Four years since 'Mononoke Hime (Princess Mononoke),' comes a new animated fantasy
from writer-director Hayao Miyazaki.
The film centers on a10 year old girl named Chihiro who wanders into a mysterious
town where she must work hard to survive. The adversities make her realize the
powers within herself and how alive she is. The movie is a fantasy entertainment
with a message for people of all ages.
<Story>
On the other side of the tunnel was a mysterious town. A world that couldn't
be, where things that couldn't happen happened. The town was right next to
the human world, but it was a place that could never be seen by humans. The
world was inhabited by Tochigami (god of the land), and many other Kakyushins
(lower gods), Hanyoukais (half monsters), and Obakes (ghosts). There were
hot springs in this strange world where the spirits spend time at to heal
their wounds. A10 year old girl named Chihiro wanders into this mysterious
world one day. There are two requirements for Chihiro to live on there. One
is to work under the greedy witch who runs the huge Yuya (public bath house)
which is in the center of the town, and the other is to be deprived of her
name and cease being a person belonging to the human world. Chihiro is deprived
of her name, and starts to work with the new name 'Sen.' In this town full
of surprises and mysteries, what Chihiro feels at first is a desperate powerlessness......,
and then a small hope. But even in this bizarre and perplexing world, Chihiro
becomes livelier than ever after many encounters; Kamajii who has a lot of
life experiences, a senior worker named Lin who teaches her the work at the
Yuya, Yubaba's son, Bou, Kawa no Kamisama (god of river) covered in trash
and sludge who escaped from the human world, Kaonashi, the faceless man with
a mask, and Senba, the twin sister of Yubaba. Incidents way over one's imagination
keep happening. Chihiro's 'power to live' which was asleep in her, starts
to awaken. Then, a mysterious and beautiful boy called Haku appears before
Chihiro. The encounter of a boy and a girl happens by the destiny based on
a promise. With her memory steadily recovering, the two she opens up her heart
and the two help one another. Will Chihiro get her name back, and will she
come back alive to the human world.....?