The most charming film I have EVER seen!

Rating: 10/10 (16 March 2007)

This film is intended for small children, so Miyazaki says. I was thirty-six when I watched it. I was so charmed that I showed it again to my father, who was then seventy-seven. He was so charmed that he insisted we must show it to his grandson, who is four. I have seen more exciting films, or funnier films, but none which gave me more sheer delight. It is a great shame the world isn't really as nice as this, but when you are four, like Mei, or even eleven, like Satsuki, this is how you want it to be: everyone bigger is kind and can be trusted completely, and everything always comes right in the end. Knowing a little boy of Mei's age I can vouch for her being highly realistic, from the obsessive looking through a hole in a bucket to the scowling and sulking! The most touching moment is when Catbus' destination board changes to "MEI", showing Satsuki that he knows exactly where her little sister is, and that he's going to take her straight there. My only criticisms, if you can call them that, are that the DVD doesn't contain the legendary sequel "Mei and the Kittenbus", in which Mei meets and goes for a ride with Catbus's little son, and that I can't ride in Catbus myself. As a cat lover and occasional bus user I feel I was born to do that, and it's a disgrace he's only imaginary!