Is it? I was surprised how complex the heros as well as the antagonists are. One can understand their motivation of all and it has a couple of unpredictable twists.

Compare that to standard Disney movies .. You can guess from the beginning what will happen.

Also watched Mononoke first. My favorites are Naussica and Totoro :) all movies form Miyazaki are amazing and watchable. If you wonder about his skill,check some of the ghibli movies he was not involved in.