a fantastic ride, Miyazaki's best to date

Rating: 10/10 (1 February 2000)

Miyazaki has had a long history of amazingly deep and thought-provoking movies with, nonetheless, very simple themes. "Tonari no Totoro" and "Kiki's Delivery Service" are prime examples. His characters are often tastefully understated and normal human beings, in terms of their character. Unlike the typical US-ported anime movie, Miyazaki's films contain none of the stereotypes of anime, such as the big-breasted, small-brained woman, the enormous weapons, and the bad guys who are always Americans. Instead, his films are dignified by the relentless observation to the rich detail of the animation and fullness of the soundtrack. "Mononoke Hime" is no exception. Or rather, it is the exception in that it surpasses entirely all of Miyazaki's movies to become his finest. The animation, the music, and the voice-acting were all masterfully done. Even the American-dubbed version was very well adapted. The plot was convoluted in content but simple in nature, which successfully emphasized the individuality of each of the major characters. This is the movie to see, however you see it. I've always judged a movie by whether I could forget I was watching a movie and let myself fall into the story. With Mononoke Hime, I fell in by the end of the first five minutes.