My Neighbor Totoro Analysis | Why do Satsuki and Mei have no shadows at the end? [Teacher, what was that all about?]
The meaning of "that scene" that I had been wondering about ever since I watched the movie. "Cinema Sensei" (55), a man who has seen every movie, and "Tokku" (19), a university student from the streaming generation, dig deep into a single question.
🎤 Tokku: Sensei. There's that urban legend on the internet that says Totoro is a god of death, right? Like how Satsuki and Mei have no shadows at the end, or that they're actually both dead. What was that all about?
🎬 Cinema Sensei: Let me start with the conclusion. That is a hoax. Studio Ghibli has officially denied it.
🎤 Tokku: Oh, is that so? Then why don't they have shadows?
🎬 Cinema Sensei: It's for the sake of the animation. The scene near the end is backlit by the evening sun, so the depiction of shadows is omitted overall. There are scenes where not just Satsuki and Mei, but other characters also lack shadows. Studio Ghibli has clearly stated on their official website that "Satsuki and Mei are not dead."
🎤 Tokku: Then why did that urban legend spread so much?
🎬 Cinema Sensei: That is the interesting question. Hayao Miyazaki depicts "the moment a child encounters the anxieties of the adult world" in this film. Their mother's illness, the loneliness of moving, Mei going missing. The audience unconsciously senses that anxiety. That's why the story that "they were actually dead" feels like it fits perfectly. The fact that the urban legend spread is proof of just how accurately the film depicted "childhood anxiety."
🎤 Tokku: Ah... so even though it's a lie, it sounds real because the movie itself is authentic?
🎬 Cinema Sensei: That's it. It's no wonder Hayao Miyazaki is angry. That movie is not a story about "death," but a story about "mysterious beings living right beside the world we live in." Totoro is not a god of death, but an inhabitant of a world that only children can see. The true horror of that movie isn't the urban legend, but the fact that "you can't meet them once you become an adult."
🎤 Tokku: ...Sensei, that's pretty harsh.
🎬 Cinema Sensei: Yes. That's why adults cry when they watch it.
🎤 Tokku: But Sensei, this is just your interpretation, right? Aren't there other ways to look at it?
🎬 Cinema Sensei: Of course. While the urban legend is a hoax, there is a reading that "Totoro is an imaginary existence created by a child in the midst of extreme anxiety." The fear of Mei getting lost, the anxiety that their mother might die—the interpretation is that Totoro is what the child's heart called out for in that extreme state. Fantasy or imaginary friend? The difference in that reading will change depending on how you yourself remember your childhood.
"Teacher, what was that all about?" magazine is here