Hayao Miyazaki Howl's Moving Castle

I'll start off by saying it is another anime movie directed by the genius Hayao Miyazaki.

Plot

The story starts off with an average girl named Sophie. She is rescued from some creatures by a handsome wizard, who turns out to be named Howl. The next thing she knows, she has a curse put on her by a witch that makes her look like an old lady. She decides to leave town and eventually enters a moving castle, which belongs to Howl. Sophie becomes part of the family, which includes Howl, a boy, and a demon that takes the form of fire.

Sophie is also involved with trying to get rid of the curse, whilst at the same time she starts to fall in love with Howl. In the end, Sophie tries to rescue Howl from losing touch with his humanity, as she tries to give him back his heart.

The whole story also revolves around a war between nations.

Audio and Visual

The movie is well drawn. The characters look beautiful, and the different settings are great too. From the ocean, the cities and the different creatures were all drawn well and look beautiful.

The audio has been done quite well. My favorite song is the opening, "The Promise of the World". The dubbed voiceovers in English were well done. I know it sounds weird that Christian Bale was the voice of Howl, but it worked out quite well.

Story / Mood

Fantasy and romance play big roles in this anime movie. It mostly revolves around magic, but I liked how the romance between Sophie and Howl was developed. It didn't rush anything.

Final Thoughts

I loved Howl's Moving Castle. I can't really compare it to the novel as I have not yet read it. The story in the anime was amazing, the characters were well developed, and it looked great when it comes to visuals. Nothing fancy, but it was still great.

So, if you like fantasy and magic in anime, then this would be a good one to watch. It is another amazing accomplishment of Miyazaki.

Official site at http://disney.go.com/disneypictures/castle/.