Howl's Moving Castle

Howl's Moving Castle is my personal favorite out of Miyazaki's films. And I must say, out of Miyazaki's typical female protagonists, Sophie is definitely my favorite. She's typical in that she learns to take command of a situation at the end of the film, similar to how Sheeta does in Castle in the Sky. However, she is unique in that she is the most dependent female protagonist of Miyazaki's works (besides Lana from the anime Future Boy Conan). She pretty much admits that she wouldn't be the same without Howl, showing how devoted she is to him.
Even though the film is named after Howl, and even though Sophie is the main protagonist, I would have to argue that it is Calicifer who keeps the story together. This is symbolized by how he keeps the castle together and moving. So in a way, Calicifer is the storyteller, while the Castle is the story. The castle starts off as a mysterious place. Then as the climax arises, the castle falls apart, and at the most critical point in the story, it crumbles, with only a single board left moving. And at the end, when everything is solved, the castle returns to its original state and even flies off into the distance.
Miyazaki's films are known to end not like mainstream films, with a flashy conclusion and everything being perfect. His films usually end with things almost returning to its original state, nothing beyond then how it started. Therefore, the implication at the end of Howl's Moving Castle, with the characters forming a family unit and with the castle being able to fly, shows that Miyazaki is branching off in this film to become more mainstream. Majority of people do like happy, reassuring endings and that is exactly what Howl's Moving Castle has. Perhaps this is why it made so much and why it is considered one of Miyazaki's most successful film.

9.5

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