Review

Spirited Away: Hayao Miyazaki’s Supernatural Tale Arrives on the London Coliseum Stage

A sumptuous and faithful adaptation of the Oscar-winning animation — but just who is this play for?

SPIRITED AWAY. Kanna Hashimoto (Chihiro) and Hikaru Yamano (Kaonashi or No-Face). Photo by Johan Persson. Courtesy of London Coliseum

I don’t recall the exact year that I first saw Studio Ghibli’s film Spirited Away (千と千尋の神隠し). It may have been 2001: the year it first came out in Japan, or I may have rented it in 2003: the year it won an Oscar for best animated feature and blew Hollywood’s minds.

Either way, I watched it in Japan, in Japanese, and without subtitles.

This is not a flex. My Japanese at the time was rubbish. And as a result, seeing it a few years later with subtitles (and moderately better Japanese) was like watching it again for the first time. Still, even during that original, half-understood viewing, I knew I’d seen a work of vision. Many, many years later, I still find new things to love.

Fast-forward to 2024, and the stage adaptation of Spirited Away has arrived for its European tour — starting in London’s West End. I had to see it.

For those unfamiliar with the story, Chihiro is a ten-year-old girl who finds herself separated from her parents and trapped in the spirit world. There, she is forced to work at a…