One of Studio Ghibli's most wonderful films was "Kiki's Delivery Service"---an anime movie about a young witch who goes into the world to find herself. In many ways, "Mary and the Witch's Flower" is like taking Kiki from that classic movie and sending her to Hogwarts! Seriously.When the story begins, Mary seems to be a pretty ordinary young girl. However, when she meets a black cat in the forest and finds a broom, something very strange happens....a weird slime pours from a flower onto her hands and instantly she can fly using the broom. She has no idea what she's doing but soon she and the cat are in a far away magical land with talking animals as well as a witch's school....Endor! But things aren't all happy and laughter there....and after a while she isn't sure who to trust. What's next? Well, it's a bit like "Frankenstein"...but you'll have to see for yourself.This film is based on Mary Stewart's 1971 story "The Little Broomstick"....which came out long before Kiki or Harry Potter....so although similar to the other stories, it is an original as well. I have never read this book nor had I heard of it before seeing the movie.So it is any good? Well, the animation quality is excellent and although it looks just like a Studio Ghibli movie, it's instead made by a different Japanese studio. I liked the film quite a bit. I only really have one quibble...the resolution to the story was very fast and not especially satisfying.

I felt like i was watching a sort of Harry Potter rehash, the movie started good but quickly lost its shine, you can see the influence of other Asian anime in this movie, only its really poor.Compared to such classic as Castle in the Sky, Naussica and the Valley of the Wind, Spirited away, this movie falls short on all accounts.The villains are uninspiring and boring and the story of the movie feels rush even if its running time is close to 1:40.

Overall this was an okay movie. Animation was great but the story was a bit week. I believe more time will the witches world would have been more desireable. And the ending was more of a Meh for me.

This debut film by the newly formed Studio Ponoc delivers most of the magic and excitement of films from Studio Ghibli, but the film has several shortcomings that are impossible to look away from.The central conflict of the film is not introduced until a good portion through the film. The films opening has lots of excitement and chaos, but once that brief five minutes is up, we are quickly shifted to a more mundane and uneventful first act. We're introduced to many characters in Mary's life who get little to no characterization, and are barely relevant. Mary is the only character who has a personality, so it's hard to connect with any of the other characters in the real world.The antagonists of the film come across as run of the mill bad guys, with no special motivations to set them apart in any way. They essentially operate as one unit, despite being two different characters. Their "evil plan" (for lack of a better term), doesn't hold much weight to it, and doesn't seem to really end up being a horrible threat.The story's first act concerns Mary and her everso boring life. And I mean boring! Nothing happens in the first act. It's hardly engaging, and the only real event is her finding the Witch's Flower. A good part of the second act is spent with Mary touring a magical college, which doesn't build up to anything. The final act has moments of intensity here and there, but the threat doesn't seem to be as imminent. This is likely due to the shallow characters not holding enough promise, or that the story was dragged out for so long, it became unenjoyable. Mary is also pitted against a task that has no real effect on her. The story isn't about her, and it isn't personal or emotionally effective. While her friend, Peter, is involved in the conflict, he is so unlikeable and bullies Mary in the first part of the film, so there is no reason to care about him!However, the film has beautiful scenery and animation. It's a spectacle to look out and has some of the most wonderful sound design and music. Being a debut film, the shortcomings are alright, but I hope the studio improves as time goes on.