>>3718017For me at least, I think a little bit of it is subjective. I saw it at my favorite theater at a very good time in my life, but also a lot of it hits home for me in a personal way. I live in an area of the country where there's a lot of water, in fact there's even a salt marsh at the end of my street. My state also has a town in the south called Newport, which is known for having luxurious summer houses right on the water from the late 19th and early 20th century, similar to the Marsh Manor.
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d0/The_Elms_-_Rhode_Island.jpgRelating to Anna like you said is a good part of the appeal as well. I was a strange kid and I had a hard time making friends with others so I completely understand the whole "inside vs. outside" dichotomy that Anna expresses in the first half of the movie.
Part of its lack of recognition too is that there are a lot of people who don't give non-Miyazaki directors a shot. When people think Ghibli they think Miyazaki, but the other directors contributed quite a bit towards the Ghibli continuity as well. I think Takahata and Yonebayashi are both on par with Miyazaki in terms of skill.
