San has assumingly passed the age of puberty as she looks old enough to be a teenager, but Chihiro’s age is given, a ten-year-old girl who is just at the time to begin this process of becoming more mature. A story about the coming of age and transition from childhood to adolescent is not central to one country. Ando Satoshi compares Spirited Away to Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, stating, “The two stories seem to express the protagonists’ bewilderment at the change which they are soon to confront. The characters feel disconnected from the past by discontinuous change and thus lose their sense of identity and of the future.” Each girl is sent through a fantastical adventure, throwing them into another world and forcing them to confront what is unavoidable. By doing so, they lose a part of themselves, Chihiro does lose her identity as Yubaba takes her name and her future is uncertain, the question of her leaving with her parents or remaining her being unanswered until the end of the film. Yet, this aspect of puberty is seen “as a kind of death, and the only way to be reborn from it is to get back continuity with the past to retain her identity.” Through this transition she is forced to change, her old self is essentially reborn, as she has become a stronger person after overcoming the hardships of being within …show more content…
In Japan, animated films are praised and are far more appreciated when comparing how they are viewed in a country like America, in which most audiences brush off animation as nothing. A problem like this relates to the past, as Japan was a country that is pictocentric, while America has had their picture narratives pass off to children or those who enjoy comic books. But, the past is not just one factor that affects most Westerners’ distaste for animation. According to Susan, psychologically we are less “defended” from animation, that is we don’t expect “normal” responses as the world of animation does not reflect nor have the same properties of a “normal” live action film. While some animation films have the possibility of being thought provoking and having deep messages, some may just be seen as another children’s movie, at least within the west. Thus, the narratives that are crafted and the importance that they hold and can critique upon a specific cause are most likely to be looked over due to their visual