I totally agree about the Ghibli comparison. It’s incredibly striking. I can’t find too much info on IMDB or anywhere else for that matter (it’s mostly in Japanese), but the more I read about Hiroyuki Okiura the more interested I become. The dude went into professional animation at 16! I need to make time to see this.

The comparison is inevitable. I think it makes the whole thing much more exciting, a good transition for us post-Ghibli (if that ever is a thing that is).

Thanks! It’s been touch and go but I’m glad they’re being appreciated 😀

Oh yeah! Love him as a voice actor. He has NO range, but he’s always such a charming, welcome and funny addition to any ensemble. For voicing Gazpacho alone (from ‘Chowder’), he gets a free pass in life from me 😀

I’m very happy to hear his voice here ( ^ – ^ )

Who was the character designer for this? Or the background artist? Even the music sounds Joe Hisashi-esque… actually, I’m getting vaguely Dragon Quest charms from it, and since I’m playing Ni No Kuni right now, I’m noticing how well he evoked that kind of sound, and now associate it — nevermind, I’m rambling.

It looks absolutely wonderful, regardless of the comparison. It just seems really interesting to me now. This is something that seems very out of left field, but they come out with a charming all-ages fantasy adventure and they seem to be knocking it out of the park. Plus, it took so long to come to fruition. I’m sure there’s a lot of fascinating stories behind this film.