Original poster artwork · Great Cinema Master ListOscar · 1
Spoiler-free premise
Ten-year-old Chihiro enters a bathhouse for spirits after her parents are transformed, taking work from the witch Yubaba and receiving help from the mysterious Haku.
Read expanded premiseLonger, still spoiler-free+
Ten-year-old Chihiro enters a spirit realm after her parents are transformed into pigs. To survive and help them, she accepts work in Yubaba's bathhouse, where Haku guides her through unfamiliar rules, creatures, and obligations.
Why it belongs
The bathhouse in Spirited Away teems with labor, appetite, and spirits, giving Chihiro's uncertain passage tactile form while joining courage and identity to environmental responsibility.
Read expanded why it belongsThe fuller editorial case+
Miyazaki assembles the bathhouse as a functioning world of labor, appetite, ritual, and environmental consequence—Chihiro's growth emerges through observed choices and hand-drawn behavior rather than explanatory speeches.
