Hero Cycle Film Assignment

Rosie Huang
Chosen Movie: studio ghibli's spirited away
 1/ Call to Adventure

Our female protagonist, Chihiro, is shown to be upset due to her wilting flower bundle and
reluctance to attend a new school. The scene is not one of unordinary nature; her mother lightly
chides her, the family drives down a highway with a fair share of other cars, and they wear what
one would expect them to. However, the ensuing exit they take leads them to the thicket of a
strange forest, one they choose to continue through as the parents spot their new house in the
distance.
 2/ Refusal of call

Chihiro is initially unwilling to pass through the mysterious tunnel her family has stumbled
upon, finding the many smiling rock formations that she saw through the forest unsettling. She
gives in and enters with her parents once they announce she can wait at the car for them. She
dons the appearance of a young girl, so it is clear to see why she is nervous about being separated
from her guardians; she is largely reliant on their support and advice during this period of her
life.
 3/ Supernatural Aid

When her parents come across a stall flush with piping hot delicacies, they gorge themselves,
inconsiderate of whoever has prepared it. Fed up with their greed and ignorance of her whines to
stop, Chihiro begins to explore among the buildings of faded wood and red lanterns. It is on a
bridge where she meets a boy, Haku. He offers her brief and ominous advice while guiding her
towards where she came from: leave before the dark floods the sky.
 4/ CROSSING FIRST THRESHOLD

While hurrying back to her parents with the warning on her mind, the day becomes dark and
ghostly silhouettes begin to roam the streets. She is horrified when she discovers that there are
two grotesque hogs sitting in the place where her parents were, frantically running around in an
attempt to find them. She has lost the last piece of familiarity in this unknown place: her mother
and father.
 5/ Belly of the whale

Chihiro seeks a job at the bathhouse after Haku proposes the idea to her. Though the entrance is
only accessible through a dangerous slope of staircases, her determination drives her will to
succeed. She plays it safe and takes her time, eventually reaching her destination. The general
area becomes the main setting for the rest of the movie, a tower of unfamiliar customs and
creatures, much unlike the world of humans she was so accustomed to.
 6/ ROAD OF TRIALS

To obtain the job, Chihiro must seek an audience with Yubaba, the operator of the bathhouse.
She tries to scare the young girl off with threats, insults to her character, and aggressive
behaviour paired with the powers she possesses. It seems she is nearly about to break when tears
spill from her eyes, but the pair are interrupted before that can happen. Yubaba presents the girl
with a contract, allowing her to work at the bathhouse in exchange for her name.
 7/ MEETING OF THE GODDESS

Though our protagonist has successfully begun her job at the bathhouse, she is treated poorly by
most of the other workers and has difficulty adjusting to her new life. After a trip to see her porky
parents with Haku, he presents her with some of her belongings, most notably a card with her
true name. Packaged onigiri is also what he brings, a few cautious bites of the rice bundle later
leading to the weeping Chihiro. She reflects upon the kindness Haku has shown her in the
moment, especially appreciative of the reminder of her name as she would never be able to leave
without knowing it.
 8/ TEMPTATION

After Chihiro manages her first customer, a river spirit, with the collective help of many other
workers, it leaves behind the remnants of what had existed in its body. Aside from the pile of
rubbish, small pieces of gold are strewn around. The bath workers are desperate for a piece, so a
mysterious guest of translucent black and a smiling mask uses this to his advantage, offering
tidbits of the shiny metal in exchange for food. Assuming that Chihiro will be tempted by the
same thing, he summons up dozens upon dozens of pellets in his hands, only to be politely
rejected.
 9/ atonement with the father

The rejection of the offering angers the masked guest, leaving Chihiro to run away in fear. She
unknowingly enters the headquarters of Yubaba, narrowly missing being caught after
eavesdropping on the woman’s conversation. To avoid the owner’s line of sight, she hid in a stack
of cushions that happened to be occupied by none other than Yubaba’s baby. He threatens to
break her arm if she doesn’t play with him, something that could possibly lead to her death if not
treated.
 10/ APOSTASIS

Haku, currently in his dragon form, is badly injured and is on the verge of death. Though he does
not technically die, the item he has taken from the bathhouse owner’s twin sister has a curse that
would have ended his life, if not for the intervention of Chihiro. The entrance of the girl is not
premeditated, and there has been no indication that Haku has the power to see into the future, so
it can be presumed that he was expecting to lose his life in this situation.
 11/ THE ULTIMATE BOON

In order to return to the regular world with her parents, Chihiro must break the contract she
signed with Yubaba by correctly identifying her parents from a group of pigs. She is successful in
doing so, coming to the conclusion that none of the pigs are her parents. The contract goes up in a
cloud of smoke, null and void.
 12/ REFUSAL OF RETURN

Though she is ecstatic to return home and reunite with her human parents, she is reluctant to
leave Haku behind. To ease her mind, he tells her that he will be able to return as well after
speaking with Yubaba, now able to break his contract after Chihiro correctly identified his lost
name; she stumbled upon an old memory while riding upon his dragon form, one where she fell
into a body of water resembling Haku’s name: the Kohaku River. Her prediction is confirmed to
be correct after the dragon unexpectedly reverts into his human form.
15/ CROSSING THE RETURN THRESHOLD

Her journey back to the tunnel is not one of danger, instead one of swaying grass and a green
field. She finds her parents there, having no recollection of what transpired. They are eager to
return to their car to leave the forest and finally reach their new home.
 16/ MASTER OF TWO WORLDS

Now back in the fated forest, Chihiro looks back at the tunnel with wide eyes and what I believe to
be a longing expression, reminiscing on the experiences she had. She is glad to be reunited with
her parents in the real world, but does not seem to be regretful of what had occurred in the world
of mythical beings and powers.
 17/ FREEDOM TO LIVE

While driving off into the distance, Chihiro’s father mentions the new school and home they must
settle into as a family. Though she was put off and unwilling to do so at the beginning of the
movie, she now states that she does not find an issue with it. What she went through has given her
a comparison of hardships, and she has likely deemed integrating herself into a new community
as much easier to do than fighting to survive.