One can not help falling in love with the movie, or at least with Howl. He is the most handsome boy I have ever seen in both movie and real life. And believe me, once you love Howl, you will love the whole movie. The movie, as any animated movie should be, is full of fairy-like details. There was a house that every time you opened its door, it’d lead to a different world. There was a little creature shaped like a fire named Calcifer. He called himself a “demon” but acted like an arrogant child. There was a prince turned into a scarecrow because of a powerful spell. People in the movie moved around on feet and bikes and old fashioned cars but fought each other by hi-tech weapons. But in that imaginary world everything can happen. There is no limit for imagination, or as Anne of Green Gables usually said, “There are a lot of scopes of imagination.” We can never know what will come next because every thing is so unusual. It is like a jigsaw puzzle, includes of many weird shaped pieces that when put together would make a beautiful picture. My friend said she didn’t see anything so special about the movie; it was just like a fairy tale for the little kids. She was right, it is like a fairy tale, but I don’t think a little kid could understand all the meaning of it. That is one more thing that makes Miyazaki’s movies special. You can watch and love it no matter how old you are, because different ages have different points of view toward the same movie. I love the movie because of everything part of it, because it takes me out of my very normal and a little dull life into a fascinated world. Watching Howl’s moving castle” sooths my mind; I can let myself drown into my own dreams that I once forgot and put away all the burdens that I was carrying. I remember watching it in a Sunday after noon with a very bad mood. My week had not gone well, I had to move from college court to the dorm, and I had a quarrel with my friends. But as I was watching it, I found myself smiling heartily with joy. How wonderful it was to see Howl and Sophie walking in the air, surrounded with cloud and sunlight, and Howl’s smile just totally captured my heart. And the flower field which Howl took Sophie to was so picturesque, with colorful flowers spread endlessly, and the lake sparkling under the sun; Sophie and Howl were walking together, hand in hand. I have never seen anything as beautiful even in my dream.

Unlike ordinary fairy tales, where all of the characters fall into two categories; the good is just perfect and the bad is unbearable, “Howl’s moving castle” consists of neither perfect nor bad character. Sophie was good hearted, kind, soft and hard working but conservative. She liked to stick to her old way and lived a dull life. She was lacked of self-confidence and looked down on herself. Howl, in contrast, seemed to have no weakness. He was so handsome, so gallant, so powerful, so brave, so… perfect. He had everything he ever wanted. Every body admired him. But then, deep inside, he was just a coward, a child. He covered himself with an elegant appearance so that nobody could see his real person inside. He used his power to run away, to hide in his own world. He built up himself as a flawless statue. I remember bursting into laugh when he threw such a tantrum only because his hair had turned from blonde to brown. He was crying while he said, “What is the use of living if not being beautiful?” Not until then that I recognized he was just a child, sensitive and so easy to be hurt. That was the reason why he kept running away. There was also a demon, or at least that is what he called himself, name Calcifer-the fire. He was a selfish and wining demon. He did try to be evil, but it was obvious that he could not, because he was too caring for Howl. Even the worst character in the movie, the Witch of the Waste, the one who cast the wicked spell on Sophie, had some good points in her nature. She was evil and cruel and ugly. She did bad things, but she had a heart, and she loved Howl. That was why she kept chasing him. I could not hate any of the characters, I love Howl the most, of course, but the whole movie could not be so great with out any of the others. Because they had met each other, they changed. A bashful and timid Sophie stood up for Howl against his powerful teacher, Madame Sullivan. She couldn’t even love herself before, but she came to Howl in his ugly and scary appearance of a monster and said “I love you, Howl.” She became so strong and decisive and courage because she wanted to protect Howl, because she could feel his heart and know how weak it was. And while loving Howl, she found her own values that she had never known of, found out that the world was so lively and she should not shut herself out of it. And Howl, because of Sophie, also changed. Just like Sophie, he could see through her ninety-year-old appearance and find her real beauty. That was her soul not her face that altered him. “You gave me courage, Sophie.” And Howl too, was in love with Sophie. “I don’t want to run away anymore,” Howl told Sophie, “because I’ve found something I want to protect.” Even the Witch of the Wasted was touched by their love that she gave back Howl’s heart, the thing she desired the most, to save his life. And Calcifer accepted to be disappeared so Howl could have his heart back. The end of the movie was so happy, everything worked out perfectly for every body. The spell cast on Sophie lifted away. Howl got his heart back, and they felt in love with each other. Calcifer still existed without Howl’s heart. The Turnip-headed scarecrow turned out to be the prince of the neighbor country and he promised to end the war so Howl did not have to run away anymore. But it was not a designated ending; each person in the movie had to try their best to get to that goal. I have a feeling that the author only had to put these characters together and then the story just happened with out any interfere. Had a person in the movie acted differently, the whole movie would have turned out wrong and even the author had no control over it. People in the movie really lived their lives. They met each others and cared for each other and changed for each other in a very natural way. One may not be perfect. But it’s better not being perfect for then you can change as you go on. Circles cannot be put together but pieces of a jigsaw puzzle can be to make a complete beautiful picture. One cannot live by himself because then the world would not have existed.

“Howl’s moving castle” is a wonderful movie. It is not too much to say that if you didn’t watch it, you just wasted half of your life. A cartoon may just be a cartoon. But a cartoon can also be something unforgettable. Watching his movie brings a joyful feeling in to my mind. Although being considered childish, I’ll love Hayao Miyazaki’s movie and remain his fan forever.

Ran.

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Well, that above is Ran's essay, and I wonder why it's such terrible...? For me, the work is not really great itself, but that's fine, I just wonder why it became terrible :) And Ran, as a proofreader I need to ask you to stop making those wrong typing, gyaaa... ^ ^"""" Your prof. would gave you an B for just minusing your mistake, then that'd be a pity and frustrated. XD. Should have check your work before you thought everything was done. ^ ^"" I think I know half a reason why he/she said that... Any way, try your best ~ Ganbatte!!! Heh. You see, it took me efforts to post Howl, so stop getting mad and just read it again ^ ^""" I've fixed some places .

I wanna say some more about Howl ^ ^ For the matter, that's my fav. too. Heh. Ran already told you her feeling, so my line would be about the technique. First, what made me notice this movie, ofcourse was its author's name. Miyazaki Hayao of Studio Ghibli, lollllll. You can tell their cartoons are really gorgeous, with all the splendid colorful and detail-as-real background. Even if a movie was really boring, but at the first time you saw its picteresque advertisement, 90% you would watch it as your curiousity. That makes sense to me. On contrary, the characters might seem too simple and colorless as their appearances to fit that monumental background. But that's where their success lies. This opposition helps to impress their character present and it's somehow even the artistic decor of the scenery. Havent they said, "Too much stuffs would make you mess up" ^ ^ And the colors, such beautiful colors were made. ^ ^

We cant forget about the impression. Heh, as there is the magical and imaginary world, ofcourse we have it. Speaking of which, what impressed me the most were Howl's castle. I really love that messed up house. Look so cute! If Ran loves Howl, then I love Howl's castle, since its first appearance with a giant iron monster sashayed when moving till it collapsed into small scrap of iron, but til could jump and run from place to place. And how dirty inside its (just as the outside... ^ ^") u.u I like that. Who would imagine a handsome one has a freaking house like that. And how they ate breakfast....And an iron monster with laundry on :)) A lot of cute stuffs there. Heheh.

The fun factor is important as well. Sophie's reaction when she turned into an old hag annoyed me a lot. She must really had such the quiet life that she still calm like that when it happened. Well, at least, her most surprising didnt last long for me, even when she stayed up all night thinking about it.... ^ ^" A grandma-like girl who werent even affraid of Calcifer or Howl...heh, Calcifer scared of her instead. Then how she made every one get out of the way of her cleaning. She's a pro. That cute trash turn into beautiful house, well, at least, very tidy and clean one, and that little boy ran into his first to hide what he should hide... ^ ^ Except for Howl's room.... That's must be a treasure hunter sanctuary, ahh~ gorgeous jewelry.... So sparkle.... I must have this movie artbook, and Chihiro and Totoro too~ How about it, Ran, I buy one for me, you buy one for me, mother buy one for me on Christmas, heheh.

The funiest is when Howl and Sophie walking together on the flower field... Well just for a moment, when I was thinking about how a handsome young guy walked with a 90 year-old obaa-san in some place so beautiful like that. XD. The rest was romantic, 'kay ^ ^" There is one more interesting point for all the Ghibli's works if you noticed how the girls would almost always get the short hair at the ending, and that made they cuter at all! I did joke that boys had changed to be more handsome from movie to movie, and girls was the opposite... Well, that's true, dont you think... ^ ^" Ghibli likes that thought, I bet. The most handsome boy in Ghibli's is Howl, and the worst girl is grandma Sophie, XD. Just one thing made me sick, the Witch of the Waste, she's so... fricking ugly, from the start til Suliman turned her to the original form... , and Howl did try to lure her as girlfriend.... What the hell was he thinking about....? ^ ^"""" The worst is when she climed up the stairs.... gyaaaa~~!!!!

Nothing much to talk about the script, she already mentioned it. And you, remember to put your thought on the music too. Songs from Ghibli are rather good, I can say that. Hope you enjoy the movie if you have never seen it~ ^ ^

Your extra service, the fanart I found on net, quiet cute, nee? ^ ^