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Maybe it's a bit of the nostalgia hitting, but man do I love this anime. I grew up on it airing on Toonami way back in the day, and honestly I have never been a fan of sci-fi but this just did it so, so well.

The story is stellar (pun intended) with plenty of twists and turns to keep you guessing and the fabled Galactic Leyline at the end of it to make you wonder just what is there. Going back to watch it as an adult instead of my pre-teen self I do feel that some of the world building is lacking, such as ... the introduction of certain alien species without proper context, but I think for its time that was more or less the norm and it doesn't overall subtract from the greatness of the show as much as it just adds a little quirk here and there and leaves room for a much greater world to exist than what we're shown.

The characters are amazing and relatable. Everyone has their own distinct personalities, and it's a bit like a really good D&D party in the sense that they all compliment each other's skills in a battle situation but can also hold their own throughout the combat that takes place in the show.

I would even argue that the animation holds up to today's standards in most ways aside from the odd bit here and there, and most would probably think this was made a lot later than it was all things considered.

Overall, the show is just plain classic. It has a good story, amazing characters you can really get invested in, and animation that has withstood the test of time. Highly worth the watch!

So perhaps I am the only one, but I found this quite good. I'll touch on a few points as to why;

First, I have not read the manga so I have no point of reference in that regard. So from that standpoint this is a really good standalone movie that is done very well in a lot of ways, and I think it is unfair to compare the two as written material versus any kind of visual adaptation are often very different for a variety of reasons not the least of which is that many things that can come across great in a novel (or ... manga, as the case may be) do not do so well when translated into a visual format like a movie so many times changes do have to be made.

Second, I actually liked that there was a mix of the traditional anime style and the CGI monsters. Other animes have pulled this off in spectacular fashion, and I think it was done so very well here. It made the things from one part stand out from things in another part.

Third, while the story was confusing and it may be worth reading the manga to get the full version I think for what it was it was told well. I was very surprised at the ending that I absolutely did not see coming, and at the end I kind of had to do a run through in my head to recount the movie and realize how it all ties together. In that particular aspect it's worth watching at least twice for that alone, to notice the little things you didn't the first time with the information at the end at hand.

Finally, overall I thought this was wonderful. A great adaptation of a classic fairy tale with a little bit of a sci-fi element to it and a twisting flair that isn't found much these days. If you read the manga chances are you won't like this, but if you haven't then it's worth the watch because with nothing to compare it to I sincerely think this was great.