@MikoMay CALCIFER! :D I read the book, so I understood the story, and it was all the fantasy in the world. Also, I was in my major steampunk funk, so it appealed to me. My English teacher let us watch Spirited Away in class. It was so much fun, I love it. ^^
Also, the point of Sophie's character was that she found herself dull, and that she thinks of herself as unimportant. She tries to take everyone's responsibilities in order to hide away from everything else, and that's why she and Howl are supposed to go together well. Howl's supposed to be a little bit bull-headed, but he has his uses. He barges into things in an odd kind of way, it's hard ot understand his character...but they work, and I liked them as long as they were together.
Admittedly, the author of the novel it was based upon said that she can't imagine why anyone likes Howl. She personally finds him disagreeable. Well, she did. The author died two or three years ago...