Anime: Castle in the Sky

Author & Director: Hayao Miyazaki

Castle in the Sky was created in the 80’s based on a story written by Jonathan Swift and follows the lives of two amazing children Sheeta and Pazu. Sheeta is an orphan girl who is chased by agents of an unknown government. Their goal is to get Sheeta’s blue magic amulet from her grandmother that enables her to fly and escape from various dangerous situations. At the same time a family of pirates are trying to obtain the same amulet in order to get rich.

Pazu lost his family as well and lives in a mining town. His dream is to follow his father’s path and find the legendary floating world Laputa.

Sheeta hides in Pazu’s village and the big-hearted boy helps her escape both the agents and the pirates but not for long. In the end the girl is captured by the agents and Pazu is forced to leave her captive in a fortress. But as he returns to his home he is captured by the pirates and he makes a deal to help them to get the amulet and to set Sheeta free.

The anime continues with the struggle between the agents and the pirates, Sheeta and the power obsessed Muska.

This is a beautiful film about friendship and love not only for children but also for adults. The characters are stylized and have beautiful features; the anime is colorful but very pleasant for the eye. Laputa is then magnificent with its trees and gardens and ate the center of the world is a giant ancient tree like in Avatar.

Not only the story and the anime itself are great but also the music is special:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=229K5n_PRJA

And the amazing interpretation of the ending theme composed by Joe Hisaishi:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9rs1WKwuwoM