Mythic. Riveting colors. Suspenseful. Powerful characters. Sea loving. Incredible ocean creatures. Fierce and scary. Tenderness. Best anime film ever.
Ponyo is the daughter of a used to be human and the Great Goddess Herself. Ponyo is a fish – until she is not. Pronounced Pon as in pond, yo as in Yo! Her fish sisters are her best advocates and supporters. The movie is also about small town realities and relationships and about taking care of one another. Most of all, it is a love song to the sea.
Just be there on the journey. That’s quite enough. Thinking can come later.
p. s. Japan is clearly, in this film, a country of the sea as much as a country of the land. How, then, can they allow the murder of whales? and the atrocities to dolphins in the Cove? How can the Great Goddess allow such a thing?