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I saw that Spirited Away, Ponyo and Arrietty, all written by Hayao Miyazaki,
seem to have some common traits:

  * The hero is a girl.
  * Moreover, she is a girl who is special in some way.
  * She develops a friendship with a boy that is an "insider" and they help each other.
  * She seems to take a spiritual maturity journey while also building that friendship.

Is there some mystical connection to these themes or it is a mere coincidence?
Can someone shed some light on this matter?


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2013-01-23T19:50:08.233
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2021-11-28T04:54:07.243
2013-03-01T22:24:55.640
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hayao-miyazaki
Why do Spirited Away, Ponyo, and Arrietty have so much in common?


Miyazaki is often identified as a
[feminist](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Styles_and_themes_of_Hayao_Miyazaki#Feminism).
Almost all of his films have strong female protagonists, usually fairly young
girls, and challenge traditional gender roles in anime. This presumably
explains the first point.

As for the other three, I don't think these are particularly uncommon or
difficult to explain. The protagonist in anime is usually somehow special,
because a story about someone totally normal isn't usually going to be very
interesting. Likewise, for the third point, most anime have some form of
(possibly implied) romance, even in short movies. However, there's not a lot
of room in movies to introduce extraneous characters, so the love interest has
to be at least somewhat related to the plot. As for the final point, that's
just another way of saying that it's a coming-of-age story, which is very
common, especially with younger protagonists.

So other than the first point, I think these are just common anime tropes that
you'd frequently see elsewhere, especially in other movies.


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2013-01-23T20:38:42.407
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2013-01-24T04:37:26.607
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Hayao Miyazaki is a great writer, but he frequently recycles plots in his
stories. Compare the stories in Future Boy Conan, Nausicaa, and Laputa Castle
in the Sky. All post apocalyptic stories involving villains trying to find and
use ancient super-weapons. Whisper of the Heart and The Wind Rises both have
main characters that struggle to create something great. The main characters
in Porco Rosso and Howl's Moving Castle are men mentally scarred by war who
think of themselves as inhuman monsters, until the women in their life show
them they aren't so terrible.

It is not surprising you have found the parallels that you did between
Spirited Away, Ponyo and Arrietty.


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