Studio Ghibli movies are bizarrely fantastic with story lines that are not exactly realistic, which it shouldn't be, since most of the films are of the magical realism genre. It's not just about the story on the surface, but goes deeper when you dive just a little bit more away from the surface, and these movies fall on the spectrum of charming fantasies to harrowing devastation of life.
Everything from the magic of its story telling through the visual richness of the animation to the beautiful MEN (hehe) and even the emotional wreck it has given me have all contributed to one fact: I LOVE STUDIO GHIBLI. So you should try watching 'em too. :)
Since Netflix has released, most, if not all of the 22 (I think?) movies from Studio Ghibli, a lot of fan arts and fan videos have been floating around my newsfeed and I'm just all heart-eyes for it, so I decided to make a list of my all time fave movies from the ones that I have already watched. So just a little disclaimer, I have only watched a few and from those, I have picked 7 of them as my fave Ghibli movies of all time.
When Marnie Was There
The movie doesn't feel "Ghibli" at all, but despite that, I still love its little impact on me. It was so serious!!! Or so I feel? I don't know, it's just that I didn't feel the magic of Ghibli in this one but the story is good and I kept on guessing and guessing. It was a story of resentment that spans generations and how you can never truly be freed of anger if you have unresolved issues deep inside your heart.
In this story we follow asthmatic Anna who is angry at everything. Her foster parent, her biological parents, herself and just everything. Anna's foster parent decided that she could use a break in the country side and then we see series of day dreaming where Anna met a "ghost" named Marnie and they became friends and I shouldn't say more because you gotta find out for yourself who is Marnie and why is she friends with Anna.
Ponyo
This movie is so simple yet heart warming and so endearing that all kids will actually love and enjoy watching it over and over again. Ponyo is the Japanimated adaptaion of The Little Mermaid, but here we have Ponyo who sometimes becomes a chicken ahahahhaa, well, she really does have chicken feet! So Sosuke lives in a house on top of a cliff, and he rescued a fish trapped in a jar, which we learn to be Ponyo herself. After this, Ponyo wanted to be human and so she was transformed little by little and became friends with Sosuke. The movie talks about something bigger than it might seem at first glance, something about ecological balance and the coexistence of nature and human itself and all the other stuff. But you can actually mind that on your 2nd rewatch and just enjoy the lush underwater scenery and the magic that Ponyo will surely capture you in on your first watch.
My Neighbor Totoro
Just like Ponyo, this is also a feel good movie for everyone of all ages and you'll just find yourself pretty much head over heels in love with the cuteness of Mei and the overall innocence of the whole movie.
Since everything that we can see in this list revolves around human and nature, Totoro is so cool since we see more Japanese culture in this one. We see how Japanese respects the spirit of nature and history that is bound on a place that was there even before humans have inhabited the place. Don't get me wrong, after finishing the movie I was like, that's it? Where's the story?? But it's not much about the climax but how the story was told and how it's just fun to watch a movie that is just pure exploration of how a child sees the world that not an adult could actually understand. Also, in the movie, the two kids' father acknowledges the stories of the kids and never once told them that it's not real. He listens and trusts his daughters with an open mind even when he don't understand how could all that her daughters are saying could be true.
Spirited Away
When you watch this movie you'll really feel the "Ghibli" magic that I was saying. The story line, the way it was told is in its own way whimsical. The characters, even the ugly spirits, were unforgettable, as with the other ghibli characters. We have No Face and the baby that became a mouse and others, which are soo adorable. Spirited away is not my number one fave, but it is my most memorable one because it was the first ever Ghibli that I have watched even when I was just watching it just because it's a cartoon!
So Spirited away follows the story of Chihiro who got lost on their way to their new house and made wrong turn only to find themselves in an abandoned theme park, so they wandered, and this theme park lights up at night and all sorts of spirits were living there and there's this bath house where they come for refreshments and rest. During the first few minutes of Chihiro and her parents' wanderings, Chihiro found that her parents have become a pig and so she wound up working on the bath house saving everybody from whatever problems they found themselves stuck into.
Howl's Moving Castle
A young lady cursed to be old, a roving steampunk-esque castle, a mysterious and handsome wizard, what more could you ask for? Immediately even just after the first glimpse at the start of the movie, you'd know that Ghibli magic is in this movie and it surely is! Just look at the castle, the landscape the witch and you'd know what I'm talking about.
The story follows the story of Sophie who was cursed by the witch of the waste who wanted Howl's heart. Howl was the vain young man who steals the heart of every girl and this is his validation. Even when he is a powerful sorcerer or witch or whatever, he is still insecure and he would have nothing to live for when he loses this outward appearance he so dearly loves.
The movie is an action and romance and fantasy with its own little twists and turns that are somewhat confusing that I even have to read the book to understand only to find that the book is not so similar to the movie itself. If you want to have a little bit of a distraction from the reality even for just an hour or two, I think this is also a good one. It's a tale of loyalty and friendship and discovering self worth and all that.
Grave of the Fireflies
No, I can't watch it for another time. This is so heartbreaking and I just can't bear to watch it again. I've watched this twice already. Once a long long time ago and rewatched it because I can't remember some parts.
After my 2nd rewatch, I knew that I can't bear to witness its tragedy again but the story is so harrowing, it follows the story of two siblings Seita and Setsuko who were both struggling to get through the devastations of world war 2 in Japan. In the midst of America's bombings,t siblings got separated from their parents and have to find a way to manage amidst all the chaos. The film is inspired by events that happened in real life which made it all the more devastating.
Kiki's Delivery Service
In this world, if you are born into a family of witches, you must set out on a sort of training for a year. At first I thought that it was to go to a school or something but turns out that a witch has to find a town where no witch resides in and then hone her craft there. So our little witch, Kiki, with big dreams of settling down on a big town near an ocean and when she found it, it was entirely different from a quaint little town she's from where everyone knows and loves everyone. In a town as big as her "new home", she would have a lot of adjustments to make in order for her to "fit in". She has to learn to accept herself and her role no matter how small, for her to not get lost in an ocean of uncertainty and sadness.
You would admire Kiki's optimism and big dreams. She's very innocent with no idea of the harsh realities of the world out there. In this movie you can clearly see how naive but determined a young mind can be. You can step out of your own little world with a set of goals and plan only to find yourself thrusted into a very big world of uncertainty which topples you off from what you initially planned out for yourself.
I also love how the film talked about a sort of slump, that even if you're born for something, there will be times when the fires of your passion dies down to embers and the only way to ignite them is to just take a breather see the lush green nature, blue skies and relax. Nothing good comes out of forcing yourself when you're tired and just feeling like you're not being great at something you're supposed to be born with!
I think the number one on my list is not a chart topper on anybody else's but I can talk so much more about this film and what it taught me by the end of it so I love Kiki's delivery service, really, can't you tell?
SOOO what's your fave Studio Ghibli movie of all time?
