Therapist Reacts to HOWL'S MOVING CASTLE 

Fun fact: the movie plot is quite different from the book, but Diane Wynne Jones (the author) loved it because she thought the movie was an amazing different point of view about her story. She said she laughed out loud several times in the premiere, especially in the scene where the Witch of the Waste is climbing the stairs with Sophie and they're insulting each other 😂

I love the idea that his castle doesn't stay in one place until Howl settles down with Sophie. It's also beautiful to think that maybe the very end of the movie the castle is flying, because they are both free. In the books the castle moves so Howl can evade taxes, which is hilarious.

It’s like it’s so easy for Sophie to take on the identity of an old woman because it takes away all the pressures and expectations society has for young people (like having to be beautiful and finding a husband etc). It gives her this freedom to drop everything she was doing to please others (eg running her dads old shop) and follow her own path. Such a great movie!

For me it breaks my heart when Sophie says, "It's not all bad... your clothes finally suit you," etc. because her embracing being an old lady right away is almost like a relief of not having to meet beauty standards and expectations anymore. She is obviously unhappy to be cursed, but she also is glad she can be treated with respect (like when a man offers to help her down the stairs) without having to be beautiful - rather, she is respected for her supposed age and the wisdom that comes with it. It's heartbreaking because it reminds me of how exhausting living up to physical beauty can be for women and how sometimes we wish we could just be invisible or turn into an old woman where people no longer expect anything of us, and we can just be.

The love story in Howl's Moving Castle is one of my favorites because if you watch it, you're kinda confused by what Howl says "there you are sweetheart, sorry I'm late" (I thought he was just using it as an excuse to get the soldiers to back off), but when you watch it knowing that Sophie went back in time and told young Howl to find her in the future... He'd been in love with her since that first meeting and all those other girls he dated and ghosted, he was looking for her the whole time (at least that's what some people think)

Fun fact/spoiler in the original book: Sophie actually had her own powers that she didn’t know about, and was particularly keeping the curse on herself. The way her powers worked is she kind of spoke things into being. Like when she spoke while she made her hats she called them beautiful. But when she spoke about herself she was always saying she was old and putting herself down. Howl was even aware of the curse and tried to reverse it for Sophie, but since she was always speaking so badly about herself it counteracted Howl’s attempts to help her. Love this movie so much! I was so happy when I saw you guys doing a video for it! 💕

The thread of the story of Howl "eating hearts" isn't just because he chases women, but it's a trickle down story about how he lost his heart in the first place. I love this movie because you never get everything until you see it again.

I love how Sophie doesn't have confidence, but she gives everyone around her confidence.

And then there is the book version. The one where Sophie has no problem to yell at Howl and throw weedkiller at him, the one where Howl is complaining about neglect after 2 minutes alone, the one where Howl is from UK, has a driving licence and a car and really bad relationship with his sister. The one where Howl actually flirts with everyone and in one point is also seeing Sophies sister. -2 thousand likes?! Am I seeing right?! Goddesses, thank you!

In the book there's another layer for Sophie's character. In the original story, she's the eldest of three sisters and, because of a common belief that the eldest is a failure, she believes in that as well. Later on she finds out that she's a powerful witch herself, and that her words have magical power - this is shown since the beginning, but she only makes sense out of it later on. Then we find out that the reason why the curse had not fade away, despite the efforts of Howl and Ms. Pentstemmon, was because she herself believed in the curse and kept saying "I'm the eldest, I'm a failure!" I thought this was quite interesting, as we all tend to believe more in our failures than in our own abilities, and often don't realize how this can deeply affect us.

I adore Howl's first appearance. "There you are, sweetheart. I've been looking everywhere for you." If you look closely, when he puts his hand on her shoulder, the ring glows briefly. This ties back to later in the movie when she calls out to young Howl "I know how to help you! Find me in the future!" And the idea that he's been looking for her after all this time is so great. I also read the idea that the book is how Sophie recalls events, and the movie is how Howl recalls them.

So the lore around this movie is that because Sophie traveled to the past and told Howl to look for her in the future, he built the moving castle to travel the land in search of Sophie and until he finds her he doesn’t settle down. That’s why when he first saves her from those guards, he says “There you are sweetheart, I’m sorry I’m late, I was looking everywhere for you” 😊😍😍 also I loved that you guys covered this movie and I liked Sophie’s input as well. Please feature her more!

I just wanna point out that the magic ring Howl gives to Sophie doesn't just lead to Calcifer with your heart 'because Howl says so', but remember that Howl ate Calicifer's star magic and gave his heart in return. So it makes sense that Howl's magic (including the castle) is so inherently linked to Calcifer. The magic in this move does make sense if you look for connections! Even Sulimon's creepy page boys, they look just like Howl did when he was young only blonde. I suspect that they represent what Sulimon wanted Howl to be for her as her student, and he couldn't measure up even after gaining star magic. He may have even carried that with his 'my blonde hair is more beautiful" issue, but after meeting Sophie he accepts his natural hair color.

My favorite thing about this movie is that in the end, when Sophie travels back into Howl’s past, is she says find me in the future, and at the very beginning of the movie Howl says “there you are, I’ve been looking all over for you”

The one thing I love most about this movie is that Sophie’s curse is never broken. Howl (and eventually Sophie too) is able to see past all that and loves her anyway. I wish more movies emphasized accepting a love interest as a whole being and not just because they’re outwardly attractive.

I love Howl. He’s been a special character for me. His arc from a superficial facade to authentic and genuine, and to see his arc mirror Sophie’s… They heal each other and both become confident and see their worth.

I literally shrieked with happiness when I saw this notification Hayao Miyazaki is so good at creating such strong-willed, believable characters that anyone can learn from

the scene when sophie snaps at howl and yells "so you think you've got it bad?! well I've never been beautiful in my entire life!!" made me feel so seen, i always tear up no matter how many times i watch it. sophie's self-confidence issues and her role as the eldest child feeling more like a prison than anything else is so so relatable. again, thank you for doing a video about this movie!!

Sophie accepting being an old woman very quickly (and that ultimately being the vehicle to her finding her self-worth) made perfect sense to me. She never was conventionally ‘attractive’ and as a young woman that can feel like a really big and important part of life. Turning into an old lady meant that expectation was immediately lifted, all expectations of what a proper young lady should be (pretty, social, accommodating, etc) were gone and she could just be Sophie. Free of trying to measure up to some internalized ideal, she could be herself and live her values wholeheartedly. Young Sophie might feel insecure about loving Howl romantically, but as an old woman where she felt that was kind of off the table she could express her feelings for him naturally (through acts of care, etc) - people get really hung up on the idea romantic love and sometimes seem to forget that love is love, if you love someone and it turns into a romance that is lovely, but if it doesn’t and you no longer love them then I’d suggest you were experiencing infatuation. As a woman of a certain age I can say that hitting 40 was a turning point as far as self-acceptance and self-confidence, and it’s only gotten more awesome since - other than the physical limitations I’m looking forward to 60, 70, and onward. Old age is freeing, and can be a key to letting go of expectations that were never a good fit for you. A vehicle to just embracing who you actually are (which usually leads to confidence). And ask any old lady what’s important in their relationships (romantic included) and the older you get the more you realize that love is not at all contingent on youth and conventional beauty!

This commentary is everything. I can't explain what this means to me. My fiance just left me a month before our wedding. And the piles of lies that are being revealed are tearing me down completely. Everything we planned for our lives together is just gone. And the person that I thought he was before is gone. I've been just trying to stay above water, still in shock. I thought about watching this movie recently, I avoided it because he was the one who introduced me to it. But I'm going to take it back, and I'm going to feel what I need to feel. And I'm going to let myself cherish Sophie and everything about it. I've hit a point, and I need to pick myself up, trust God, and keep going.

Fun fact: in the book it turns out that Howl “eating young girls hearts” is a metaphor for him dating them for a while and getting bored of them and ghosting them. Apparently the girls aunts keep turning up at the castle brandishing umbrellas and threatening howl so Mark (called Micheal in the book, and considerably older) encourages the rumour so he didn’t have to deal with the angry aunts 😂😂😂

I’ve said it once, and I’ll say it again, I enjoy watching cinema therapy’s breakdown of movies and then rewatching them with a whole new perspective

How'ls Moving Castle is a very special movie to me. It's like therapy, almost. I watch it whenever I feel bogged down by the world, so I can fall in love with life and believe in magic again. I genuinely feel at peace, listening to the music, seeing the sights, watching Howl and Sophie eat breakfast. If I could be placed in a different world, I'd like to live in a world made by Studio Ghibli.

CinemaTherapy gave so much joy and wisdom for me. I have loved the concept for so long since I discovered this channel like 1,5 years ago. The fact that a down-to-earth psychological guy and an emotional but smart movie writer just watch a movie together and just comment with their expertise is really wholesome genius. Alan and Jonathan are actually such great guys, the fact this channel is holding up with 1.4K subscribers and the way Jonathan is also giving Alan therapy,.. It's all amazing. So much Jonathan says, sees, thinks or finds, those are things I never _really_ hear from someone else. They talk about everything that is relevant and important to society and individuality and related to the movie, it's never dull and they still talk about it breezy or laugh about it. I can see how you guys improved the last few years, also because Jonathan didn't start as a licensed therapist but a going-to-be therapist right? I can see you guys have gotten more confident and wiser, but mostly becoming more powerful with words as being genuine. You guys said it even on this one; that respect doesn't come down with technique but with sincerity and right intentions. I have learned a lot from it and you guys not only keep me entertained through comments, but also entertain through which movies or shows I like(d), already have seen or sometimes even stimulate to watch it first. Jonathan's (and Alan's) knowledge is super helpful and they always find new stuff and observations to talk about. This channel is worth a lot for me, so here is something that might be worthy for you guys. Thank you for (still) being here with us! (part 2: There are 2 comments because I wanted to give like 40, not 25)

howl being a hoarder and retreating to this tunnel that's packed with feathers is another trait that ties in to the moving castle - hoarders hoard things in order to either fill an emotional void or build emotional walls. in howl's case he's hopping from city to city and woman to woman but he is terrified of intimacy and commitment (until he falls for sophie). the clutter and the impenetrable tunnel of feathers are manifestations of how he closes himself off from people, especially those who care about him.

This movie is part of the “not like it’s books, but it’s still an amazing movie” genre. ❤️

Howl experiences growth in his own confidence, too. Accepting his hair color, working to protect the people from the war, facing Madame Suliman (with help), refusing to run away, and eventually taking back his heart. And his castle doesn’t stop moving, it takes flight! Even better. It becomes stable, yet free.

one of my favorite books and movies. Sophie was happy to leave her family and happy to be old because it was actually liberating. She could break away from the expectations of herself that she put upon herself. She got to explore another "story line" vs the aging equating her lack of self confidence.

I really loved that the Witch of the Waste becomes the grandma of their family, Howl's assistant becomes the child, and Solomon's dog becomes their family dog. I always thought it was touching how they become a little family

When I showed my ex-husband this movie for the first time, my son was about 8 months old. He was learning to crawl and would follow us around all the time. We started calling him “Turnip Head,” to the point that my son would answer to it. As time went on we shortened it to “Turnip.” Seven years later he’s still my little Turnip❤

When Howl started excreting green slime and "calling the spirits of darkness," I thought to myself: "Wow, he's literally me." Also, Sophie is the best.

Lots of people say Sophie's curse doesn't makes sense because of the way her appearance keeps changing, but to me, the curse is the simplest part of this story. I think the observation that, when Sophie's asleep, she's unburdened by her insecurities and the curse fades by itself, is the correct interpretation. Every time Sophie stops thinking about herself and is prompted to defend or care for someone else, or reacts strongly against unfairness of some kind, or just feels contented in the moment, she de-ages to some degree, and every time something makes her feel self-conscious, she ages again. I think the curse is the least confusing part of this story. The magic in the Howl world might seem arbitrary, but I think it's a "soft system" in which a system does exist, but it's not explained to the audience. We have to just pick it up as we go along. Of all the magic in the story, Sophie's curse is the clearest, in terms of its mechanics. It's a psychological curse, using Sophie's own issues against her - and maybe projecting the Witch of the Waste's insecurities as well, since she's a woman who tries to appear younger, more alluring, and more glamorous than she physically is. The other magic doesn't really matter. It does follow some ideas associated with classic occultism, and it embraces the concept of "fantasy" wholeheartedly, so some people who might have certain interests can make sense of it, while the rest of us can just accept the A Wizard Did It premise for the sake of the story and enjoy the gorgeous visuals. As for Howl himself, his callous, irresponsible, wandering playboy lifestyle and why he changes his ways for Sophie can't really be explained without revealing spoilers you didn't cover in this video. It boils down to the Finding the Right Woman trope, only not as trope-y as usual. His story is smarter than the trope it uses. He lives/wanders in the moving castle crammed full of mental and material clutter, and has all these problematic connections that he neglects or sabotages, because he is looking for someone. None of those other people he deals with (or dates) mean much to him because they're not who he's looking for, so he doesn't care about building relationships with them. If he was a responsible person, he wouldn't have dated the Witch of the Waste in the past, but he still needed to mature just like Sophie had to, so he broke her heart and then just avoided dealing with the consequence until it literally showed up at his door in the form of the cursed Sophie.

One of my favorite films of all time. I've always connected most to Sophie more than any other Ghibli character. Watching her grow into herself and gain courage and confidence throughout the story, all while staying true to herself and never losing her kindness always filled me with so much inspiration. As someone who's always struggled with confidence and self worth, it makes me feel as though I can do and handle anything. ❤

Something I need to share about this movie is the uncanny similarities between "Lottie" from Disney's Princess and The Frog and "Lettie" From howls moving castle. Both are the supportive friend insisting the lead woman is indeed beautiful. They also look extremely similar.

Sophie’s smile when you guys compliment her- I love a supportive friendship ☺️

i cannot put into words how much Howl's Moving Castle means to me in terms finding confidence and self love!!!

This is incredible timing- I’m working on my own self-confidence boosting journey and what better sign to get started than this video coming out?! Thank you guys so much! Much love to you all and everyone reading this! ❤

Yes, my favorite Miyazaki film ! Liking before even watching it

What I love is that Sophie retains her youthfulness at the end but her hair stays silver like her confidence has grown but there will always be a small remnant of insecurity but howl is so supportive she never shows her insecurity again.

YAYYYYY SOPHIE IS BACK!! ❤️I love when she appears. Her chaotic energy balances out with the internet dad vibes.

This is one of the few instances, where I personally think, the movie adaption, while being different from the book captures the magic and essence of the story so well. This movie and the book will always hold a special place in my heart. Absolute comfort film.

I loved Sophie‘s input in this episode! Would love to see her again on the channel, she‘s such a welcome addition!

I relate to Sophie in so many ways. In a way, Howl's Moving Castle is a love story. Love between Howl and Sophie, but it's mostly Sophie's love for herself. I've always related to the fact that she might be plain and not a "pretty girl" but she was proud of running the hat shop and her craft. And I love how you highlighted that she is kind to others because people have been unkind, condescending and just dismissed her entirely all her life because of her appearance. I never had caregivers who spoke to me in a kind way or explained things in a kind way growing up, and as I grew up I learned that I want to be someone I never had as a young person. I love this movie so much and this channel covering Howl's Moving Castle is just my treat for the summer. Thank you so much. ❤ Being kind, being soft-spoken, being soft-hearted are not a sign of weakness. Kindness is not weakness. There is great strength in being kind when the world is so unkind. Again, thank you sm for all the work you do! ❤

I love this analysis, but the relationship between Sophie and Calcifer (no spoilers) it's so special, the metaphor is beautifully crafted. And that's is part of getting confident about herself and helping Howl find his own, too

the way that calcifer is howl’s heart and he was so obedient to her.. he was looking for her this entire time. “i’ve been looking for you everywhere.”

I heard somewhere that someone came to the conclusion that the book and movie were told from the perspectives of Sophie and Howl respectively. It's a fun way to explain the differences between them.

If you want a whimsical love story with a touch of how to love yourself, Howl's Moving Castle is it- But if you want the same thing plus a whole lot more laugh and "wtf" moments, then the book is the way to go 😂 But literally, both are amazing, I could listen to Merry Go Round of Life for hours- it's so beautiful

8:35 When Jonathan saw Sophie turn into her old self and said "I don't understand why", the first thought that came to my mind was "because it is the only time she doesn't hate herself". Being someone who has watched this movie a dozen times and have also read the book, I learned how she hated/ had a lot of self loath. As sad as it is, you will how she devalues herself a lot and until and unless she stops doing that she doesn't turn back into herself. That's why you can see her turning into young Sophie but then just like poping her bubble she turns old Sophie. And just when she admits loving Howl and that it is fine to love him because anyone can love anyone, that's when she returns into her oldself.

The movie is soooooo different from the book but both are so so so good. I'm so glad this finally made the cut Edit: also another reason why the Witch of the Waste chose Sophie is because sophie herself actually has magic. She sews magic into the hats she makes. She made a hat that had the mayor fall in love with the owner. She had another where the woman who bought it gained self confidence and was seen as the tiwn beauty shortly after. Its also why Howl had a bit if trouble finding and breaking the spell the witch put on her: because sophie sewed her own perception of herself into her own hat and clothes. Sophie unintentionally helped with witch's spell. If you havent read the book you should definitely go read it.

Man there really are some scenes in this movie where Christian is just flat out doing his Batman voice and it's absolutely hillarious.

Sophie literally hit us with "I have no enemies"

idk why I always feel related to Sophie. Something about her insecurities of never find herself beautiful and always think bad about herself resonates to me. I don't know if it's because of all the traumatic events I have been through in my life or what. When Sophie retracted to her "shell" and saying something like the nice thing about being old is you've got nothing much to lose,it somehow always makes me sad because I feel it sometimes because I have the thinking of don't expect anything because your expectation will hurt you so when you expect nothing you got nothing to lose...

First off, I am obsessed with this channel! I work in the substance abuse field, and ive used some of your videos in my meetings. They have always been a hit and my clients have gotten so much out of your videos. Second, this is one of my favorite movies so i was very excited fo see this uploaded this morning! Thank you all for doing what you do!

What I love is that in the books it kind of explains that Sophie de-ages back to herself when she is truly vulnerable and does not care what others think. So in the movie that would be when she is defending him to Sullaman and again when she tells Howl she’s in love with him. When she is asleep she’s not concerned about who she is or what others thing so she’s showing her true unburdened self. And by the end of the movie she knows that she has to protect Markl, the house and Howl as best she can because she loves them and and has no time to worry about anything else.

As a person of 27 having been diagnosed with osteoporosis 30 years early for the "party" this movie have become more and more relatable to the point where I'm about to craft my own Sophie cosplay but almost beeing unable to rewatch the movie without bawling loudly for its entire duration. Actually just watching you react is making me do that ❤ thank you so much ❤

I really relate to the whole confidence theme of the movie. The transformation of Sophie to an old woman makes sense to me in a different way. I've always felt different from my peers, specially in my teenage years because I didn't really care for or like things that teenagers did. I never liked parties or doing reckless things, so my "friends" used to make fun of me saying that I was like an old woman. I feel like Sophie also feels that way in the movie, she doesn't go out with her sisters and prefers to stay at home and work on her craft; and I also think that's why she didn't really have that much of a hard time with the transition, because that's how she saw herself and how she thinks other people see her.

My all time favourite film! It's rare to see a gentle character like Sophie be celebrated in film, but so comforting.

I love how Howl, Mr. FakeItTillYaMakeIt confidence man genuinely admits that Sullimen terrified him. Not scared, not made uneasy, TERRIFIED him. Now all I want is a film on what the sorcerer's acedemy was like.

Sophie is one of my most favorite heroines ever. I just love how kind, resilient, and practical she is.

I'm Japanese so I usually only watch the original voice acting in anime/Ghibli films if I can help it but Christian Bale as Howl is the one dubbing that I like as much as (if not more) than the original, so I relate so much to Sophie mentioning it at the beginning (I also love that line)

this is quite literally my favourite film of all time. thank you so much for taking a look

I relate to Sophie rage cleaning so much! I love watching this movie to get me motivated for a deep clean!!! But then I also relate to her running outside and crying in the rain. She just cleaned Howls' whole house (and metaphorically cleaned up his psychological dumping ground). And she gets no thanks, but "you ruined my potions and now I'm hideous!". Sophie's had a lot to deal with in the last 3 days, and I feel like that was a breaking point, and I feel that moment in my SOUL. I've got to watch this movie again! ❤

Fun fact: In the book Howl was the scary man accosting Sophie and did not walk her to her sister's work. She was terrified of him and he felt really guilty and offered to walk her the rest of the way. She declined and felt guilty that he felt guilty.

I both can and cannot believe you're both reacting to Howls Moving Castle! JUST, YES !!! THANK YOU !!! So excited!! 😭🙌💖

My absolute favorite! I just got the notification of this video and I am so thrilled. This movie is beautiful! ❤ love your guys’ content

It's kind of a reversed spell for him... he sleeps and looks like a monster, she sleeps but is beautiful a.k.a. her inner self and unburdened by the world.. It's such a great and beautiful movie

This was such a lovely analysis, and Sophie was a terrific guest and commentator, who obviously has so much care and thoughtfulness for others. I love that in HOWL, kindness is Sophie's superpower -- it should be everyone's. (Also, I am definitely with Sophie on Christian Bale's voice in this -- oh, man!)

Yay! My favorite Miyazaki film! Thank you so much for doing this one! One of my favorite things about this movie is when the staff approached Lauren Bacall about the character. They were nervous about it! They explained to her that the character was "kind of despicable." Her response... "Darling, I was ^born^ to play despicable." 😂 Classic Lauren Bacall moment! She was such a treasure!

The two sides of a Miyazaki film: Side A - a deep study psychoanalytic interpretation of each character and their possible meanings with infinite theories and all are to some degree correct. Side B: Movie good, pictures pretty, tears are shed, let's get ramen!

The movie and book are so different and so fantastic too. The friendship and understanding for one-another’s art of storytelling is one of my favorite things to think about when I need an emotional lift among the chaos of the world with all of its misunderstandings. The really meaningful part of this for me is that Diana Wynne Jones suffered from chronic illness at a young age, and I did too. All of the feelings she conveyed in this story about it were so relatable. When she wrote the book, she didn’t think a lot about her confidence, but Miyazaki picked up on that and conveyed it beautifully. She loved that. I think it’s so cool that he could retell her story in a way that wowed and resonated even with her.

I absolutely LOVE this movie! and the scene where Markel asks Sophie if she's going to leave to be with her real family always gets me. # CryingWithAlan

From what I recall from the book, the curse made her as old as she felt. She lives in a fairytale trope-y world where, as the eldest daughter, she had certain expectations on her while her two sisters had other epectations, like learning magic and being popular. The epectations she had were to basically be an old maid and carry on the business. She often talked about herself as an old woman and when the witch's curse struck her, it reflected how she felt about herself. She became youthful in actions and feelings over time and admitting to herself that she was in love with Howl was a key reason she broke the curse. This transfered successfully to the film but was not explained. The end conflict and resolution though is completely different. You should read it. it's really fun.

I wish you'd bring Sophie on more often, I relate to her and having her bring up things that I'm going through with a therapist in the room is very encouraging. It's also free therapy.

You can't make any judgments about Howell until you realize that he's known about Sophie this entire time. He saw her as a child. He knew she was his future. So every woman who tried to curry his favor over the years was doomed to fail BECAUSE they weren't Sophie. But they didn't know that. So they called him heartless, a womanizer, a heartbreaker/eater. But he wasn't. He just had no heart to give them because Sophie had it all along.

In minute 20:10 on how Sophie gets the heart from the witch, just wanted to mention that the way Sophie asks for it allows for the witch to get the opportunity to be kind (or not) - she chooses to be kind and give it back (although Sophie could have taken it by force!), I find suuuper valuable that she got the chance to choose to do good - this becomes her action and to her credit, and I love that capacity of self-transforming while still alive, even as v old and physically powerless ❤

I love that y’all are talking about Sophie’s emotional growth! Seriously my favorite movie, and I love hearing y’all discuss it! One little observation: Sophie going in the cave to see beast Howl is a dream, thus the abrupt wake up and no one else recalls what Sophie experienced. And fun fact: This movie is also a spectacular master class in developing healthy boundaries!

I was so excited when I saw y’all covered howl’s moving castle! it’s my all time favorite movie, and it’s helped me through a lot of very hard moments in my life. sophie is such a good example of determination and acceptance, and I love her found family. miyazaki put so much heart into this movie, and I think it really shows in how many different lessons people can take. people can learn reconciliation, acceptance, serenity, pacifism, and a whole lot of things. I love sophie’s line “a hearts a heavy burden.” for me, that rings true. it’s hard to care, to be invested, to have your heart start growing late in life. it’s hard to accept responsibility and be accountable to those around you. but it’s better. it’s better to have a heart

I agree with your guest. When I am not feeling well I pull out my dvd’s of Hayao Miyazaki films and watch over and over. Howl’s Moving Castle is one of my favorites.

I rewatched the movie and I like that it subverts or flips alot of the gender dynamics from Disney princess films. Both characters need a little "saving" but they do by aiding each other rather than one or the other. In a lot of ways, Howl has some of the typically "feminine" qualities, rather than just the bad boy loner ones. Ex. by worrying about his hair or dealing with a gentle heart (sophie doth won fair howls heart 😂) and keeping it away from being controlled by the witches, just as Sophie learns to break free from her own constraints and show confidence. Howl finds strength through Sophie just as much as she does him.

This was my first anime movie ever! Thanks Ethan for starting my obsession. Howls Moving Castle is a masterpiece. I also have a shirt that says, “May all your bacon burn,” with Calcifer

I would call the magic system in this movie "Convenience Magic". It works based on convenience, rather than an established system with strict rules. Allowing it to better move the story forward. And it works because the magic itself isn't the core part of the story. It's a tool in the storytelling that helps push the story forward when it has to.

they tried to illustrate this in the movie but in the book sophie has a sort of mundane magic. when she speaks to her hats shes able to create a little magic like " you will make whoever wears you the most beautiful woman in the room" or " you will make the person who wears you feel calm" etc and its a neat tidbit when it's herself that is also talking herself and her self esteem down so much

One of the greatest comedians from Brazil once said something like "I can't wait to be old to start giving everyone shit and not caring anymore" and I think Sophie thinks like that the whole time before being cursed. She can't wait to be fred from all the stuff she does for other people, the pressure to be quiet and gentle and pleasing to the eye. When she's cursed you can see the change in the way she acts, the way she's rougher around the edges but still compassionate at her core. But she still has a young mind, and she craves to be happy and to be beautiful and to be free, that's why she deages when she's at the garden with Howl, because he made her feel that way. It's a beautiful movie and I see so much of myself in Sophie.

I literally gasped when I saw this was uploaded! HMC and Sophie's character in particular was so important to me in middle school. I was not the most confident at the time, and this movie really showed me 1) the difference it can make in one's life when you believe in yourself and 2) how love and encouragement from others can help build up one's confidence. It doesn't just happen to Sophie, but she provides that to others too. Years later, I still think of this movie when I'm feeling low about myself, and it never fails to inspire me. So glad you guys are talking about this film!

i would love to see an episode on Violet Evergarden. seriously one of the most underrated animes. her journey to learn and understand different emotions is just>>>

Oh my gosh, I'm so happy you did this film. Me and my therapist went over Howl's moving castle, talking about how connected I was with Sophie's character. I even talked about how I was afraid of becoming 'old Sophie' in the fact that she was old. Like I'm afraid that I'll never gain that kind of confidence until im old and dying. I kinda wished you guys talked about Howl's arc a bit more because I feel they were foils of each other. Her with lack of confidence. Him with too much confidence (appearance wise). And then them giving each other confidence in the things they are shying away from in life.

Sophie's back! Please have her on more, I adore her so much and she adds such a wonderful element to every episode she's in!

The *other* reason Sophie leaves her family so easily is because her inability to tell them what happened means they'd evict her from her own home unless she leaves before they see her.

This is one of my favorite movies! I absolutely feel a connection to Sophie! And your talk at the end reminds me... My one niece always says "OBVIOUSLY!" whenever someone doesn't know something she knows. Such as when she's teaching a friend to play a video game they've never played before. IT BUGS ME SO MUCH! The condescension! So her mom and I both go "it's not obvious to me, I've never played it before either!" We had a talk with her about how it can put people down. I also mentioned how 10,000 new people learn a particular fact every day, so their friend was one of the lucky 10,000 people that learned that one thing about that game that day. Huzzah!

This touches on such a personal level, @CinemaTherapy, on a couple counts (especially today- happy national cinema day, fellas!): 1. Following my life through the story arch of Sophie's is almost like looking into a mirror... minus the permanently altered hair color because I'm not ready to own silvery loches like she does. 2. Howl's Moving Castle is one of my favorite movies because of the intrinsique kindness Sophie brings to everyone she works with, possibly with the exception of her family in the beginning- I've had many a toxic relationship from people who saw my kindness as a carpet for them to walk upon or a figurative therapy-sponge for them to use until I couldn't ring myself out anymore. 3. Being someone with BPD, the idea of having a house that had different rooms for different facets of myself made sense as I could take the more emotional, more depressing sides of me I didn't want anyone to see into one of those rooms & keep it locked until I thought I could open up & deal with it... or whatever emotion I was going through at any given time... not always for the better, but that black room where Howl was at war hit my younger self in the feels a little harder than normal. Being such a fan of Miyazaki's films in general has always brought out a deeper intellectual side to me I find fascinating, but Howl's Moving Castle hit me on a totally different note- & even though I've only gotten to see it once in theatres, it is by far one of my absolute favorites for its unique display of affection shown towards others. Thank you for showing us an inside take on this sweet movie.

Regardless of context (tho I know she's a Ghibli fan and beyond) I'm so happy to see Sophie in an episode I always feel like she brightens up the room. And makes the whole episode more grounded in some way. I love you Sophie!

I literally threw my hands up in the air with joy when I saw that you had analyzed this movie! This movie shows so well that beauty should be dependent on love, not the other way around, and not just in a romantic way. I feel like you get that even in the opening scene between Lettie and Sophie; Lettie knows her sister is dependable and kind and modest, and she won't let her talk down on herself. And of course, gorgeous as he is, I figure Sophie doesn't start falling for Howl until he stops moping. Alan, you're correct about Howl seeing through the curse; the book explains it a little further. Short version is that even if Sophie can't tell anyone what's happened to her, a curse of that magnitude is plainly obvious to other magic users and Howl spends most of the book trying to figure out why he can't lift the spell off of her.

The thing about Sohpie at the start of the story is not only about her self confidence, it's also about her feeling that her life was over and that there wasn't anything new waiting for her. At 18 she already had a career as a hat maker which let her make enough money to live, but she knew she wouldn't marry because she wasn't pretty enough, and with time all her friends would marry and leave her behind. There, she had done everything that was expected of her, and she had long decades ahead to keep trudging along the same routine.

I first saw this movie when I was a little girl. Though I didn't fully understood the meaning of the story at first, I remember admiring Sophie for what I now know is resilience. She took action, she took control of her life and went to find a solution. Bargaining with a demon, taking no shit from a vain wizard, insult a powerful witch without fear, the list goes on. She always had that strength, she just didn't know. I think that goes for most people. We are stronger and more confident than we know and sometimes we need a little nudge, or a curse from an evil witch 😉, to realize it.

I always saw the curse as being a manifestation of Sophie’s focus on her own insecurities rather than her outward focus on others, but I think this ties into what you guys said very nicely! When we focus on helping others, we find confidence in ourselves as well, so when Sophie helps Howl and doesn’t focus on her own flaws so much, she finds confidence in herself. This is most apparent in the scene with the garden for me, where she’s so focused on this beautiful thing Howl has given to her, but as soon as he shifts the focus back to her, she becomes insecure and old again. That’s just my theory tho.

I've read the Howl's Moving Castle books and they are truly wonderful! This movie is my favorite Miyazaki film and yes, it differs from the book, but when you are a master storyteller like Miyazaki that doesn't matter. Everything he does is a masterpiece.

This was the first movie I ever watched of Miyazaki’s, and it made me fall in love with his work. I related very much to Sophie when I was in my teens; thankfully, now that I’m 23, I found my confidence! More Studio Ghibli videos please!!

This movie is so special to me. It blows my mind to think there are other people out there who not only feel something like the same way about it, but also have different interpretations of all the little moments in it.

That's my favorite film of all time, I could watch it 24h/7 and I wouldn't be bored. Fun fact: When Howl said Sophie to summon Calcifer with her heart to find the way - he actually told her to summon his heart, cuz Calcifer was his heart at that time. iwi I love how magic works in this world cuz it isn't explained at all... And this lack of knowledge of how it works gives a whimsical and beautiful touch to it! I also listened to audiobook and book is very much different from this anime but is also great. I recommend everyone to read it or listen like I did.

I would love to see y'all do a break down of princess monoke!!! One of the best Miyazaki has to offer in regards with war, hate and belonging. Especially with the quote of "seeing with eyes unclouded with hate".