Studio Ghibli Recommendations

[Pumpkin]

I honestly haven't seen much Studio Ghibli stuff. I know, I know! It's terrible. I really should watch one. Any recommendations?

This is quite the news though. I've heard many people love their films

[blackmage_nuke]

I honestly haven't seen much Studio Ghibli stuff. I know, I know! It's terrible. I really should watch one. Any recommendations?


Spirited Away is a crowd pleaser.

[Jinx]

Yeah, Spirited Away is a great place to start.

I also recommend Ponyo because it is just so cute and charming. :3

[Tavrobel]

No one wanted to recommend Princess Mononoke?

... would not recommend Gedo Senki. If you're not a fan of A Wizard of Earthsea, you probably won't like it. If you are a fan of LeGuin's works, you definitely won't like it.

Here's the MAL list of Ghibli (http://myanimelist.net/anime.php?p=21&q=&tag=&sy=0&sm=0&sd=0&ey=0&em=0&ed=0&c[0]=a&c[1]=b&c[2]=c&o=3&w=1) works. The search function has been randomly breaking for the last week, so don't blame me if it brings you a red box.

[Jinx]

I tried watching Princess Mononoke once and absolutely hated it.

[Quindiana Jones]

Jinx.

What.

Jinx.

Why.

[NeoCracker]

*Prepares the stake to burn Jynx at*

[Quindiana Jones]

I still love Howl's Moving Castle most of all, even though it isn't necessarily the best. And Laputa: Castle in the Sky. I first watched that many years ago as a child without knowing what it was, but I had to visit my grandparents halfway through, and only years later as an adult did I finish it. :)

[Tavrobel]

Jinx. What. Jinx. Why.

Probably one of those people who would try and kill the nature god.

[Scotty_ffgamer]

I know a good number of people that hate Princess Mononoke. I'm a bit indifferent about it at this point... it's just been years since I've seen it. I remember liking it, but I don't remember it too well outside of that.

Laputa: Castle in the Sky is a fun one to watch, especially if you don't want something super serious!

Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind is possibly my favorite of their movies, but it is really long.

Spirited Away was one I actually didn't enjoy at first, but it's become a movie I like to watch quite a bit now. It's pretty weird, and it honestly feels like you are watching a dream!

Ponyo is one of my least favorites. It's still good though! It's pretty, charming, cute... but yeah.

Howl's Moving Castle was the first Miyazaki movie I actually got into. It's very pretty and just has a lovely world to explore. I enjoy all the characters, and the story is pretty good too!

The Secret World of Arrietty is definitely my least favorite Miyazaki movie. It's essentially just The Borrowers if you've ever read that or seen other versions of it. It's not a bad movie, but I think it lacks a lot of the charm and creativity of a lot of his other works. It was kind of boring honestly.

My Neighbor Totoro is a new favorite of mine. It's actually a pretty slow movie with not much happening at times, but I enjoy all of the characters. The moments with Totoro are excellent though, and this movie has the Catbus. You can never go wrong with Catbus. (Honestly, I find the Catbus kind of terrifiying.)

The Wind Rises is Miyazaki's newest movie, and it is really good! It just has a great story that's based in WWII history, if you are looking for something more historical. It still has a lot of more fantastical moments that are characteristic of Miyazaki, though!

Whisper of the Heart is an okay romantic comedy. It wasn't bad, but it didn't really stand out to me. However, it sort of introduced a character known as The Baron that would be the protagonist in another movie called....

The Cat Returns! This is just a super fun movie about talking cats. If you like cats, you can't go wrong with watching this movie I feel.

From Up on Poppy Hill is another romantic comedy. If you are wanting a romcom, I would recommend this one above Whisper of the Heart. I think it's a lot more interesting and well done. I was really surprised by this one honestly!

Grave of the Fireflies is a pretty good movie. I cannot deny that. However, it is depressing as smurf and I really can't recommend it.

Only Yesterday is a slice of life story that I find pretty charming. I feel like it's a lesser known Studio Ghibli thing, but I think it's really good.

My Neighbors the Yamadas is a movie that's kind of done in a comic strip style almost. It's essentially just a bunch of short vignettes that follow the comedic misfortunes and whatnot of this family. I enjoyed it, but I wouldn't recommend it for anyone's first Ghibli movie as it's very different from all the others. It's also not a particularly pretty movie to watch considering the very simple art style chosen for it.

[Jinx]

I just want to point out even though I don't like Princess Mononoke, I have nothing against it. More power to you for liking it! Just, whatever it was didn't really do it for me.

[Shorty]

Spirited Away was my first and favorite, but it's closely followed by Howl's Moving Castle. I just watched From Up on Poppy Hill not too long ago and just adored it. Ponyo is great, Totoro is a classic, Princess Mononoke has a big place in my heart.

Rantz can back me up in saying Whisper of the Heart was weird and borderline awful.

[Scotty_ffgamer]

I didn't think Whisper of the Heart was awful, but it wasn't really good either. Come to think of it, I really can't remember it very well. It's definitely one of the lesser Ghibli movies though.

[Pumpkin]

Oopsie, whasn't expecting this many suggestions. Didn't meant to derail.

Thanks for the suggestions guys!

[Vyk]

Nothing recent. Maybe Arietti. Maybe. It's decent. But there's much better works in the history. Can't honestly recommend anything done by Goro Miyazaki either. Actually it's hard to recommend too many of them that weren't done by Hayao himself. And even his recent stuff has fallen off the ladder in my opinion. Ponyo included

People rave over The Grave of the Fireflies for being a tear-jerker or gut wrenching or whatnot. I haven't had the pleasure. Earthsea was terrible. The newer stuff like When Marnie Was There, or Up On Poppy Hill just look incredibly dull to me

Nausicaa stands out as my favorite, though it's not technically a Ghibli movie, but most of its staff went on to form Ghibli so it's spiritually a Gibli "pre-Ghibli" movie

Mononoke and Castle in the Sky rank pretty high up there as well. Spirited Away and Howl's Moving Castle failed to capture my heart too much. They had a lot of imagination. But they also had a lot of random fever-dream ADD goings on that kinda ruined the consistency and magic for me. Let alone the drama they tried to evoke

Sadly I believe Ghibli and Miyazaki have been on a downward slope for a while

Totoro was fun and amusing though

But really the only things I'd say you have to watch are the older Miyazaki movies. The rest are "Meh, if you have time"

Also, I can't believe I forgot, but Kiki's Delivery Service is boss. That and Nausicaa are the only ones that get me in the feels towards their endings

[Rantz]

Rantz can back me up in saying Whisper of the Heart was weird and borderline awful.
Edit: Nevermind, I was thinking of Earthsea. Whisper of the Heart certainly wasn't my favourite. I don't know about awful, but probably my least liked Ghibli movie so far.


Oopsie, whasn't expecting this many suggestions. Didn't meant to derail.
You didn't mean to derail the thread with your opening post? xD

[Pumpkin]

No this was split off from another thread xD

[Rantz]

Ah, I see.

[Mirage]

I really liked howl's moving castle


No one wanted to recommend Princess Mononoke?

... would not recommend Gedo Senki. If you're not a fan of A Wizard of Earthsea, you probably won't like it. If you are a fan of LeGuin's works, you definitely won't like it.

Here's the MAL list of Ghibli (http://myanimelist.net/anime.php?p=21&q=&tag=&sy=0&sm=0&sd=0&ey=0&em=0&ed=0&c[0]=a&c[1]=b&c[2]=c&o=3&w=1) works. The search function has been randomly breaking for the last week, so don't blame me if it brings you a red box.
I like the movie but it might be a bit heavier shit than other ghibli movies. I'd probably recommend other things for first timers.

[Lone Wolf Leonhart]

Kiki's Delivery Service is my personal favorite.


http://mrwgifs.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/Jiji-Freaks-Out-On-Kikis-Delivery-Service-Gif.gif

[Dat Matt]

Ponyo! Ponyo! Little fishy in the sea!

Howl's Moving Castle and Spirited away are also great movies visually and through the story.

My Neighbours the Yamada's is the best movie, because they are all dicks.

[AssassinDX]

Howl's Moving Castle is my favourite, followed by The Cat Returns. Spirited Away makes up my top three, and Whisper of The Heart and Ponyo are also very enjoyable.

I personally didn't like Mononoke either, nor Kiki's Delivery Service. Grave of The Fireflies didn't impress me either. I've not seen the rest.

[chionos]

To-to-ro!! My daughters' favorite movie of all time. Up there for me too.
Single best character of all time. Also, best creature-as-a-vehicle of all time.

CATBUS!

Howl's Moving Castle is my personal favorite, with the usual suspects (Kiki's, Spirited, Mononoke, etc.) rounding it out. Haven't seen a film that I didn't like at all, but many of them don't come close to the top 7 or so.

[Kalevala]

I first saw Princess Mononoke when I was 9 or 10 and I remember it disturbing me quite a bit. Not in the way a child would be after watching a horror flick, something much deeper. I grew to appreciate it even more after watching it years later and understanding the themes the film was trying to get across.

That said, it isn't the first film you should watch. Spirited Away is also excellent and a much better choice.

[Clouded Sky]

Lots of people saying Mononoke should not be your first foray into Ghibli. I'd tend to agree as while it's a fantastic film I would pick something "lighter" to start from. Totoro is classic. Lots of love for Spirited Away as well.

Howl's moving castle is probably my favorite, if only because I love the wizard Howl.

I would disagree that the quality has been going down lately. Maybe we're older and whimsy is hard. Most of the recent stuff hasn't even been directed by Hayao Miyazaki and though the films fly under the Studio Ghibli banner, the directors all have their own styles.

As for stuff coming out, keep your eyes open for both 2013's "Kaguya Hime" and this year's "When Marnie Was There."

Kaguya Hime follows the classic Japanese "Bamboo Cutter" folktale. The story is fairly simplistic, as is the story it is based on, but the art direction in the film is astounding and on that merit alone it almost wriggles its way to the top of my favorites list.

"When Marnie was There," iirc, is the first film without Miyazaki's name anywhere on it. You can definitely tell, but that doesn't make it a bad film. The storytelling is still top-notch.

And finally, how has no one thrown out the FIGHTER PILOT ACE PIG Porco Rosso? Very fun film.

[Sephiroth]

I started with Mononokehime and loved it. It even has Sokka from Avatar in it.

[Pumpkin]

sharky wanted to watch My Neighbour Totoro but Netflix said it would be a very long wait, so we have ordered Spirited Away instead!