From Up on Poppy Hill
A really mixed experience.
The good: I liked the characters, even if I would have liked them more complexly drawn. I liked the art, a lot of pretty pictures with variety and good at creating the atmosphere for the film. The final scenes really lift the film up a bit, connecting all the pieces.
The OK: The story could have been great, but the insistence on mixing together the story and themes and a relaxed atmosphere made everything feel a bit underwhelming. The themes are strongly done, but I personally don't care for social nostalgia or broad coming of age stories, and that's fundamentally at the core of the film. No matter how well done, I found it hard to be engaged with those impersonal themes, doubly so since 1960s Japan doesn't speak to me. Still an interesting window, though.
Disliked: The music. I dislike strong scores, and I didn't particularly like the music on its own terms, so every time it came blaring it just stopped the film's momentum for me. It's a petty complaint, I don't think the music is objectively bad in any way, but it didn't work for me. Something about the animation felt off to me. I can't put my finger on it, but it lacked charm or warmth or humanity or something. I don't think it lacked technique, maybe it was overly technical? I don't know, I only know the effect was distancing for most of the film.
Overall I thought it was pleasant, and interesting, but the depth was inaccessible to me. Reading your review I think I agree with how you describe what the film is trying to convey, but I couldn't connect to the richness of it enough to engage with it beyond the superficial level. It may have not been the right day to watch it, or maybe my own sense of how the past and present interact clashes with the things the film presents.