First time I watched this movie I was like WHAT?! (Spirited Away)

The first time I watched the movie, I was enthralled. I kept watching it again and again after that, because the story is so engrossing, the art is simple yet lively, and Miyazaki's references to Japanese culture is done with twists. You can also try watching Howl's Moving Castle. It's another masterpiece from the master himself. I also liked Mononoke Hime - such unrestrained, poetic fury! \m/^_^\m/

Ive watched a LOT of anime and i still watch it and find out something i dont completely understand.. like.. what the heck is going on with Haku

Well, I got it right away. I'm not exactly sure it's that hard to understand though. But I loved it. The art was amazing and so was the music. Everything seemed pretty deep and it was just a really good movie. I really like Haku and how he turned into a dragon. It is indeed one of my favorite movies too. But also, if you have time, you should watch "Castle in the Sky" too, it's from the same person who did Spirited Away. But it's based on a U.S. book (which I read and was vastly different from the movie) but nonetheless, the art was extremely well done.

well, for me I had never seen anime and Spirited Away was my first. I went in having no knowledge about anime and thought it would be another meaningless cartoon, so when i first watched it I remember thinking "wow, this is deep" Then after watching about 5 other seasons of anime (including Serial Experiments Lain) I went back and thought "woah, that was really simple, what was I thinking" I think it's a matter of getting used to anime, not the show that is confusing.

(^_^)For me, it's like Alice in Wonderland crossover Wizard of Oz with twists and turns. When I watched it I already anticipated it, so no confusion for me.ü

i did not like the movie i even bought a copy of it and i did not understand it. my ex partner got me so convinced it was ok but then we have different tastes. harhar.

There will definitely be some meanings that will be lost in translation once the original Japanese version is dubbed in English, and several cultural differences that might confuse others. You should watch other Miyazaki films to get a hang of it.

I had to do a bit of preparation for watching Spirited Away. There are a bunch of elements in the movie that are definately Japanese and pretty unfamilair to those of us who are in the US. I can see how you could get confused. I originally saw this movie with a friend in the theater and she hated it because she just didn't get it. Meanwhile, I was enthralled with the visuals. You should really take some time to see Miyazaki's other films like Castle in the Sky (well, it's more like a floating city and has a lot of action), Nausicaa, Princess Mononoke, KiKi's Delivery Service, and My neighbor Totoro. Disney has done a pretty good job translating them, so they are definately worth your time. They are all different and quite good in their own ways.

I think Miyazaki's films are quite easy to udnerstand, they have a simple message that's universal to all his self written stories (so not Howl's, that was written by someone else and adapted to a anime) it's basically a message to all children watching to be more kind tot he enviroment and nature or bad things might happen. I think that's quite a nice message and the films make kids more intrested in nature (that children these days are slowly decreasing in)

No, actually, I could follow it pretty well; but then again, I'd been watching anime long before I saw that movie. I suppose if you're new to anime, it may take a while to get used to certain aspects of it. I absolutely loved that movie when I first saw it. I thought is was very well done, and I fell in love with the storyline. I almost wish they'd make a sequel. Also, if you like that movie, I think you'd like KiKi's Delivery Service and Howl's Moving Castle. Both are equally good movies.

I really like spirited away, the first time I bought a dvd player, I also buy this anime dvd, the art is very great compared to other anime, and I saw other anime from studio gibli too like my neighbour totoro, nausica from the valley of wind, howl moving castle, and lots of other gibli studio anime. My favorite is spirited away. and the story doesn't confuse me cos i saw lots of other anime before spirited away.

not really... i love watching animes so i can easily get/understand what miyazaki wanted to portray in the story. i love his work since most (if not all) has a lesson embedded on it: may it be on respect to the nature or one's loyalty and love towards parents.

Ahah i know what you mean..These kind of movies are able to teleport you into another world where nothing is what it seems...Thanks why i love them. In my opinion spirited Away is the best anime movie ever. Great landscapes , great characters..My friends keep saying it's a kid movie..but they're so wrong =)

I loved this film, the characters, the flow and the different world it transported me into! I've watched various bits of it, so that probably didn't really help my understanding of it.. But my husband has watched it all the way through and the one thing that confused both of us really, is why the twin of the evil witch starts off evil as well, but then suddently turns good. What was the reason for that?

I didn't go "wtf" when watching this movie. I think it was quite easy to follow. Spirited Away is one of my favourite movies like other ghibli movies too.

to be honest, i haven't watched this movie even though i wanted too. you really have to focus so that you would understand. No wonder this film got an oscar..:) (or was it another prestigious award???)