I just re-watched "Howl's Moving Castle" because I had forgotten what exactly it was about. I nodded off towards the end, and I'm sure that in a few months I will once again be unable to recount the exact plot.
But it looks so gorgeous. I love the depiction of early 20th century European cities. The "airplanes" are a nod to Nausicaä or Laputa but are animated much more fluently. The quality holds up all the way to the end. But the plot just feels so obtuse to me.
Did Howl make a deal with Calcifer? It feels like a bad one for both. Or was Calcifer just happy he didn't die in a lake like other shooting stars? What did Howl get out of the deal? Magical powers or additional powers?
We never learn the reason for the war but at the end it turns out that the scarecrow is the other nation's prince? Then there's the overused "kiss of true love" trope - but not between the main characters...
I wish I liked the movie more. But it confuses me too much.
Thanks for your thoughts. Quick question - what language did you watch the film in?
We are watching the film right now in Japanese after watching the film in English many times and I find that the film makes slightly more sense in the Japanese. I find the performances match the characters a bit more and some of the dialogue makes more sense to me
@compfu Hope you enjoy! We have been rewatching many of them in Japanese and it is a different experience sometimes. For example, in "Castle in the Sky" the voices of the two leads in Japanese sound about 11-12 but sound about 14-15 in the English. I also recently discovered that for "Arriety" there is a US and a British dub. And my favorite Ghibli fact is that Myazaki actually prefers the French dub of "Porco Rosso" because of Jean Reno's voice as the lead.
P.S. - If you ever do watch Howl's in Japanese, please let me know what you think l. I'm curious if you also feel that the film feels different and a bit more coherent.
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