Howl's Moving Castle (Movie)

Released: March 7, 2006 (DVD)
Category: Anime/Magic

I watched Howl's Moving Castle with the Japanese audio and subtitles (not to be confused with captions). As with Spirited Away, Disney had a star studded cast for the American dubbed edition. I can't review Howl based on the dubbed version because I hate dubbed versions. They translate the dialogue differently than the subtitles. I'm sure the American dialogue isn't awful, but I'm used to watching Japanese anime. Call me a purist.

The main character is Sophie, a young woman working in a hat shop. A quiet girl, she has a boring life and has no great expectations. One day, she meets the wizard, Howl, and he's kind and charming to her. Almost as quickly as they meet, he leaves so she won't be in danger from his enemies. Unfortunately, the damage is done and the Witch of the Waste follows Sophie home, casting a spell on her, leaving Sophie an elderly woman.

Strangely, Sophie accepts her situation and embarks on a great adventure, one that she wouldn't have dreamed of before she met Howl. She jumps on board Howl's moving castle, a huge, ungainly structure perched on four bird-like legs that lumbers about the country, and enters a magical world much like Alice's tumble down the rabbit hole.

Howl, despite looking like a confident, polished wizard, is experiencing some kind of inner struggle due to a pact he made with a demon. He takes risks and is cocky at times, and has no real purpose while the country is at war. He could help, but he doesn't feel like it, and he's also a bit afraid of the king's witch. However, when Sophie moves in, he realizes who is behind the mask of the old-lady spell and becomes protective of her, and they fall in love. Sophie's spell is broken, and Howl is released from his demon pact.

I love Miyazaki's work; he did My Neighbor Totoro, Spirited Away (an Academy award winner), and Kiki's Delivery Service, to name a few. His movies have so much detail, whimsical touches (i.e. a magical scarecrow named Turnip), and funny, loveable characters that it's hard not to enjoy them.