I think Spirited Away was boring, amirite?

I literally watched this in my Discord group the other night (along with Kiki's Delivery Service as a double feature) and was absolutely entranced by it, so much that I dreamt about it. I'd call it captivating and beautiful, but also extremely bizarre. I don't know, sometimes you just have to be in the mood to watch a movie that relishes in its art.

by Anonymous 8 hours ago

Kiki's was such a great slice of life movie.

by retha90 8 hours ago

Spirited away is a coming of age story. Chihiro is supposed to represent a child who is fearful of the world, a life without her safety net, a life where she is forced to make friends in a hostile environment. The characters in the film represent different aspects of your life, the people you run into, the rat race that you participate in daily, the people who you hold dearly, the people you dislike, your neighbors who you coexist with and befriend or avoid. Whether or not Chihiro physically experienced the events is irrelevant - the message at the end of the film is simple. You have to be brave, you have to keep moving forward, and you can't look back or dwell on the past. You have your memories to remind you of what you've done, but you can't regain your innocence or regress on your life's path - you have to persist and carve your own way. Watch it again sometime and think less about the characters as spirits in a fantasy world, and more about how Chihiro's experience is a manifestation of life's journey. Sorry that you did not enjoy it, it's one of my favorite movies.

by callie57 8 hours ago

Spirited away is like about life bro. So what is every single other movie or story about then lol

by Linabalistreri 8 hours ago

No it's about life man

by Linabalistreri 8 hours ago

I need people to understand that it's ok to not like things, even if a lot of other people really, really like them. Not everything appeals to everyone, even if it's some kind of hypothetical objectively perfect piece of media. Someone is not going to like it. It's fine.

by Anonymous 8 hours ago

I find it boring as well, but visually its a work of art.

by Anonymous 7 hours ago

The story follows its own weird dream logic, which on first watch really annoyed me too. it felt like it was making up its own rules, so it didn't have to follow any. but on repeat watches, it's become one of my favorite films. it's so creative, and i just had to get out of the standard way of thinking of how a story can develop. I really love it now, and it's really complex and strange and not super tidy in a way that I think mirrors real life

by orlobogisich 7 hours ago

Japanese cinematic pacing and structure is unique, sometimes it doesn't jive well with a western cinematic sensibility

by Anonymous 7 hours ago

I can almost understand this if you're only other experience with anime was Dragon Ball Z and you went in expecting something like that.

by winifredrunolfs 7 hours ago

Yeah its a 24 year old film. Your brain isn't used to it princess mononoke is even older ~28 years old

by Plastic_Bite8003 6 hours ago

Im 35 and find the movie pacing boring as well. Visually amazing, a work of art. Story is pretty good but the pacing is just a little much even for me.

by Anonymous 6 hours ago

Repeat viewings make it better, if you are interested

by Trace04 6 hours ago

The animation is a large part of why those movies well liked. It was amazingly done for the time. People like the plot of spirited away particularly become it is simple and cozy. If that's not your vibe I can imagine why it wasn't your cup of tea. Princess Mononoke I'm a bit more surprised you found it boring as there is a decent amount of action in that one. But all Ghibli movies have a particular plot style be design. They are often left on an anticlimactic end on purpose with a lot of plot points unfinished (the idea behind this is that real life doesn't have a climax and is somewhat cultural). Also Miyazaki's plots usually do not have the typical plot of this is the bad guy and this is the good guy. He purposely likes to flesh out all characters making them neither good nor bad. People like this because he makes very 3D characters and I would say these stories are very character driven rather than bring ploy driven. It's a very different idea than western media so that type of set up may not be your thing

by Anonymous 5 hours ago

The thing is, the plot isn't actually that simple. Characters are complicated and their identities and motivations shift throughout the story. There is actually a lot of playing with expectations even within the fairytale format that it uses as a basis. No face begins as a demonic antagonist and then essentially morphs into a benign friend. Zeniba has a similar arc, we see her as a spiteful witch and also a kindly old lady, and the journey to reach her is not through an exciting fantasy landscape but something as banal as a train ride.

by Anonymous 5 hours ago

I definitely agree, though I think what you're describing is still very character driven rather than plot driven. Some people just prefer plot driven stories. If you don't care much about individual characters I can see how Spirited Away would be seen as pretty simple, because the plot is simple with very complex characters

by Anonymous 5 hours ago

I like most guibli films including those much older than. Spirited Away but Spirited Away just does not work for me.

by Anonymous 4 hours ago

Does everyone on here watch cartoons or what

by Last-Strength-4347 4 hours ago

I'm 30yo and enjoy a lot of anime but also found it, along with other Ghibli projects, pretty boring. Princess Mononoke is the best one IMO

by Anonymous 4 hours ago

I disagree but I suppose I can see where you're coming from. I certainly felt that way about My Neighbor Totoro, which is one of the Ghibli movies I watched for the first time as an adult. This probably is a big factor, but Howl's Moving Castle I also saw for the first time as an adult and I really loved it.

by Anonymous 4 hours ago

It's oozing with unique designs, cool architecture, interesting concepts and if you got nothing from that - idk have you paid attention?

by Anonymous 4 hours ago

I liked the animation and drawings and art and creatures and architecture definitely!! But the story was boring

by Ill-Cauliflower 3 hours ago

What's the story as you understand it?

by Downtown_Dare 3 hours ago

That's the million dollar question right there.

by Anonymous 3 hours ago

No

by Ill-Cauliflower 3 hours ago

I think pretty much all Ghibli films are brutally boring and meandering. The only one I like is Ponyo and that's just because my kid is obsessed with it and that makes me happy. But there are entire Ghibli films where it feels like literally nothing happens. Inb4 "hurdur tiktok brain" or whatever people who love boring ass movies say because I typically love a slow burn film. Ghibli films just have no payoff and aren't interesting.

by Anonymous 3 hours ago

The single most unlikable main character in all of cinema. There's an entire studio of these films, and this one that is supposedly on the highest of the anime pedestals took 2 hours and 5 minutes of my life that I will never, ever get back. What an absolute waste of everything. I love this opinion OP. You have found your people right here.

by BaseHour 2 hours ago

Because your not a child

by Anonymous 2 hours ago

That shouldn't matter

by Anonymous 2 hours ago

But it can

by Anonymous 1 hour ago

Grave of the fireflies…. Ugh… 😩

by Anonymous 1 hour ago