Howl’s moving castle (Original name:ハウルの動く城) is a well known animated fantasy/romance movie, directed and scripted by japanese Hayao Miyazaki, one of the most famous animators today. The film had it’s world premiere in 2004 and was released in japanese theaters later in the same year. The film is based on a novel by a british writer Diana Wynne Jones. The soundtrack of the movie is composed by Joe Hisaishi, who has composed the scores for many other Miyazaki’s works as well and is known to be an excellent composer. I enjoy the soundtracks of the movie greatly myself, especially the main theme of the movie called ’merry-go-round of life has always been my favorite out of them all.

The events of the film are placed in a fantasy world where the main character’s, Sophie’s, home country is caught up in the beginning of a war, the cause being the sudden disappearance of the neighbor country’s prince. The tale starts by introducing Sophie, who works as a hatter in a small hat shop. She is on her way to see her sister when she suddenly encounters a mysterious man called Howl, who also appears to be a wizard. Later that night, a witch who is pursuing Howl curses Sophie and turns her into an old woman. Sophie is terrified at first, but soon accepts the situation and leaves her hometown and family to seek a cure for her curse. Almost as soon as Sophie starts her journey, she accidentally saves a living scarecrow. As a show of gratitude the scarecrow takes her to a moving castle owned by none other than the same Howl Sophie had met earlier, and soon she is caught up in an adventure she could have never dreamed of.

Sophie is a quiet and responsible 18-year-old girl. She’s the oldest of three sisters and works in her late father’s hat shop with her mother. Sophie has brown, long hair which she keeps in a braid. She’s not very self confident and is always wearing dull clothes, saying that she’s not beautiful or interesting at all.
Another important character, Howl (who is my own favorite), is a powerful wizard who values his privacy, avoiding all kinds of conflict. He has shoulder-length blonde hair and light blue eyes. He is also very tall and slender, looking slightly feminine. Howl has a kind and forgiving heart, but he also tends to be a bit flamboyant and cowardly at times.
Witch of the waste, the woman who cursed Sophie is a talented and once beautiful witch who tried to use magic to keep herself looking young. However later in the movie she becomes one of the protagonists after her magic powers are drained off, leaving her as a harmless old woman.
There are also several other characters worth mentioning in the movie, for example Howl’s apprentice Markl and the antagonist of the movie: Madame Suliman who hunts down wizards and witches for military purposes.

I’ve watched the movie several times, and it’s probably one of my top favorites from Hayao Miyazaki (another one being spirited away). I enjoy fantasy movies a lot, and Miyazaki’s movie adaption makes me really want to read the original book too, even if it’s said to be very different from the movie. The finnish dub of the film is allright, but I’d still advice to watch it in it’s original language, since the voice acting is much more enjoyable that way.