I wish that the topic of Frol's gender was handled better. Yes, this is an old movie based on an older story, and it was treated better than some modern series... But WHY did Frol suddenly decide that they in fact DID want to be a woman at the end of the movie? Was this decision discussed in more depth in the manga? Because, if so, that means the adaptation left out some pretty important development about one of its most important characters. They reveal this in one of the last lines of the film so it is never explained or examined upon, which it really should've considering how important it is. With some films you could say this is meant to be left to audience interpretation, with this one I say that they just didn't want to include a queer relationship.
In addition, I think this film suffered from pacing issues. Some parts felt too fast, some felt too slow. Some parts could be cut out entirely.
This film was not horrible, but it could have been executed better. It deserves praise for its unique concept and story. However, I wouldn't say that this is the underrated classic everyone says it is.
