I decided to finally sit down and watch The Tale Of Princess Kaguya this week – an ambitious Studio Ghibli film and the first following mastermind director Hayao Miyazaki’s retirement from feature-length filmmaking, with the torch instead being passed onto fellow longstanding Studio Ghibli genius Isao Takahata.

The film, while harbouring familiar Studio Ghibli charm and supernatural emphasis, felt really fresh. Immediately noticeable is the stunning, traditional Japanese watercolour animation style that the film adopts. The style perfectly compliments the film’s reference to the 10th century Japanese folktale upon which it is based, lending itself to artwork as early as the 15th century. I’ve never seen animation produced in this style before, it was exceptionally beautiful to watch and added so many additional layers of depth and made for a unique and honest viewing experience.

If you haven’t checked it out, don’t let its circumvention from the usual Ghibli presentation put you off – give it some time. It could very well be my favourite animated feature of all time, I guess time and a few more viewings will tell…