Eighteen‑year‑old hatmaker Sophie leads a quiet, unremarkable city life. However, her typical routine is shattered when the Wandering Castle of Haul—a sorcerer who made a pact with the fire demon Calcyfer and has earned a bad reputation as the "kidnapper of maiden hearts"—is announced in the outskirts of town. In the evening after work, a charming blue‑eyed beauty—who turns out, oddly enough, to be Haul himself—rescues Sophie from the advances of two soldafons, and she immediately falls in love with her savior. Yet their meeting ends with the Witch of the Wasteland"s curse, turning Sophie into a ninety‑year‑old old woman. Now Sophie is forced to leave her hometown and set out in search of the witch, begging her to lift the curse. The road leads the "girl" back to that very Wandering Castle, where she gets a chance to start a new life.
Studio Ghibli Japan