the parallel between Sen and No Face | Spirited Away

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Spirited Away analysis videos were the things thing I ever made on this channel. It's about time I returned to the film since it's my favourite of Studio Ghibli, possibly my favourite of anything ever. Rather than dive straight in with a massive video essay, why not start with a simple parallel between Chihiro and No Face?
My Little Thought Tree is my channel for drawing out the deeper meaning and emotion in film, TV, and the world at large through relaxed, analytical video essays. I am a professional counsellor and often draw on my psychology and therapy background to better understand characters, themes, and emotion in fiction. I upload every Saturday and occasionally on Tuesdays, if I'm feeling productive.
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MUSIC (in order)
Spirited Away lofi hiphop music by @fantasylofi → ffm.bio/bitsandhits
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#spiritedaway #analysis #noface

[@nitzan3782]

Chihiro's lack of interest in gold isn't due to understanding: She's not working for profit, she's working for bed and board, so she wouldn't disappear and have somewhere to figure out how to rescue her parents. As a child, she only cares about the people she bonds with - her parents and later Haku, and any material gains she's made were a means to those ends. I'd argue that Chihiro is an ordinary 10 year old girl thrust into an extraordinary position, and therefore forced to adapt accordingly. If it wasn't for Haku reminding her of her name, she would have grown just as embittered and self-serving as the other workers. No-Face is both childrens' cautionary tale - Chihiro's identity was protected by Haku, since he didn't want her to lose it as he lost his. During the film, Chihiro and by extension the audience saw Haku coming dangerously close to losing its vestiges, which could have turned him into an entity as destructive and hollow as No-Face, who lost everything but his presence. The parallels between Chihiro and Boh are of a different angle to those you discussed - they're both spoiled, whiny, and in a Japanese perspective, overgrown babies when they first meet. When they meet again and Chihiro has been forced to grow, that encounter serves to highlight that fact - she has real(er) problems than Boh and pushes him to leave his puffy pillow fort of a nursery and literally take his first steps as an independent person.

[@mylittlethoughttree]

Yeah I'd agree with a lot of this. Understanding was the wrong word and I edited too much down to explain and argue my points clearly. Thanks for the comment!

[@LessonSmith]

I love your Spirited Away content. This film is a masterpiece and watching your videos gives me a deeper appreciation for my favorite film.

[@gwarnc.yk1]

So true

[@efoxkitsune9493]

I would honestly die for a full No-face character analysis

[@groofay]

It's a testament to Miyazaki and Studio Ghibli's genius that you can make all of these videos analyzing their films and none of them feel rehashed.

[@mal9369]

I'm glad you're continuing your Spirited away analysis. Such a beautiful movie with so much to think about, and you always have excellent insight. Looking forward to the next one ^_^

[@jodieg6318]

Spirited Away is sich a masterpiece for so many reasons none the least because of how many people can interpret it in so many ways; its a testiment to Miyazaki and Gibli as storytellers how many people around the world were able to connect with the story using absolutely universal concepts ands situations.

[@1987Onslaught]

Your Spirited Away content is wonderful. I know algorith chasing is unfortunately part of the business but I love how these videos feel timeless

[@awakenthewomyn]

I’m still looking forward to your analysis of the rest of the movie 😭🤍

[@SteveJubs]

Love that series so much! Your analysis is full of so many lovely little moments of insight that help me to appreciate one of my all-time favorite films even more somehow, and I think it’s a great idea to give some of those moments of insight and interpretation their own smaller videos like this. So much of what you have to say in that series bears repeating and expanding upon. One moment that comes to mind was your brief analysis of Kamaji being given multiple arms so that he can look extremely busy and overworked without rushing frantically about to get his work done-that all those arms allow him to look both overworked and also hunched over in exhaustion. Excited to hear there’s another episode coming!

[@geekexmachina]

As a recommendation if you enjoy Spirited away and the themes involved then you should try the series The Lost Village ( Mayoiga) which is a mystery story about a group of strangers who wish to run away from society to a hard to find lost village to start new lives however it doesnt go to plan as strange things begin to happen.

[@mollymcdade4031]

Spirited Away traumatised me when I first watched it as a young child - I think it was how uncanny the character designs are, and the way NoFace devours people while approaching the camera as the workers dance around with the gold he’s giving out. It still unsettles me to this dat

[@Solar-kf2sq]

No face has always traumatized me even now especially as a monster

[@CalmingSoundZZZ]

I'm so relieved that you came back to this series. Thrilled the next episode is coming soon. Any thoughts on No Face's toupee in the bathhouse? 😂

[@Anublet90]

Say, this suddenly got me thinking, are you going to make a video on Frieren by any chance? I get you don't "just make a video" for the sake of it, but I'd love to have something I could show my sister while pitching the show to her, and I'd be interested in hearing your thoughts on some of it.

[@chi-ku5281]

I'm going to have rewatch your spirited away videos since it's been so long since I've watched them. Honestly kinda excited to rewatch them and to see the next installment of this series! As always love your work :D

[@saban4788]

I’ve been waiting for a new spirited away vid, I love your analysis!

[@GypsyxDarling]

This was lovely. What a great analysis.

[@mb3608]

Thank you for this beautiful analysis. I love this movie and watched it countless times, still you brought up a point I never really recognized. I always wondered why I love this movie so much but I'm just realizing how much I can really relate to chihiro, how much the bathhouse reflects the very real sides of our society, how much her journey is about sticking to your own truth. A truth that comes from empathy, not from fairytales of wealth, not from a public agenda of convenience. I think the struggle of the bathhouse workers is that they long for every convenience they can get. No matter if its free drinks, fake gold or just putting someone else down, blaming the weakest amongst them. I'm usually not a fan of happy ending fairytale movies, but this film is doing it perfectly for me. Love it and also your obiviously very Spirited Away themed opener every time I watch one of your videos :)

[@tomdekel881]

listen I am waiting for this spirited away videos, getting excited with every youtube notification from your channel, pls make the 5'th episode its very important to me ily

[@tylerhackner9731]

Love your spirited away vids

[@geekexmachina]

Was a very good analysis. Im interested to know whether you have Watched the Dubbed or The Subbed (Subtitled ) version of the film, I urge to watch both sometime the Dub doesnt quite translate things easily and the Subtitles use alternative words and phrases, this can change the understanding of the scene. So if I remember correctly the bath house like onsens in japanese culture are about purifying/ and clensing in the non physical sense, so its not so much that he is dirty but "Unclean" and an interpretation is that a Kami (spirits), Yokai (demons) can become restless as it is being cleansed (this is similar to exorcism process). Likewise Japanese bath houses and onsens are used to reinvigorate and rejuevinate by absorbing nature power

[@andreluislimaa]

i really like your videos :)

[@RJ_Ehlert]

Nice.

[@mylittlethoughttree]

Use the code TREE for 40% off World Anvil with the link worldanvil.com/?c=mltt Or else try it out for free!! Spirited Away playlist: kzbin.info/aero/PLIrZsx9CxvcEveh1RD7UAawJ5c8RftXK6

[@ThousandMask]

"EEeeewwww"

[@sambhavnath6668]

Spirited away was banned in china And many people have given their reviews that the story is confusing can anybody explain me please

[@mylittlethoughttree]

Well, I would say it is a confusing film. Hayao Miyazaki doesn't often make his films clear and straightforward. He likes the fantastical to not always make perfect sense. He likes to work with metaphor instead of literal meaning. He has often talked about how it is better to "feel" the film. That if you feel it, you will understand deep down. The way he also makes his films is to not plan everything in advance. He is often still working on a storyboard for a movie, while it is being animated. That means the plot and story can sometimes be a bit meandering. As for why China banned it, I have no idea. They seem to ban a lot of things that shouldn't be banned, though.

[@sambhavnath6668]

@@mylittlethoughttree I will Definitely watch the film after my exam Its a request to you can you please recommend some great animated films please 🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻

[@rishaa682]

I get a lot out of your videos