I like to think of myself as a casual anime fan. I know enough to have a decent conversation with a fellow casual fan. Growing up in the 90’s gave me plenty of awesome animes to choose from. Rurouni Kenshin, Flame of Recca, Yuyu Hakusho, Fushigi Yugi to name a few. But when it came to films, I admit I was woefully ignorant. Not completely, mind you. I know the titles well enough, probably the synopsis even but I just never made the jump into that area. Well earlier this year I saw a list of the most celebrated anime films from year 2000 onwards. As I browsed through the list I realized I haven’t even seen a single one. It was time to correct that. Spirited Away was one of the few in that list and I have to say it just blew me away.

The story can be enjoyed by both kids and adults alike. It’s a simple tale of a kid and her parents being stuck in a magical place, and the kid ends up saving the day. The animation itself is gorgeous , and I say that as someone who normally doesn’t pay much attention to the art and graphics. What really struck me is this particular scene, where Haku gives the crying Chihiro some rice balls to calm her down. She bites into the first rice ball and it naturally had a piece of it bitten off. But what really surprised me was her next successive bites showed the exact portion of rice disappearing from her hand.

At that point I couldn’t recall any anime movie or series that placed such emphasis on their work, so I could definitely be wrong here. There were no lazy bums working on this movie, that was for sure. It just amused and astonished me to no end as Chihiro’s successive bites revealed new details. Bite. A stray rice is left on her upper lip. Bite.  A few grains of rice fall from her mouth. Bite. Some are now reflected on her palm. I’ve never enjoyed watching a character do such a mundane thing as eating a rice ball like I did with this movie. She breaks down crying, either from realizing her hopeless situation or due to the magic spell Haku placed on the rice balls. A sad melody plays in the background and you immediately feel sorry for the  girl. Again, I just love this scene. Here’s a clip for those who are curious.