I must admit, hearing a cover of a John Denver song at the beginning of an anime film was not what I expected. But it made sense relatively quickly and I rather enjoyed the "Concrete Roads" adaptation although I don't think Weird Al Yankovic was involved:)

I liked the exploration of the thrill one gets when finding someone else likes the same book (or film!) that you hold so dear. I thought the knowledge that others value you for aspects of yourself that are sometimes hard for you to see was dealt with well. But what I *really* liked - maybe it was just the icing on the cake - were the references to earlier works: the little witch figurine hanging over Shizuku's desk at home; the ornate grandfather clock being repaired at the antique shop with "Porco Rosso" inscribed on the faceplate; the dream sequence with islands in the sky; the flying bug. Maybe I've just seen too many Kieslowski films, but I really liked those little reminders of the other Ghibli studio films.