The pacing of the story was inconsistent, slow at some times but jumping ahead by years or decades at other times. That being said, that kind of pacing was necessary in order to allow the story to cover the scope of a human lifespan. It was an adjustment, but it didn't bother me. If you don't like that kind of timeline, you may not like this movie.
The end of the movie was a little anti-climactic and open-ended. I am not a huge fan of that kind of ending, but I can see why the writers left it that way. The whole point of the story is how humans are born, live, and die while the people of Maquia's race stay more or less the same, so it makes sense that an "end to the story" on the human side of the relationship would not equate to the same thing for Maquia.
-Art: Nicely done, consistent quailty. Good background details.
-Sound: Better than average. I definitely felt that the soundtrack added to the atmosphere of the movie. I liked the song at the end credits as well.
-Characters: The two main characters, Maquia and Ariel, were well-rounded and interesting, particularly their relationship. What I felt was one of the weakest parts of the movie, though, was the secondary characters. Most of the secondary characters where develop with only shallow details, without much, if any, growth. They were mostly just props for the two main characters to interact with and move the story along. I was especially disappointed that the half-breed who Maquia ran into wasn't developed more.
