As soon as I heard "it's based on a novel" an immediate expectation came to my head, now I'm not someone to think movie adaptations of novels are a bad thing in many instances including other Ghibli films film adaptations can be amazing, but by just reading the name a lone 'Tales from Earthsea' I had a feeling that the story told in the novel would be just far too massive of an adventure to fit into one film, the reality of condensing a book into a film is stuff has to get cut out, and the bigger the story the more to cut out.And unfortunately this film pretty much hit that expectation, it is so amazingly clear that there is so much more to this story than what we see, so many side stories and arcs are set up with promising ideas but ultimately full flat due to just straight up not being able to give them the time they need.There is just far too much that seems to happen in the novel to be able to fit into one movie so instead of having one focused fleshed out story, every element is competing for screen time and brushed over in the end leaving you with far more questions than answers, I have no doubt all of these elements are present and very well thought out in the novel however...A movie should be able to stand on it's own, you should never HAVE to read additional content to fully understand what should have been conveyed to you.The most painful thing about this film for me personally is the background art where, in my opinion, is some of the best and most detailed I have seen so far in a Ghibli film, don't get me wrong it's all very impressive but in this film the detail was off the charts.Thus it ultimately saddens me that all that spectacular artwork has gone into what I would say is an 'ok' movie at best and that really sucks.So I suppose if you are looking to see some spectacular background and art this is the number one movie I would recommend, however if you are looking for anything of value, I'm sorry but this is not the place to find it.

While it is a wonder that Tales from Earthsea (2006) is a box office success, this animated feature is certainly one of the worst movies I have ever seen. The art is okay but the screenplay is beyond terrible. It is so terrible that I almost don't want to review about this film and am extremely tempted write several paragraphs of dots instead of sharing any of my analysis and thoughts on this film.Honestly, it is devastating. One hour into the movie and I am still clueless about the direction of the film or what they actually want to achieve through this anime film. I watched this film with an open mind; I thought this wouldn't be as bad as I've read online and actually intends to defend that it is too harsh to award this film the worst movie and the director as the worst director but... oh well.With no intention of bashing (and spoiling) this film but just for the record, I almost completely dropped this film after plenty of hours of breaks in between. It was truly an unpleasant experience as it spoils my mood so badly but I am glad that I've painfully endured and watched the whole film. At least, I have learned a little about this director, known a little more about this studio, seen one of the worst movies ever and be able to warn you all that you might not want to watch this film.PS. Still, kudos to the director for making his directorial debut. He has successfully entered the anime film industry with this one.

I was very excited to see this anime as I like most productions of Studio Ghibli and Hayao Miyazaki. The plot centers around a boy who really doesn't like or even hates his father. Well, and that's it. There is no tension build up. The omission of background information does not produce an intriguing sense of mystery but rather poses an annoyance. The characters motivation and development are unclear. The story doesn't flow at all and feels like patchwork. There may be something to the story but the director did not manage to deliver.The three-star rating is due to the solid quality of the drawing. Does the film reflect the reality between Goro Miyazaki and his father? Who knows.

I have never read Le Guins novels so I don't know if it was portrayed good or bad. I have avoided to watch this movie for a long time. I am a big fan of Studio Ghibli but my friends have told me that this was terrible and not worth 2 hours of my life. I watched the trailer for Tales from Earthsea and the animation looked beautiful, just like every other Studio Ghibli movie. Also set in the middle ages with dragons? Sounds epic! I have seen from up on poppy hill which also was directed by Goro Miyazaki and I thought it was pretty good so how bad could this one be? When I started the movie I tried to think positive but wow, it was way too long for its simple plot. Also there is not a single character I cared for which I usually do in Studio Ghibli films. I am not going to spoil anything but I would avoid this one if you are A. Not a die-hard Ghibli fan or B. Not a die-hard animation fan. The setting is great, the animation is great, the music is good but the story and character falls completely flat. Also there are some terrifying scenes which I have never seen in a Ghibli movie so this isn't for younger kids.