Haku of Spirited Away Fanlisting

Welcome to the TAFL approved fanlisting of the Haku/Nigihayami Kohakunushi from Spirited Away, entitled, "Eternal Promise." Please remember to read the rules before Joining. Thank you!

Release dates and box office gross

Spirited Away was released in Japan in July 2001, drawing an audience of around 23 million and revenues of ¥30 billion (approx. $250 million), to become the highest-grossing film in Japanese history (surpassing the 1997 American film Titanic). It was the first movie to have earned $200 million at the worldwide box office before opening in the United States. By 2002, a sixth of the Japanese population had seen it.

The film was subsequently released in the United States in September 20, 2002 and made slightly over $10 million dollars by September 2003. It was dubbed into English by Walt Disney Pictures, under the supervision of Pixar's John Lasseter.

It was released in North America by Disney's Buena Vista Distribution arm on DVD format on April 15, 2003 where the attention brought by the Oscar win made the title a strong seller.

Spirited Away is often marketed, sold and associated with other Miyazaki movies such as Castle in the Sky, Kiki's Delivery Service and, most recently, Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind (due in part to the latter's recent US release).

The English-dubbed version was released on DVD in the UK on March 29, 2004.

Spirited Away Music

The closing song, "Itsumo Nandodemo," ("Always, no matter how many times") was written and performed by Yumi Kimura, a composer and lyre-player from Osaka. The lyrics were by Kimura's friend Wakako Kaku. The song was intended to be used for a different Miyazaki film which was never released.

The other music, "Anohi no Kawa," ("The River Back Then")was composed by Joe Hisaishi, for which he was awarded the 56th Mainichi Film Competition Awards for Best Music, the Tokyo International Anime Fair 2001 Best music Award in the Theater Movie category, and the 16th Japan Gold Disk Award for Animation Album of the Year. Later, Hisaishi added lyrics to Anohi no Kawa and named the new version "Inochi no Namae," ("The Name of Life") which was performed by Kimura.

The original soundtrack CD contains 22 tracks (21 from Hisaishi's soundtrack plus Itsumo Nandodemo).

Possible themes

It is often commented that the film constitutes an allegory on the progression from childhood to maturity, and the risk of losing one's nature in the process. The theme of a character being lost inside a (fictional/different) world if he/she forgets his/her real name is reminiscent of Michael Ende's Neverending Story, where two books with two distinct worlds intertwine. The protagonist of Ende's book, Bastian, slowly enters the world of the book he reads and is threatened to be forever lost inside it if he forgets his real name. Similarly, Chihiro and Haku could forever stay in Yubaba's possession if they forget their real names and consequently their real identities.

The main character's development in the setting could also be seen as a sullen, spoiled and very modern Japanese ten-year-old being forced to grow up when faced with more traditional Japanese culture and manners.

A separate understanding holds that the film is based on the prevention of greed: those swallowed by No Face were attempting to receive the gold he made. Similarly, compare Yubaba's rich accommodations and interest in gold to Zeniba's rustic home and grandmotherly demeanor.

There are perhaps also veiled references to competing political ideologies, including a theme of environmental awareness (as seen by the river spirit being freed from its stink spirit form once freed of the material dumped in it, and Haku's discovery he is the blocked up River Kohaku) continued from Princess Mononoke. Miyazaki also refrains from creating any characters with complete ideologies of good or evil, exhibiting all characters with some negative and positive traits in different situations.

Differences between the Japanese and English vers.

Some changes were made to the film by John Lasseter and the other writers of the English dub of the film, which has caused some argument amongst fans over which version is superior. Most die-hard Miyazaki fans believe that the Japanese original is the only way to go, but some others point to the statement Miyazaki himself made that non-Japanese speakers should watch his films dubbed in their own languages, so they can better appreciate the animation as their eyes are not drawn to read subtitles.

Changes include:

The insertion of a significant portion of background chatter
The addition of dialogue explaining or emphasizing certain on screen elements. An example of this would be when Chihiro reaches the bathhouse, and having her state what it was. These insertions are mostly used to explain certain aspects of Japanese culture that are foreign in America, and other English speaking countries.
New lyrics were made impromptu by John Ratzenberger for the English version of a song sung by Aogaeru

Some also consider the characters in the English version to be 1 or 2 years older than their Japanese counterparts, based on their voices.

Critics of the English dub believe that the characters are cheapened in it and the plot is made more childish, and they resent that lines were edited to make the film more suitable for young children and more fathomable for a Western audience. Although Miyazaki himself claims that Chihiro doesn't remember what happened, there is a line added at the end of the English dub which makes it appear that Chihiro does in fact remember what happened in the spirit world.

On the other hand, many argue, had the film not been adapted at least to some extent, it may not have been awarded the world-wide acclaim and popularity it enjoyed.

Spirited Away Trivia

Hayao Miyazaki, the director of My Neighbor Totoro (1988) and Princess Mononoke (1997), came out of retirement to make this film after meeting the daughter of a friend, on whom the main character is based.
Chihiro's father (Akio) was based on the real-life father of the girl Chihiro is based on. Miyazaki said the character shares the similarities of always getting lost while driving and eating too fast. Chihiro's mother (Yuuko) is based on a friend of Miyazaki's and an idiosyncratic hand-gesture of hers is copied when she is eating in Spirited Away.
In the scene during which Chihiro squashes the small piece of gunk with her foot that inhabited Haku (a spell laid by Yubaba), Kamaji tells Chihiro to "Cut the line!". "Cutting the line" is a Japanese good-luck charm performed by making a chopping gesture through another person's connected index fingers. This is done whenever someone is affected by some impurity, such as having stepped in dog feces. During footage of the dubbing process in the Spirited Away Nippon-TV Special, the young Japanese seiyu [voice actor] playing Chihiro was not aware of this concept and had it explained to her by Miyazaki himself in between takes of the scene in question. One of the sound engineers commented saying "The young don't know it these days".
Chihiro's best friend's name is Rumi, which is Chihiro's seiyu's name.
The back of the Region 1 DVD from Disney states that the aspect ratio is the original ratio of 2.00:1, this is incorrect it is actually cropped to 1.85:1.

Information from Wikipedia.