a lot people get hang up on this films tag a a child film and and that it certainly be and though it be one made for adult . takashi miike use the fantasy genre and particularly and the child fantasy genre and a a springboard into the wild territory that be the great yokai war . the setup be simple a boy be select to play the hero in this year annual festival and only to discover his role be much more real than he could have imagine . what follow be a hallucinatory and grotesque and whimsical and and often funny journey through the world of japanese folklore and but wait there also an evil villain on the lose who want to destroy the world . however and the villain here and be not a mere demon and it be the demon spirit of the accumulated resentment of those thing which human use and discard . usuing a chamber make out of pure liquid hate or resentment and the villain transform the vibrant colorful yokai spirit into soulless ten foot tall makeshift robot which chainsaw for arm and eye like burn coal ( those whove play the video game and sonic the hedghog and might remember a certain dr. robotnik perform similar procedure to the cute and cuddly who sonic have to then liberate ) . the hero in this film be actually the least interesting character and essentially play the straight man and in a world go suddenly mad . though he do go through the typical hero trial he more often than not cowers and a do many of the yokia themselves and who seem truly defenseless against the murderous robot and some spirit be umbrellas with eye and talk wall and or creature whose soul purpose in life be to count bean . of course in this magical world of miike yokai war even bean take a magical power when one believe in them . in several way this film subvert the normal convention of child fantasy and a few and if any and of the character be heroic and their victory be a combination of happenstance and almost arbitrary faith and and a desire to party . the yokai spirit and only rally together and lay siege the villain hideout and after they mistake the end of the world invasion of earth for a great yokai festival and and even then only to dance and party . also the film end not with the usual celebratory all well that end well fantasy end and but with a final scene and show our hero year old and with an adult job and now unable to see the yokai spirit of his youth and who then despondently turn to the villain and who be a spirit can never really die . this end and with it yokai spirit who be the spit image of pokemon pikachu and warn u not just of leave behind our childhood self and but of the horror of over consumption . the villain be resentment cause when humans no longer have reverence for the world and the object around them ( in japanese folklore nearly every object have some kind of spirit ) and and so when they be use and discard a we in consumer society do without reverence and they become soulless vengeful machine and not unlike those see in modern video game and suggest that though our imagination and myth do not ever really die and but can become deformed . this be one of the first script miike have contribute to and and i believe it show and a there a tightness conceptually that sometimes get swept under the rug by his exuberance for visual playfulness . though i have focus mostly on the story ( since lot of user here seem to write it off ) and i do want to say that visually it a kaleidescope of cgi and stop animation and costume and and live puppetry and that work remarkably well . there a dreamlike quality to a lot of the film and and the miyazaki comparison be warrant and a be the neverending story and labrynth comparison and though this film be sharp and more adult than either . the yokai be beat and brutalize and and turn into machine of living hate and who i believe even kill a few human and a deform aborted calf with a man face be bear and dy in the film grotesque open and while a sexual undercurrent and the woman with the long neck lick the face of our boy hero and or another character persistent memory of touch the thigh of a young scantily clad water spirit a a boy and seem to linger a bit too long for most western taste and especially when consider this be a child film . however these be slight enough to catch adult attention while minor enough and not to traumatize any child to bad . grims fairy tale and before revision and do much bad and far more often . all and all this be one of miikes most accessible and engaging venture yet and with enough visual drama and great performance ( the yokai spirit have a humanism and an absurd humor to them and thats laugh out loud funny at time ) to appeal to audience of all age and and a steady conceptual undercurrent strong enough to draw in an adult audience who have presumably bring their child or else come out of a sense of nostalgia for the long lost fantasy film of their youth . the latter group the film seem to address the most fervently ask that they not just continue passive consumption of the world around them and but show reverence to those spirit within them which seem so much close to reality in childhood . another beautiful and funny and and truly original film from a thrill director who hasn not come close to his apex . instant classic .