Quartile rating: 7/10 · 1 rating
Mary Smith, a young girl who lives with her great-aunt in the countryside, follows a mysterious cat into the nearby forest where she finds a strange flower and an old broom, none of which is as ordinary as it seems.
Mary and the Witch's Flower is visually stunning — Studio Ponoc's debut delivers lush, fluid animation clearly inspired by Studio Ghibli's golden era, earning high marks for cinematography. However, the plot is a fairly predictable coming-of-age fantasy that borrows heavily from Ghibli tropes (Kiki's Delivery Service especially) and Mary Stewart's source novel without adding much originality — Novelty suffers for its derivative feel. The voice acting is competent but unremarkable. The ending resolves neatly but too conveniently, lacking the emotional resonance that distinguishes the best animated fantasies.