Noelle R

If you're going to create an unlikeable, face twitching, staring eyed character to be your show's lead maybe don't also give her a storyline where she is going to cause problems in her ex-fiance's 5 year relationship, especially when his gf is attractive and pleasant.

I haven't finished watching but I ran to the reviews to see if it was just me having an unexpectedly adverse reaction to this movie. To be clear, I have watched all but 3 Miyazaki films (Porco, Conan, Cagliostro) and I've watched all of them multiple times. Never have I not been immediately enthralled and deeply invested by a Miyazaki film. This film is the acception. I paused halfway through and came back later, then found myself wanting to skip to the end. The visceral disappointment I feel is in direct opposition to the joy I feel when I watch his other films. Someone wrote in their review that this is the first Miyazaki film they've ever watched and they will not watch any others because of it. This makes me sad because this film is far from a true representation of his work. I will be watching Spirited Away to scrub The Boy and the Heron out of my mind.

It's 2023 and I'm watching it again because I never got it out of my head, it's that good, even knowing how it ends. Still holding out hope for season 2.