[pinkiepie232]

omg what happens in the end? Does Haku return to the 'real' world? What did u think of this film? I heard it was good but I don't know. I'm full of questions about it. What do u guys think? (And btw I know it's old and probably has been discussed before but I'm new to it).

[DrSleep]

The studio kinda leave it upto you to guess.
I personally think she goes back to the 'real' world.

Try the website, they used to have a Q&A section at one point I believe.

[Hugh Jboobs]

It was the weirdest load of shite I've ever sat through.

[Iggyman]

Originally Posted by DrSleep

The studio kinda leave it upto you to guess.
I personally think she goes back to the 'real' world.

Try the website, they used to have a Q&A section at one point I believe.

The official website is sadly no more.

Excellent film though, one of Miyazaki's best.

Oh, and to answer the OP - the answer is up to you.

[leaby]

There are some interesting answers on this page:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0245429/faq

Like others have said, so much left to your own PoV though.

[blitzben85]

Originally Posted by Hugh Jboobs

It was the weirdest load of shite I've ever sat through.

You'll have to go back to Bean: The Movie

[soundstory]

Originally Posted by pinkiepie232

omg what happens in the end? Does Haku return to the 'real' world? What did u think of this film? I heard it was good but I don't know. I'm full of questions about it. What do u guys think? (And btw I know it's old and probably has been discussed before but I'm new to it).

& you had to start ANOTHER thread on this?

[NoseyLouie]

It's a great studio ghibli film. I think Haku returns to the real world as the river spirit, well that's my take on it. Also I think time has passed while she was in the spirit world as when she returns to the human world, the plants have grown around the parents car. Creepy, great film though imo

[Platinum_Rose]

Great film, one of my favourite Studio Ghibli movies

[Takae]

Originally Posted by pinkiepie232

omg what happens in the end? Does Haku return to the 'real' world? What did u think of this film? I heard it was good but I don't know. I'm full of questions about it. What do u guys think? (And btw I know it's old and probably has been discussed before but I'm new to it).

Yes, she returns to the human world. The spirit world represents a rite of passage, from her child self (refusal to accept the changes and her determination to stay a child) to her growing self (acceptance of the changes and her entry to adulthood). I know it's not widely known here, but my dad and his friends have said that many in Japan believe Spirited Away was partly inspired by an apparently real-life case.

During the 1890s, three children - all ten-year-old boys - were playing near a forest when they vanished without trace. In spite of extensive searches, they were never found. Nine years later, they returned to their homes. The families, officials and village people were shocked that those boys hadn't aged at all. They were supposed to be 19 years old, but they were still 10 years old. They also wore the clothes they had when they vanished nine years ago.

In spite of extensive investigations, the kids had no memory of what happened during their absence, let alone aware they were even gone. They thought they were returning the same day they went to play. Regardless, those kids grew up normally into adulthood.

This incident caused a lot of debates. Whether it was a scam or an actual time slip, or that they entered the otherworld through the forest. But in spite of the existence of newspaper reports (about their disappearances) and the testimonies of police officers (they searched family homes and such), quite a few people believe it was a hoax.

Many people including my dad and his friends in Japan believe that that incident may have partly inspired Spirited Away. It all sounds so stupid, to be honest.

[Kal_El]

Originally Posted by Takae

Yes, she returns to the human world. The spirit world represents a rite of passage, from her child self (refusal to accept the changes and her determination to stay a child) to her growing self (acceptance of the changes and her entry to adulthood). I know it's not widely known here, but my dad and his friends have said that many in Japan believe Spirited Away was partly inspired by an apparently real-life case.

During the 1890s, three children - all ten-year-old boys - were playing near a forest when they vanished without trace. In spite of extensive searches, they were never found. Nine years later, they returned to their homes. The families, officials and village people were shocked that those boys hadn't aged at all. They were supposed to be 19 years old, but they were still 10 years old. They also wore the clothes they had when they vanished nine years ago.

In spite of extensive investigations, the kids had no memory of what happened during their absence, let alone aware they were even gone. They thought they were returning the same day they went to play. Regardless, those kids grew up normally into adulthood.

This incident caused a lot of debates. Whether it was a scam or an actual time slip, or that they entered the otherworld through the forest. But in spite of the existence of newspaper reports (about their disappearances) and the testimonies of police officers (they searched family homes and such), quite a few people believe it was a hoax.

Many people including my dad and his friends in Japan believe that that incident may have partly inspired Spirited Away. It all sounds so stupid, to be honest.

Link please.

[cmq2]

Originally Posted by Takae

Yes, she returns to the human world. The spirit world represents a rite of passage, from her child self (refusal to accept the changes and her determination to stay a child) to her growing self (acceptance of the changes and her entry to adulthood). I know it's not widely known here, but my dad and his friends have said that many in Japan believe Spirited Away was partly inspired by an apparently real-life case.

During the 1890s, three children - all ten-year-old boys - were playing near a forest when they vanished without trace. In spite of extensive searches, they were never found. Nine years later, they returned to their homes. The families, officials and village people were shocked that those boys hadn't aged at all. They were supposed to be 19 years old, but they were still 10 years old. They also wore the clothes they had when they vanished nine years ago...

There are myths in most cultures about the jarring experience of returning missing persons. No doubt the real-life Japanese story was exaggerated to comply with the myth and sell more newspapers like the tales behind Bermuda Triangle myth. Spirited Away's original title refers to this magical realm:

The Japanese title of the film explicitly indicates this liminal realm. the last phrase in the title Sen to Chihiro no kami-kakushi literally means "something hidden by kami."

There is the expression in Japanese kami-kakushi ni au (to experience kami-kakushi) which refers to the folk designation of incidents when someone is inexplicably missing for some time. If and when that person returns -- and whether or not that person remembers being gone -- people say that that person has been "hidden by the kami."

Chihiro's parents do not remember being gone; upon returning to their car they find it inexplicably covered with leaves and dust. But Chihiro herself does remember her transforming journey into a realm of the kami.

http://www.unomaha.edu/jrf/Vol8No2/boydShinto.htm/

[pinkiepie232]

i want to know if the boy, haku gets back to the real world as he promises her he will. Or maybe it was all her imagination - and it doesn't matter. So strange.

[juliancarswell]

Originally Posted by blitzben85

You'll have to go back to Bean: The Movie

^^^^^

[Rubrical]

A favourite of mine - some of the visuals are hilarious.

[Takae]

Originally Posted by cmq2

There are myths in most cultures about the jarring experience of returning missing persons. No doubt the real-life Japanese story was exaggerated to comply with the myth and sell more newspapers like the tales behind Bermuda Triangle myth. Spirited Away's original title refers to this magical realm:
http://www.unomaha.edu/jrf/Vol8No2/boydShinto.htm/

Eh. I shared my opinion of the ending and then I shared what I knew about what may have inspired the film. And you came up with all that? What the heck? Miyazaki and my dad were born in the same year in the same prefecture, had similar upbringings, and grew up in the same culture with same pop culture influences. Both grew up with Ginga Tetsudou no Yoru. The element of this book shows up in Miyazaki's works and also in my dad's works.

The idea of children entering the otherworld - through a forest or the sky - is so common in Japanese stories that it's not funny. In British culture, we hear stories about a boy who cried wolf, red riding hood, three pigs and the wolf, beauty and the beast and the like. For people like my dad, it's the faceless traveller on a road, the umbrella man, the Gifu story, the house imps, the monsters and spirits of the forest, and so on. It came no surprise the Gifu Prefecture legend would show up in my dad's works. So naturally, my dad and his friends had speculated whether the influences of the Gifu Prefecture legend and the Galaxy story partly inspired Miyazaki's Spirited Away.

As to whether the Gifu Prefecture legend was true, that's like asking whether the boy who cried wolf was a true story. The point of my comment sn't whether it's a true story, but whether it's an influence on Spirited Away. My dad and his generation are convinced it was.

[Ginger Nut]

Originally Posted by pinkiepie232

omg what happens in the end? Does Haku return to the 'real' world? What did u think of this film? I heard it was good but I don't know. I'm full of questions about it. What do u guys think? (And btw I know it's old and probably has been discussed before but I'm new to it).

Gorgeously animated, but as dull as ditchwater.