Mary and the Witch’s Flower isn’t Miyazaki / Studio Ghibli. It’s by Studio Ponoc, which is mostly ex-Ghibli people, so it retains a lot of the same style. Unfortunately, while the style is definitely there, I don’t think the film holds a candle to the storytelling that Ghibli does so well.

it's certainly better in term of storytelling than some of the worst Ghibli's like Howl's moving castle, Tales from Earthsea (to be fair Hayao wasn't involved with the second). In general, I'd place it in the middle, not as good as the greatest movies but still quite good.

I'm curious - I already know I disagree with you, but why don't you like Howl's? I always hear it highly regarded online, and I'd be interested in knowing why you don't like it.

Actually, this thread has prompted me to find some time to rewatch it but I remember finding the plot meandering and slightly non-sensical unlike Chihiro's or Mononoke. I thought it was beautiful (like most Ghibli's movies) but it's the movie from Hayao Miyazaki I least enjoyed (also the only one I've only watched one).

For reference, my two favorite movies by Ghibli are Only Yesterday and Totoro and my top three movies from Miyazaki are Chihiro, Totoro and Nausicaa (with Mononoke coming close behind)

I'd also highly recommend From Up On Poppy Hill.

I kind of understand why it doesn't get as much attention as other Ghibli films (gentler pace, not Hisaishi (though still great music), mildly questionable storyline for a US audience at the time)...

But damn the dry sarcasm and subtle savagery in the English dub is delightful.

Maybe it makes me a heretic, but I found Howl's Moving Castle utterly incomprehensible.

I always thought that was sort of intentional, putting the viewer in the shoes of the hapless hat girl who was swept up into a world of power and intrigue that she had no context or experience to help her interpret what was going on.

Yes, the whole "war" plot was confusing and grotesque- but that is how Sophie would experience it, right? The backstory with the witch of the waste is clearly incredibly consequential to Howl, but it's had to figure out until the end. But that's also Sophie's experience.

The plot doesn't make a lot of sense. If you read the book it's based on (by Diana Wynne Jones) you will at least get how all the pieces fit together, but Miyazaki took it in his own direction. But I'd say all of the individual pieces are pretty amazing, even if the through line is weak.

The plot sort of makes sense, but the storyline is so hard to follow that I have no idea what it was after I finish the movie.

Mary and the Witch's Flower was an utter disappointment for me. They clearly were giving nods to Spirited away and trying to capture its magic, but somehow it all felt very shallow. And those scenes when some action things happen under exactly the same musical motif... the third time it happened, it felt super lazy. Like, mr movie director, did you run out of music samples?

The theme that captured me the most was Mary's self-esteem. Since the beginning she was introduced as clumsy, insecure even when she gained those powers she doesn't really believe at what she can do.

It's just after a character development through all the movie that you can finally see the beginning of some confidence in herself.

It reminded me of all of us with the impostor syndrome, we don't really believe in ourselves and when something good happens there must be something wrong with the world :)

Dont put words in my mouth, spirited away is more a horror flick than anything resembling a masterpiece