I had heard of Spirited Away before and had started to watch it before but ended up watching something else. I’m very glad that I watched it for this seminar. I think that this movie is very approachable for my students. Anime is a very heated topic for my students as some love anime and others can’t stand it. I like that this movie has some style elements from anime that my students who are fans will recognize and appreciate but the movie is not overly anime in feel, so I think my other students will not be put off by it.
While watching the movie I found myself thinking about the movie Coco quite a bit. I currently have the students watch Coco in class and then have various projects that go with the movie. I think that this would be a great companion piece for my class. After watching Coco we could watch Spirited Away and then compare the themes and settings and trials both children face.