Howl's Moving Castle

Ok. Here we go again with Studio Ghibli's production, Howl's Moving Castle. Coincidently, I also looked up the times on the internet for the tv guide and found out that this was on. As advertised by Johnly, I decided to check it out. Like an obsessed fan, I did my little research (after I watched the movie) about this film and was surprised that it actually was an adaptation from a book by Diana Wynne Jones, which was published in 1986. I even watched a trailer on YouTube to grasp what the movie is like. Boy oh boy..Was I excited. Across my forearm, lies the faded memory of yesterday's scribble of the timing.

Usually Mother would be upstairs talking things over with her husband but when good things are on, they somehow always manage to sense it and come down stairs to bother me. It's not that I don't want them there but it's just that Mother talks through the movie and when I give a piece of my mind, she shushes me. Life is full of injustice.

However, I was expecting them to go upstairs in the first part of the movie as I remembered them leaving when I was watching Nausicaa of The Valley Of The Winds. But no, Mother seemed to entralled and found it amusing and stayed. Like a good puppy, her husband stayed next to her faithfully. Those two are almost inseperable and I had to beg him to let Mother and I go on a holiday by ourselves next February..Anyways, back to the story. From the beginning, it was already captivating and exciting. I could hardly contain my rapture. These images are from http://onlineghibli.com/ once again.

It was a rather weird movie in a sense that some parts were left for you to figure it out in your own mind rather than bluntly straight-forwardly telling you the story. It leaves an air of mysteriousness and adventure. Sometimes I wish my life was as exciting and mysterious like this.

What I find most mysterious from Studio Ghibli's movies are the male characters. Not all of it but from Spirited Away and Howl's Moving Castle. In Spirited Away, a male character called Haku, acted as if he had a split personality to help save Chihiro. Similarly, Howl did the same for Sophie as he saved her and he had split identity. (Watch both of those movies and you'll understand =P) The differences though comes in with their personality. Haku has a matured personality despite the fact he looks like a boy and Howl has an immature child-like personality that is prominently shown when he sulks and starts melting when Sophie accidently changed his bath water and turned his hair orange. I love both of this two characters more than their female counterparts.

Howl

Haku

Other things I've noticed that are similar between these two movies are:

• Both male characters end up passed out near the end of the movie


• Both male characters can fly; Haku as a flying dragon and Howl as an oversized mutated swallow

Well that's from my observations anyway..

Howl- I Love This Character!! Not to mention Haku too..Much more handsome than his dark hair though.

Overall, it is also a heart-warming journey to self-discovery, courage, passion, sacrifice and love. It's a 5 out of 5 movie and deserves lots of credits. However, take the time to watch it as it is kinda deep at parts and you really have to decipher it. But as for me, I LOVE it!!

Here's a little trailer of this movie with the lovable soundtrack, "Merry-Go-Round of Life"