Howl's Moving Castle | Patreon Exclusive | Unedited Reaction (Patreon)

Okay.. Honestly, this one quickly shot up to my FAVORITE Ghibli movie so far ✨

The MUSIC, the details, the animation, the vibe.. It completely swept me away.I was transported into a dream that made more emotional sense the longer I stayed inside of it.And I LOVED Sophie and Howl.Their love story was this huge, obvious romance constantly announcing itself in beautiful ways. And now realizing back to the very beginning of the story, Howl does tell Sophie "There you are. I was looking everywhere for you." which connects to the time loop where Sophie travels to the past to tell young Howl to find her in the future 😱 Something I honestly didn't put together until I watched this one a SECOND time already later that night lol. I just had to.. I put it on in the background while I was getting some admin/editing work done for YouTube and that realization hit me like a wave.But I think my favorite part of this was Sophie's transformation. At first, I kept trying to understand the rules of the curse. Why was she sometimes suddenly younger? Was it only when she is asleep?Why is she getting old again?Then it started to click.The curse wasn't only something the Witch of the Waste had done to Sophie. It was more like the physical form that Sophie already believed herself to be. I LOVE THAT.Her appearance ties to how she sees herself. When she's afraid or insecure, the years creep back onto her. But when she's passionate, confident, or completely consumed by love.. we see Sophie underneath it all. It makes her curse feel painfully human. Like maybe I have one of those too..How many of us become smaller versions of ourselves simply because we've decided that's all we're allowed to be? THAT message is what shot this one up to my favorite Ghibli experience so far.And then there's Howl. So incredibly charming. Almost a complete opposite of Sophie. He has this enormous magical identity around him. He's beautiful, powerful, mysterious, and honestly dramatic as hell LOL. This man literally melted down because his hair wasn't the perfect shade.The more I learned about him, the more I realized Howl isn't this fearless wizard. He's running too. From responsibilities. From the war. From people who only want to use him and his power and his love. From the pieces of himself he's given away.And Sophie becomes this little anchor inside all of that chaos.She witnesses Howl's heart being lost during his childhood.That moment felt so strange and beautiful and sad. I went into this one expecting another beautiful Ghibli movie and walked away remembering that I am worthy. Worthy of being loved. Worthy of living my own life. Worthy of finding love in someone who helps me remember who I am when the world changed me into something else.So I loved this one.. It was weird. Beautiful. Funny. Romantic. Occasionally very confusing lol.But maybe that's why I loved it so much?I can't wait for Spirited Away in a few weeks!Thank you for your support on Patreon!Relax and enjoy 🍿🌿SYNC ALONG LINK: https://youtu.be/OHR0XiGqke8I watched this on HBO Max