I'd heard brilliant things about this but eh I feel nothing.

Didn't grab me at all. The story was meh, the magical kingdom did not feel like a true Ghibli paradise, the overall visual styling was not that appealing to me. I think this is my least favorite Ghibli of all, sorry. But maybe that's because this movie seems more directed at a younger audience.

why does the baron have fingers (shut up don’t you even try)

A beautiful story, maybe a fairy tale. The characters are destinct from each other, standing out, and overall it is just a great family-friendly adventure, which made me gasping for all the events and world-building. It will send you into a world of mysterious wonders, waiting to get revealed in order to amaze you. I really felt the effort in this. It is a bit hard to say that apart from the above what REALLY makes this so likeable, from the sympathic characters or just hitting the exact perfect pacing - nothing is rushed nor really standing still for too long. This is actually a sequel or spin-off of "Whisper of the Heart", starring the baron cat again. (Which I don't think having watched yet and certainly not recently) Be like: Princess Mononoke (likely, never watched it)...nevermind, on the trakt.tv preview screen PM looks rather bloody lol. Maybe a more modern fairy tale version of Alice might be somewhat fitting as a description Rating: 10/10

Another great journey to a fantasy world from Studio Gibli. Not as good as _Spirited Away_, but something that the studio's fans will surely enjoy.