Tales from Earthsea

directed by Goro Miyazaki.

How can I put this, it was weak. I actually feel sorry for him, because people who came to see the movie watched it expecting something one-of-akind, due to the fact that it's Ghibli and it's Hayao's son. So maybe I thought that because earlier the same day, yesterday to be precise, I watched Tonari no Totoro on the big screen for the first time. Yes, it doesn't go to compare, as my gran liked to mention, god's gift with an omelet (although mind you, some omelette's are very tasty and where the bleeding cat heads did she unearth this saying from will forever be a mystery)
The animation wasn't bad, CGI showed up very obviously in some places, but all in all it wasn't bad. The dragons were done very nicely. The art was good also, very nostalgic, in a sort-of 70s style. The voices were OK. Not the best, especially Theru, she seemed rather unnatural, sang well though.
What I didn't like was that they stated everything out so plainly. Usually, after each Ghibli movie you become a bit thoughtful because there was something unsaid in the movie that got you thinking. This time, no reaction. The movie was made with all the right things but, since Goro is a first-timer in this case, maybe he just didn't know how to put in little nuances and so hat to state everything out in a long sentence (delivered by Haitaka) And of course the sword. Oh the sword. During the entire movie I kept wondering if maybe I'm not the only one who can see that the handle of the sword is, plain and simply, a metallic purple penis. I mean, I've been told on numerous occasions that a sword is a fallic symbol but I think that if these people would've seen the movie then they would've quickly dropped the 'symbol' part. It was especially interesting in the beginning when Aron was running about all naive and uke'ish >.< was all I could do not to laugh.
My conclusion: Try better next time and if your dad says something in the lines of "Animate this bit by hand!" then do it. Remember kids, it's OK to argue with your parents, but when they happen to be Hayao Miyazaki then saying this in the line of "You're just a stupid old man who never got anywhere" is a bit silly.