 The reviewer shares the following similar criticism of Princess Mononoke and Roberta Guaspari:
Machines in the Garden In the animated ecological epic Princess Mononoke , the camera travels over landscapes with a clear, steady gaze, like a Zen hang glider. The Japanese director, Hayao Miyazaki, who spent three years on Princess Mononoke and is reported to have done 70 percent of its paintings himself, seems to work from the outside in: to begin with the curve of the earth, then the mossy hills, the watercolor foliage, the nubby stones, the whorls on the wood, the meticulous carvings on a teacup. Watching Princess Mononoke --which has been dubbed to Disney/Miramax specifications by American and English stars but retains its two-hour-plus length, its gory beheadings, and its grim, near-apocalyptic finale--you can understand their worship.
 They lose their appeal when the director reduces their rough edges
 They are unoriginal and sexist caricatures of stereotypical female archetypes  They are not developed to the fullest extent they could be, and the audience loses interest in their storyline  They lose their appeal when the director reduces their rough edges  They should have been cast as the protagonists of their respective stories, instead of secondary characters