This is the English version of a post (in Spanish) published on Dec 4, 2016.

I always enjoy to read beetween lines. I like to dissect, analyze, understand. To extract the essence. To exalt the symbolism (and put it in many of my actions, at the sentimental level).

Occasionally, I feel identified with some background message in books and movies, just as happens in other people. Maybe recently I paid more attention to those background messages, in my attempt to cheer me up in recent months and convince myself that disgraces happening to me, also happens to others. Maybe as a pure instinct, I found myself buying the appealing “Be happy embarrasses me, and other tales”, and “I’m tired of me, and other tales”, written by S. Wainrach. But I realized that nothing have caused such powerful “mirror” sensation, to see my reflection in the symbolism of an external masterpiece, as Hayao Miyazaki films.

I’m not an Otaku, I don’t read mangas not watch anime series (except for InuYasha and Evangelion, in a very specific time and context), but later I understood, from that time I watched Spirited Away and then Castle in the Sky, Howl’s Moving Castle, Princess Mononoke, among others, until reaching the more recent The Wind Rises. All of them are different stories, but all converge in elements that someway, somehow, reflect my life almost perfectly. The recurrent analysis of his films is centered in invisible worlds, allusions to childhood and dreams, and those mostly are inviting to deep thoughts from the audience, but there’s something more in my case. A big amount of things happening to me (good or bad), are happening because I think too much, sometimes dreaming awake and make a bet that some situations or ideas belonging to an imaginary world, would be possible in the real world. Sometimes I feel I have enough talent or strength to bypass to an obstacle and the result can be positive or negative, but at the end of the day a part of me is still feeling so vulnerable as one of these characters from Studio Ghibli.

For some not-so-mysterious reason, it impresses/reflects a lot too, to know Miyazaki’s romantic vision behind animation (excerpts from here):

“To my way of thinking, creating animation means creating a fictional world. That world soothes the spirit of those who are disheartened and exhausted from dealing with the sharp edges of reality, or suffering from a near-sighted distortion of their emotions (…)”

Or his purpose in creating such films:

“My foundation is this: I want to send a message of cheer to all those wandering aimlessly through life.”

I don’t want to say spoilers, and I don’t think would be useful for this post’s purpose, specially for those familiar with the filmography of this Director, because they would realize what I’m talking about. For those who are not, but interested in knowing more only by reading, I can recommend a couple of in-depth analysis of his films, in Spanish and English. If I want to recommend something better, then I suggest to see any of his movies.

Maybe starting with Castle in the Sky.