I understand that it is difficult to tell the story of a child's growth to adulthood in movie format, but that gives all the more reason for this to be an anime instead.
Once the second half began, everything was just being thrown at the viewer's face. No steady or reasonable development whatsoever.
Think of it like this. I was enjoying this delicious slice of pie, but suddenly Hosoda was shoving the entire pie down my throat and choking me to death.
I gave the Character rating a 6, but I just wanted to point out that the two main protagonists, the "boy" and the "beast", were good characters because they had development. The rest of the cast felt bland and meaningless.
I would still give this a watch even if the ending will leave you going "what the actual fuck."
