Maybe I'm biased because I loved the movie when I was a kid. Maybe the translation that I read is really bad. Or maybe I'm just way too old for a book written for such young kids. Whatever the reason, I really didn't understand what was so great about this book, and I'm disappointed. Ever since I was a kid, I've been looking for this book, and never could order it or anything. I remembered it a little while ago, and was able to order it on Amazon.

It felt so flat to me. I felt no connection to Mio. The story goes on so quickly that one barely has time to figure out what's going on before it rushes on to the next thing. I understand it's written for young children, but there is no build-up, the climax is rather weak, and the ending is rather flat as well. I actually found that I didn't like Mio at all. I didn't really care what happened to him. He didn't actually have to do anything for himself. When he and Pompoo (seriously, why did they change his name to Pompoo?) are being chased by spies, a tree just opens up to hide them, then the ground opens up to hide them. Then they somehow end up back at Eno's place, but the entrance to the Deepest Cave in the Blackest Mountain is right there. If it was so close to Eno's cottage, why didn't he say, "go out and hang a left"? Even when he fights Kato, Kato almost immediately just says, "kill me!" Mio works for nothing.

Again, I understand that a young children's book isn't going to be very deep, but I at least expect it to be more interesting and coherent. And for there to actually be emotion. The horses had more emotion than the humans!