Spirited Away Revealed: The Real Mythology & Folklore Explained!
Spirited Away Revealed: The Real Mythology & Folklore Explained!
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Spirited Away is not only one of the best animated films, but of the best films of any category. In this video, I will do my best to uncover all the Mythology & Folklore referenced in this Anime Masterpiece.
00:00 Intro
01:18 Torii Gates, Hokora & Dōsojin
02:52 The Bathhouse & Haku
03:52 Shadow Kami & Pigs
05:03 Masked Kami
05:52 Eat food from this world
06:22 No Face & Other Guests
7:36 Kamaji, The Boiler Man & Suit Sprites
8:36 Radish Spirit
8:59 Ritual Bathing
09:28 Yubaba
10:26 The Heads!
11:00 The Power of a Name
12:25 The Stink Spirit
13:54 Haku Dragon Form
14:04 No Face = Hungry Ghost?
14:48 Paper Dolls!
15:24 Bo, the Giant Baby
16:24 Outro
Please let me know which mythological reference you noticed in Spirited Away
Instrumentals in this video in order of appearance:
Prod. Gameboiii “Spirited Away (lo-fi remix)” youtube.com/channel/UCaCZ7RH6CgQfkl4JcO9aOAA
Prod. Chuki “The Path” youtube.com/chukimusic
Prod. PB3 Beats “One Summer’s Day” youtube.com/channel/UC9a-y1FXAmjGjSa3J08-UqQ
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#studioghibli #miyazaki #spiritedaway #anime #mythology
June 22, 2022 @ 2:56 pm
The nightmare Marionette from FNaF4?????
June 22, 2022 @ 2:59 pm
I thought Spirited Away is focuses on no face, and I’m a little disappointed because the no face scene is a little bit even though he is an iconic character in the film. 😔😔😔
June 22, 2022 @ 2:59 pm
At 1:54 a ‘train station’ is mentioned, but isn’t this place it more like a waiting room, for the spirits who will take the ferry to the bathhouse once the valley in between turns into a river?
June 22, 2022 @ 3:00 pm
Anybody else notice that the plot disappears midway through
June 22, 2022 @ 3:00 pm
Spirited away is one of the anime movies I watched as a kid. I miss the old days where studio ghibli still cares about their movies… But when Disney buyed spirited away, howls moving castle, and castle in the sky just ruined it all…. And the reason why they buy movies is that they SUCK at making movie films and also I’m not a hate but. Disney is trash and I hate it when they buy the movies from your childhood. It’s just not fair! Why not make your own movie and start getting serious!? Plus Disney doesn’t care about what they created and they want money. Don’t believe me? Then ur just a kid who likes those new crapy animations Disney made.
June 22, 2022 @ 3:02 pm
I remember the first time i saw this movie, and I forgot that I set the player on loop mode… So after the movie ended, I got a phone call, so I had to pick it up and left the player playing the credit title. When I returned, to my surprise, I thought I saw the post-credit scene, in which Chihiro woke up in a car… So I thought, damn what a plot twist, indeed she was dreaming after all… But later I found out, the player just looping the opening scene again… LOL…
June 22, 2022 @ 3:02 pm
This film touched me.
June 22, 2022 @ 3:03 pm
this was my first studio Ghilbi films so im looking forward to this video
June 22, 2022 @ 3:04 pm
I rewatched this film a few months ago
June 22, 2022 @ 3:06 pm
Akidearest: "I’m gonna ruin this man’s entire career."
June 22, 2022 @ 3:07 pm
Very good
June 22, 2022 @ 3:12 pm
what about the one behind the frog!!!
June 22, 2022 @ 3:14 pm
Yubaba is made of two words
Yu/ Oyu: Hot water
Baba / Obasan : old lady/ granny
So Yubaba means Hot-water-Granny
!!How cool is that!!
June 22, 2022 @ 3:15 pm
Most overrated movie ever made.. the characters suck… The story makes no sense the animation is not very good.. just all around horrible.. 0/10.. the soundtrack composed for this movie is some of the worst music I have ever heard.. I also don’t get why so many people like no face he’s annoying, boring, and stupid looking.. he literally does nothing for the plot.. all around spirited away is probably the worst movie ever made..
June 22, 2022 @ 3:16 pm
Spirited Away is my first anime watched in my life when I was 6 years old. It hunted me for a decade but now I fell in love with masterpieces of that Anime.
June 22, 2022 @ 3:16 pm
amazing
June 22, 2022 @ 3:18 pm
The myth of eating the dead food in order to stay in Thier world I think it’s real , my sister can see spirits so one day two kids, they were christian as she said gave her something to eat in a spoon she refused to eat it so they forced her to do so but she didn’t swallow it after that incident whenever she is sick she feels that food stuck in her throat when she recites some Quran it goes away .
June 22, 2022 @ 3:18 pm
When Chihiro and her parents leave the station at the end; the father notices that the car is dusty. Is he implying an unexpected length of time has passed ?
June 22, 2022 @ 3:20 pm
This is a video I’ve always wanted. Thank you.
June 22, 2022 @ 3:20 pm
I fucking hate her parents
June 22, 2022 @ 3:20 pm
Kintaro also appears in Urusei Yatsura with a more accurate look
June 22, 2022 @ 3:22 pm
When the parents turned into pigs from eating all the food 🐖 damnn that was fucked up lol
June 22, 2022 @ 3:23 pm
The gates are considered entry ways into paradise. Shintoism describes a kind of heaven and hell but not like the Christian version.
June 22, 2022 @ 3:23 pm
https://youtu.be/voFJ7ZJPiOo. Time to take control
June 22, 2022 @ 3:25 pm
I’m surprised you didn’t follow up at all with his curiosity with magic! Pendragon and the other little nods in howls castle, not to mention Kiki, earthsea etc
I’m also surprised this channel doesn’t get into his curiosity with aviation which obviously climaxed in the making of that second plane movie!
There’s also a big nod to journey to the centre of the earth in Nausicaa (not sure if it was to the book or the original film but the 50’s version shows the scene where they fall through the white sand pit)
June 22, 2022 @ 3:25 pm
Best anime? For me one of the best animation but the story is so average, it’s overrated for me.
June 22, 2022 @ 3:26 pm
Check out my breakdown of Ghibli’s Pom Poko: https://youtu.be/uWKS-8q8sp4
Also, the mythology behind Ponyo: https://youtu.be/w3daCR2J230
Princess Mononoke: https://youtu.be/f53ZCld72FI
One Piece https://youtu.be/UAoCC2pXWmU
Naruto: https://youtu.be/lVUxytLlJx4
& Avatar: The Last Airbender https://youtu.be/ZrKGg6a7riM
June 22, 2022 @ 3:28 pm
10:19 about Yubaba’s bird form, I don’t know if it is a reference, probably not, but she kinda reminds me of Matinta Pereira a witch from brazilian folklore who’s main stick was transforming into a bird, and in some versions the bird she transformed into was huge and kept he old woman head.
June 22, 2022 @ 3:30 pm
Like her parents became pig 🐷🐖 after eating those food wtf
June 22, 2022 @ 3:30 pm
Well reserched🥰
love from Japan🇯🇵
June 22, 2022 @ 3:31 pm
the beauty in the ordinary …these films have always been the epitome of that concept.
June 22, 2022 @ 3:35 pm
In the scene where Chihiro was beginning to disappear/get erased, what’ll be the causes of that sort of phenomenon? Is the realm cursed?
June 22, 2022 @ 3:36 pm
3:30 – 3:35 Considering that Haku’s alternate form is that of an Oriental dragon, I think Haku was simply conjuring spare dragon scales.
June 22, 2022 @ 3:39 pm
Maybe the witch-mother shape shifted into a tengu like creature?
June 22, 2022 @ 3:39 pm
Waittttt the baby’s bib says “gold” and when Haku told her that she lost something precious she looked at the literal gold that No Face had given her. But then realized that the actual gold in her life was her child. 😮😮😮😮😮
June 22, 2022 @ 3:40 pm
PLEASE do Castle in the Sky. That’s always been my favorite Ghibli. I’d love to learn more about it
June 22, 2022 @ 3:41 pm
The beginning of the movie was an Audi ad. Those anti lock breaks tho.
June 22, 2022 @ 3:41 pm
Great research!
About Bou I thought it might also have to do something with the Buddha, because the kanji in his clothes, meaning "boy", also means "Monk" and can form the word for Buddhist monk. And, like Siddhartha Gautama (who after became the Buddha), Bou starts being a spoiled child completely unaware of the struggles of those outside the "palace". Then, he gets outside and sees those struggles people have to face and it makes him become more humble. This is just my speculation, tho, but I find it interesting
June 22, 2022 @ 3:42 pm
I feel Your Name is better than this. Not animation, the story
June 22, 2022 @ 3:43 pm
I love the theories here ive heard about no face. To me he was mainly lonely and a people pleaser. He wanted Sen more because she didn’t want anything from him and wasnt impressed by his antics. he was trying to make friends by buying them or offering other things like bath tokens and food but realized that the workers in the bath house gave him no real value (love). Chiro’s love rubbed on on everyone. I was happy that No face was left with friends and a purpose.
Also i wonder about the ending when the family returns to the car and its clearly months/ years later, what happened to their new home? do people think they’re missing? do the parents remember anything at all? Is Chiro haunted with the memory of the spiritual realm or does she embrace it?
June 22, 2022 @ 3:43 pm
when i watched this as a kid , i was literally saur scared and sad for some reason then i rewatched it today and it still scared me somehow and made me sad cuz i feel like Haku didn’t getout
June 22, 2022 @ 3:43 pm
kamaji kinda looks like eggman (sonic) ngl
June 22, 2022 @ 3:47 pm
well, fairies, djinn and youkai are very similar, they are creature of the middle, of the in between worlds.
June 22, 2022 @ 3:47 pm
Princess Mononoke better
June 22, 2022 @ 3:48 pm
Just watched the movie again after well over a decade since I’ve last seen it. I have to say the movie stayed in my head for being extremly weird to me as a kid, but now that I’ve heared that there is a mythology behind the movie wihch I simply didn’t knew about before, the movie makes more sense to me. I get the praise the movie gets, it’s simply a piece of art
June 22, 2022 @ 3:49 pm
I watched this movie last month for the first time @ midnight cuz I couldn’t able to fall asleep, then after watching this movie i couldn’t fall asleep because of the ending. I searched for the reunion of both of the main characters i couldn’t able to find one and that left me with a 💔. Apart from that what a movie, one my all time favourite movie forever 💗
June 22, 2022 @ 3:50 pm
This movie is scary as fuck. I found this movie more scary than the exorcist
June 22, 2022 @ 3:50 pm
i watched this movie w my best friend and felt so stupid bc i couldnt understand a thing… but she loved it
June 22, 2022 @ 3:50 pm
I think the fact that Yubaba closely resembles Baba Yaga from slovak folklore is a clue that not all the inspiration miyazaki drew was from japan or other east asian counties.
June 22, 2022 @ 3:53 pm
So she could have went back the way she could anytime