Customer Reviews

Spirited Away

5 star:		(42)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Spirited Away isn't the current #1 highest-grossing movie in Japan for no reason. It's exciting, gorgeous, and enchanting. It has beautiful animation, an imaginitive story... and a wonderful soundtrack. The intruige, danger, and love of the pieces breathes as much life into the film as the visuals do.

"One Summer's Day" starts it all, as Chihiro rides in the back of the car to her family's new home. It's a sweet melody, and it does sound like the theme for a lost child. It also introduces the beautiful theme of Spirited Away, with a soft piano and seldom string instruments. It ends with the fast-paced ride to the abandoned amusement park.

"Nighttime Coming" is very dramatic, and sympathetic as well. It's also awe-inspiring, as you feel the changes going on around Chihiro as the music plays and the scenery alters to that of the spirit world. This can't be told through the music, but similar themes seem woven into the piece.

"Dragon Boy" is simply magnificent, though I wonder if it should have been placed later in the soundtrack. Nonetheless, it is exciting and is exactly the type of music that truly represents Spirited Away.

"Sootballs" is a charming piece, if a bit long, but you can tell the struggle occuring in it, despite how happy and cute it sounds. "Procession of the Gods" is probably one of my favorite tracks, though perhaps only for its grandeur, as it sweeps with the serving of the spirits in the bathhouse, as well as remaining a type of simple Japanese rythm at the same time.

"Yubaba" is eerie and tense, and is easily distinguished as the villain's theme for the track, even if you haven't seen the movie. The slow, isolated piano plinks really establish the setting of the piece.

"Bathhouse Morning" has a very sweet sounding little theme inside it, and while that part is short, it makes the whole song wonderful.

"Stink Spirit" is very, very simple at first, but it gets better as it goes along. Like much of the music, it works better with the image, but it does reach its own drama, and eventually triumph as the piece comes to its climax and conclusion.

"Kaonashi" isn't that enjoyable in audio for. As great of a character as No-Face was, his theme really only worked while he was present in front of you... whatever he was. There's nothing really wrong with this piece; it simply isn't that interesting to listen to.

"The Sixth Station" is a well-paced, beautiful piece, and is very sad as well. It creates an emotion that even conveys the color tones you can't see when just listening to it. Amidst the depression within it, there is also a line of hope, which is easily distinguished among all the sad strings, revealing that they are also strings of struggle, and possible triumph.

"Yubaba's Panic" is pretty much just a reorchestration of "Yubaba," yet faster paced and with a couple of additions. "House at Swamp Bottom" is very homely and peaceful, a theme that reminisces to times of reading a good book or simply feeling cozy at home.

"Reprise" is probably the most moving piece on the soundtrack. It's filled with drama, sadness, exhultance, and joy. The scene accompanying it is equally beautiful, but is greatly helped by the piece, which can easily stand on its own and deserves much listening.

"Return" has an exciting opening the drifts into the theme of Spirited Away, as well as a sad overture to the end. "Always With Me" is a bit of a disappointment as the ending love song, but it's decent enough to hold.

I suppose the only thing wrong with the soundtrack is that, if you haven't seen the movie, many of the pieces won't get you the same way. And if you have seen the movie, it really makes you want to watch it again. So either way, it relies on the movie. There are exceptions, and of course, everything sounds beautiful, but it's this problem that holds the soundtrack back a star. Otherwise, a wonderful orchestration by Joe Hisaishi and I look forward to hearing more of his work in the future.

-Escushion

There is a common saying in Asia that goes like this: "The older the ginger, the spicier it gets." Basically it means that as people age, their output becomes more specialized.

That is the case with Hayao Miyazaki, and his longtime collaborator Joe Hisaishi. The movie "Spirited Away" has been considered Hayao Miyazaki's masterpiece, an epic film that will be remembered as the centerpiece of Miyazaki's long and prosperous career. The same can be said about the film's score. It is too a masterpiece.

The purpose of a film score is to convey the mood of the particular sequence in the film. Nobody does this better than Hisaishi, and his score of "Spirited Away" is no exception. The music blends in so perfectly with the action that you hardly notice it, but you know that once it's gone, or replaced with punk rock, then the entire scene becomes completely different.

However, good scores don't just convey mood perfectly, but they must also be good enough to stand alone. This is where Hisaishi's score comes alive. Its opening song, "One Summer Day" (Ano Natsu He) begins with a tune that is slow and soft, yet powerful enough to coax tears from the emotional. Within two minutes, it has become almost a completely different tune. It is now fast and loud, yet still retains its harmony.

The remaining 20 pieces are all a pleasure to listen to. Even the most discordant pieces in the score (such as "The Bottomless Pit" [Sokonashi ana]) are wonderful to listen to. This is definitely one of the most underrated soundtracks of all time.

Joe Hisaishi has written the soundtracks to many of Miyazaki's films, but of them all, this is the best. It may have something to do with the fact that this movie is the best of them all, but something about it all makes this simply the best soundtrack and score I have ever encountered, not only of Miyazaki's film scores.

The movie starts out with "One Summer's Day", a soft, beautiful little opening, gentle and sweet. Afterwards comes "A Road to Somewhere", and it is with this piece that the slight creepiness of the movie sets in. "The Empty Restaurant" is even creepier and spookier. In it you can imagine everything that is going on in t he movie. It gives off a feeling of urgency and fear, which is fits the movie perfectly.

"Nighttime Coming" continues the creepy theme with the consistent beat at the beginning and then a tumble of notes that begin to show fear and panic. "The Dragon Boy" is a dramatic little piece that is quick and proud at the same time, lovely at times, loud at other times, and even slightly scary at some moments. "Sootballs" is a cute little thing, amusing and adorable. It fits the cute image of the sootballs perfectly with their slightly strange personalities but their overall adorable aspects. "Procession of the Spirits" is very dramatic, but a little boring at the beginning, though it fits the movie wonderfully. "Yubaba" is commanding and tough. "Bathhouse Morning" is a short transition piece, taking on aspects from other parts of the score.

"Day of the River" contains a recurring theme in the score. It is a lovely, gentle piece full of emotion, piano, and a soft orchestra. This is one of the best parts of the score, and is simply wonderful. "It's Hard Work" is a bit less of the western orchestral type of song and more different and has a very different sort of rhythm. "The Stink Spirit" has a strong beat throughout most of the song, and the song indicates a bit of creepiness and fear again. "Sen's Courage" is like a continuation of the previous track, but a little more cautious and tentative. "The Bottomless Pit" is strong, loud, and almost frightening. "Kaonashi (No Face)" has several different themes in it, all describing the character and his rapid progression through the bathhouse.

The next part is without a doubt the best. "The Sixth Station" is a beautiful and sad piece. It follows Chihiro/Sen as she rides on the train through the flooded region. In the movie everything is beautiful and lovely, and the soundtrack matches that perfectly. It's soft with a wonderful piano and strings part. Even if it wasn't part of the movie it would be incredible, because it's a wonderful piece of music.

"Yubaba's Panic" describes precisely that. It is a panic-struck song with Yubaba's theme woven into it. "The House at Swamp Bottom" is another cute little transition piece. "Reprise" is a lovely almost-ending, dramatic orchestral piece summing up most of the score well. "The Return" also draws on many of the beginning themes again ("Day of the River" and "One Summer's Day"), though it has a bit of a stranger, less-orchestral beginning as well. The soundtrack ends with "Always With Me", a gentle song that is a very dreamy ending to the movie.

Unlike some of Hisaishi's other soundtracks ("Mononoke", "Laputa", for example), "Spirited Away" doesn't have many solid, strong themes recurring throughout the movie. It has individual pieces, with a few themes here and there, but all in all the music is meant to create a mood rather than explain what is happening in the movie. Each individual song is beautiful, charming, emotional, and a wonderful listen.

The score has very many different styles. It fits the movie wonderfully. If there is one soundtrack ever that one should buy, it's this incredible one.

Yes I throw the word masterpiece around a lot when referring to Spirited Away, and for good reason. Not only is the movie visually astounding and psychologically fulfilling, but the soundtrack compliments it perfectly, no exceptions. The only other score I have ever seen compliment a film so well is John Williams' Empire Strikes Back score, another of my all-time favorites. Yet this one is more soothing, more contemplative, and envokes more images. Every time I hear it I see the movie, and I listen to this constantly, in the background or with headphones.

Tracks 2, 11, and 16 are undoubtably my favorites, especially 16 (my favorite scene of the movie just happens to have the most soothing score from the soundtrack as well!), and the only flaws are that track 16 is surrounded by the 2 worst on the CD, which are loud and very unstable (intentionally, to fit the movie, but I wish they'd somehow managed to place track 16 in a more soothing area of the CD, so I wouldn't jump every time the next track came on). Also, they left out a song I downloaded online called Solitude, which is another of my favorites and did not make the cut. Ah well, overall this is one of the best instrumental soundtracks I've ever heard, please do yourself a favor and buy it immediately after seeing the movie.

Just as all of Hayao Miyazaki's films are magnificent, so are all of Joe Hisaishi's scores for those films; and just as "Spirited Away" is the greatest of all Miyazaki's works, so Hisaishi's music reaches a new level of beauty in this score. From the haunting opening theme to the dark, foreboding tones that accompany Yubaba's first appearance and the eerie, almost steel-drum-like leitmotif of No Face, the music perfectly matches Miyazaki's astonishingly imaginative visuals and deepens the emotional resonance of the film. And unlike so many drab, unmemorable scores, Hisaishi's melodies stay with you long after the film is over (or the CD's stopped playing).

Hisaishi turned his scores for "Totoro" and "Mononoke" into symphonic suites; is it too much to hope for similar treatment for "Spirited Away"?

Though this might sound a bit strange, I consider Sen's journey by train from Yubaba's onsen bath to Zeniba's house to be the heart & soul of Miyazaki Hayao's film "Sen To Chihiro no Kamikakushi" (marketed by Disney as "Sprited Away", but also reasonably well translated as "Sen & The Mysterious Disappearance of Chihiro"). This one short and rather transitional scene has no dialogue and very little action, unless you consider a 10-year-old girl looking out a train window to be action. However, in that short time we come to understand Sen's personal transformation better than we ever could with words or action. As Sen looks out the train window we also see her reflection in the window (a great parallel to Yasunari Kawabata's famous novel "Yukiguni"("Snow Country"), in which the main character, Shimamura,　travels by train to an onsen as he stares out the window and into a woman's reflection). Passing images outside the train coincide with the rhythm of Joe Hisaishi's score & create an extremely arresting and magical CINEMATIC moment--something that couldn't be captured by prose or poetry; something that couldn't be captured on canvas by paint. The balance between the images & the music is what makes this a special scene, and without either element, the magic is lost. As I listen to track 16 "Sixth Station" I can't help but reimagine Miyazaki's images. The music & the images are inextricable from each other, and that is the sign of a great soundtrack.

I admit to being a Miyazaki chauvinist pig. Not only is he the greatest living animation director and a master storyteller, but he has the perfect partner in Joe Hishashi. Hishashi has done the music for all of Miyazaki's films and has done superb work over the years. His music has enriched Miyazaki's visuals and stories for almost two decades.

His work on Spirited Away is his best yet. His themes and orchestrations are varied and powerful. As this is Miyazaki's most strongly Japanese-themed film, the use of Japanese instruments and vocals, combined with traditionally Western harmony, themes, and orchestrations, along with uncharacteristic dissonance in places, suits the movie's needs perfectly. The performances and recording are letter-perfect; I cannot recall a better recording for clarity of sound, balance, or technique.

Soundtrack recordings often show that sound editors and mixers have misused a composer's work or allowed the best of a soundtrack to go unheard in the theater. This is not the case here; the use of Hishashi's soundtrack in Spirited Away is about as good as it gets. This film is a masterpiece on all levels, including the music.

I have never owned a Hisaishi score, but this one is great. The themes are so memorable! I can assure you that the music is not cliche like or cheesy. It's highly original, especially if you've never heard an Asian influenced score. The music is poetic, beautiful, and scenic. A very colorful album that ranges from happy music to explorative music to heart warming tracks.I absolutely adore the piano driven music, like A Summer Day and Sixth Station. Absolutely something. If you don't have the score, buy it now! Satisfaction garunteed!

This is an excellent score and there are many interesting tracks on this CD. It's number 1 in my list for relaxation. Give it a shot and be mesmerized by the grand music or be touched by the light tune of the flute. Two thumbs up for this soundtrack.

I don't think plagiarism should be taken lightly. That is why I was so aghast to see someone saying that this award-winning composer was guilty of plagiarism. Shame on that reviewer! Granted, I didn't have the sheet music for each soundtrack in front of me, but I think I can safely assume, with the ludicrous accusations, neither did the previous reviewer. I went through the samples of some of the songs of both Merry Christmas... and Spirited Away. You would think before making such an accusation about an award winning composer you would do some research. I have watched the movie Spirited Away, but I have not seen Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence. I did, though, listen to some samples of the music, nothing sounds like a copy to anything from Spirited Away. Perhaps she is referring to a specific measure or stanza that I have not heard. If so, she should state specifics before making outrageous and unfounded statements about such (OR ANY) composer!

Only reason for 4 stars is though I love almost all of the music, there is one piece that reminds me of being in an elevator...a very nice elevator...but an elevator!:) Always With Me is exquisite!!! I wish I could find the sheet music and a CD by Youmi Kimura!