I saw this movie with my girlfriend and we both enjoyed it but neither of us loved it the way so many people here seem to. It was a somewhat interesting story with some nice ideas in it, but it could have been shortened. The backgrounds were absolutely gorgeous but the actual animation was just okay. The ending was lovely.
But I have a problem with the whole structure, because I simply couldn't see what the connection is between her life as a child and her life now. It's like you have these two parallel stories (although the childhood portion is more episodic than story-like), but I never felt they had anything to do with each other. My girlfriend also couldn't see a connection. I came here to read the reviews in hopes that someone would have written a little essay on the movie's structure, as sometimes happens in IMDb, but nope, no one has talked about how these parts of the movie intersect.
So I generally enjoyed it but it just didn't totally work for me.
But I have a problem with the whole structure, because I simply couldn't see what the connection is between her life as a child and her life now. It's like you have these two parallel stories (although the childhood portion is more episodic than story-like), but I never felt they had anything to do with each other. My girlfriend also couldn't see a connection. I came here to read the reviews in hopes that someone would have written a little essay on the movie's structure, as sometimes happens in IMDb, but nope, no one has talked about how these parts of the movie intersect.
So I generally enjoyed it but it just didn't totally work for me.