His approach to the score was 'a kind of international feel' where he could use sophisticated orchestration to reflect the dense orchestral styles associated in Hollywood films.
But, the leitmotifs written for the film, led him space for experimenting the themes, and is different from that of Hollywood film music where 'the leitmotif appears very clearly and is very easy to remember'. Hisaishi had introduced several leitfmotifs for the first time, as his previous scores for the Miyazaki and Ghibli ventures did not have leitmotifs. The music to Studio Ghibli's 2004 Japanese animated fantasy film Howl's Moving Castle ( Japanese: ハウルの動く城, Hepburn: Hauru no Ugoku Shiro) directed by Hayao Miyazaki, featured a score composed by Joe Hisaishi, Miyazaki's regular collaborator and performed by the New Japan Philharmonic orchestra. Soundtrack of 2004 film Howl's Moving Castle
