Spirited Away/Headscratchers

• How was Yubaba able to have a giant baby like Boh?
  • This troper always got the impression that Boh isn't actually a baby, he's just been treated like one his whole life and so, because this is a magic place, he keeps looking like one.
    • Is it ever specifically stated that Boh is Yubaba's baby through blood? Perhaps she adopted him.
  • Her coddling him kept him from maturing, but it didn't keep him from growing. He's shaped like a baby because he is treated like one, and he's as big as he is because of his age.
• This troper has always wondered--when Chihiro and her family arrive at the "restaurants", what are those pinkish-orange, pouchy-looking things Chihiro's dad piles onto his plate and basically eats whole? They look like they have some kind of red stuff inside, as well.
  • Tightly woven ramen or yakisoba?
  • It's clearly anpan, a bun filled with red bean jelly.
• What was the point of not having Chihiro remember her journey through the spirit world? Yeah, it's a forbidden place for humans, but still: The moral of the story is about facing your fears and becoming more mature. If that's the case, then, wouldn't Chihiro's experiance have been rather pointless if she didn't remember it once she came back? How would that have still made her change into a differant person?
  • I don't recall it being said that she would forget everything? Though it's been a while since I saw the movie, but I'm sure only her parents were shown to have their memories wiped, while all Haku told Chihiro when she left was that "no matter what, don't look back." In the english dub, the parents at the end tell Chihiro she shouldn't be afraid of starting at a new school in a new place, to which Chihiro replies "I think I'll be okay." implying her being aware how capable she is in difference to her attitude at the beginning of the movie, which wouldn't make sense if she'd forgotten everything.
• Okay, this has bothered me since I saw this film as a eight year old in 2002. Were Chihiro and Haku *in* love, or did they just love each other? It works either way, but I'm just curious what other people think.
• Did Haku lose his dragon form at the end, or did he consciously turn into a human so that he could talk to Chihiro?
• It's set that the bath house workers don't lose their memories on the spot when Yubaba takes their names away and slowly makes them her slaves by making them forget who they are. That being sad, why hasn't anyone tried to prevent it and written down their old names while they still remember it? Wouldn't you think it suspicious that the oldest servants remember nothing of their lives before the bath house, not even their birth names?