REVIEW: Spirited Away (anime movie)

Spirited Away is a fantasy movie. I saw it at my local movie theater as part of Studio Ghibli Fest 2018.

Chihiro is a 10-year-old girl who's unhappy about moving to a new home and going to a new school. When her dad takes what he thinks might be a shortcut to their new home and ends up coming across an abandoned theme park, all she wants to do is leave that creepy place. But since her parents don't seem inclined to listen, she follows them in.

Unfortunately, the "theme park" actually turns out to be connected to the world of the spirits. Chihiro tries to leave, only to discover that her parents have been turned into pigs due to having eaten food intended for spirits. With a little help from a mysterious boy named Haku, Chihiro gets a job at Yubaba's bathhouse in order to stay safe until she can figure out a way to save her parents and go back to her own world.

Spirits, Alaska, infanticide, and a cross-dressing heroine

It's been a while since I've written one of these posts. Anyway, as usual, I'm behind. If I get around to writing posts about all of these, here's what you can expect to see in the near future:

• Spirited Away (anime movie) - I've seen this movie lots of times. I've liked every one of Miyazaki's films I've seen, but this is one of my favorites. The young heroine's parents get turned into pigs, so she works at a bathhouse intended for spirits while she tries to find a way to free them.
• Northern Lights (live action movie) - A movie based on one of Nora Roberts' books. I haven't read the book, although I can see the bones of it in this movie. Just the bones, unfortunately. The hero moves to a small Alaskan town to get away from his past. The heroine has a chip on her shoulder due to her father leaving her family when she was younger.
• The Mountains of Mourning (e-novella) by Lois McMaster Bujold - Now that I have finished this, I have officially finished all the Miles Vorkosigan stories and books in my possession. That makes me sad. I liked this, although maybe not quite as much as The Warrior's Apprentice. In this novella, Miles investigates an infanticide case.
• Sungkyunkwan Scandal (live action TV series) - This is the second K-drama (Korean drama) I've watched from beginning to end. It's pretty, a little cheesy, and features a cross-dressing heroine. I liked it, but I think I liked Coffee Prince more.