The Tale of the Princess Kaguya (2013). 🤍 “The Procession of Celestial Beings I” by Joe Hisaishi is such an ethereal piece of music.
I’ve only seen one so far (twice) - My Neighbour Totoro, so it’ll have to be that one for now.
Grave of the fireflies. I’ve only watched it once but out of all movies i’ve ever watched, it’s the one that made me the most emotional. Incredibly powerful.
- Only Yesterday - Probably my favorite movie ever. It’s so authentic and personal and real.
- Spirited Away - Really emotional and dramatic and surprisingly NOT overrated at all.
- The Wind Rises - Feels very personal while also feeling broad and important.
- From Up on Poppy Hill - I love complicated family situations, and I like the aesthetics and music.
- The Secret World of Arrietty - The philosophy of the characters in this one is actually really interesting.
I’m one of the people that don’t get the appeal. I’ve watched a few highly praised ones and found them to be incredibly boring.
They tend to have a lot of depth and character, and they don’t follow the same plot or set of acts so it sets them apart from DreamWorks/Pixar movies in the west. Unless you hate the art style entirely theres a good chance theres a few movies you will like.
Absolute favourite:
Kiki’s Delivery Service. Character and story that I relate with most of our of all of the movies. I wish I’d watched it when I was a kid.
Other favourites:
- Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind
- Pom Poko
- Whisper of the Heart
- Howl’s Moving Castle
- The Tale of Princess Kaguya
- When Marnie Was There
Almost favourites:
- Princess Mononoke (I don’t like Ashitaka that much by the end)
- Spirited Away (only because this is the only Ghibli that I ever came across in the wild before watching all of them, I’m over exposed to it)
- Earwig and the Witch (love the concept and general story, not a fan of the animation style and a lot of specifics)
Favorite is not the right word.
I think there are different Ghibli movies for different questions.
Which is the most rewatched in my home? Probably Porco Rosso since it’s light-hearted and easy to consume. Miyazaki’s Magnum Opus? Mononoke or Nausicaa. Best to watch with your kids? Totoro, Kiki, and Ponyo. Most emotionally impactful? Grave of the Fireflies.
“Favorite” though? No idea. Depends on how I’m feeling.
Castle in the sky is my all time favourite! The music and theme hits all the right boxes for me.
I adore Porco Rosso for its gentle simplicity.
When Marnie Was There… hit me in the emotions in a way that I was not prepared for, and I love it for that.
Porco Rosso is also really funny!
Nausciaa, but they’re all magical.
Out of the ones I’ve seen, The Cat Returns. It’s not the most cinematic, amazing, fantastical movie like Spirited Away, Ponyo, Princess Mononoke, etcetera, but it’s one I really like regardless.
Though, if we’re talking about the opposite, Earwig and the Witch is at the very bottom.
It’s probably too basic, but Spirited Away and Princess Mononoke have always been my favorites, the latter of which was where I started.
These two plus Tonari no Totoro for me (My Neighbor Totoro). I guess it would be Totoro if I had to choose just one but hard to say.
Mononoke is probably the “best” in my book but my personal favorite will always be Nausicaa. Although I just found it out predates the founding of studio Ghibli by one year.
Little personal story: As a kid, I repeatedly rented an animated movie called Warriors of the Wind from my local videostore. It was fairly short and the story was confusing as if there was something missing, but I loved it regardless. One day, the videostore didn’t have it anymore since they got rid of older VHS in favour of newer ones. I was heartbroken and didn’t managed to track it down (this was way before the internet).
Fast forward about 15 years, when I had already watched Princess Mononoke and wanted to watch other movies by that studio. So I watched Nausicaa, and the longer it ran, the more I realized it was that movie from my childhood.
Turns out that a US studio had gotten the rights in the 80s and cut 23 minutes of the run time to make the story simpler, even changing names completely (Nausicaa became princess Sandra for example). This was the version I saw as a kid.
Nausicaa is my favorite, too. The hand-drawn animation is incredible, the conflict is nuanced, the setting is beautiful, and the characters have interesting motivations. Its a masterpiece.
a fellow Nausicaa appreciator! It’s hard to find people that have even seen it tbh.
Have you read the Nausicaa manga? It’s really good.
The only problem with reading the Manga is that after you finish it, the film seems so simplistic and flat in comparison. The Manga has so much greater nuance, tragedy, and depth to it.
Agreed, and I never see anyone claim Nausicaa as their favourite. If the studio ever revisits earlier material, I hope they do a fuller adaptation of the source. It’s such a rich world, it deserves more time spent within it.
Yeah, Castle in the Sky is considered the first “official” Ghibli movie.
I’d also have a pre-Ghibli film as my favourite with Lupin III: Castle of the Cagliostro. Although hard to argue with Mononoke or Nausicaa.
Spirited Away is my favorite with Ponyo close behind. Mononoke is what got me started and is probably the best one, but the other 2 just hit differently.
grave of the fireflies, nausicaa, and kiki
GotF wasn’t ghibli
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grave_of_the_Fireflies
Wikipedia says it was produce by ghibli?
Ah sorry I always do that - it wasn’t Miyazaki, but yes it was produced by ghibli
Huge fan of Princess Mononoke.
Not sure what exactly it is, but the characters and setting have just stuck with me since the first time I saw it.
Love the themes of environmentalism and societal diversity in Princess Mononoke.
Same.
