I wanted to love this, but the hammered moral lessons were a bit too much. Some will identify with Aster, the witch who is a man -- not transgender or homosexual, as some would automatically assume, but defying the concept of gender roles. And it's true, toxic masculinity and femininity has poisoned generations of people, but the treatment here is so one-note, so forced, that it's hard to take it serious, instead of being a Saturday morning cartoon's very special episode. Too many characters are cliches instead of people.

On the other hand, the art is absolutely beautiful. I can forgive many sins to take all of that in. The story flows in directions with real urgency and unexpected twists.

I would recommend this, despite that.