This is just a little piece I wanted to call "Ghibli Romance: Howl and Sophie, San and Ashitaka," but the cursed title bar wouldn't fit it. *grr* Anyway, back when I had that awesome sleepover in July with my friend, , I watched both Princess Mononoke and Howl's Moving Castle with her and my sister. I was inspired by Howl's Moving Castle and told her I'd draw the characters from this movie sometime, so I quickly flew to the store to buy the Howl's Moving Castle book. I also wanted to incorporate Mononoke in the picture idea since I thought my gallery could use some more Princess Mononoke stuff. In between that time, I drew other pieces and now I've finally finished this one!
"Ghibli Romance" is obviously based on the strong relationships that Miyazaki portrays in his movies. The first, being that of San and Ashitaka, is more subtle, so I decided to draw these characters separate from one another. On the top, San and her wolf brother are racing through the forest. (I based this image on the part where San goes to attack Iron Town with her brothers). Below San is her ever-faithful Ashitaka, whose arm ails him from being cursed with the mark of the demon god, Nago. I just love Ashitaka's face when the demon bulges from his arm. To the right, I drew the characters from Howl's Moving Castle for the first time ever! This is the scene where Howl rescues Sophie from the icky guards and the Wicked Witch of the Waste's blob men. Howl and Sophie glide effortlessly through the sky and over the town to safety. At the bottom, I drew the sweet embrace between Sophie and Howl during the war. Howl crashes from the sky fighting the airplanes as a bird and lands almost in Sophie's arms. As the fire sparks fly by and the cinders burn, Sophie hugs Howl tight, and she asks him to return safe and be careful. He says he finally has something to fight for, her.
Especially for .