Tales from Earthsea (2006)

[ゲド戦記]

Director: Goro Miyazaki
Starring: Bunta Sugawara, Junichi Okada, Aoi Teshima

Synopsis:
A fugitive prince who killed his father is taken in by the archmage Sparrowhawk.

Impressions:
Seeing this movie in theaters was one of the first things I did when I first went to Japan. I felt rather privileged to see a Studio Ghibli film during its original theatrical run. Now, even if you haven't seen this movie before, you may be aware of the negative reaction it received. Let's be fair here. Goro Miyazaki had no prior experience as an animator or as a film director and the movie only had half the production window as Howl's Moving Castle. That alone is enough to incline me to cut everyone a little slack. Does this meet the same standard as most Ghibli films (or specifically, the films of the director's illustrious father)? No, it doesn't, but even so, it's better than most theatrical anime out there. The overall story and characters are pretty good, though it does drag a bit in the second act. In no small part due to the shorter production window, there are some rough patches, but for the most part the visuals are up to the Ghibli standard. The music doesn't have quite the impact as Joe Hisaishi's work, but I did rather like Therru's song. Ignore the garbage Bunshu Raspberry awards given to this movie and the younger Miyazaki. While not as good as your typical Ghibli film (which, bear in mind, is a daggone high frickin' bar), it's still worth a watch in my view.

Rating:
Watch It