Spirited Away
Spirited Awayis easily one of the top five Studio Ghibli films . It ’s a fantastic coming - of - years blend of phantasy and adventure , with just enough peril to make it on the edgier side for fry and tweens without sliding it into more scaryPrincess Mononoketerritory . The Japanese animated film , which was inspired by writer and director Hayao Miyazaki ’s protagonist ’s 10 - class - older daughter , has one of the most intriguing characters in the Miyazaki universe : the tone No - Face .
WhenChihiro Oginofirst ascertain No - facial expression spirit aside , he is a transparent intent whom no one else seems to mark . Once she is dubbed Sen and made a bathhouse prole by the hag Yubaba , she call for No - Face in and he translate from a quiet , seemingly timid character to a glutinous beast . There ’s much more to this monster than meet the oculus , though , and some fan may have overleap the most interesting facts about the " monster . "
update on March 27 , 2020 by Richard Keller : Nearly two decades after its release , Spirited Awayremains a prime representative of gamey - lineament gum anime . It bridges the entertainment gap between adults and children . In addition , it created a mascot of sorts for Studio Ghibli in the form of No - Face . Here are a few more slice of selective information about this character .
FACE IS AN ANTI-VILLAIN
The second main fibre of this movie is not a Hero of Alexandria . Nor is No - Face a villain . The spirit is somewhere in - between . Consider the apparition with an tremendous appetite an anti - villain . Or , as like non - corporeal beings are designated , an anti - bomber .
Consider the actions of No - Face . The blanched - masked being does n’t simply eat bad spirits . It also devours others so it wo n’t be lonely . Furthermore , it befriend Chihiro in a foreign kind of way . The main prison term No - brass becomes evil is when it eats a dark spirit . conceive of the X - Men ’s Rogue absorbing the big businessman of Green Goblin .
NO-FACE IS NON-BINARY
Since the spirit ’s founding , No - Face has been touch to as a " he " when mention . However , upon further viewings , it ’s determined the spirit has no sexuality .
This makes sense . The bloodless mask - like expression has no discernable marks to determine its sexuality . Its voracious appetite is n’t any different than a military personnel or womanhood at a Las Vegas buffet . In the end , No - Face is just a flavour looking for answers .
NO-FACE INSPIRED A STAR WARS VILLAIN
Fans ofStar Warsoutside of the picture show are probably familiar with Darth Nihilus . Especially if they playedStar Wars : Knights of the Old Republic II : The Sith Lords . Well , this Dark Lord was urge by No - boldness .
in reality , the resemblance is uncanny . Nihilus is adorned in the same black , featureless dress as No - aspect to make him seem like a ghostwriter . While there are design changes in his mask , it still retains the vanity . The master conflict is in the two reference ' emotions . We ca n’t severalize No - Face ’s while we unquestionably have sex how much hate Nihilus has .
NO-FACE IS A PLUSH TOY (AMONG OTHER THINGS)
Since the fictional character ’s intro at the get-go of the 21st century , No - Face has become the face , no wordplay stand for , of Ghibli Studios . Thus , it ’s not a surprisal the character is featured in legion products .
For instance , consumer can purchase the anti - villain as a plush toy , a medicine box , or a car windowpane sticker . There are several pieces of apparel that sport No - Face ’s emotionless mask and a band of semitransparent figures that mime its non - human appearing .
HE LEAVES FOOTPRINTS
If viewers search closely they ’ll notice that No - Face leaves footprints when he walk . This begs the enquiry of whether or not the spirit wish to be seen in the first place , and why he might be able to allow tangible grounds of his own creation when he ’s also so see - through that other spirit do n’t even comment his comportment .
move over that the entire picture show is a shading of Chihiro ’s human world and the magic of the spirit earth , it ’s interesting that there are footprints at all . Perhaps they subsist to prove that No - cheek was not a figment of Chihiros imagination .
HIS NAME IS KAONASHI
For those who do n’t speak Japanese , No - Face is probable only known as " No - boldness , " but in Japanese , the emotional state ’s name is really Kaonashi . The word simply intend , " Faceless . " Kaonashi ably describes the creature since he not only wears a mask for a face , thereby having no face of his own , but he also sort of absorb the faces of those around him , developing new mental attitude and opinions based on those he encounters as well as eats .
No - look is n’t just faceless , but nigh body - less , too . His prospicient , black dead body is tube - like and almost appear vacuous , as it it , too , could be filled with the ides and impression of others .
HE WAS INSPIRED BY BABETTE’S FEAST
When expect about the gluttony demonstrated by No - Face spirit up Away , the writer said that he ’d been inspired byBabette ’s Feast . " It is a very beautiful favorite motion-picture show . Even in that movie , the lineament run through a plenty , " Miyazaki aver .
No - Face is n’t alone in his rapacity , either . Several fiber have trouble ensure their appetite . Chihiro ’s parent are transmute into hog out of their own greed after they are unable to stop consuming spirit food in a eating place , and Yubaba ’s baby Bō is also prehensile . His own aunt , Yubaba ’s sister Zeniba , call him " a act of a porker " when she meets him .
HIS MASK HIDES A BIGGER MOUTH
No - Face ’s masque is a beautiful slice of Japense art that feature pretty gray and purplish colors . His mask also features a small mouth that modify with his emotions . The masquerade rima oris does n’t go to the monster , though . alternatively , it hides a much more unsafe bent of chompers that add up in handy when the spirit decide to gobble up workers at Yubaba ’s bathhouse !
Thankfully , the spirit ’s dentition , which seem to be made up of only molar , do n’t do any ruinous attrition , leave our cast of immerse characters not only whole but also able-bodied to turn tail once he ’s regurgitated each of them .
HE EATS OTHERS, GAINS THEIR PERSONALITY TRAITS
Those who look on No - Face cautiously may notice that he quickly takes on the physical characteristics of those he swallows , even developing salientian - like stage that he moves on . He also exhibits the personalities of his " prey , " first develop his gluttonous mental attitude after swallowing Aogaeru , the blue kimono - wearing frog . Once he ’s swallowed Aogaeru , he can also talk , and speaks in the anuran ’s articulation .
It ’s open that No - Face is a very lonely spirit and wants to connect with others , and by eating and acting like a bathhouse employee he believes that he ’ll be able to gain some attention , in particular from Sen.
HE’S NOT AS GREEDY AS HE SEEMS
While No - brass is scarf down everything edible in sight and requesting to eat everything in everyone ’s favoriteStudio Ghiblibathhouse , paying with dirt transmute into amber , he seems like a substantial esurient jerking . The truth , however , is that he ’s an adaptable spirit who memorise and changes base on those around him . Naive to the ways of the bathing machine , he first exhibit a genial meat when Sen let him entering into the institution , avail her receive bathtub item when the foreman turn away to give her any .
As No - facial expression explore the bathhouse and learns the way of the sleep of the staff and guest , however , he develops a hunger for conservative thing , and the more people he swallows the more he seems to take on more human - comparable characteristics . Once Sen " cures " him with the magic emetic dumpling , her gift from the River Spirit , he becomes a well-disposed life again .
