Characters were okay. Both main characters were hard working, a trait that everyone loves in a protagonist. However, they were a little too perfect. Hayao Miyazaki, who wrote the screenplay for "Poppy Hill", normally does an excellent job at creating balanced characters with a few human flaws, so it's a little disappointing to see him drop the ball here.
The story itself was a little lacking. There were two main plots: the fixing of the club house, which involved minimal conflict, and the love story. I personally was put off by the "close ties" the two main characters had, it prevented me from fully enjoying watching the romance blossom between the two. At one point, I was almost downright horrified at what I thought was going to happen, but I can't elaborate on that to avoid spoilers!
The soundtrack was a nice mix of genres, some jazz, some early 60's melodies, and even a tango-esque number was thrown in. The theme song was peaceful and simple. Nothing to complain about in this department.
All in all, not an awful movie, but not quite good enough for Studio Ghibli standards. Still, I have high hopes for Goro Miyazaki, you can see that he's improving with each movie he directs.
