Brilliant Animation
Miyazaki’s feature length directorial follow up to Spirited Away , is Howl’s Moving Castle, based on the book of the same name. This is another fantasy film with complex plots along the lines of Princess Mononoke, and Spirited Away, and while not as good as Spirited Away , it’s still among Miyazaki’s best.
The story concerns a young girl afflicted by a curse, whose sole salvation lies in the hands of a self-absorbed wizard named Howl, but just finding howl is a challenge as his castle doesn’t stay in one place for long.
In addition to a pretty strong storyline, Howl’s Moving Castle features some of the best cell animation ever filmed – the artwork and landscapes are breathtaking. With this one I recommend the subtitled version (although you will miss out on Billy Crystal as the fire elemental ‘Calcifer’ – one of the few really good comic relief characters in English dubbed anime) which is a much better translation.
