The Best Hayao Miyazaki Movie

A comparative review about Spirited Away and Princess Mononoke.

“What is the best Hayao Miyazaki movie?” Many Japanese cartoon lovers may ask. “Spirited Away”(2001) and “Princess Mononoke”(1997) are two of the best as they get higher than 8 in the IMDb review. If you are a Japanese cartoon lover and you hesitate about which one you should watch, read the review and have your choice.

I think “Spirited Away” and “Princess Mononoke” are strong candidates to compete for this title. “Spirited Away” is a story about a 10 year old girl, Chihiro, and her adventure to the Spirits World in order to save her parents which were turned into pigs. On the other hand, “Princess Mononoke” talks about Ashitaka, the leader of Emishi people, which were cursed to death by Tatari God, and his adventure to the west in order to save his and his people’s lifes.

First, let’s talk about the characters. “Spirited Away” is focused on various characters throughout different parts of the story, whereas “Princess Mononoke” is focused on the three main characters, Ashitaka, San and Eboshi Gozen. Chihiro, the main character of “Spirited Away” changed from a childish and timid girl to a brave, and responsible teenager. However, Ashitaka, the main character of “Princess Mononoke”, is brave and just throughout the whole story, who is the core of the story. Both main characters of the movies care so much about their family and friends. Nevertheless, those two movies have a great use of characters’ personality such as Chihiro’s personality development (in “Spirited Away”), and Ashitaka’s personality which leads to a peaceful ending.  However, “Spirited Away” is stronger than “Princess Mononoke” as Chihiro’s personality is well created.

Apart from the characters, the plots of both movies are great. “Spirited Away” is about a girl, Chihiro, who went into the Spirit world, and finished her job in order to save her parents which were turned into pigs. Moreover, in the middle of the story, her new friend in the Spirit world, Haku, was attacked by Zeniba. In addition, a monster called No Face was attacking the Bathhouse where she worked and calling spirits to find Chihiro. As a result, Chihiro needed to save her parents, Haku, and the Bathhouse. Yet “Princess Mononoke” is about Ashitaka, who was hardly damage and cursed by the the Tatari god, because of killing the god to protect his village. The first 30 minutes was about Ashitaka’s path to the west.It is rather boring because it didn’t gave much information about the plot and the dialogues were confusing. However, as the story goes on, when Ashitaka meet San (Princess Mononoke), the story became more exciting and horror. “Spirited Away” has twisted for more than 5 times and it contains 2 climaxes such as the No Face (monster) eating spirits in the Bathhouse and Haku attacked Chihiro. Unfortunately, “Princess Mononoke” is only surprising when it reach the climax and when Ashitaka meet San. All in all, I think “Spirited Away” is better than “Princess Mononoke” as it has an exciting and non-stop plot.

The only area that “Princess Mononoke “does surpass “Spirited Away” is the theme. “Spirited Away” changes the focus of characters from time to time with some of the characters talking about nature, but others talking about friendships, so the messages behind the movie isn’t clear. Yet, “Princess Mononoke” focuses more on three main characters, which clearly explains the conflict between human beings and nature from their dialogues and actions. Although both movies’ themes are peace and social conflicts, I think “Princess Mononoke” is slightly stronger than “Spirited Away”, as the movie is more meaningful.

In conclusion, “Spirited Away” is a stronger movie as the plot is more surprising and the idea of the story is unique, such as the use of various characters in order to have a full view of Chihiro’s personality change, the relationship between Haku and Chihiro, and the hidden story between No Face and Chihiro. On the other hand, “Princess Mononoke” has a confusing plot in the beginning of the story, because the dialogues are not clear which the audience need to guess for the explanation. Moreover, characters' personalities are very straight forward which make first half of the story easy and simple. As a result, audiences be bored in the first half of the movie, and ignore the rest of the movie.

Author's Note

Kindly review it...It is my first time posting essay.

Reviews

[Brittany Zedalis]

I've watched both movies, but I have only seen Princess Mononoke once and that was a few months ago. I've been a fan of Spirited Away since I was very young, and I've watched it over 15 times throughout the years. To be completely honest, Princess Mononoke nearly bored me to death as far as the story goes. I adored the art throughout, but the story just couldn't hold my attention. I did watch it all the way through, but I doubt it will be a movie I watch again in the future. I liked this essay. It's the first thing I've read comparing those particular two movies.

[LuLuIcey]

Thank you XD Well, I like Princess Mononoke more (well but I think spirited away is better though) because the theme. (weird though XD) Thanks for commenting my essay. ^.^

[Laura Lynn]

oh no, that's terrible, her parents were turned into pigs? That is the trouble with audiences getting bored, it sounds like a great story,

[LuLuIcey]

Ya, both of them are great movies! Princess Mononoke is boring in the first 30 minutes and that nearly made me to sleep. Well, but I should say the rest is FANTASTIC and you should watch both movies!

[MomzillaNC]

Interesting. I've not seen either as I don't see movies often.

[LuLuIcey]

Oh, you should watch one of those! They two are fantastic!

PS.You could watch it on the internet.(I did it because I don't have Spirited Away disc at home)