Mary and the Witch's Flower
I'm far from being the world's biggest Yonebayashi fan and while he's yet to make a bad film per se, this was his weakest yet IMO. I've never read the original book so I don't know how much can be laid at its feet, but the film does very little to explore the interesting elements of the magical setting. There's a fair bit of discussion of spells and magical concepts but in practice most of the magic we see comes from someone crushing a magical flower or putting their hand on a given page in the extra special spellbook, with the effect of the spell then occurring more or less automatically. There is a lot going on at the magic school when we're introduced to it, but the plot whisks Mary away quickly and while she returns to the school twice, I don't think she meets any of its inhabitants other than the two villains and the broomstick-keeper on either occasion. The supporting characters who actually appear in more than just background shots are flat and the male [lead? quasi-love interest? idk] was entirely perfunctory. As such, Mary's arc felt pretty artificial because there wasn't really anyone who she had a meaningful connection to. The plot feels like a mix of Kiki's Delivery Service and Castle in the Sky; whether or not this was inevitable due to the source material, it feels played up in the film, and the selection of source material didn't take place in a vacuum. Unfortunately, it doesn't really measure up.
That said, it's a very pretty film to watch and the prologue was pretty cool so it has that going for it, I guess. I didn't notice and/or don't remember enough about the music to comment on that. I wanted to like this more given that it's Ponoc's first film and I still wish them the best, but this one feels like a misfire to me.
