Howl's Moving Castle is based in a slightly fantasy setting, in
that magic
fantastical creatures and many fairy-tale conventions exist. The
heroine is
Sophie, who lives with her step-mother and two step-sisters after
her father
dies, leaving them his hat-shop. Since they are very poor, the
step-mother
decides it would be best to send to of the daughters away where
they can be
assured of a good start in life. In fairytale convention, the
youngest child
will always suceed best when seeking their fortune, so the youngest
daughter
Martha is sent to learn magic with a friendly white witch, while
the middle
daughter Lettie begins an apprenticeship with the local baker.
Sophie, the
eldest, doesn't have much chance, so she stays on with her mother
to help run
the hat-shop, which she will inherit someday.
However, things don't work out as planned. Martha and Lettie use a
spell to
switch places, since Lettie wants to learn magic and have
adventures while
Martha wants to get married and raise a family. After Sophie
discovers this,
she crosses paths with an evil sorceress who for some reason that
is not
revealed at first, casts a spell on Sophie that turns her into an
old woman and
prevents her from telling anyone about it. Forced to leave the hat
shop, Sophie
goes to find some way of breaking the curse and ends up taking
refuge at the
moving castle (yes, it is a castle that can move about, and also
has a door
that can lead to four different locations). This place belongs to
Howl, a
charming yet seemingly irresponsible wizard with a reputation for
chasing
pretty girls. The castle is powered by Calcifer, a fire demon who
lives in the
hearth and is bound by a contract with Howl. He makes a secret
bargain with
Sophie; he will break the curse she is under, if she can find a way
to break
the contract as it could destroy him and Howl. Sophie takes a
position as
housekeeper and tries to find out what the contract is (Calcifer is
also bound
not to tell her what it is), whilst putting up with Howl's annoying
behaviour,
and there are further complications when he clashes with the evil
sorceress.
releasing 24 Feb 2005 (from GV)
