There are those who commented about the storyline being messy and all over the place. The same criticisms were also leveled at the subtitles of the Japanese original as not flowing well. I think it's an issue of different expectations and mindset. I find that many Americans (not sure if this applies to Europeans as well) like to have everything explained clearly to them. And they find it difficult to deal with subtleties and things not explained clearly. Maybe I'm Chinese and there are similarities between Chinese and Japanese languages, and so I'm perfectly fine with the crisp subtitles. (Chinese language can be rather crisp too because a word can be used to deliver the meaning instead of a sentence.) Despite not understanding Japanese, I actually totally get the subtitles and can connect with the movie characters because there is emotional depth in the Japanese voiceovers. Instead I find the English dub too lengthy and worse, monotonous. There's a Chinese phrase "drawing a snake with feet" (that's how I feel about the English dub).
Again, perhaps because Mayazaki imbued Japanese (oriental) nuances into the plot and so there are subtleties which are lost to the western audience. It's not in oriental culture to be in your face. The expressions and the body language also tell the story.
