“There was a time when dragons and humans were one.” This statement is from the trailer of Tales from Earthsea, an anime film from Ghibli Films and Goro Miyazaki. From this statement alone, you can deduce that in the movie, dragons and humans are no longer together and there’s a brooding conflict about this where our lead character is immersed. In the classic Oriental world portrayed in the movie, the dragons and people live separately in different realms. But something isn’t right. People are beginning to see dragons when they’re not supposed to. Is the wall between the two worlds now broken?

A wizard, Ged, sets out to see what the problem is, and gets entangled with Prince Arren, who has a lot of issues of his own—issues which allow him to gain powers that appear to be more of the dark kind than anything else. Ged becomes his guide and in the process, is used by Ged’s enemy, the witch Kumo. So, three stories play out in the movie. There’s the one about the dragons; the one about Ged and Kumo, and the one about Prince Arren. These all come together in the end and result in the resolution of all their problems. It all seems predictable, but there are so many things that happen in the movie (both in the visuals and story), that it can be a very pleasant watch. You will be awed by it.

There are lots of magic and action in the Tales from Earthsea. The creative people behind it have opted for deep colors and shades which accentuate contrasts that bring out the characters from the background. The film has the feel of a classic cel animation piece with a very warm and smooth feel that’s close to being dreamy yet crisp in the depiction of the world and its characters. It’s like watching a glorious sunset by the bay and knowing that you will miss it once it’s over. But then, you can always go back for more whenever you want to.

Tales from Earthsea is based on the Earthsea series of books by Ursula K. Le Guin, A Wizard of Earthsea, The Farthest Shore, and Tehanu. Tales from Earthsea isn’t exactly a new film. It was made in 2006 and released in 2010 in the United States by Walt Disney Pictures. The language used originally was Japanese. Fans of anime love this film particularly since it’s directed by the son of Hayao Miyazaki (Nausicaa of the Valley of the Winds, Spirited Away, and Howl’s Moving Castle), who had been planning on doing a film of the book series for a long time. His son eventually took the role of turning his dream real.