This afternoon, I saw “Princess Mononoke” at the Philadelphia Film Center.

“Princess Mononoke” was the first Miyazaki movie I ever saw. I watched it on VHS, on a tiny TV with a built-in VCR in my childhood bedroom. I’ve seen it dozens of times in the two decades since, dubbed more often than subbed. (I prefer the dub, for nostalgic and Neil Gaiman reasons—if you know, you know.) This time, in theaters, it was the sub. The immersive, almost magical nature of experiencing this Japanese story in its original language, the sweeping nature scenes, and the swelling music of Joe Hisaishi’s incredible score all contributed to my main takeaway from this viewing: