Happy Endings Suck, Ghibli Endings Are Better 

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With Ghibli you feel that you see these characters for but a brief moment in their lives. When the credits roll they do other things, they have other days and adventures. With Hollywood you feel like it’s a complete story.

Great interpretation of why these movies are so different and so great. Another aspect of the Ghibli movies that I like is something you hinted at with Spirited Away, by commenting at the leaves and dust and "this wasn't just a dream". In the Ghibli movies, it isn't just a dream, it is real and parents rarely dismiss kids and their experiences. I love how in Totoro, May gets upset by insisting that she DID see a Totoro, and the father said that she is very lucky, and then takes the girls to the tree to pay their respects. He validates her experience, where as almost all "western" movies will have the parents create "conflict" by refusing to believe the child, and telling them to "grow up" or something like that... and the child has to "prove them wrong". The magical world and the spirits are real, and this is never a matter to be debated.

You spent so long fighting the good fight against superfluous copyright claims, you deserve a break and a snack. Great video.

I also love the lack of a distinct villain. They have their place, but they are not needed in order to have conflict and thus a story. To me, the conflict in Spirited away is the demands of growing up - she has to move to a new town, save her parents, and return to the real world so as to complete moving to a new town. Happily ever after doesn't cut it, because there is always the next day.

“起承轉合” is a story structure we learn in high school in Taiwan. I don’t think it’s that much different, it just has a larger span of explanation. You’ve done most of the explanation, I would think that 轉 (change) would more likely be “the false victory” if you put it in the hero’s journey. I think the East Asian four act structure actually still works for western stories. 合(I like to translate it to “combine”, since it basically combines everything the story comes to), is basically “the hero goes back to a comfortable place but changed”. I would think story structure isn’t the main cause of difference between western and eastern stories, but the perspective using each structure could be an influence. Conflict isn’t absence in 起承轉合, it’s just different.

This definitely adds a piece to the puzzle of why these stories feel so important, and I look forward to seeking out more stories that use this structure. For me, the endings also include a really important theme, in many Ghibli films: we can go on magical and fantastical adventures, we can daydream and get infatuated and see the world, but at the end of the day, we have to go home and build our real lives. We have to build our relationships slowly and carefully, and build our sense of home where it belongs. We don't get to escape permanently.

Finally the copyright battle is over. Great video!

I think, in a way, Kishotenketsu does resemble 3 act structure, and DOES have conflict at the forefront. But it doesn’t do it the same way that a Hollywood movie does. All 3 act structure stories are basically 4 acts, since act 2 is the same length as acts 1 and 3 combined, and act 2 divides at a midpoint, so you can still map it as 4 parts. Correct me if I’m wrong but it seems that the internal conflict is the central conflict of the whole story, rather than a means to resolving a greater external conflict. The introduction of the external conflict is just an extra big test to solve what problem was set up in the beginning, or whatever showdown the story built up to at the end. And I feel like Chihiro’s story DOES resolve neatly at the end. The people and spirits working at the bath house aren’t the main conflict. Saving her parents was her goal. She did set it aside at times, but it taught her something. Sometimes that happens in real life. She overcomes her fear, pride, and impatience through everything that happens, which prepares her for Yubaba’s final test. She leaves the spirit world prepared to face the new ordinary world she was heading toward in the beginning of the story. But ending a movie open-ended isn’t bad or unsatisfying. But I also wouldn’t describe the ending of Arietty to be open ended. Arietty and Sho’s relationship was the focus, not the fate of the borrowers and human’s relationship. I could be wrong or maybe I’m just seeing this through my own western worldview, but to me it makes sense.

Kdramas use the Kishotenketsu structure too. I got so curious on how those were writing along with anime. I study storytelling, it's strange that we don't learn these other types of writing. Only the Hollywood way. Even in europe

That was a superb explanation. I've grappled myself with the felt need of having to tell a different kind of story than the hero's journey in the past; thanks so much for making it this clear that a different way to tell a story exists and also works so beautifully.

Great video, I wasn't aware of Kishotenketsu, loved how you compared it to the 3 act structure. I'd say there's some part of cinematography that Ghibli does as well that invites you into its worlds in a more laid back way. Sure there are some cool action scenes, but there are lots of slow, lingering shots that just capture the mood of a moment, and give each place or object space to breathe that really resonates with the overall story structure.

Another thing I noticed that is present in every Ghibli film is an emphasis on developing strong connections and bonds. Arrietty has to leave, and she and Sho will never see each other again, but their brief time together, and the bond they form during it irrevocably, changes both of their lives, and leaves them with memories they won't forget. Loss is okay, people have to part ways, but the bonds they form stick with them, and have lasting impacts. A film that I can see a lot of Kishotenketsu influence in, now that I think about it, was one I just watched recently. That was IF. The structure is very similar. Intro, development, a chaotic element introduced, and change as the resolution. A lot of the ending is left up to us to decide how it will ultimately continue, and it ends out in a very Ghibli kind of way, with the biggest resolution being the personal change the main character goes through, how her bond with others in the film changes them in turn, and a return to normalcy, with her going back to living her life.

"Great. Now I want to see a Star Wars movie in the Kishotenketsun style just so it can escape the good vs evil narrative." Great video, Soak man! ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

I've never heard someone say a Ghibli movie is pointless.

I think this provides a more realistic model for story-telling. The goal is to find something out about the world and use it to make some important contribution or contribute positively by ajusting one's behavior and mindset. The same thing exists in traditional hero journey structure, but we're encouraged to see it and structure it as storytellers as how the PROBLEM OR TRAP was escaped or rectified. This encourages writers to go to extremes of good and evil and be overambitious by defining problems that are ultimate and solutions that are ultimate, and this good to bad to good pogression can feel like didactic morlism and easily lacks believability. One can certainly have probles, lessons, rewarded victories and so on in the other structure, but the emfasis is on describing a world, changing it, decribing it again and so on, until a suitable point is reached at which our understanding has been meaningfully expanded about central things that continue to matter. Then the story can stop, not because things have reach ultimate triumph or tragedy or all has been solved or revealed, but because whichever people we focus on have remade their world sufficiently that whatever story follows will be a suficiently difforent discovery to constitute a new story about new kinds of discovery. It's comforting to focus on change and learning, rather than mastry, particularly in a world where problemsare bigger than we are. When we write or read a world more focused on making things work or not making thing not work, it's much easier to forget that the main reason for desciption is to move through useful understandings that an audience can relate to - that no matter how well-engineered your world, it will feel ungrounded and useless if it's a journey wher we can't feel the texture ofthe changing ground and ajust to it with each step. The style encourages writers to start small when they build their worlds and explore ambiguous and normal things.

Good video, but Miyazaki himself said it wasn't a coming of age movie. He wanted to emphasize to girls/children of this age that they had the strength already in them to deal with obstacles. The Japanese version doesn't have the last line that the US version does. Chiro's father doesn't ask her at the end if she's worried about going to school. There is no dialogue at all. In the Japanese version again, it's implied Chihiro also doesn't remember what happened. The only evidence that it did is her hair tie. Which I think ties into her experience per Miyazaki better. She doesn't have to remember what happened to deal with her new school, life, etc. WE the audience have already seen she can handle things. Not sure about them coming out to find their car all dusty. I think it was always that way, after driving through the woods when they first arrived. If you remember, the area around the entrance to the tunnel to the park was strangely clear and there was no overgrowth at all. Wouldn't it be overgrown if the area had been abandoned for years? I think once they passed the torii, they were in the land of spirits. That wasn't what the entrance to the tunnel looked like at all in the 'mortal' world. In the mortal world it was overgrown, with hanging branches and tall grass and weeds. Their car looked like it should after driving crazily to the area, so there wasn't a passage of time, just a difference of worlds.

I don't know about Yababa not being a villain. Just because her powers are explained through rules, doesn't mean she ever shows true goodness. She does everything purely for self-interest, when it comes to every character she interacts with. except her own son, who she encourages to operate out of the same value-system by giving him every conceiveable comfort at the expence of everyone else. When she praises Chihiro over the river spirit bathing, what she really wants her workers to "learn from Chihiro" is that any terrible work for her should be done if there's a possibility it will result in proceeds for her. This impression of her is furthur reinforced when she is thrilled with No-face until the very moment he stops giving thing to the bathhouse and starts consuming things and people from it, a situation she's quick to blame Chihiro for, even though a little though should tell her a human child couldn't have known she had caused this magical problem. In Greek myth and other storytelling, such as the story of Herculeese, working for a villain is often the pathway to defeating and outsmarting them, saving oneself and others from them, or extracting wealth from them. This story DOES fit that pattern, even if it uses another structure as well. In the end, Yababa is breifly thrown by Chihero showing wampth, rather than antagonism toward her, and she or her world may be possitively affected by the change in her son's maturity, generosity and way of thinking introduced by Chihiro, but her bathhouse reamins a place where identity is stripped from workers and workers are worked to death in poor conditions, simply because that'swhat searves Yubaba. It's nice to see a world where even Yubaba can be imagined changing her ways eventually, but it's also unlikely if it will happen. More likely, any authentic kindness that comes from her will have to be pulled out of her by strategy and force - the definition of a villain.

Svb, I'm glad you are back with more of these and some of my favorite series of films. I need to see The Boy and The Heron. P.S I had an idea, could you do a video of Tears of The Kingdom and Breath of The Wild being inspired by Ghibli films and turning Hyrule into the video game version of a Ghibli film?

Fantastic video SVB. I've always had a hard time putting my finger on why Japanese anime movies always feel so different to me than Hollywood stuff. I always assumed it was the fact that they will take such a different view of things and tell stories that would have no chance of making it in an American movie. I am not sure if you have seen the movie The Garden of Words but I would highly recommend that movie. When the movie ended I very much was like, oh I do not know how to feel, I feel very... I have no good word to describe it. But it was directed by Makoto Shinkai and was his last director credit before he exploded in anime popularity with Your Name, Weathering with You, and Suzume.

13:12 I am so glad I am watching this video. I have never understood this movie entirely. I was so scared by the individual characters and haven't watched the movie in so long.

15:23 what you left out was that after youbaba Said “zen you did great” she Said “you made me soo much moneeeeeeeyyyyyy!”😂a nd she aid it very exited-y too, buncing up and Down With exitement and joy!

I totally agree on Arrietty's ending. Having borrowers be revealed and accepted by humans would feel cheap, because we know things wouldn't end that way in reality. Life is bittersweet, it doesn't have perfect endings, so I feel Ghibli films respect the bittersweetness of life while still giving optimism and hope.

No face was the most terrifying thing to me growing up his moans and luring people to eat them made me nope every time and when they were friends I was very disturbed and confused

One other key difference I've noticed through your description, in western films it seems like the antagonist is always a person or specific event. In eastern stories, the antagonist is often just life.

It’s a crime you don’t have more subs! I love how you break down the story structures and tie it into multiple examples in a concise way. I’ve been wanting my stories to feel more authentic like Studio Ghibli films, and this video helped me a lot 😊

One detail at the end of Spirited away I missed as a child, but notice every time now: Chihiro wears the hairband that Zeniba made for her. Imo it's a symbol that chihiros expereinces were real and that change shows in usualy unnoticed, small everyday things (like a hairband).

Ghibli's just better than most films in general, period 😊

Very well presented! This is the same story line that I enjoyed so much in the early Dr.Who series with Tom Baker. It made it refreshing to not have just the good guys vs the bad guys but to also have "the other guys". It made for a much more interesting dynamic and a more "human" resolution.

Melancholy endings? They're great in the number they already exist, if we replaced every happy ending with the ghibli-type ending you'd get sick of them in record time.

I don’t like the clickbait title, but the video itself is extremely interesting

Thank you very much for the deep analysis. A lot of things said in the video are very interesting and stimulating. Although I understand the point is not really to evaluate and compare the pros and cons of "western" vs kishotenketsu storytelling, I'd like to raise a point that got me thinking while watching. The focus on change rather than conflict is, as you said, very powerful to echo human experience. However, the conflict orientation is also very relevant, in the way that it emphasizes the question of understanding the world around you to change it. In a word, it talks about politics, which the change based kishotenketsu narrative does not seem to encompass as easily. To take the example of Spirited Away, it seems to me that norms, history and hierarchies are not really integrated into the narrative, which is not a problem in itself, of course, but leaves a blank when considered as educational pieces of art for children. The ideas of comprehension and struggle are key components of life as well, and "western" media as presented in the video seems more adapted to carry this message. As a parent, I'd like to educate my child with both narratives to prepare them to live a full and meaningful life. Thanks again for the great video ! :)

Thank you - YT (randomly?) offered this to me while I was watching something else. I'm so glad it did, as I learned a great deal. I do remember an English teacher classifying this sort of thing as a type of conflict - a person vs themselves or a story of personal growth. But this might not be fully in line with the spirit of the kishotenketsu /Ghibli style. I'll have to think about it. Regardless, it's relatively uncommon as a main theme in western storytelling. Thank you again.

I find it interesting how Shounen anime follow the Hollywood structure when Ghibli films use しこてんけつ

Hi ! Discovering your channel with this video and it made so much sens to me, thank you so much ! First it made me wonder about story structures and why we have so few, then it helped me go through a major change in a DnD game I'm planning as a DM (I'm getting rid of the BBEG ^^) and third it made me reconsider my conflict-driven way of seeing my life. Now I want to understand more and change less. Or at least make more friends and take more time organizing for the changes we need. Have a wonderful day ! :)

So basically, this is the same as a two act structure. You might study the story structure of the comic operas Iolanthe or The Mikado to see a pretty good example of a two act structure in play, as well as stories that do not really have a "villain" so to speak, so much as they have various characters whose goals are simply at odds with the goals of other characters (and I guess, interestingly for western plots, both stories are resolved through compromise). I think you might also find a viewing of the film Paper Moon interesting (a Hollywood movie that is bizarrely Miyazaki-esque: the main character is a 9 year old girl, the adult characters are shallow and foolish, the setting is historical, and it eschews a 3 act structure and tidy Hollywood ending -albeit I still find the ending corny). I actually find this video kind of interesting, because having recently re-watched several of Miyazaki's films, I found several of the films suffer from conclusions that seem to be clumsy attempts to provide a neat ending. Princess Mononoke and Howl's Moving Castle in particular even seem to undercut the main themes of the story in a rush to get to the tidy conclusion. Meanwhile other films like Spirited Away and A Wind Rises don't bother trying to tie up all the loose ends, and are frankly more interesting because of it.

I just realized that I do the Japanese four-act structure unconsciously. I thought back to a short story I recently wrote, which has four scenes. The first introduces the character and shows an obsession she has. The second shows her actively reinforcing this obsession and provides details on her childhood trauma that led to this obsession. The third is an important photoshoot she must take part in that triggers her insecurity and causes her to break down. The fourth is a scene of self-harm in which she must be saved by paramedics. Set-up, additional info, change, resolution.

This was a very well made video.

I like what you had to say about kishōtenketsu vs. the Western 3-act structure, but I think it’s oversimplifying to define conflict as a direct struggle between two characters or between good and evil. That’s not how I learned it in school at least, and I think Ghibli films still use conflict to drive the story forward. I would just define conflict more as tension, which lots of stories have! But I would say that the vending machine kishōtenketsu example proves you don’t have to have tension to make a compelling story.

The Secret Life of Arrietty was adapted from a British children's novel called The Borrowers, which also has a 1997 British movie adaptation. It'd be interesting to compare the plots of the two adaptations and the original to see how these different approaches to storytelling changed the story (checking the Wikipedia synopses of the book and the movie since I've never read the book and watched the movie way too long ago to remember much, it seems like there's a very solid basis for comparison, because although the Ghibli film seems to be pretty close to the book some of the ways it differs really seem to relate to the different act structure).

Great points. What I'm also disappointed - Hollywood can't even write a straightforward hero's journey story these days - everything has to be subverted, deconstructed, inverted, bleh, so tired of this.

keep up the good work ❤

The ambiguity and uncertainty of the endings and characters of these movies is one of the reasons I love them so much. But it makes me so sad that I know people who don't like them _particularly because_ of the ambiguity. They don't like that there isn't a defined, certain, black-and-white message, plot, and characters. I think that's pretty closed minded. Generally, when I meet someone who loves Ghibli films, I know we'll probably be good friends JUST because of this. And, because of that, I just subscribed! 😁😁

Great video. I've known about this model of storytelling for a while, but you explained it in a way I haven't heard before and made it much clearer.

Dang. I've never thought this much about the way that these stories have been told but you have truly opened my eyes, and thank you for keeping it simple with that four-panel example.

I always loved this nature of storytelling, I remember as a kid watching Mononoke for the first time and I was gushing to everyone how I loved how though it was a war, there were no bad guys, only different POV. It was so different to what I was used to.

The story that follows this structure from the West that comes to mind is The Lord of The Rings. Thank you for this video, as I’ve struggled greatly with explaining WHY those films have been so touching.

The point of multimedia is to convey emotions. Choose your favorite emotions and there is media out there that presents it for you. This is why I don't like US media much -- conflict. Conflict isn't generally a happy or an enjoyable emotion. If all you know is media with conflict in it, conflict becomes a sort of baseline, something you forget is there. But when your emotional baseline is a negative a story is always going to be muddied. If you want a happy story you get a story primarily with conflict and happiness second, vs a truly happy and enjoyable story. Due to this lack of conflict in Japanese media, the best description I can give for it is chill. Japan is a very chill culture and it's reflected in their stories. It's not just Japanese media that can lacks conflict so other emotions can shine. Media from all over the world is worth checking out. Take a break from action and drama ridden TV and try out other genres. You might be pleasantly surprised.

I love Ghibli, but I also enjoy a nice simple happy ending.

Recently I saw Spirited Away for the first time, I saw it in theaters. Love it and I smile whenever the Radish Spirit is on screen. 😊

Possibly the best essay I've ever watched.

Remarkable video. Bravo! You put a term to something I had observed but did not know how to name. For instance, the poetry of Wang Wei often is built on this structure. Long term Studio Ghibli fan here. Like before Disney acquired the rights. Love almost all their films, except The Secret World of Arrietty and Ponyo. However, your presentation was so good that I will watch these films again and report back.

I think it's strange you don't say that spirited away does have the three act structure and the central conflict Main hero loses her parents and is actively trying to get them back. It is not a violent conflict, but it is a conflict

Big topic. Let's have a look.

Kishotenketsu seems more realistic of telling a story rather than the normal three act heros journey. Good, gray, and bad people in real life is complicated, also conflict itself is complicated and at the end of the day you're unsure of what think of. It's probably why I like Ghibli films and films with bittersweet endings, they seem more tangible, that they could happened to you (the viewer), and that's why they fell relatable. Even if the setting is fantasy, it's still grounded in reality, and it has that uncertainty that real life has. Maybe that's why people don't like these type of stories, because it's not the normal standard of western story telling, and it's hits too close to home. That's perfectly fine to not like theses type of stories, everyone has an opinion, and valid; also, maybe they just want to escape reality uncertainty and want to escape to a fantasy where everything is ok at the end.

Thank you so very much! I've studied story structure, but this is the first time I've encountered Ki-Sho-Ten-Ketsu.

I think, in the case of the Ghibli films, the source of conflict isn't represented by a single enemy who the protagonist has to defeat. Rather, the conflict comes from the new circunstances the protagonist gets into, making it necessary to learn and adapt to new rules and dinamics with that new world or cast of characters So, in my own definition, a "Happily Ever After" doesn't occur when the forces of evil are defeated; rather, is when the main character overcomes a personal problem, thanks to lesson they learned during their adventure So, you could say, the main conflict of Ghibli characters is to learn something new about life, in order to solve a problem or to adapt to new circunstances that are beyond their control. For example, growing up and accepting change like Chihiro did, or learn to live and thrive by your own, in the case of Kiki Perhaps Hollywood films are a bit more abstract with the use of archetypes, while movies like these are more direct about what the main character and the audience has to learn... IDK, just learning the craft here Anyway, thanks for the vid, it was very entertaining and informative

wow, I accidentally did this structure for a story I'm writing and I couldn't figure out why it wasn't fitting into the 3 act structure.

Thank you so much for making this video

0:25 0:27 Yes... They do often seem aimless. 12:44 Yeah, that's the kind of ending I'm referring to when I mean 'aimless', although I suppose there's also the matter of how... I can't seem to put it into words... 0:57 Yeah the three act structure is getting old... especially in sequels, where it seems like the directors write off what happened in the prequels/write off the character developement that all the characters went through. 16:59 Interesting... 17:16 Ohh, so conflict is not what moves things forwards! That's what it is! So that's why Hollywood films feel unrealistic, and Kinshotenketsu films feel more... chill, but occasionally boring... because of that lack of clear direction... a more abstract direction that the viewer can't clearly pin point if they aren't paying closer attention. 23:10 Oh... yeah the open endedness without the neat bow and answering these questions ourselves was a good move I suppose... 26:00 Damn... 27:15 Yeah. Hollywood don't got that, gotta let us live in certainty of the fictional characters status... although I mightn't be getting this right... 29:12 Interesting... I'd like to see how a story would go with a mix of the two.

Where is the movie at 1:18 from? witch with pillows?

The beauty of these stories is that they tell us nothing is more important than kindness. We all are human - including magical creatures and animals -, so someone you don't understand at first can become your friend and help you later on. Be patient, be diligent and kind, and life will be good to you. You don't need to be a hero to be happy. Just be a human among humans.

Except that Hollywood doesn't use a 3-Act structure. It uses the 14-Act structure. It's ironic that you chose Star Wars as the example, since that's the specific film that set the trend for the 14-Act structure to dominate Hollywood and TV. You even said as much later on, apparently not realising that the Hero's Journey *is* the 14-Act structure. More, this is only superficially different to the 3-Act structure, when we realise that the 2nd Act is half the runtime. You're splitting 25/25/25/25, the 3-Act structure is 25/50/25. Or "Ki-sho-ten-ketsu" vs "Ki-shoten-ketsu", as it were. The plot beats are the same, you're just counting the mid-point climax as the end of an Act. 3-Act structure considers that the middle of Act 2. It's functionally the same structure.

great work!

There have been times in my life where it feels like conflict has been resolved and it’s time to roll the credits. Only, I wake up to another new day. This is why I enjoy this style… because I believe reality is without beginning or end, so stories like this feel more realistic and respectful of the living world. Awesome video, thank you 😊

I didn't know there was an alternate story structure. All I knew was it was more realistic, and enjoyable.

welcome back!

At 23:16 you said that the moving van surely must have left their furniture sitting outside of their house for days. Actually, Chihiru's father said this in the original untranslated Japanese opening scene, "don't worry, the moving company has the keys to our new house..." As customary in Japan and other parts in Asia, Moving Services will move everything into the house with or without the homeowner. In this case, since the homeowners aren't there to give directions as to which boxes go where, the moving company will simply do their best.

I'm glad I stayed for the full video. You sum up the Ghibli experience so well.

Lovely and high-quality video! Color me impressed.

1:30 the oak 1:32 the soak! This is the first time IVE seen this intro! This is the first time IVE seen this Channel!

Great video! I think there is a place for both storytelling structures. I do not want postmodern everyone is good and evil in comic book movies or fantasy films where the battle between good and evil is the main selling point. I do not care to hear how Emperor Palpatine, Voldemort, or Sauron are just misunderstood but it can be very interesting and relatable in something like Frozen or Inside Out.

I feel like this mostly applies, but one interesting deviation is Howl's Moving Castle. It has plenty of conflict(the war, the witch of the waste, Madam Suliman). It also has a happy ending which does tie everything together. Nausicaa of the valley of the wind also has a happy ending, but apparently Miyazaki didn't like the ending(take that with a grain of salt, I forget where I heard that) which makes sense with what you said.

thank you this has helped me think about how to structure my novel, which is similar in terms of its message. thank you so much!

Let’s be real here. This way of filmmaking is what we need to save Hollywood. In life, we don’t face a big bad guy, we go through change and experience things. Now that I finally can understand what Miyazaki’s thinking is like, I can understand why he dislikes America so much. The hero’s journey is something that is overused and tells the same story over and over. That’s why Disney is also not doing so good. It just feels like the same thing. But by shifting to this thinking, we can truly understand what a real story is and craft something better that can be different every time.

The title needs work, but the essay is very interesting indeed.

This makes so much sense now. I knew the mindset of these movies was different, but I didn't know about the structure/philosophy behind them

I’m starting to watch Ghibli films again, I started with Spirited Away and I’m thinking about watching Howl’s moving Castle next

Finally, I've been trying to figure out what the Japanese/Asian (Chinese) storytelling structure is for SO LONG! I know that I want to write 'anime-like' stories but as novels and I think I've found my next research area, thanks!

Would you say star wars ep 5 (the empire strikes back) follows Ki Sho Ten Ketsu?

It feels inherently more lazy to me to introduce plot elements without setup, the surprise change is fine but it means the writer has no limitations and any situation can be resolved by a previously unmentioned plotpoint like a bunch of characters are trapped in an elevator! in this format a character might have a previously unmentioned key, or locksmith, or the god of locks shows up, in spirited away I think it works well because the antagonist while not evil, still faces down the protagonist in a classic good vs evil standoff with the hero overcoming the antagonist, it's just more casual and less life and death, they even set up the river spirit and the black devouring spirit early on so the change in the penultimate act isn't totally random, princess mononoke sets up all of it's plot points ahead of time and it feels like a satisfying ending, it's opening event foreshadows the climax of the film by having the boar rapage mirror the forest god rampage when he's decapitated, meanwhile in howl's moving castle we are given a curse at the start, it's removed via fallen star at the end, and everything in-between is unrelated to the main plot, you could remove everything except the first and last 5 minutes of the movie and it would still make sense I feel like I might not have understood this that well but adding a seemingly random plot element out of nowhere feels like lazier, less well planned storytelling, especially when it radically changes the plot because it suggests any previous knowledge or investment in the story can be rewritten at a whim by the writer freely throwing in and removing plot elements, that being said I don't mind more ambiguous endings but it definitely feels like the two best ghibli films involve a hero facing off with a great supernatural power and resolving the conflict like mononoke and spirited away, both even fit into the hero's journey very well with the protagonist entering the unknown world and growing as a result of it

Molly Grue: "But what if there isn't a happy ending?" Schmendrick: "There are no happy endings, because nothing ends." - The Last Unicorn (1982) Just a detail we tend to overlook. Movies like 'Spirited Away' have a lot of conflict, but it isn't the type of conflict we are used to. When we hear the word conflict, we tend to think of a violent one that can only be resolved with a fight. Chihiro's conflicts are with the world she finds herself in, the laws that govern it and the enmity of people she meets with each other. She is drawn into the conflict between Yubaba and Zeniba as it hurts Haku and endangers his life. A conflict that she might have resolved.

I think both story structures have their place in the world. They're both good in different ways and contexts. I may implement the East Asian structure in one of my stories though. It is a nice way to look at things.

I struggle to enjoy Ghibli movies. Unfortunately, while this video was very insightful I'm afraid I still don't "get" most of the events in these movies. Maybe I'm trying to look too deeply.

I sincerely apologise for not (yet) watching this excellent, excellent video past the 23:56 mark because of the havoc that will cause in your "RU-vid Algorithm", but I have not seen _Arrietty_ yet and do not want any spoillers. Hopefully, the algorithmic gods will be somewhat appeased by the posting of this comment! 🤞🙏😊

I think it's a more mature way of looking at the world. Problems aren't neatly wrapped up in one big bad that has to be defeated, and one thing to do to defeat the big bad. And then pop round for the pub afterwards for a celebration. Instead it's just life that needs to be navigated, the good and the bad. It's maybe not clear what the result of taking a path will be, but it seems the correct route. And anyway your choices along the path are perhaps what is important. Not so much which path you chose.

The western version comic is literally a Corn-Pops commercial LMAO

23:00 I actually think this could be a good concept for a theoretical Spirited Away 2. EDIT: 23:56 glad to see this film get some well-deserved recognition

I absolutely agree with you! The western shows are just too contrived. They don't really offer realism. It's usually structure "and they live happily ever after the end." Western shows are full of exaggerations. That's why it's hard to relate to them. On the other hand, Japanese shows are realistic. I just notice that Japanese shows tend to have bittersweet, sad or tragic endings. I remember Love Letter (1995) gets you to the feels. It's a beautiful movie despite the tragic ending

"What happened to the moving van that left all their stuff outside their new house for days on end" Considering how long it takes for that level of growth shown in the ending... i'd say we're counting in months...

I think there is something to be said about the way Arrietty ends. Her family didn't have to leave because of the boy who initially found them, or even because of the cat who was openly hostile when first meeting Arrietty, It was the maid that caused them to leave. Open hostility from the cat didn't cause their leave, it was the destructive investigation of a curious maid that caused them to leave. I don't know what it is, or how to put it, but I always felt like that was important in some way. Or maybe I'm slowly going insane.

I love your pov thank you for making this video

Excellent knowledge has been gained this day.

Why I prefer Mobile Suit Gundam over Star Wars. The concept of a happy ending is rare in the Franchise. There are ends but they are not happy, often tragic.

I learned about kishotenketsu while working on my own personal project, very good writing style

To be honest, I've been writing on a story for a year now. And I didn't even realize how much of this I already implemented in my story. I was puzzling how I would end this story. Weather I should explain what happens to the Charakters afterwards. But to be honest, even though I have amazing endings for the Charakters, maybe I will just... hint. Because most of them won't have exact happy endings. They will just be changed.

came from twitter, great video

Very nice review of Ghibli movie's structure.

Anyone interested in story structures MUST check out 김윤미 Kim Yoonmi works. Or even just the Wikipedia list about story structures. Which was made thank to her works researching the history of the 3 act structure and where it really came from.

Isn't, in the soda allegory, giving the Soda to another one bestowing the heroes achievment (getting the soda) upon their fellow men (dude who gets the Soda)?