The computer-animated Japanese fantasy, ‘Earwig and the Witch”— produced by Studio Ghibli and directed by Goro Miyazaki— is the second adaptation of a Diana Wynne Jones novel after “Howl’s Moving Castle”. You’ll not find any difference in the narrative style, character arcs, and the visual spectacle, as it’s the same as the rest of the Ghibli movies.

Honestly, it was disappointing to find that there’s absolutely nothing original about the generic and redundant misadventures of plucky orphan Earwig (Something we predicted while watching the trailer). Look, the problem isn’t the fact that it’s conventional, the problem is that it’s deadly dull. The poor 3-D animation style makes it extremely underwhelming – you can tell that an amateur has worked on its animation.

Honestly when Hayao showed disapproval of Goro’s Tales from Earthsea, we should’ve realized then only. Now that it’s established that Earwig and the Witch isn’t visually appealing, you should add more problems to the list. There’s also a poor cover of Hayao’s greatest hits – after a point you’ll reach the pinnacle of your frustration because it’s that level of bad.

The only redeeming trait in the movie is that of Earwig – the character is unlike other fictional orphans, and does a satisfying job breaking from the orphan trope. She isn’t interested in reuniting with her mother, but she’s interested in controlling the world around her. In fact, she’s so good at controlling that she’s got every person at the orphanage wrapped around her finger.

You won’t find any state of urgency in her transition as a witch; as a matter of fact, there’s no element of surprise or suspense at all. You won’t find any development in the character; the on-screen behavior just seemed a bit odd.

The character designs are somewhat interesting,and you can’t help but praise Yukhi Takeuchi’s art direction. However, you’ll fail to bridge the gap between the animated characteristics and characters’ emotionality. You’ll leave the movie thinking about Earwig’s pencil brows and Bella Yaga’s Medusa-like curls.

However, you can clearly distinguish the difference in budget of an animated movie made of TV and theatrical release. We just think that—considering the names attached to the film— it had the potential to be something extraordinary.

Anyway, check out the fans’ disappointing reactions below:

So Earwig and the Witch has lots of issues but I don’t think I’ve felt so assaulted by unexpected credits since Halo 2

— Stephen del Prado (@Gorath44000) February 6, 2021

I’ve watched nearly every Ghibli movie, and I can safely say that Earwig and the Witch is the first bad Ghibli film. It was bad. Really really disappointed....

— Ya Boi Adam (@acoolins24) February 6, 2021

Earwig and the Witch was a cute but was really short and had an abrupt ending that had me like "That's it?" But overall I liked it a solid 7/10

— 💚Rhea's Chair💚 (@Dweeb_Justin) February 4, 2021

Earwig And The Witch left me with so many unanswered questions. But it’s good tho despite many negative reviews.

— アイマン (@aimoonsaharudin) February 6, 2021

I just finished Earwig and the Witch, and honestly it felt more like a short film to me than a full feature

— Matt 🧙‍♂️ Benedetto (@matt_benedetto) February 6, 2021

In "Earwig and the Witch," it seems like Goro Miyazaki wasn’t trying to make a new movie so much as he was trying to build a wax monument to several old ones. @davidehrlich reviews: https://t.co/unshy4WOvL pic.twitter.com/XZ9zTQY60p

— IndieWire (@IndieWire) February 6, 2021

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Do let us know what you thought of this 3D animated feature film produced by studio Ghibli because we feel that it’s getting a strong response from the internet users.