Especially if you love shape-shifting raccoon dogs.and who doesn’t, amirite? Pom Poko (1994): One of the studio’s many environment-themed movies, Pom Poko is a lot of fun to watch. Eeeks! All is good though, because Gorō went on to direct the lovely From Up On Poppy Hill a few years later. Ouch! To add insult to injury, he was given the Japanese equivalent of the Razzies for “Worst Director” in 2006 and Tales from Earthsea won “Worst Movie”. Interesting fact: When Le Guin handed over the rights to Hayao Miyazaki and Studio Ghibli, she wanted him to direct the movie, and was disappointed when Gorō ended up directing it.
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The movie, however, is a far more simplistic and violent version of the novels, and was criticised by Le Guin, who appreciated the aesthetic beauty of the movie but didn’t like Gorō’s focus on physical violence. Set in a fantastical world with dragons and wizards and mages, Tales from Earthsea (the book series) is a rousing story of a world fast losing its balance due to the conflict between humans and dragons. Gorō Miyazaki made his work even more challenging by taking up an adaptation of Ursula K Le Guin’s Earthsea series. Tales From Earthsea (2006): Being the legendary genius Hayao Miyazaki’s son would be difficult enough for any filmmaker. I mean, enough with the slapping already! A rare usage of adjectives for a Ghibli movie character. But the character of Rikako (the female student transferring from Tokyo to a school in Kōchi) in Ocean Waves is frustratingly one-dimensional and cringeworthy. Ghibli movies are almost always centred on a female protagonist, and these sheros are always so well fleshed out, you’d think they were written by self-reflective women and not by men (this one was made by a bunch of the younger filmmakers at Studio Ghibli). And I did enjoy it! But somehow, the movie - a rather typical high school love triangle between two male best friends and an attractive new female student - didn’t pack the emotions in a way that made a lasting impression. Ocean Waves (1993): I loved recent romantic anime dramas like The Girl Who Leapt Through Time and Your Name etc, so you’d think I’d also enjoy Ocean Waves - Studio Ghibli’s somewhat out-of-place teenage romantic offering. Personally though, they rank in the bottom third of my list of favourites. Porco Rosso) have quite the cult following. Raccoon dogs, cats, pigs, a girl ghost (?!), angsty high-schoolers and dragons.some of the following movies (eg. Let’s begin with a rather amateurish graph representing the Ghibli movies from worse (the ones I’ve watched, but might not rewatch on Netflix) to best (absolute favourites, the movies that I can’t wait to watch over and over on Netflix):Ĭategory 3: The “worst” of the Ghibli lot I’m just honoured I get to write about these movies that I love so dearly.
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Even the “worst” Studio Ghibli movie is pretty damn amazing and they all mean different things to each one of us.
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So yes, ranking Studio Ghibli movies (even in the super-personalised, somewhat weird manner attempted below) is definitely not easy. I cried when in 2015, I visited the Studio Ghibli museum in Mitaka, Tokyo, overwhelmed by the occasion and the often-unbelievable beauty of Hayao Miyazaki and Isao Takahata’s works.
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I’ve cried while watching many of the movies (how do you not cry while watching the achingly beautiful Grave of the Fireflies or while taking in the raw-but-delicate watercolour exquisiteness depicting Princess Kaguya’s honest turmoil?). From up on Poppy Hill, Porco Rosso, and The Wind Rises triggered my love for aviation in animation, and Laputa: Castle in the Sky did the same for steam-punk art. Spirited Away and Ponyo made me yearn to be an animator and artist. Howl’s Moving Castle, Only Yesterday, and Whisper of the Heart helped me get through a terrible break-up I watched the movies over and over while nursing a broken heart. Studio Ghibli films mean the world to me having missed out on watching them as a child, the movies played a very significant and integral role in my adult life. Ranking every Studio Ghibli movie ever made - in response to the development that the beloved studio's even-more-beloved movies are finally available on Netflix, starting this month - is an endeavour somewhat like a parent being asked to pick their favourite child.