We watched this on the same evening as The Lion King. Both animated movies are about a mystical experience that was catalysed by the death of a parent, and we enjoyed the contrast of very different expressions of similar themes.

This Studio Ghibli animation felt much more yin in its depiction of the mystical, and we enjoyed discussing the themes of undefinability, moral ambiguity, and strangeness.

“Humans have both the urge to create and destroy.”

Hayao Miyazaki