I watched Miyazaki's latest movie, Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea, with my girlfriend yesterday. I had seen some review headlines saying that the film, although great, is too simple and not really up to Studio Ghibli's normal standards. Nothing could be further from the truth, as far as i see it. The visual style is indeed a little simpler, looser and less "realistic" than, say, Spirited Away or Howl's, but it really works in the movie's favour, delivering a clean, entertaining slightly childish look, which is often very funny. I think this is entirely intentional, since the movie is about small kids, and it just shows the world as they see and imagine it.

Miyazaki already perfected this viewpoint in My Neighbour Totoro, but Ponyo's visual style makes it fresh again. The pacing and internal logic of the story are also very different from Miyazaki's previous efforts. Some of the sequences in the movie are hilariously nonsensical, and I get the feeling that some of the events that take place simply do so because it would be funny if they did. A bit like the bus stop scene in Totoro or the mad shenanigans in Castle in the Sky, only a lot more of it. It also helps that the main characters are absolutely adorable in the best way possible - Ponyo herself obviously steals the show, but I must say that Sosuke and his tomboy mom Risa are among the very best characters Studio Ghibli has ever come up with as well.

And as for the simplicity - yes, the main story is very rudimentary, but that is a huge plus, because it gives the movie time to include all these fantastic little details and side stories, some of which are very subtle. And I love the way that many of the supernatural (imaginary?) events in the movie are never explained, they just happen. And as in all of Miyazaki's movies, the main story often takes a back seat, letting the characters interact with each other and their environment. And just look at that environment... some of the underwater scenes are so well imagined and realized that I could just eat them all up. And look at the way all the man-made objects have hand-drawn wavy lines, seemingly mimicking the water motif everywhere... You get the picture. I love this movie. It is crazy, endearing, clever, childish and proud as hell of it.

I would rank Ponyo right up there with Totoro and Kiki, which remain my favourite works by Miyazaki. That is the highest praise I can give.