female gooner no longer follows me :(

…and things like that are probably just second nature. What gives me pause about this movie is that the story was very difficult for me to follow. I admit that this movie exists in its own world (worlds?) and if you’re not on that wavelength, it won’t be easy to follow.

Even the little details (like a washcloth falling off Mahito’s face and down to the floor, or the little movements of a heron as it prepares to take flight or comes in for a landing) had me hypnotized. This shouldn’t be a big surprise, since Miyazaki is unquestionably a master of animation…

The opening scene, where the hospital is on fire and the fiery ashes are raining down on everyone, and everyone besides Mahito is blurred, is jaw dropping from a visual perspective.