Questionable Questing

Except Princess Monoko, just watched that... I hate it.

All of Studio Ghibli's movies are coming to Netflix in three waves, so I'm working my way through them.

Ocean Waves- The romantic relationship feels shoehorned, it makes 100% more sense for it to be a gay romance.

Kiki's delivery service- Alright, the magic didn't really make any sense and Kiki's mood swings were hard to follow.

Grave of the fireflies- Masterpiece, although the subs could be better (it's big brother not Seita).

Spirited Away- Just fun, the variety of monsters entertained immensely.

My Neighbour Totoro- Also has that variety of entertaining monsters. Some of them look kinda scary too while remaining benevolent, so the contrast was fun. Also the Dad, the most chill dad ever.

Princess Monoko- ...nope.

Only yesterday- It was alright, slice of life in the 'what is the point of this' kind of way. The romance at the end was alright till the family got involved, then I hated it for feeling slimy and pressured. Also the animations for the people were kinda horrifying in a bad way (oh god the smiles, the Smiles...).

Porco Rosso- Fun, my favourite characters were the air pirates and the kids at the beginning (they were both adorable and funny) but I liked all of the main characters too. It was mildly sexist, but in a self-aware 'this is the attitudes of that time period' way rather than a endorsement. *continues in next comment due to character limit*

The ending didn't really make much sense (it was implied pig pilot got together with Gina, Gina regularly met up with mechanic girl, mechanical girl never saw pig pilot again...???). Overall, a fun lighthearted comedy.

Tales from Earthsea- Nothing in this movie made any sense, like at all. Therru was weirdly hostile and 'he's evil' for someone who's constantly being called evil because of a burn scar. *Continues in next comment*

Like, Arren saved her life, and she hates him and treats him like a monster because of a throwaway line 'I view human life as worthless'. He saved her life by putting his own in danger, he doesn't kill or even injure anyone in the process, and she repays him by hitting and shunning him... *continues in next comment*

That's not even getting into the 'actually a dragon' thing. Was she always a dragon (In which case, that would have been really useful at multiple points earlier). Or is this a new post death revival ability, in which case, how and why?!? There's also the common trope where Arren and her fell in love seemingly for no other reason than 'they're the main characters'. *continues in next comment*

Also she referenced Arren wanting to live forever during her pep talk, when she wasn't even in the previous scene to learn that about him. Like, I get we know that, she shouldn't though even if that's the most effective way to get through to him.

Lord Cob wasn't really any better in making much sense, being Evil for Evil's sake. *continues in next comment*

His plots didn't make any sense, he didn't kill people when he had the chance even with motive and he left the obviously turncoat Arren free to roam as he pleased. The true name thing didn't really make much sense either, in that he didn't seem to use his handy mind control vector basically ever. *continues in next comment*

Therru 'romantically' told her's to Arren too, why is that romantic and why are you doing that.

Arren was also did really stupid things, including but not limited to: sleeping on the streets right after he pissed off some slavers while he had a room at the inn waiting... *continues in next comment*

Honestly the list of stupid things Arren did that made no sense or was inadequately explained is as long as his screen time (basically the entire movie). He didn't ever explain why he killed his dad, beyond vague mentions of living in fear (for reasons not related to his dad, although again unexplained). *continues in next comment*

The balance thing apparently sorted itself out at the end too, without input from the heroes. It wasn't defeating Cob that did it, because apparently human desire and greed was the cause for the upset, but it went away after he was defeated anyway? That vague 'the balance is upset' isn't really a good explanation for why dragons were fighting or magic was fading either. *continues in next comment*