Hayao Miyazaki Reveals Spirited Away's Biggest Secret – Who No-Face Is

Summary:

• For more than 20 years, the main mystery of Hayao Miyazaki 's legendary anime Spirited Away was who No-Face really was.
• Hayao Miyazaki commented that No-Face is an example of a person who has no sense of self and clings to and adapts to others.
• After this comment, the behavior of No-Face became clear – he got bigger when he pleased others, and tried to to gain the favor of others with the help of gold and gifts.

More than 20 years ago, Hayao Miyazaki's legendary anime Spirited Away was released. It is by no means a children's movie: the story of the girl Chihiro takes the viewer on a journey and invites him to feel like a kid on the difficult path of growing up. What happens to the main character teaches everyone, regardless of age, simple and important things: hard work, gratitude, and dedication.

No-Face's Identity Was Spirited Away’s Biggest Mystery

Throughout this whole time, the main mystery of Spirited Away has been who No-Face is – most of the gods and spirits in the anime are taken from Japanese mythology, but No-Face is a figment of Hayao Miyazaki's own imagination.

No-Face is a lonely god who constantly follows Chihiro. The girl attracted his interest with her sincerity and kindness, qualities that most of the servants of the villainess Yubaba were not capable of.

Hayao Miyazaki Reveals Who No-Face Actually Is

Recently, the official Twitter account of Nippon TV's Kinyo Roadshow, the majority shareholder of Studio Ghibli, posted a comment from Hayao Miyazaki about who No-Face is, which can be translated as follows:

“Who exactly is No-Face? […] There are many people like No-Face in our midst. It’s the type of person who wants to latch on to others but doesn’t have a sense of themselves. They are everywhere. No Face exists without a sense of self and changes depending on the things and people it encounters.”

After this explanation, a lot of things fell into place, for example, it became clear why No-Face became larger when he managed to gain the favor of another person or spirit – his ego was fed by the recognition and therefore became larger.

No-Face Is The Saddest Spirited Away Character

The interest No-Face showed in Chihiro was due to the fact that the girl was friendly – No-Face was drawn to her like a moth to a flame, and tried to get her attention by giving her various useful things.

In his normal state, No-Face is a kind, harmless, and extremely lonely creature. The main message regarding No-Face is that he is actually a victim, not a villain. Of all the characters in this anime, his fate is the saddest, perhaps even surpassing Chihiro's difficult story.

Observing other ghosts, No-Face decided that he could win their love and friendship thanks to gold, but wealth cannot buy real feelings, just as you cannot fill the emptiness inside you by eating those around you.

Source: Kinyo Roadshow via X