y’all mind if i rant about the really cool details i noticed in Howl’s Moving Castle

1. i think it’s insane how the war started because of the missing prince (who was turned into the scarecow by the witch) and his OWN country accused sophie’s country of kidnapping him

2. i adore howl but what fucked me up is how sophie’s kiss broke the spell on turnip-head (the prince), meaning she was his true love. but his true love was in love with !!! someone else !!!!

the witch of the waste SPECIFICALLY mentioned it when she told the prince, "it seems that your true love is in love with someone else” that’s crazy but i like how he accepts it w/o any sour feeling. meaning sophie fell in love with howl despite “fate”

3. when she throws water on calcifer and enters the portal to howl’s childhood

THIS WAS IMPORTANT she got to see how calcifer and howl made their bargain when he was younger and understands that to help them both she needs to return howl's heart to his body

which means calcifer had been keeping howl's heart FOR him which ended up enslaving them both. and as she starts falling back through the portal, she tells them to meet her in the future and thats exactly what brought her back to the present

4. calcifer is no fire demon??? despite what he told her, he came down to the earth as a shooting star!!! his deal with howl was so he could extend his lifespan FAR beyond his own means, unlike his brothers who d*ed in a matter of moments

5. howl’s pseudonyms were smart

i understood Madame Suliman never met any of the wizards in the realm. they all signed a binding document pledging themselves to the king's service if called on, that’s why howl was trying to keep his freedom through his aliases

6. the moving castle had an ultimate function: being a place that could not be found. i found it so cool that its purpose wasn’t traveling and moving places, its goal was to be a non-stationary point or else the witch of the waste would find + attack howl

7. sophie becoming younger!!!!!!

the witch’s “curse” was tied to sophie’s self-esteem. whenever she gained confidence in herself or felt love (for howl or markl) her features got younger. apparently the witch’s spell wore off shortly after but SHE was the one keeping it alive

y’all hear this????? when sophie STOPPED convincing herself she wasn’t beautiful, that she was useless and unlovable she got more beautiful!!!!

8. SOPHIE IS A WITCH

this was confirmed in the book. when she walked on air, howl called her a “natural”. when the ship was sinking in the port, sophie could SEE the witch’s henchmen!!!!! only her + markl could see them and markl IS a wizard in training

9. howl has the heart of a child

this is insane bc it only hit me now. his heart stopped "maturing" once it got taken by a demon. think about howl's bedroom in the movie: it's FILLED with toys and shiny objects. he throws TEMPER TANTRUMS and has stuffed animals on his bed

even in sophie's dream where she tells him she loves him, the weird tunnels are filled with children's toys. he hadn’t matured his heart until he met sophie. loving her forced him to grow up and have better self-esteem

10. i just wanna talk about how they had matching rings and he made a special room for her? bought her new clothes because he thought SHE deserved them. it meant a lot to sophie (who got younger in the scene) considering she always felt self-conscious and unwanted

ultimately, Miyazaki’s message was that true love does not mean soulmate. if sophie was turnip-head‘s true love, and vice versa, then they would’ve been together. but it was one sided and that’s okay