Spirited Away

It's the final day of Anime August Week and Amanda and Patrick have saved the best for last: today, they're treating you all to Hayao Miyazaki's award-winning, record-breaking 2001 Japanese animated fantasy film, Spirited Away! Often considered Ghibli Studios's breakout project—and a usual suspect on "best of" lists throughout the industry—Spirited Away is the company's (and Miyazaki's) first Academy Award-winning film, having been only the second movie to win Best Animated Feature at the 75th Academy Awards (following Shrek, the award's inaugural winner, lol). As with all Miyazaki films, Spirited Away tackles themes of community building, environmentalism, and greed, conveyed across a simultaneously tender and exciting coming-of-age adventure set against a backdrop of cultural Japanese folklore. Mythical deities, acerbic witches, and whimsical magical entities (looking at you, Soot Sprites!) are just a few things that the 10-year-old protagonist, Chihiro, encounters during her employment at a bathhouse for spirits, where she's forced to earn her keep if she doesn't want to run afoul of powerful witch Yubaba, the bathhouse's austere owner. If Chihiro hopes to make it back to the mortal realm, she'll have to rely on the help of her coworkers and Yubaba's mysterious right-hand man, dragon-shifter Haku. Join Amanda and Patrick as they engage in some all-too-familiar antics, including (but not limited to): Amanda forgetting how to read, Patrick going on a tangent about music, Amanda literally crying about how much she loves this movie, and Patrick Googling things in real time. We at GateCrashers are so excited to bring you the final episode of one of our favorite annual segments. Thank you for joining us. See you next year. Long live Anime August!