I love movies, but there’s one people have been telling me to watch forever that I just never got around to. Spirited Away was the highest grossing Japanese film for over 19 years and made over $400 million at the box office. That means it has to be good… right?

Well, this weekend I finally watched it, and it wasn’t what I expected in the slightest.

The movie was created by Hayao Miyazaki and produced by Studio Ghibli. Whether people love anime or hate it, this is one of those movies that almost everybody seems to respect. So I figured it was finally time to see what all the hype was about.

This Movie Is Weird As Hell

The movie starts off pretty normal. Chihiro is moving to a new town with her parents when they take a wrong turn and end up at what looks like an abandoned theme park.

Then like ten minutes later, her parents eat food that isn’t theirs, turn into pigs, and Chihiro is working as a slave in a bathhouse full of spirits trying to save them.

That escalated fast.

Then you start meeting everybody else.

There’s little soot creatures carrying coal around. A dude with six arms running the boiler room. A giant baby. Dragons. Living masks. Frog spirits. A guy who’s literally a river.

Reading that back sounds insane, but somehow none of it feels out of place while you’re watching it.

That’s honestly my favorite part about the movie.

It never stops to explain everything. Why does the train work? No clue. Why is Haku a dragon? Sure. Why is there even a bathhouse for spirits? Doesn’t matter.

The movie just throws you into this world and expects you to go with it. Somehow it works.

I’ve watched a stupid amount of anime. Probably over 2,000 hours at this point. Stuff like Ergo Proxy, Dandadan, Space Dandy, and a bunch of other weird shows. But I honestly don’t think I’ve seen anything with this much attention to detail.

Everything just fits. The animation, the backgrounds, the music, the character designs. I get why people always say every frame looks like a painting.

The Little Things Make It So Good

Every animated movie has a budget.

Usually studios save their best animation for the important scenes. The fights. The emotional moments. The big reveals. Everything else gets simplified because somebody has to animate the whole thing.

Spirited Away feels different.

Even in the very beginning when Chihiro is sitting in the car, you can see the stress all over her face. When the window rolls down, her hair moves naturally. When she follows her parents, she has this awkward little walk that makes her feel like an actual kid who’s nervous about everything.

None of those moments are important to the plot.

But they’re the kind of details that add up over two hours and make the whole movie feel alive.

I don’t think most people even consciously notice them, but you’d definitely notice if they weren’t there.

Chihiro Is Actually a Great Main Character

One thing I really liked was Chihiro.

It’s honestly refreshing to have a kid who’s somehow the most mature person in the room.

Her parents get turned into pigs because they couldn’t stop themselves from eating food that wasn’t theirs. Chihiro doesn’t eat because she immediately feels like it’s stealing.

No-Face offers her extra bath tokens. She takes one because that’s all she needs.

He offers her gold over and over again. She says no because she has no reason to take it.

The entire movie she’s locked in on one thing, getting her parents back. She doesn’t get distracted, and it makes you want to root for her the whole time.

Kamaji and Lin Deserve More Love

I also think Kamaji and Lin are two of the best characters in the movie.

Kamaji is down in the boiler room doing basically everything himself with six arms and a bunch of soot creatures. The dude is permanently overworked and somehow still keeps the entire place running.

He honestly reminds me of the people who keep the world moving without anybody noticing. They’re stressed, overworked, probably underpaid, but they still show up every day.

Then there’s Lin.

She immediately becomes this older sister for Chihiro. She helps her get a job, looks out for her, worries about her, and helps her whenever she can.

In a bathhouse where almost everybody is greedy or looking out for themselves, Kamaji and Lin stand out because they’re genuinely good people.

Chihiro’s Parents Are the Worst

I don’t know why they made Chihiro’s parents so unbelievably annoying.

They make every bad decision possible.

They wander into random places they know nothing about. They eat food that obviously isn’t theirs. They ignore every red flag imaginable.

The whole movie only happens because they couldn’t mind their own business.

Meanwhile their ten-year-old daughter is the only person using common sense.

Final Thoughts

Now I understand why people have been telling me to watch Spirited Away for years.

I thought I was getting one of those cozy Studio Ghibli movies you throw on while you’re studying.

Instead I got one of the weirdest fantasy movies I’ve ever watched.

It’s creepy sometimes. Wholesome other times. Really funny. Really beautiful. Somehow all at once.

I honestly get the hype now.