Hayao Miyazaki has moved and affected so many of us in different ways with some of the most memorable films in animation history such as, Howl’s Moving Castle, Princess Mononoke and what will probably be my favorite for the rest of my life, Spirited Away.

The 2001 masterpiece was the second animated film to ever be given an Academy Award in America and the first anime and non-English speaking movie to be given the Oscar.  After opening in Japan on July of 2001, the film became the highest grossing movie in Japanese history and the first to make 200 million dollars in the worldwide box office before even opening in the United States.  Since 2008, Spirited Away has been reported to have grossed over 364 million dollars.

This beautiful story features Chihiro as the main character, a girl who is separated from her parents and whisked away to a world where she learns to become an adult while still maintaining childlike wonder.  She is assisted by a cast of magical beasts and gods that she interacts with at a bathhouse, including the mysterious No Face.

Kaonashi, which literally means, without face, is a spirit whom Chihiro encounters on a rainy night and takes pity on, offering the lonely creature to come into the warmth of the bathhouse and out of the storm, while everyone else shuns and calls him a monster.  No Face in turn, attempts to help Chihiro by offering her gold, which she does not accept and instead, simply thanks him for his help during her scene with the River God.

No Face is a very interesting character and my absolute favorite in the film, if not top five anime characters ever.  He reacts to the negative emotions that the other employees of the bathhouse create, by turning into a huge, grotesque monster because of their insatiable greed.  No Face, in reaction to the greed, had actually swallowed employees, the gluttony he shows for food a literal comparison to their gluttony for money.

What simply fascinates me about No Face is his ability to articulate his feelings, needs and desires without speaking and with basically no facial expressions, as hindered by his mask.  I feel that when he swallows a Toad and is given vocal ability, that is when No Face is at his weakest.  This creature is able to show how desperate he is for friendship, acceptance, a traveling companion to keep him from being lonely, and all while barely letting out a whisper.  Another great aspect of his character is that, even though he is a spirit, clearly magical and unable to speak, he still learns.  Chihiro helps him with patience and to not partake in overindulgence, offering No Face a character arc, just like everyone else in the film.

The happy endings Miyazaki makes me crave do not, thankfully, overlook my dear No Face, granting him a home, a cause in his wandering existence and most importantly, a friend.  My fascination with No Face, from a storyteller point of view, is Miyazaki’s ability to convey so much without speaking, as that is the ultimate test of anyone who tells stories, be it films, cartoons, comics or novels.  I feel every Miyazaki film has at least one character that touches fans like No Face does me.