History YMMV / HowlsMovingCastle

* MemeticMutation: "May all your bacon burn!"

* MagnificentBitch: [[WellIntentionedExtremist Madame Suliman]] is a court wizard and the eccentric Howl's former mentor. Knowing of Howl's cowardly and self-destructive path, Suliman utilizes a war to ensure he comes to her castle to speak to her, using her magic to turn the evil Witch of the Waste to her true age and immediately ending her threat. Upon meeting Sophie, Suliman effortlessly deduces that she and Howl are in love, before showing that she had already prepared for Howl's arrival and nearly trapping him then and there. When Howl escapes, Suliman launches a pursuit upon him. Even after Sophie and Howl's narrow escape, Suliman continues to put plans into action to catch the two, hoping to turn Howl back to a good path. Coercing Sophie's mother into delivering a Peeping Bug to the house, Suliman sends her minions after the group. When Sophie saves Howl and he changes his ways, Suliman decides to end the war, content that Howl's learned his lesson.

** Christian Bale's [[Creator/MichaelKeaton not the only actor]] to play both Batman and a Film/{{Birdman|OrTheUnexpectedVirtueOfIgnorance}}, and be contending [[Anime/PorcoRosso with a mystical curse]] in a Studio Ghibli film.

* LGBTFanbase: The film experienced a resurgence in popularity starting in late 2010, and since then, Howl has become extremely popular with non-binary fans online, especially those who admire his appearance and/or wish they looked similar.

* LGBTFanbase: The film experienced a resurgence in popularity starting in late 2020, and since then, Howl has become extremely popular with non-binary fans online, especially those who admire his appearance and/or wish they looked similar.

* SugarWiki/VisualEffectsOfAwesome: The titular moving castle itself is truly an sight to behold and it’s clear Ghibli put in a lot of time and effort into making it look as mechanically detailed as possible both visually and how it moves. It’s especially impressive given that while the castle is CGI, it blends in so well with the traditional animation, that one may not even realize that it is computer animated.

* OpinionMyopia: If you were to ask Ghibli fans on the Internet what they think of the film, you're likely going to get a [[BrokenBase very divisive response]], with opinions ranging from "another masterpiece" to "the worst Miyazaki film". Outside of the Internet, however, ''Howl's Moving Castle'' is easily up there with films like ''Anime/SpiritedAway'', ''Anime/PrincessMononoke'', and ''Anime/MyNeighborTotoro'' as one of Ghibli's most popular and beloved films. It also did incredibly well at the box office, becoming the third financially successful film in Japan behind ''Film/Titanic1997'' and ''Anime/SpiritedAway''.

* CriticalDissonance: While the film would receive near-unanimous praise from critics with only a couple finding the film to be disappointing (Roger Ebert being one of them), Ghibli fans are more conflicted about the film, with [[BrokenBase no agreement as to whether or not the film is another Miyazaki masterpiece or his weakest film]].

* UnnecessaryMakeOver: While it's not hated, the short, black hairstyle that Howl ends up with at the end of the film is less liked than the various hairstyles he takes on over the course of the movie. Blonde haired Howl is not only the most preferred by fans, but it's also the most recognizable of his various looks (combined with the pink, diamond patterened jacket and green jewel accessories) and makes up the bulk of his fan-art, followed by the Howl with shoulder length black hair.

* TheWoobie: Sophie, particularly when she's first cursed and constantly tells herself not to overreact, when it's clear she's overwhelmed. Then she leaves home because she doesn't want to be a burden. Then her mother [[spoiler:sells her out without Sophie even knowing]]. Life is rough for Sophie.

* SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic: Given it's a Miyazaki film composed by Music/JoeHisaishi, of course the entire soundtrack qualifies as this. Special note though goes to the movie's main theme and leitmotif, "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cj-AL-J98U0 Merry-Go-Round of Life]]", a lovely waltz that feels incredibly dreamy and near otherworldly in its essence.
** [[https://youtu.be/b9u9E-lMUWo Flower Garden]] is a slower variant of the main theme that can only be described as being ''beautiful''.

** The fans of the original book, in regards to the movie. Some enjoy the movie as well as the book, while others are not a fan of its [[TheyChangedItNowItSucks admittedly extreme liberties with the source material]]. Some fans have found a compromise between the two, combining elements of the original book (such as the Creator/JohnDonne poem that serves as a focal point in the book) with the movie's designs in their fan-works.

* SugarWiki/VisualEffectsOfAwesome: The titular moving castle itself is truly an sight to behold and it’s clear Ghibli put in a light of time and effort into making it look as mechanically detailed as possible both visually and how it moves. It’s especially impressive given that while the castle is CGI, it blends in so well with the traditional animation, that one may not even realize that it is computer animated.

* KickTheDog: Howl says that he finally found a reason to fight in protecting Sophie. Markl is right there.

* SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic: Given it's a Miyazaki film composed by Music/JoeHisaishi, of course the entire soundtrack qualifies as this. Special note though goes to the movie's main theme, "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cj-AL-J98U0 Merry-Go-Round of Life]]", a beautiful waltz that feels incredibly dreamy and near otherworldly in its essence.

** Christian Bale's [[Creator/MichaelKeaton not the only actor]] to play both Batman and a Film/{{Birdman}}, and be contending [[Anime/PorcoRosso with a mystical curse]] in a Studio Ghibli film.

* RewatchBonus: A ''lot'' of past scenes are put in a different light once you find out in the last chapters [[spoiler: Calcifer saw Sophie's curse and her magic power immediately, told Howl about it, and they were ''both'' hoping she could break Calcifer's contract]]; that [[spoiler: Howl's flirtations with Lettie and Miss Angorian were both put-on for strategy]]; and that [[spoiler: Howl is [[MagnificentBastard conducting a complicated, deceptive plan]] over not only the Witch of the Waste and Miss Angorian - who both have their ''own'' conflicting gambits - but over Sophie, the entire kingdom, and ''himself''. Almost the only action of Sophie's he didn't predict was her being decent to Miss Angorian]].

* AwardSnub: ''WesternAnimation/TheCurseOfTheWereRabbit'' beat it to the Best Animated Feature Oscar.