It happened with this movie as it happened (to my surprise) with "My neighbor Totoro" and other Miyazaki's films. People asking "why this?" and "why that?". Since when is necessary to have everything explained to you in order to enjoy/understand a film? Films, as many other artistic expressions, work in many levels and cannot (should not) be criticized because a certain criteria is not being followed. Of course, everyone is entitled to his/her opinion but: putting down a film because it doesn't spoon-feed you, the way 90% of US films do nowadays, and dropping it's rate so people might think it isn't a good film (and therefore not watching it) is just plain wrong. Howl's Moving castle is an excellent film. Period. Yes, it is a Japanese film(therefore a "foreign" film. LOL). Yes, certain aspects of it (very few really) speak only to the natives. Yes, some matters presented in the film require you to think about them once it is over. But only because the film industry is almost monopolized by US films doesn't mean that we should accept its manufacture as a standard. Let me tell you, I enjoy a good pop-corn movie every once in a while, I really do, but there is so much more going around than that. Please don't scrutinize an art form with such a narrow view. It makes both (you and the arts) look bad.
Review of Howl's Moving Castle
