'spirited away' gesture

[hkhm]

there was this gesture that the little girl made in spirited away that i didn't understand. she made a little box with her fingers before the big spider guy kind of made a hatchet-cutting motion across it. then the little hamster and the soot creatures started imitating it. i have the feeling that i'm missing the signifigance of this gesture... can anyone explain it to me?

 

[SalaryMan]

I am yet to see "spirited away" ... They released a DVD of it here and only included french dubbing as an option. I can't follow what is being said most of the time so i prefer english dubbing.

 

[jeisan]

if i remember correctly it had something to do with breaking a spell. and i think the old man might have said something about it before, or told her to do so. there also may be some superstition for it as well.

 

[Luxpyre]

I was wondering the same thing. It seemed like it might have been a warding of bad luck for stepping on something gross or something like that. It reminded me of a "step on a crack, break your mothers back" kind of thing, and they were doing the required counteraction or something. That's just how it struck me.

 

[starbaby]

i watched this movie with my japanese friend when she visited me in australia, and i asked her the very same thing. it's "engachou" and is an old, traditional and very odd spell to sort of reverse the of stepping on or touching something gross, to get rid of the icky spirit or something along those lines (she had terrible trouble explaining) you put your fingers together in a sort of box, and the other person breaks it with their hand

 

[budd]

wow! didn't know that, thanks!

 

[Insomnia]

Spirited Away Special Edition

Hi all.

I got the Special Edition of this movie. Although it was authored to the Portuguese audience, I belive the main stuff is common to all country.

In this DVD there is a "make of" of the movie. There, Miazaki is seen in one meeting talking about how he wanted the "engachou" sceen. He gets quite suprised when he discovers the rest of the team never heard of the "engachou".

 

[cheapshot]

Hi all.

I got the Special Edition of this movie. Although it was authored to the Portuguese audience, I belive the main stuff is common to all country.

In this DVD there is a "make of" of the movie. There, Miazaki is seen in one meeting talking about how he wanted the "engachou" sceen. He gets quite suprised when he discovers the rest of the team never heard of the "engachou".

well observed