I'm not sure why so many people take issue with the fantasy aspects added into this film. Personally I found it breathtaking. To say that its hard to take seriously... you're not supposed to take it seriously. Do people ever watch a musical and then complain because "people don't break out singing in real life!"... No, but its ok because thats what you went to see. 
 Other people are also annoyed at how it is only semi foreign. Once again, think about it. I went with a group of my friends (I was about 17 at the time). The girls were all complaining about how they didn't want to see a movie with subtitles. We practically had to pull them into the theatre. But afterwards they couldn't stop praising the film. I think its great that CTHD has opened the mainstreams eyes to foreign cinema. I'd rather people watching this than 2fast 2furious!
And one more thing, this film has won over the action loving guy crowd, yet its actually a movie about a young girl growing up and finding herself. I wonder how many guys realize that?