Chihiro Ogino

"I want you to know my real name. It's Chihiro.
 * —Chihiro to Zeniba"

Chihiro Ogino (荻野 千尋 / 千, Ogino Chihiro / Sen) is the main protagonist of Spirited Away directed by Hayao Miyazaki of Studio Ghibli.

Appearence
Chihiro Ogino is a 10 year old girl who has brown hair and brown eyes. She wears a green and white medium-sleeved shirt and pink shorts and when she is employed in the bath house, she wears red work clothes with white ribbon.

Personality
Initially shown to be petulant, egoistic, childish and easily frightened, Chihiro grows into a capable individual that is a core factor to the movement of the Spirited Away plot. During her adventure in the Spirit Realm, she matures from a whiny, self-centered, and pessimistic child to a hard-working, responsible, optimistic young girl who learns to care for others.

To protect her friends and rescue her parents from a curse that has turned them into Pigs, Chihiro sheds her former personality and adapts to her environment to become a more courageous, quick-witted and reliable girl.

She care about her coworkers and win their hearth, even they dislike her at first. This kindness give her braveness to rescue her friends in death-near danger. She even go to Zeniba asking her to forgive Haku for his crime to steal her seal. She is patient to No-Face knowing how to calm him down.

Memory
It is mentioned by director and creator Hayao Miyazaki that Chihiro has 'lost' all her memories of the Spirit Realm following her exiting of the tunnel. However, according to Haku's promise, he and Chihiro will meet again someday. This may or may not be referring to Chihiro's eventual death and transformation into a spirit.

However, Zeniba's quote, "memories are never forgotten, they are just difficult to recall", suggests that Chihiro could, potentially, remember her experiences at the Bathhouse and the Spirit Realm. Chihiro wears the Hair Ribbon made by Zeniba, after she leaves the Spirit Realm. Regardless, the fate of Chihiro and Haku's relationship remains unknown and is up to audience interpretation.

Relationships

 * Akīchirō Ogino (father)
 * Ichiyūko Ogino (mother)
 * Rumi (friend)
 * Haku (friend)
 * Boh (friend)
 * Lin (friend)

Name
Chi and Sen both use the same Japanese Kanji, which means '1,000', but are different readings of the same character. The name Sen is also a play on the name Chihiiro.

Yubaba takes her name Chihiro (千尋) to control her. The name is part of her own identity. If Chihiro forgets her real name, she will stay in the Spirit Realm forever. Yubaba shortens her name by removing the first two letters that became Sen (千).

Chihiro means one thousand strings. Strings are used in Japanese as an image for fate or destiny.

Trivia

 * Chihiro was inspired by the daughter of one of the director's friends
 * Chihiro's English actor, Daveigh Chase, is also best known as the voice of Lilo from Disney's Lilo and Stitch.