The visuals and animation technique were up to par for anime -- lots of beautiful and intricate things to look at. However, I was very disappointed with the story and the character development. Most of the time, the action just didn't make sense (unless I'm missing a lot of fairytale background that Japanese kids grow up with), and the characters were so, uh, two-dimensional that I felt uninvolved nearly the whole time I was watching. Perhaps Princess Mononoke got better reviews than it deserved because of the big-name cast and the relative lack of knowledge about anime in the American market. I'd rather have watched Bubblegum Crisis again than this movie.