Spirited Away (2001): growing up without easy answers

Hayao Miyazaki’s Studio Ghibli classic originally opened in Japan on July 20, 2001. The Japanese cast includes Rumi Hiiragi, Miyu Irino and Mari Natsuki, while Daveigh Chase voices Chihiro in the English dub. It follows 10-year-old Chihiro, who enters a mysterious spirit world while moving to a new home and is forced to find her place inside a vast bathhouse.

What is striking 25 years later is how little the film feels like a museum piece. Miyazaki never builds this world like a conventional fantasy adventure. There is no long explanation, no narrator identifying every creature, and no clean line separating good from evil. That uncertainty makes the spirit world enchanting, funny and unsettling at the same time. You may not understand every rule, but you always understand how Chihiro feels inside it.

Courage comes with responsibility

Her development remains the film’s greatest strength. Chihiro does not begin as a born hero. She is anxious, frustrated by the move and completely overwhelmed. Her courage appears only because circumstances force her to act. Work is surprisingly important to that growth. Inside the bathhouse she does not suddenly become powerful; she becomes dependable. She learns to listen, take responsibility and help others. That sounds simple, but it is exactly why her transformation feels believable.

The supporting characters also refuse easy labels. Yubaba is intimidating and controlling, yet she is more complicated than a one-note villain. Haku is both protector and mystery. Even characters who initially seem dangerous can reveal vulnerability or kindness. The bathhouse therefore develops a social life that matters almost as much as the magic itself. Chihiro has to learn not only how this place works, but how to read the people and spirits around her.

A world that reflects our own

There is also a surprising amount of the real world inside all this fantasy. Greed and uncontrolled consumption change people and creatures. Names matter because identity matters. No-Face is fascinating precisely because the character is not simply a traditional villain, but someone who absorbs and amplifies the desires of the surrounding environment. Miyazaki never turns those ideas into a lecture. They live inside the images, the behavior and the consequences.

Visually, Spirited Away is still overwhelming. The bathhouse can feel cozy, crowded, beautiful and slightly threatening within the same sequence. Joe Hisaishi’s score brings warmth and melancholy, while Miyazaki repeatedly allows quiet moments to breathe. Those pauses make the grander images stronger because the movie never feels desperate to become louder or faster.

The verdict

The only real reservation is that 125 minutes can feel leisurely, and some episodes initially resemble detours. But that looseness creates the film’s dreamlike rhythm. Spirited Away is not a perfect machine; it is a world you are allowed to get lost in. A quarter of a century later, that remains extraordinary. It is still one of animation’s great achievements: 9.5 out of 10.