When 11 year old Wataru's father leaves home and his mother is taken ill to hospital, he decides to change his fate by travelling through the door shown to him by his friend Mitsuru. In a land of magic and monsters, Wataru must summon all his courage and embark on a journey with several comrades to meet the Goddess of Destiny and change this "mistaken fate".
I watched this on a lazy sunday afternoon and was overall greatly impressed with the mix of reality and fantasy; school yard bullies, contradicting viewpoints and ghost stories. Although some of the storyline played out like a slower kiddie version of a FF instalment; a number of the characters could have been developed further but I suppose this was covered in the manga / Book.
Although probably considered dated and cliched by many of the younger viewers; for this 50 something male I would consider it to be a fine contender to anything that the Ghibli studio put out. Overall an enjoyable / emotional romp with good animation, a fine story and a sensible / mature ending.