Once you've seen one post-apocalyptic film you've pretty much seen them all. You can feel the influence of early Ghibli works, especially Nausicaa and Laputa, coming through quite strongly. But its no reason not to watch this film.
In a nutshell, something bad has happened to earth in the past and now the world is dominated by a forest thats not too fond of humans, a group of humans who want to destroy the forest and the inhabitants of Neutral City who want to live in harmony with everyone. Add to this there is a weapon which could destroy the forest and the future rests in the hands of one boy. All sounds a bit familiar doesn't it

Aside from the striking parallels with Nausicaa, the story is well told. There are a few parts where it seems to skip along far too fast for my tastes and towards the end there is a brief explanation of why the earth ended up as it is. Could have done with a touch more depth in places.
Like where the heck the druids came from and who the strange naked forest girls are
The animation is very well presented, a couple of places where the CG was a bit too evident but it did not spoil the overall effect and grandure of the film. The soundtrack has also been treated very well, the opening and closing songs are both very nice.
The dub has also been voiced well, thumbs up for that. Being Manga Ent its only got one subtitle track so if you want to listen to the dub but get translations for the songs and the captions at the start you will have to turn the main subs on.
Also, if you're the type to hit stop the moment the credits roll, DON'T! This is one you need to watch right until the bitter end.
I give 'Origin: Spirits of the past' 4 kitty ears
