A Place Between the Tunnel and the River

Chihiro and her parents are traveling to their new home. But her father makes a wrong turn that leads them in front of a tunnel.

 Her parents insist on exploring the tunnel over Chihiro’s protestations. It leads them to an abandoned theme park. While exploring the place further, her father smells something. They follow the smell, and it leads them to a stall stocked with newly cooked food. Chihiro’s parents start eating, thinking that they could pay later. While Chihiro’s parents are eating, she explores further. She sees an enormous bathhouse, and a boy suddenly appears, warning her to go back before it turns dark. She goes back to her parents, but to her shock, they have turned into pigs. Black shadows start appearing everywhere, and she starts running towards the river, but it is already flooded.

The boy named Haku finds her again. He gives her something to eat so she will not vanish. He instructs her to get a job because even Yubaba, the sorceress who rules the spirit world, can’t harm her. He instructs her to go to the boiler room and find Kamaji. She needs to ask him for a job, and if he refuses, she needs to insist.

Yubaba frightens Chihiro, but Chihiro’s persistence eventually pays off, and Yubaba gives her a contract. Chihiro signs her name on the contract. Yubaba removes some of the characters of her name, renaming her Sen. Chihiro forgets her name, and later Haku explains that Yubaba rules others by stealing their names.

While working, Sen invites a silent spirit inside, thinking that it is a customer. Sen’s first customer is an extra-large Stinker Spirit. It is so filthy that the water turns murky. Sen touches a thorn that is stuck in the Stinker. Yubaba realizes that it is not a Stinker Spirit but the River Spirit. After cleaning the River Spirit, he gives her an herbal cake and leaves tiny pieces of gold everywhere. Meanwhile, the silent spirit turns out to be No-Face. It demands food from the workers and gives them gold as a tip.

Sen sees a dragon fall into the water. It is attacked by flying papers that look like birds. She recognizes the dragon as Haku. When the heavily injured dragon flies towards Yubaba’s place, Sen follows him. One of the flying papers attaches itself to Sen’s back.

No-Face and Sen meet in the hallway. No-Face offers gold to Sen, but she does not want any gold. She wants to save Haku. No-Face, feeling angry, starts eating two of the workers. Everyone starts panicking.

Sen goes to Yubaba’s place. She sees the heavily injured Haku. Yubaba is talking on the phone downstairs because of the commotion created by No-Face. When Yubaba goes downstairs, Chihiro goes near Haku. The flying paper shapeshifts into Yubaba’s twin sister Zeniba.

Zeniba turns Yubaba’s giant baby into a rat, the flying Yubaba look-alike into a mosquito, and the three heads into the likeness of the giant baby. Zeniba tells Chihiro that Haku stole something, a special seal. Anyone who possesses this seal must die.

Haku and Chihiro fall into the boiler room. Chihiro makes Haku eat half of the herbal cake the River Spirit gave to her. Haku vomits the seal and a bug. She steps on and squashes the black bug. Chihiro explains everything to Kamaji and asks him where she could find Zeniba. She is going to return the witch’s seal, ask forgiveness, and help Haku.

Kamaji gives her four tickets for the train going to Swamp Bottom. She must stop at the sixth stop. The problem is there is no return train. Chihiro assures Kamaji that she will walk back along the tracks.

Lin is looking for Sen. She tells her that Yubaba is tearing the place apart looking for Sen. The big time tipper, No-Face, turns out to be a horrible monster.

Sen goes to Yubaba who is very angry. Yubaba does not recognize her giant baby. Sen goes inside to meet the now engorged No-Face. She tells him to go back to where he is from, but he doesn’t want to go back. He says he is lonely. Sen forcefully makes No-Face eat the remaining half of the herbal cake. No-Face starts vomiting.

Sen leads No-Face outside of the bathhouse, and Lin is already waiting outside in a boat. Lin takes Sen and her friends near the train station. Sen, the rat, the mosquito, and No-Face ride the train going to the Swamp Bottom.

When Haku wakes up, he asks Kamaji where Sen is. Haku meets Yubaba and tells her that she has lost something special. Yubaba realizes what she has lost, and Haku makes a deal. He will bring back Baby, and in exchange, she will return Sen and her parents to the human world.

It is already dark when Sen and her friends arrive at the Swamp Bottom. A street lamp meets them in the middle of the road and guides them to Zeniba’s place.

Zeniba is already waiting for them. Sen immediately gives her the seal and asks her to help Haku. Zeniba tells Sen that it was Yubaba who put the bug inside Haku’s body.

Zeniba tells Sen that she can’t intervene directly. Sen is worried that Haku might die and they might eat her parents. Zeniba gives her a hair tie to protect her.

Haku arrives at Zeniba’s house. Sen tells him that her real name is Chihiro and hugs Zeniba. They all go back except No-Face. Zeniba asks No-Face to be her helper.

Going back to the bathhouse, Sen remembers how she met Haku. She tells him his real name is Nigihayami Kohaku Nushi.

Yubaba is already waiting for them in front of the bathhouse. Haku reminds Yubaba of the deal they made. Yubaba is not willing at first but Baby convinces Yubaba.

Yubaba asks Sen to guess which of the pigs are her parents. After Chihiro tells her that her parents are not there, her contract disappears. Everybody is happy for Chihiro, especially Lin.

Haku tells her that her parents have gone ahead and they are already waiting for her. Haku sends Chihiro back to the now-dry river. He tells Chihiro not to look back until she is out of the tunnel.