In that very different but equally masterful film, poor Chihiro turned the wrong corner and crossed over into a world of shifting, often ominous realities, seemingly operating according to unknown and incomprehensible rules. But it’s not dreamlike in the manner of Miyazaki’s much later film Spirited Away, a few overlapping elements (like the fuzzy soot sprites) notwithstanding.
One might say there is there is something dreamlike about the adventures (if such nearly plotless proceedings can be described as “adventures”) of young Satsuki and her kid sister Mei, who arrive with their father in a new house somewhere in the rural Japanese countryside, a stunningly idyllic landscape of rice paddies, tree-shaded footpaths, and pristine forests.
