Having seen this film a handful of times, I have always been impressed by and admired how technically accomplished it is. Yet after having just watched it again for perhaps the fifth or sixth time, I now feel that the themes and the character development take a back seat to those technical accomplishments. Undoubtedly they are present, but in my opinion one must do some reaching and stretching. As a result of all this, it is hard for me to care about the characters and the story being told. To me, this is one of Studio Ghibli's weaker films. It is an imaginative, well-paced film, though, for aforementioned reasons, I would start elsewhere in the Ghibli filmography. Then again, this could very well be the one Japanese animation that is most accessible for American audiences. Who knows...
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