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Ending of Spirited Away question (semi-spoiler, so if you haven't seen it don't read this) XD

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Jun 14, 2010 8:34 AM
#1
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May 2010
3
How much time do you think has passed once Chihiro and her parents get back to the car?
The path is completely overgrown, there's dust in the car, and leaves all over the car.

The ending always lingered in my mind. :S
I'm guessing either a) optimistically a few months to a year b) pessimistically could be years or more (the whole fairy tale theme of entering the Spirit World/Fairy then leaving years and years later)

What are your thoughts???
Jun 14, 2010 8:40 AM
#2

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Dec 2009
978
19 years.

Aug 11, 2010 2:01 PM
#3

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Aug 2009
439
i think it was 3-6 months .. ^^ i don't think it was too long .. she didn't really change and the dust in the car ... u know dust can be there after a week and the car wasn't rusted at all (after 19 years the car must have looked quite antic xD)


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Aug 18, 2010 9:16 AM
#4

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Jan 2010
216
Perhaps time passes more slowly in the real world, so even though she spent a long time in the magic world, only a few months had passed (think Narnia, lol).
May 30, 2012 5:46 AM
#5

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Aug 2010
1286
Maybe a few months or even a few years? But i don't think they stayed in the spirit world that long...from what I see in the movie only a few days?

Anyway, i was hoping that Chihiro and Haku would meet again in the future or something, and i'm really sad it ends before that! Awww.. :( But i guess some things need to have such an ending
Mar 5, 2013 5:11 PM
#6

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May 2012
122
I guess about a month or two, because the plants already grew, but the car would be rusty if it was left over a year in the rain.
And it's a matter of weeks for dust to appear, even less than a month if the window was open.
Jan 21, 2014 8:23 PM
#7

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May 2010
15
much longer than a few months.

there are new trees that have grown, the paint on the building is gone, and for a stone path to become overgrown like that it would take ages. even the roof on the building seems to have been buried in plantlife.

i would say possibly decades have passed.

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-9Y3hoh5i86E/UFOEajSNziI/AAAAAAAAAJ4/9fQ_-qeYSJQ/s1600/spiritedaway.png
May 26, 2014 8:40 AM
#8

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May 2014
29
This is one of the most thought provoking questions. There are so many factors that could alter an answer's correctness in the slightest bit. Here are the things that have changed from the beginning to the end of the movie:
1. The building/ train station that Chihiro and her family first walk through to enter the Spirit World/ abandoned theme park is red and Asian looking with its roof tiles and sign with Japanese character (letters). At the end of the end of the film when Chihiro and her parents are going to their car, the building has turned into a stone white building with much vegetation growing on it.
2. The car has a lot of leaves covering it.
3. The forest is overgrown and abundant with vegetation.
4. During the movie, if you payed close attention to the scenery and background during the night scenes, than you should have noticed the moon often changing its phases.
Here are some possible amount of days/months/years they were in the Spirit World:
A. 15-20 years (1,2,3 see above) much like slth's prediction of 19 years. You can come to this conclusion thinking that the original building was demolished and a new building was built but then soon after abandoned. But why would they leave the Ogino's car in the middle of the path?
B. 4 days, take or give one day (2 see above) You can come to this conclusion by counting the times it is light/ dark in the spirit world. Yet I don't think a forest can grow that much in 3-5 days and a new building to magically appear in place of the red one.
C. 14 days, give or take a day (4 and 2 see above) You can come to this conclusion by watching the moon phases during her time in the spirit world. But, this does not explain the overgrown forest and stone building.
D. 3-6 months (2 and maybe 3 see above) As Connybaum said this could be correct. You can come to this conclusion because the leaves could have fallen on the car in that time and maybe the forest could have grown a lot. Still, no explanation as to why a new building is present.

Now, I have always thought that Spirit World Time is MUCH slower than Material (Human, Mortal, whatever you call it) Time. I have to disagree shellybell. I think the Human world is Narnia compared to the Spirit World.

Truthfully, I don't think there is an answer to this question. I think this question is really for you yourself to decide. I hope I did help someone find their answer though.

Sources used:
http://www.onlineghibli.com/tavern/print.php?threadid=238&boardid=4&styleid=1&sid=iu9u6mi2l3ftj46apd0mg6air1&page=1
PodTaku is Life
Sep 12, 2015 5:46 PM
#9

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Apr 2013
241
Statue doesn't even have a face anymore. For that to happen to a stone, decades must have passed. Also, paint and moartar fell off the building, there's only stone left, that's completely covered in vegetation. We clearly aren't talking about few days/weeks/months/years. It's decades.

Only problem would be the engine. How is it still running? Maybe it was protection magic from the hair tie, it did sparkle for a second there.

clickable▲
Dec 29, 2016 11:05 PM
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Jun 2016
7
I honestly think the plants might be a representation of how much Chihiro has grown and developed as a person and in her personality. Or it could also be the love and dignity that has grown within Chihiro towards Haku and her parents. After all, that whole place there belongs to the Spirit World, so it could be the magic/doings of the Spirit World and time didn't pass as much as everyone thinks in the Human World. But then again, all the theories and suggests said above, are plausible but this is just another theory that I thought of when I saw the ending.

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