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Studio Ghibli Appreciation Thread

What is your favorite Studio Ghibli movie?  

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  1. 1. What is your favorite Studio Ghibli movie?

    • Castle In The Sky
      1
    • Grave Of The Fireflies
      3
    • My Neighbor Totoro
      3
    • Kiki's Delivery Service
      4
    • Porco Rosso
      0
    • Pom Poko
      0
    • Princess Monomoke
      8
    • Sprited Away
      10
    • Howl's Moving Castle
      5
    • Ponyo
      3
    • The Secret World Of Arrietty
      1
    • Other (Be sure to mention it!)
      2


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Ghibli does boil down to Takahata and Miyazaki, but damn are they two amazing filmmakers. I've seen all of them, and the only one not from either of those 2 really of note is Whisper of the Heart, which Miyazaki still wrote despite not directing. I will be very sad if the studio doesn't come back though. Everyone who likes anime needs to see Princess Kaguya ASAP. Brilliant and gorgeous film and a truly worthy swan song if the studio is done with. My rankings of their films:

 

1. Spirited Away: A+

2. Grave of the Fireflies: A

3. Princess Mononoke: A

4. The Tale of the Princess Kaguya: A

5. Howl's Moving Castle: A-

6. Whisper of the Heart: A-

7. My Neighbor Totoro: B+

8. The Wind Rises: B+

9. Only Yesterday: B+

10. Kiki's Delivery Service: B+

11. Castle in the Sky: B+

12. Porco Rosso: B

13. Pom Poko: B-

14. Ponyo: B-

15. The Secret World of Arriety: B-

16. My Neighbors the Yamadas: C

17. From Up on Poppy Hill: C

18. The Cat Returns: C-

19. Tales from Earthsea: C-

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Ghibli does boil down to Takahata and Miyazaki, but damn are they two amazing filmmakers. I've seen all of them, and the only one not from either of those 2 really of note is Whisper of the Heart, which Miyazaki still wrote despite not directing. I will be very sad if the studio doesn't come back though. Everyone who likes anime needs to see Princess Kaguya ASAP. Brilliant and gorgeous film and a truly worthy swan song if the studio is done with. My rankings of their films:

 

1. Spirited Away: A+

2. Grave of the Fireflies: A

3. Princess Mononoke: A

4. The Tale of the Princess Kaguya: A

5. Howl's Moving Castle: A-

6. Whisper of the Heart: A-

7. My Neighbor Totoro: B+

8. The Wind Rises: B+

9. Only Yesterday: B+

10. Kiki's Delivery Service: B+

11. Castle in the Sky: B+

12. Porco Rosso: B

13. Pom Poko: B-

14. Ponyo: B-

15. The Secret World of Arriety: B-

16. My Neighbors the Yamadas: C

17. From Up on Poppy Hill: C

18. The Cat Returns: C-

19. Tales from Earthsea: C-

 

Like for rating Whisper of the Heart so high.

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Spirited Away blows Pixar out of the water, but I honestly feel that the people who seriously believe Ghibli (they won't even be specific and say who they really mean, Miyazaki) is better than Pixar overall are just anti-establishment hipsters.

 

Poseur hipsters maybe. Authentic hipsters will tell you Miyazaki is a mainstream ho.

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I can't put the Ghibli films into a strict ranking, but they fall into these categories:

 

Top tier - depending on my mood, any one of these could be my overall favorite movie:

Whisper of the Heart, Princess Mononoke, Spirited Away

 

Second tier - still well above most other movies:

Nausicaä, Castle in the Sky, Totoro, Ponyo, Arrietty, The Tale of Princess Kaguya

 

Third tier - merely very good:

Howl's Moving Castle, Tales from Earthsea, The Cat Returns

 

Saw once long ago, should probably get a copy sometime:

Kiki's Delivery Service, Porco Rosso, Pom Poko

 

Haven't seen yet:

My Neighbors the Yamadas, From Up on Poppy Hill, The Wind Rises, When Marnie Was There

 

Didn't bother to finish:

Only Yesterday

 

 

Grave of the Fireflies is in a category by itself: I watched it once, I'm glad I watched it, and I have no intention of ever watching it again.

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I've been avoiding Nausicaa because I've heard it's got a far simpler outlook on Industrialism vs. Environmentalism than Mononoke. And I adore PM. For peeps who have watched Nausicaa, think it's still worth my time?

 

It is worth your time :)

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And I watched Nausicaa! :D

 

I'm glad I did because I really liked the  medieval era meets post-apocalyptic sci-fi world created by Miyazaki for the film (apparently it was based on his manga of the same name). I usually am not a big fan of post-apocalyptic stories so the imaginative world of Nausicaa was something refreshing. I also really dug the Giant Warrior idea and how it was an analogy for WMDs. A little precursor to Grave of the Fireflies, I suppose.

 

Having said that, I can see why some consider it to be a rough version of the Miyazaki epic to come 13 years later, Princess Mononoke. Unlike Mononoke, the central theme of man vs. nature in Nausicaa is fairly simplistic. Princess Kushana seems like a less developed version of Lady Eboshi (favorite Ghibli character ever!). Even Hisaishi's score is similiar to the score in Mononoke. I could actually imagine the notes in the Nausicaa main theme progressing into The Legend of Ashitaka theme. :D Speaking of the score, damn that outdated 80s' synth music would always take me out of the movie whenever it would start playing abruptly over the background.  :wacko:

 

All in all, a solid B film. Not quite the masterpiece as Ghibli's finest, and the problem with Nausicaa is that there is a directly comparable masterpiece in Princess Mononoke, which reflects Miyazaki's more matured and nuanced outlook on the theme of nature versus the evolution of human civilization. But Nausicaa is better than Ghibli's weakest and definitely warrants a watch for Miyazaki lovers.

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Why did Studio Ghibli stop making movies? Weren't they pretty much the WDAS of Japan? :wacko:

They were but due to financial inclinations and their bread and butter retiring from the scene, they had to halt productivity.  I do see them making an eventual return but currently, another giant is replacing the vacant spot; Studio Chizu.  Studio Chizu's recent release; The Boy and the Beast became one of the FEW non-Ghibli animated features to cross the blockbuster 5 billion yen boundary and surpassed their critical and financial success Wolf Children.  I'm grief stricken, knowing one of my all-time favorite studios is taking a break from the scene indefinitely but am HOPING that they make a comeback and with a top-tier film! :D

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So, my cousin, who is an anime nut, bought lots of Ghibli films in blu-ray, so I felt an obligation to finally watch them all. The only ones I have actually seen are: Ponoy, which was awful; Howl's Moving Castle, which is decent; and Spirited Away, which is good.

 

Started the marathon with this first 3 films.

 

35/100 Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind: I hated it, just dreadful. In-your-face environmentalist message, schizophrenic characters that had to vocalize every single thing being shown and a shallow idealist protagonist who is the epitome of goodness on Earth. Plus anime tropes that I can't stand.

60/100 Castle in the Sky: It's more refined and more subtle than Nausicaa, but they still share the same flaws. At least 40 minutes way too long.

80/100 Princess Mononoke: to my surprise, I really liked this one, my only problem with PM is that it starts to get convoluted towards the end and way too fantastical (ie too out there) for me. Also, Nausicaa, this is how you does messages.

 

 

 

Edited by Lucas Marmol
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I'm starting to think that Isao Takahata is a better filmmaker than Miyazaki, and I still didn't watch his most praised film yet (Kaguya).

 

Yep, I'm pretending Pom Poko never existed. 

Edited by Goffe
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On ‎28‎/‎10‎/‎2015‎ ‎11‎:‎15‎:‎40, Goffe said:

So, my cousin, who is an anime nut, bought lots of Ghibli films in blu-ray, so I felt an obligation to finally watch them all. The only ones I have actually seen are: Ponoy, which was awful; Howl's Moving Castle, which is decent; and Spirited Away, which is good.

 

 

 

If they included grave of the fireflies, then good luck with that. It's quite possibly the best animated film ever made, but at the same time, I hope to never ever have to watch it ever again.

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54 minutes ago, chasmmi said:

 

If they included grave of the fireflies, then good luck with that. It's quite possibly the best animated film ever made, but at the same time, I hope to never ever have to watch it ever again.

I have already seen Grave of the Fireflies and it was fantastic, it's my favorite Ghibli entry behind The Wind Rises. Only Yesterday is a close third.

But I agree with you, it's not a movie to watch over and over again. 

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I'm finally done

 

The Wind Rises 100/100
Grave of the Fireflies 90/100
Only Yesterday 90/100
Spirited Away 85/100
Princess Mononoke 80/100 
The Secret World of Arrietty 80/100
Porco Rosso 75/100
My Neighbors the Yamadas 75/100
Ponyo 75/100
Howl’s Moving Castle 70/100
Ocean Waves 70/100
When Marnie Was There 65/100
The Tale of the Princess Kaguya 60/100
Whisper of the Heart 60/100
Castle in the Sky 60/100
Kiki’s Delivery Service 55/100
The Cat Returns 50/100
My Neighbor Totoro 45/100
From Up on Poppy Hill 40/100
Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind 35/100
Tales from Earthsea 25/100
Pom Poko 15/100

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Spirited Away hold a special place in my heart forever, but Mononoke, Kaguya, and Grave of the Fireflies is very very amazing.

 

The only Ghibli movie that I found to be less than stellar is only Pom Poko, but I won't call it a bad movie either.

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