I can't really explain how it happened, or what the significance of the ring breaking was (I'd be glad to hear someones explanation on that). Sophie finding herself in the past to see Howl as a boy, was simply put magic. There seems to be some sort of barrier around the castle that prevents magic. When The Witch of the Wastes enters the castle you can clearly see her two magical lackeys run out of magic. The problem lies in his magic itself and therefore cannot be solved with just magic. Howl's main problem was that whenever he transformed into the giant crow like creature, it was harder each time to get back into his human form. I will try to answer a couple of your questions first: I just watched this movie last night and it has now become one of my favourite movies ever. Otherwise I'm going to skip the others and watch Grave of the Fireflies. Please tell me that Hayao Miyazaki's other films are at least somewhat better written/plotted. The story 'meanders casually this way and that for no apparent reason'.Ĭertainly one of the most visually exciting and beautiful movies I've seen, but considering the reputation the movie has, I was expecting a much more coherent plot. To quote a couple reviews on Rotten Tomatoes: I thought the 'storytelling style resembles that of a breathless young tot' who's just spewing whatever details pop into his head about a story he knows. There is just so much going on that has no meaning to the story or has no explanation of why/how it's happening. Really? Without any frame of reference or knowledge of the limitations of magic in this universe, how is the viewer supposed to know what is possible, impossible, easy, hard, dangerous, etc?Īlso, things like Sofi finding herself in the past seeing Howl as a boy make no sense and have no explanation of how they happen. However, when confronted with a set of steps, she ALMOST DIES from walking up said steps because she's overweight. She commands an army of dark blob monsters, etc. She's able to effortlessly cast a spell to turn a young girl into an old hag. Here's an example of what bothered me: The Witch of the Wastes is obviously very powerful. Without limitations on magic and fantasy, it becomes hard to believe that the struggles of the main characters can't just be solved with the wave of a hand and the wiggle of a nose. I'm sorry, but Howl's was so over the top ridiculous that I couldn't appreciate the plot at all.

I kept hearing that if you only watch X anime films, make sure you watch Howl's, Spirited Away, Princess Mononoke, and Grave of the Fireflies.

Howls moving castle movie