Very interesting look into Spirited Away..

kaonashi was a very disturbing character in the film. I have read that Miyazaki describes kaonashi as a depiction of the modern Japanese soul. Well, that doesn't leave himself out of the portrait. Come to think of it, all his heroines have a few things in common: they are super-idealized girls. It seems to be a kind of moe: a fantasy of girlhood.

I must object to many elements of this article.

First of all, Yuna which literally means, "Hot Water Woman" is a generic word to refer to any female working at a bath house and does not carry any inherent meaning of prostitution. That association only occured during the Edo period when some of the women who worked as Yuna offered "extra" services alongside bathing to augment their paltry income. Sex was not an inherent part of the job description. A woman working at the still common bath houses of today, who would be referred to as a Yuna, would not be thought of as one selling sex. Soaplands are fetish shops themed around the Yuna of old Edo, and are in no way legitimate bath houses. Miyazaki already put forth his opinion of prostitution in Japan's past and present in Princess Mononoke, in multiple scenes in which he blatantly denounced it. He needed no allegorical tale for that particular subject. The "monsters" would be easily recognized as non-threatening beasts of Japanese folklore, not as representations of amorous men..

I find it depressing that the article features various bits of information that fill readers' minds with factoids of the supposed hedonism and perversion of Japan, a racist sterotype made by the mass media, an unfair mass character assassination of a country that, in fact, has far lower incidents of violent and/or sexual crime than most Western nations. I doubt you propogate this impression but your article does use those false images.

Your accusations against Miyazaki, though, sound close to libel and leave some important facts out. You do not mention the fact Miyazaki is married and has two children. He has no history of sexual crime or pedophilia. He chooses girls as the protagonist in most of his films because of his strong feminst sensibilities.

The renaming of Chihiro to Sen is significant because "Chihiro" means "Thousand Springs" while "Sen" Simply means "thousand". This is significant because Yubaba is attempting to turn Chihiro into a member of a faceless crowd, a gruntworker, just another number. This "stripper name" business is not accurate.

Sorry for the harsh tone in some of this, but I was a bit enraged upon writing it. I don't want to come across as a ranting fan, I just hold Mr. Miyazaki in high esteem, and hate to see him discredted.

Finally, and on a less hostile note, I think you have misunderstood the character of Kaonashi. Taken out of context, the single scene in which he offers Sen money does seem rather unsettling, however, in the larger character arc it makes sense. "No Face" is a being with no family, no friends and no identity, he longs for acceptance. When Sen helps him into the bath house he develops a (somewhat unhealthy) fascination with her. Giving her a single herbal tag made her happy, so he gave her an entire bucketful, not understanding that she only needs a few. When this gift does not provoke the same reaction as before, he goes into despair. He searches for a new solution. As a blank slate, he absorbs some of the greed of those who dwell in the bath house. He comes to believe gold may be the key to gaining attention and company. He becomes warped, devouring the bath house workers and more of their greed. When confronted once more with Sen, he sees the shallowness of his relationship with the attendants, and the false love they show him. He becomes enraged at them and himself and reaps out destruction. His final meeting with Sen, the problem scene itself, is a final desperate attempt to win her over as he did the others. This does not work on the humble Chihiro and she cures him of his recently formed new identity as a bloated monster. He regurgitates all the filth and hatred he had consumed. Once free of the bath house's influence he sets off again in search of an identity, though he at least now has companionship with Chihiro. At Zeniba's home he finds identity, as her assistant, and a mother figure in Zeniba herself. He is grateful to Chihiro but stays in that little hut, his quest fulfilled.

Again, I do not mean to attack you, only to defend a good nation, a good man, and a good film.

I came across this article and I felt the same way. I watched the movie 4 times and to read all this inaccurate information made me slightly annoyed and in disbelief. I could not have defended the movie and director better than the poster above.

For a film which has been compared to Carroll's Alice in Wonderland not to be seen as discussing prostitution and sex seems incredibly odd to me.

An interesting interpretation but it ignores a lot of the more interesting aspects of the film, the twin sorceresses etc.

The article was...fascinating. I can see how the writer interpreted spirited away like that. some of it makes a creepy kind of sense. But, like most films, books, art e.t.c, its open to interpretation. I think that what makes spirited away such a brilliant film.
It can a story about growing up, about the monsters children have to face in the adult world, the temptation that they must overcome [not eating the food, denying the gold etc] and the lessons they learn in the end. Perhaps the change in name [from Chihiro, meaning \"Thousand Springs\", to Sen, meaning \"thousand\"] represents the way in which growing up means taking a number and standing behind the person in front – becoming a number in the masses. Chihiro keeps her identity, breaks free from the social norm by remembering her the real name and is able to break free from it all [yyaaay!]
Or, it could about the world in the article: a young girl swept up in the prostitution business, having to serve and work for monsters because of her parents\' greed.
It could simply be just a fairytale, purely for entertainment.
I don\'t want to believe its about the world of sex. I want to believe its about magic and love conquering all. But, after reading this article, I can see how one may think its about sex. I just don\'t want to see it.