Castle in the Sky

The one main thing that really stood out to me upon watching Castle in the Sky, was that Miyazaki really loves to use female protagonists. His female protagonists are all very similar: young (teens), innocent personalities, and short hair (eventually). Miyazaki's views on girls with short hair is very interesting. It seems as though he links short hair with assertiveness, control, and courage. Nausicaa originally has short hair, which matches her reliable character. She rides her glider and tries to take control of her own life. In Howl's Moving Castle, Sophie is, at first, not as strong as Nausicaa (at one point, she evens displays her dependancy through tears and begging); however, towards the end of the movie, Sophie grows and takes charge of a difficult situation. This happens only after she cuts her hair short and offers it to Calicifer.
Sheeta is almost identical, if not, the origin of Sophie's character. Sheeta is dependant on Pazu and never takes the lead. It is only after Muska shoots off her ponytails that Sheeta has the power to defeat her enemy. She does so by chanting the spell of destruction. In other words, long hair is the barrier for a girls true potential of power and just.

It is surprising how people miss the details that tell you alot about (and confirm your opinions of) the characters. The one part that I caught upon watching the destruction scene a second time was Muska's true intentions. Muska only allowed the heroes to have three minutes to themselves because he ran out of bullets. He probably thought that Pazu had a shell left in his cannon, even though Pazu didn't. By giving the children time, he also got time to reload. Muska probably thought that it'd end up as a shooting spree. This is why Muska is shown to reload and why he looked so shocked when Pazu threw down his gun. I mean, come on, would Muska, a guy who threatened to shoot off a girl's ears, willingly give time for his opponents to discuss? If Muska still had bullets left, he would've just shot and killed Sheeta, then shoot Pazu in the knee to make him immobilized and torture him for the location of the stone. Muska's scary aiming shown earlier proves that he could've easily done so.

8.7