 The reviewer shares the following similar criticism of Princess Mononoke and Roberta Guaspari:
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. It's Miyazaki's use of sound--and silence--that takes your breath away: the determined tap of the wolf princess's shoes as she scuttles over the fortress's rooftops; the silence of Eboshi and her army as they stare at this tiny yet formidable tomboy against the black sky. The overfamiliar voices nudge Princess Mononoke closer to its American counterparts--but not by a lot.
 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