Spirited Away is one of the most popular films by Hayao Miyazaki. Its Oscar win is further proof of how much the movie had infiltrated the Western world. However, its ending left a few strings open.
But Hayao Miyazaki is not indebted to confirm every theory about Spirited Away, and the open ending of the film might have annoyed a few. It is ultimately up to the audience to decide what happens after the film, but the director has left a few hints to help fans piece together the info.
Fans demand Hayao Miyazaki to create a sequel for Spirited Away
After Spirited Away was released in 2001, its popularity reached the sky. To no one’s surprise, fans soon began demanding a sequel of the movie. Even after two decades of the movie’s release, the demand has not decreased. But the question arises: does Spirited Away really need a sequel?
By the end of the film, Chihiro had regained her memories and her autonomy. She was also able to rescue her parents from the grasp of Yubaba. When she returns to her own world, no time has passed, and her parents don’t remember anything that has happened.
But while Chihiro has gone back to the real world, she left behind an integral part of the journey, Haku. Haku helped Chihiro regain her name and led her to escape the spiritual world that she was stuck in. Haku had promised Chihiro that they would meet again, something that never happened in the film, leading fans to ask for a sequel just to see Chihiro and Haku meet each other again.
The real ending of Spirited Away was always hiding in the movie
There are multiple explanations to Spirited Away’s ending, but there is one that I would like to highlight. When Haku promised Chihiro that they would meet again, he never specified when or how. Haku is a being from the spiritual world, thus he cannot cross over into the real world to meet Chihiro. But they can definitely meet again when Chihiro visits the spiritual world again; this time, she won’t be leaving.
Comment
byu/The_Kyojuro_Rengoku from discussion
inghibli
Once Chihiro passes away and her soul reaches the spiritual world naturally and not as an anomaly, Haku will be there to welcome her with open arms. She will remember him again, and the movie specifies that people don’t really forget. The memories of the other world will return once she is back in the same world.
Haku is the spirit of the Kohaku River, and the waterbody was covered a few years prior to the story. Thus, he was physically removed from existence and ended up in the spiritual world. This indicates the fact that anything that had stopped existing will end up in the same place. Once Chihiro’s spirit leaves her body, she will be reunited with Haku again.
Hayao Miyazaki does not like spelling things out for his audience. He leaves things up to the imagination of viewers like us. Similarly, Haku and Chihiro’s ending is up to the fans to decide. But the promise between them signifies that Chihiro would indeed meet Haku, one way or the other.
Spirited Away is available to watch on Max.
This post belongs to FandomWire and first appeared on FandomWire
