Spirited Away

The first graphic novel in the five-part Spirited Away series, based on the motion picture and depicted using screenshots from the same, begins with a picture of a goodbye note. It is addressed to Chihiro, the story’s protagonist, and seems to be from her best friend, Rumi. Rumi says she will miss Chihiro, and the note is surrounded by a bouquet of pink flowers, which likely symbolize Rumi’s wish for Chihiro to have a happy journey to her new home and new life. Chihiro’s mother can be heard commenting about how they seem to be “in the middle of nowhere” (6) as Chihiro lies in the back seat of the Ogino family car, looking listless and forlorn. Chihiro’s father points out Chihiro’s new school as they drive by, trying to instill some excitement into his daughter, but she sticks her tongue out and spits at it instead. Chihiro says, “It’s gonna stink. I liked my old school” (9) and buries her face in the seat. Suddenly, she sees a petal drop off the flowers while holding them and panics because they are dying. Across many pages of the graphic novel, “katakana” drift across the pages, indicating sound effects such as the car’s “vrooooom” (10) sound or the “fwish” (10) that Chihiro’s flowers make as she swishes them around in panic.