Bizarre theory: Totoro is Death?

TOTORO IS NOT DEATH xP

It is open to interpretation so stop claiming absolutes

In my view he is the opposite of death, he is life, imagination, a free spirit - notice how he makes the seeds sprout, would death do that?

Like strawberries and cream
It's the only way to be =P

The Sayama Incident happened in 1963, during the time Miyazaki was starting his career. He probably heard of the incident.

Also for both the name Satsuki and Mei, the Japanese meaning can be translated to the month May, which is also the month that the Sayama Incident happened.

IMO the incident did have a effect on the story.

At the ending it clearly shows that their mother gets out of hospital and takes the taxi home with their father. She's greeted by her two children, who were supposed to be dead according to your theory.

When the older sister found her young sister, the young sister still has both of her shoes.

When the two sisters return home, the old nanny and the young old have no shadows either. And they were happy to see them safe. If the sisters were dead, how could the old nanny and the young boy see them?

Land of the dead? What about land of the spirit?

At the happy epilogue. You could see the young boy from the village. If this happened before the events in the movie, why is he there?

If Totoro is death, how could he give life and make the seeds grow?

Yep, if you're going to be pedantic Reik be right. Otherwise you just come across as arrogant and foolish. Theory is as correct in this context as it is when used for a scientific theory.

See I like the Chihiro idea, whether it's true or not.

So much of the death theory seems a stretch to me. The shoe appears debunked, the found shoe is all pink (as is the one we see in Chihiro's flashback, although they're not completely identical). Mei's are yellow even when sitting in the tree (sometimes drawn with a red or pink strap?).

The girls not going to their parents never seemed that strange to me, now they know their mother is safe and that it was more of a minor setback but they also know that they shouldn't be there, Satsuki at least is mature enough to know that if they go to their parents they'd have a lot of explaining to do and for what? Maybe they just decided their mother didn't need the extra stress. After all the Catbus is sitting in the tree with them waiting to take them home.

Keeping in mind that all through the movie (as with any Ghibli movie I've seen) the children show a much greater independence and awareness than would be expected in most Hollywood movies.

As to point one, even if it was a hospital for the terminally ill, maybe everyone was trying to be positive for the kids sake and maybe nanny was right all along and the corn really was good? The mother doesn't see Totoro so I don't see how this ties in with, well anything?

I've never noticed the lack of shadows but maybe it's just another part of interacting with the spirit world. The father says you can only see them when they want to be seen, what if a spirit doesn't want someone else to see you while you are dealing with them? Sight and shadow are both dependant on light and so maybe there's a link in there somewhere.

In fact if you take that idea further, how did the girls leave the corn without being seen if not under the protection of the spirits (their mother gets a glimpse but they're gone quick enough that she doubts it).

No light reflected to be seen, no light interrupted for a shadow. It's a silly theory I know but no more so than the Totoro of Death idea.