10 stars in Japanese, 4 stars in English

Rating: 7/10 (26 August 2006)

This is one of my favourite movies.
After watching the original version in Japan, I have come across with the English dubbed version here in the UK. I'm afraid the English voice of the main character is 'mismatching' at the best, compared to the original Japanese version.
It is clearly the problem with casting. Throughout the English version, the girl's voice sounds nothing but an innocent little kid, while the Japanese version gains certain strength as the story progresses clearly reflecting the subtle change within the main character.
After all I am very disappointed with the English version, and as Studio Ghibli could had have a say to it, I'd like to reflect it in my evaluation. However, the movie itself is fantastic and is not an ordinary pop-"anime" but rather one of masterpiece films that is made with animation.