EntertainmentMoviesAnimation Movies20 years later, it’s time to reassess Howl’s Moving Castle as a love story at its heartWhen you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
EntertainmentMoviesAnimation Movies20 years later, it’s time to reassess Howl’s Moving Castle as a love story at its heartWhen you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
(Image credit: Studio Ghibli)
A heart’s a heavy burden
(Image credit: Studio Ghibli)
There are so many details and intricacies that make Howl and Sophie’s romance so magical, so much so that eight-year-old me cried her eyes out when they finally share their first kiss at the end of the film (and 31-year-old me gets tear-eyed just thinking about it). Howl and Sophie couldn’t be more different, but they end up complementing each other in a way that helps the other grow. Howl is a pretty boy, obsessed with his own beauty and vanity, and Sophie is less than confident in her looks and abilities, even when she’s in her normal, young body. Howl falls in love with Sophie despite the fact that she’s been turned into an elderly woman, and while the “beauty is in the eye of the beholder” trope can be cheesy at times, there’s something so heartwarming about it here.
When Howl and Sophie meet at the beginning of the movie, he’s warm and excited and presumably taken with her beauty – and the excitement doesn’t waver after she becomes old. Some cynical takes on the film have posited that it was easy to fall in love with her because he already knew what she looked like as her normal self, but any viewer with an open heart knows that it’s about her selflessness, the way she takes care of both the castle and Howl and helps him confront the things he can’t bear to.
Howl’s Moving Castle has many beautiful and important messages tucked inside of it, but people seem to overlook the love story – the driving force of the film, and the thing that saves the world. I recommend watching the film with your significant other, your best friend, or your two cats, along with a big box of tissues.
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Howl’s Moving Castle is streaming now on Max. For more, check out our list of all thenew anime movies and showsyou need to know about.
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