I rewatched this movie yesterday, and I sobbed like a baby at so many points. The last time I watched it was in 2018/19, right when it was first released.
I feel like maturing more makes u notice the little nuances and emotions of the movie better.
Additionally, I feel like the relationship between Maquia and Ariel cannot be compartmentalized into anything, although it is largely a mother-son paradigm. But I definitely feel like it was strongly hinted that Ariel developed feelings for Maquia as a teen, and I feel like he ran away because obviously it was not a good thing. He hated himself for it, and he felt like he was no longer safe for Maquia to be around. All this is human given that Maquia is actually an immortal and not really related to him. He also hasn't had real parents or family life because Maquia was an actual kid herself and they were always on the run. As a teen, everyone experiences intense feelings. I think Ariel couldn't place his intense feelings for Maquia and misinterpreted it in the worst way possible due to external influences and what society expected them to be.
But as he grows up and becomes a parent, he finally understands his feelings, and recognizes everything, and realizes that Maquia is, in fact, his adoptive mom, and he isn't a sick person, and that Maquia did him the best favour she could (raising him), and that Maquia is not a bad person (and that he was wrong to resent her), and that what they have defies societal expectations and taboos ( such as Iorph interacting with human being a taboo, and that her being his mom as a taboo, or the fact that she looks like a kid next to him but is still his mom being a taboo).
15/10. You need maturity to understand this film.
