

This is the book that Spirited Away was based on. And you can see the bones of it inside of the story - a town hidden up a path to a shrine, a magical old woman, a girl who has to spend the summer working to earn her keep, magic aplenty, a man who has to keep the furnaces running to power part of the magical building.
But it's honestly a completely different beast altogether.
The stakes are very low in this magical village, and Lina (our main character) spends her summer vacation learning how to be more self-sufficient (in a Japanese story? No....) and helps out and loves everyone who lives and works in Absurd Alley. It's a very cozy, magical slice-of-life.
This is the book that Spirited Away was based on. And you can see the bones of it inside of the story - a town hidden up a path to a shrine, a magical old woman, a girl who has to spend the summer working to earn her keep, magic aplenty, a man who has to keep the furnaces running to power part of the magical building.
But it's honestly a completely different beast altogether.
The stakes are very low in this magical village, and Lina (our main character) spends her summer vacation learning how to be more self-sufficient (in a Japanese story? No....) and helps out and loves everyone who lives and works in Absurd Alley. It's a very cozy, magical slice-of-life.