Howl's Moving Castle

This is a Japanese version of a Disney film. I love anime, but this was too kiddish for me. I like mecha anime like my all-time favorite, Robotech/Macross. I also like Neon Genesis Evangelion, Ghost in the Shell, Last Exile, Akira, and Serial Experiments: LAIN.

Director, Hayao Miyazaki's, latest anime is a beautiful and imaginative, but strange story of a girl that gets turned into a 90 year old woman. She tries to find a way to lift the curse and finds refuge in Howl's bizarre moving castle. She later falls in love with the magician, Howl.

The story has some elements of Alice in Wonderland and the Wizard of Oz. The animation is very detailed. It has colorful scenery, and the story is very imaginative.

Japanese anime has a style that American animation just can't match. It's very cool. I think it's because anime is tailored to more mature audiences than typical Disney animation.

Miyazaki's films are all too similar, however. The style and storytelling is very much similar to his previous films, Spirited Away and Princess Mononoke. Miyazaki loves using black amorphous slimes in his movies to depict evil creatures. I think those black blobs are disturbing to look at and are one of the worst parts about the films. They're not very detailed and look cheesey. They just don't interest me at all. Now, if he only threw in some cool jets and robots, things might be very different for the better.

The animation is charming. Some of the scenery is breath-taking. The story takes place in an alternative world that seems to take place in turn-of-the-20th century England. They drive steam-engined vehicles and fly around in huge floating airships. Japanese anime stories love this type of setting for some reason.

The girl, Sophie, works at a hat shop. One day, everyone is excited about the mysterious Howl coming to town. She meets an enigmatic man with magical powers who rescues her from some horny soldiers. Later that night, a giant fat fugly woman comes to the hat store and puts a curse on her. The fugly woman then says something about giving her regards to Howl. Sophie realizes she's been turned into a 90-year-old woman. She searches for Howl to help her lift her curse.

Sophie finds the magical moving castle and meets a little boy that turns into a dwarf man, a scarecrow that bounces around on a stick, and a tiny hot-headed fire demon. Later, she meets Howl, a magician who turns into a bird man to fight in the war. He doesn't want to fight in the war, but the queen makes him. Ultimately, he chooses to rebel against orders and risks his life for love.

I think this is an anime for children and not for me. I give it a:

B, 81.