Reviews

I feel like the studio and Director would be a give away that this would be good. I don’t know what to fully talk about as everything about this show is amazing from the story to the animation to the dub. Even the comedy doesn’t get in the way of the great story that lies within this show. Only one or two things bother me but they aren’t that big, like when Pazu jumps off his house and ends up breaking through bricks into his basement with no broken bones or nothing. Of course, these problems are minor and don’t happen all that much.

Miyazaki seems to always have a moral to his stories, this is no different. I think the moral is that any civilization can fall if they think they are to powerful. Laputa, a place that seemed like it was a perfect place had power, wealth, and even a sense of magic. They had something special but even they ended up falling. The story line is full of spoilers if I try to explain even more but there is a beautiful story that is as mysterious as it is sad and thoughtful.

The animation is so beautiful and stands up even to this day. All hand done with so much detail and the painting of the backgrounds… I could just go on. If you seen others by Miyazaki, you know his style and he never falters. This is one of those times where I just feel speechless to how wonderful his style of art is, the colors just pop even though at times they do end up taking very small short cuts. I also didn’t really notice any times where the characters would just stop moving for a very long time with only their mouths moving. He would have them moving even slightly and it would feel realistic. There are even small things like how a character would eat from the dainty way Sheeta eats to the mess that Dola’s sons make. One thing I did notice (And it’s a slight spoiler I guess) is that his characters sometimes look better with short hair then with long hair. Not telling you what that means but you will find out. The opening is much different then the actual show, feeling more like it was done in a rather old style, highly detailed, even more so then the animation and like they were from detailed renders.

The music is so beautiful, with amazing orchestral sounds that you could just fall asleep to. I love everything about Studio Ghibi’s work and the music is one of those that I wish I had all the soundtracks. They do not let much go past them that isn’t quality controlled. I could listen to it for days without it getting boring. The English dub is spot on, I’m extremely happy it didn’t turn into a flop like one of their first tries for English translation.

If you have not seen this yet, you have to see it soon. It’s a must watch.