It’s of absolute no question that the movie ‘Spirited Away’ is stocked with some amazing characters; very cryptic characters that the viewers have to scratch their heads, A LOT, to comprehend what they actually mean or rather what elements in the society they represent. As true as that may be, this one particular pitch black translucent figure-among many other spirits in the movie- simply just glued my attention to the storyline just as it materialized out of nowhere on top of the bridge.

First I must state that despite being an avid movie fan, I have never ever watched a single anime (I avoided them deliberately for some reason) and “Spirited Away” was the first of its kind that I have ever tried (courtesy of a suggestion I took from a crazy anime fan). So naturally, I was deemed to judge the whole anime universe from this particular movie and it’s accurate to say that “No Face” saved the day. So, since its first appearance on the bridge, I immediately understood that this was not just a childhood adventure story of Chihiro, but some real deep thing! The demeanor of No Face there was quite striking to me and quite shocking in a very pleasant way. He definitely had this air of unexplainable mystery (I think there’s no better way to introduce this enigmatic figure) and helplessness all blended in together, which immediately made me wonder “where would this guy fit in?”. And the truth is, I think No Face narrates a sub storyline of his own within this movie with his limited vocabulary of “ahh”s and lots of adorable staring.

On a deeper level, I personally believe No Face represents every single one of us, simply human beings with a most fundamental human trait, i.e. hiding what we truly are. For one, he’s MASKED, and what else would a mask do but hide? So what really is the deal with this mask; this first, most obvious, iconic thing you notice on his person? No Face is a black ghost, wearing a white mask. Wouldn’t that fact naturally hint at the good and the bad that makes people who they are and their constant struggle to subdue the black and exaggerate the white? How handy would a metaphorical white mask be if people are so keen on hiding the blackness within? As we later witness, No Face actually does stay true to his blackness when he starts to wreak havoc in the bathhouse, with his perfectly masked calmer self nowhere to be seen.

On the other hand, No Face exudes loneliness and you can almost sense the raw, tangible sadness of a lost soul disgorging from his aura. In No Face, I see a man without a purpose, a soul without a spark and simply someone who’s utterly lost in life who is in dire need of finding his way back to sanity. In an attempt to escape from this misery, he seeks the warmth of Chihiro, probably the only good and trustworthy person he might have encountered. Chihiro never prejudices No Face and we see how she keeps the bathhouse door open for him to come in and she seems about the only one who actually notices No Face. This dire need to escape is evident from the way he thrusts all the bath house tokens and gold on Chihiro, trying to befriend her, the only one he can be sure would save him.

Another example of the lostness that I am emphasizing here is No Face’s lack of identity. In this whole purgatory like reality, we encounter different forms of spirits (there are pigs and mostly frogs), most with a well-defined face or a form except for a few like No Face, who we can also assume are lost souls. To put it simply, a face defines a person’s identity and “No Face“ could simply mean “no identity”. As formless as he may be, to counter his “facelessness”, he constantly tries to steal the identities of the others around him, and assume their form (we see this with three bathhouse attendants). If you have no firm purpose in life to stabilize yourself and to keep you on track, it is more than easy to get pushed around and to be easily manipulated by the people around you, just like No Face getting manipulated by all of the people he gobbles up and getting aggravated simultaneously reflecting the qualities of his victims who are probably bad and greedy.

One of the absolutely best scenes of the movie for me was the dinner table scene at Zeniba’s place where Chihiro and Zeniba engage in conversation. While they do so, we get (I think the shot focuses on No Face there deliberately) a very amazing shot of a happy, peaceful No Face for the first time, enjoying his tea. He seems no longer confused, lonely or lost, but seems at peace with all the things that made him “No Face” in the first place. I absolutely LOVE how he finishes his tea, puts the cup down, takes the cake, cuts it in half with the knife, puts the knife down, eats one half with his fork, unhurried and very calming with unfazed focus. Watching this whole tea routine of his, carried out very comfortably surrounded by the people he chose to trust, made me really happy and satisfied about the ultimate fate of No Face.

The movie itself is so cryptic, that there could be myriad ways to interpret its characters, which is why the above is only how I feel about No Face and why it could totally mean something else according to the creator’s point of view. And maybe the reason why my heart sort of melted toward this many tiered, peculiar apparition is because of certain similarities in certain instances that I felt in No Face’s life and mine. Maybe that’s why No Face is totally MyCuppaTea