REVIEW. ANIME. ANIMATED FILM: HOWL'S MOVING CASTLE

Title: Howl's Moving Castle

Type: Anime, Animated Film

Country: Japan

Genre: Fantasy, Science Fiction, Supernatural, Romance, War, Historial Suspense, Hero, Heroine, Kingdom, Queen

Airing Date: 2004

Rating: 9.3/10.0

A visual feast, a magical castle, a charismatic wizard, an unlikely heroine; all that and more makes Howl's Moving Castle a top favorite. My favorite and thus, highly bias to claim this timeless tale as Hayao Miyazaki's best piece, the famed Studio Ghibli director who stepped in to direct when the original director left abruptly.

As it turned out, this achingly beautiful fantasy (ハウルの動く城, Hauru no Ugoku Shiro) courted more than US$200 million worldwide in 2004. Described as a Japanese animated steampunk film in Wikipedia, this movie was adapted from Diana Wynne Jones's novel. The English dub was provided by Christian Bale, Emily Mortimer, Billy Crystal, Jean Simmons, Blythe Danner and Lauren Bacall to voice the characters. 

Again, I am bias but I believe Howl's moving castle is a bolder creative venture, a much more refined artwork, albeit a smaller rendition than Laputa: Castle in the Sky. 

Miyazaki's fascination for flying devices was evident in most of his films but Howl's castle is a marvel - a rapture. It floats playfully, bids sorrowfully, glides with rhythm and it is fanatically protective, shielding each and everyone aboard it with its very own life. Howl's Moving Castle is a super notched film at 9.3/10.