnip Head”. The scarecrow helps her find Howl’s moving castle. The castle does not look so much like a castle, but she enters anyway. She meets a demon named Calcifer, who is a little, funny flame. Now, at first I did not think this movie was going to be a love story, but that is the way it ended. I am usually not into romance or anime concerning love in any sense because it usually begins to annoy after five minutes. Though, this movie was a bit different for me. I feel as though there was a connection between the main characters right from the start. I feel like this love story took a different spin because the characters were not as cliché as usual. Throughout the movie, grow to learn about each other. With most love stories the love is instant between the characters like a fairy tale, but even though the characters in this movie had a connection, they love was not instant. The female lead, Sophie, was not seen as the most beautiful woman around and even then, she was cursed into looking like an old lady. The male, Howl, was beautiful and handsome but he had many inner issues of his own. Neither of the two were close to perfect, but they both managed to fall in love with one another. The flaws did not matter though because the two characters saw each other for what they were worth. I believe the accepting and understanding of the other’s flaws brought them closer.
Hey Illy! I really love your animated picture of Calcifer. I love how it basically sums up his grouchy but lovable character. I think it's really interesting how you mentioned the fact that the female lead was portrayed as less beautiful and the male lead was much more attractive. And I agree, but Sophie had a much more beautiful inner image when being compared to Howl. Sophie, though shy and afraid of making large decisions for herself, is sweet and caring and very open to all of the changes she has to go through the survive her life with the curse. Howl, though beautiful in appearance was ugly in the fact that he was a complete coward and because of this, broke many hearts, including the heart of the witch who put Sophie in her position. It was only until he realized that real beauty lies in protecting the ones you love and facing fears and being truly free. Free is being comfortable in your own skin, free is being able to choose and stand by those choices. The beauty he sought for in the beginning was too shallow to be something worth fighting for and protecting.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, thanks for your thoughts!
Amanda
Hey Illy,
ReplyDeleteI love the picture you chose too, Calcifer was totally my favorite character in the movie, right next to Turnip Head! The only thing I'd say is that I actually knew it was going to be a love story from the beginning! From the scene where Howl found Sophie and Lettie was questioning Sophie about Howl stealing her heart, I already knew that Sophie has fallen for his charm and that their love was going to bloom later on the movie. When Sophie was a grandma, she was so much more confident because nobody would judge a grandma by the way she looked, so she was less shy and hesitant to make decisions for herself. This movie also touches on the concept of free-will and being able to make decisions for oneself, like in Ah, My Goddess and other animes that we've watched. Calfifer wanted nothing more than freedom from Howl. This is a good post!
Tracy