Studio Ghibli Fanfolks!

[cassiegoh]

Spirited Away will always hold a special place in my heart.

[Channelknight Fadran]

Just watched Secret World of Arriety

Why on earth did I put it off until now? That movie was amazing!

[Coolmint]

On 05/10/2021 at 2:48 PM, Channelknight Fadran said:

Studio Ghibli fans!

Hi!

Uhm... this is in Entertainment Discussion. How much more do I have to say? Talk about it! Rant about your favorite movies! Tear Earwig to shreds with me!

How can I POSSIBLY name a favorite when I love just about all of them?  Mononoke Hime was my first.  Then Spirited Away…ooo, and we got to watch Howl in a movie theater in Japanese with subtitles! Love Porco Rosso…et cetera and so on ad infinitum.

I bought copies of just about the entire catalog.  Except Earwig.  Which did not sound appealing.  I now watch them all subtitled.

[Shining Silhouette he/him]

Thing:

 

[Throw TheLiving Silverware he/him/il/lui]

19.Tales from Earthsea

18.The Cat Returns

17.Arrietty

16.The Tale of Princess Kaguya

15.From Up on Poppy Hill

14.The Wind Rises

13.The Castle of Cagliostro (first movie Miyazaki directed, before Ghibli)

12.Ponyo

11.Kiki's Delivery Service

10.Red Turtle (collab with French studios Wild Bunch and Why Not)

9.Whisper of the Heart

8.Porco Rosso

7.When Marnie was There

6.Pom Poko

5.My Neighbour Totoro

4.Castle in the Sky

3.Howl's Moving Castle

2.Spirited Away

1.Princess Mononoke

 

Mononoke is pretty much locked, as are the last 3, but all the other ones could easily move up or down by A LOT. And honestly, those movies are all so good that I would agree with any ranking (unless you tell me Earthsea is better than Spirited Away). I enjoy all of them except the last 2, and they are all great from Ponyo up.

I have not forgotten Nausicaa! I just haven't watched it yet. I haven't seen Grave of the Fireflies either. (Given how I seem to enjoy being destroyed emotionnally by media, I would be surprised if that one wasn't top 5 for me).

I haven't seen Earwig too. That would be for the better, apparently.

Edited September 30, 2022 by Just a Silvereye
Added Red Turtle and Castle of Cagliostro

[Coolmint]

We are watching Nausicaa now.   It's a masterwork.

[Guest]

I've only watched howls moving castle and spirited away but I'm gonna make my way through all of them 

From the reactions on this thread i gather it is not a good idea to watch Earwig?

Edited October 2, 2022 by Elf

[Trutharchivist he/him]

Hmm... I watched a few (will maybe give a fuller list later) and want to mention: studio Ghibli makes good movies, but its adaptations are not too loyal to the source material, IMO. I've read Howl's Moving Castle, and I think I prefer it to the movie; I've read the Borrowers only after watching Arriety and I remember the movie better, though it's not too similar to the book. A great movie, though. Shame on you, Fadran, for not watching it earlier. I didn't watch Tales from Earthsea, but from what I understand, it has mostly a passing resemblance to the source material.

Those aren't bad movies; I just kind of regret that I'll never get to see an actual loyal adaptation of any of those books. Though the author of Howl's Moving Castle might disagree with me on how loyal the movie was to the source material.

I don't have a huge list, but my favourites are Princess Mononoke, Spirited Away and the Secret World of Arriety.

(Cue people who didn't know Arriety and Howl's Moving Castle were adaptations.)

[Rabbit Unmade she/her]

Howls moving castle movie edition is actually better than the book in my opinion.

[Trutharchivist he/him]

To each his own, I guess. Diana Wynne Jones seems to be a generally underrated author, in my opinion. And maybe I should rewatch the movie.

[Rabbit Unmade she/her]

I mean going to the past made a lot more sense than going to the future. Just have to say.

3 minutes ago, Trutharchivist said:

To each his own, I guess. Diana Wynne Jones seems to be a generally underrated author, in my opinion. And maybe I should rewatch the movie.

 

[Trutharchivist he/him]

Just now, Rabbit Unmade said:

I mean going to the past made a lot more sense than going to the future. Just have to say.

 

This isn't really the place for this discussion, but... No one ever in HMC went to the future. Wales is in a parallel universe. The going to the past part was a great payoff - to something the movie never mentioned, namely the song on which the curse was based, "tell me where all past years are". Other parts of the movie are quite possibly great all on their own.

[Eluvianii he/him]

6 hours ago, Elf said:

From the reactions on this thread i gather it is not a good idea to watch Earwig?

I guess it depends. It's very different from other Ghibli movies in basically every way. Animation is 3d, soundtrack doesn't have any resemblance to other movies and you could argue it's not cohesive. Protagonist is less than noble and it's not a movie you'd watch for the message. 

Now, playing devil's advocate. I think it's a really funny movie, I was laughing all the way through. 3d animation should only be a problem if you dislike any 3d animation. It's not Pixar but the models are charming and the environments are really detailed. The soundtrack might not have those calming orchestrated themes other Ghibli movies have and it may not settle for a single style but it just works. Sometimes a moment of rock, sometimes a bit of jazz but it always fits. Both cases are actually perfect for the movie's story. The plot is entirely subjective, I personally really liked it.

I feel like it's a movie where every character seems like a a bad person, protagonist included. I'm going to spoiler this in case you do watch it and you want to go in blind. But it's just a general summary of the characters personalities. 

Spoiler

The protagonist seems manipulative (she claims to be in fact), but by the end I'm convinced that's a mask she uses to care about other people. Like all she does is being a good girl and expect to be treated in kind.

And the adoptive parents seem abusive, but it feels to me like that's a mix of shame and inexperience, which the movie works through. 

I just wish it did a better job at explaining some of its mysteries, but for that I'll read the book. 

Still, I'm losing by numbers here. I liked the movie but the hard fact is that most people don't, so I guess there is a higher chance that you won't either. Feel free to give it a chance if any of this sounds workable, or to trust your previous instinct.

Edited October 2, 2022 by Eluvianii

[Throw TheLiving Silverware he/him/il/lui]

6 hours ago, Trutharchivist said:

 I've read Howl's Moving Castle, and I think I prefer it to the movie.

Yeah, I think I (slightly) prefer the book too, but the movie on its own is still great. And as an adaptation it's correct. It respected the characters well enough.

6 hours ago, Trutharchivist said:

 I didn't watch Tales from Earthsea, but from what I understand, it has mostly a passing resemblance to the source material.

I was disappointed by this one even though I read the books only after watching it. As a film on its own, it's unsatisfying, with things coming out of nowhere and sometimes never being explained while 15 minutes of the film could have been cut with no incidence.

As an adaptation, it's nothing but a mishmash of various plot points taken from four different books, featuring characters barely resembling the book ones (except for Sparrowhawk, who isn't too bad) and a great lore being completely ignored (where are the islands?)

It still has a great soundtrack, awesome visuals, and some pretty good scenes, but that doesn't redeem it for me.

[Channelknight Fadran]

Tales of Earthsea wasn't directed by Hiyao Miyazaki, btw. It was directed by his son, Goro (he also did Earwig).

[Eluvianii he/him]

Does anyone else get a lot of fake nostalgia when listening to Joe Hisaishi? I think he's the modern composer that does that the most to me. Everything he does feels so homey to listen to, it invokes a lot of memories that never happened. 

Being alone in my room at night, I literally had to stop listening to a cover from Kiki like 2 minutes ago because I could feel myself wanting to cry, missing those good times at the "town with an ocean view". I have never even been near an ocean. 

[Coolmint]

8 hours ago, Eluvianii said:

Does anyone else get a lot of fake nostalgia when listening to Joe Hisaishi? I think he's the modern composer that does that the most to me. Everything he does feels so homey to listen to, it invokes a lot of memories that never happened. 

Being alone in my room at night, I literally had to stop listening to a cover from Kiki like 2 minutes ago because I could feel myself wanting to cry, missing those good times at the "town with an ocean view". I have never even been near an ocean. 

 

I live near one and it makes me cry, too.

[Ravenclawjedi42]

To necro or not to necro, that is the question. If you’re seeing this, then I guess I chose necro.

My rankings:

1. Princess Mononoke
2. Whisper of the Heart
3. My Neighbor Totoro
4. Castle in the Sky
5. Ponyo
6. Spirited Away
7. My Neighbors the Yamadas 
8. Pom Poko
9. Kiki’s Delivery Service
10. Howl’s Moving Castle

I guess I haven’t seen as many as I thought. I loved all of these except for Howl (I preferred the book) and the top three were exquisite films.

[Elegy he/him]

On 10/29/2023 at 6:07 PM, Ravenclawjedi42 said:

To necro or not to necro, that is the question. If you’re seeing this, then I guess I chose necro.

My rankings:

1. Princess Mononoke
2. Whisper of the Heart
3. My Neighbor Totoro
4. Castle in the Sky
5. Ponyo
6. Spirited Away
7. My Neighbors the Yamadas 
8. Pom Poko
9. Kiki’s Delivery Service
10. Howl’s Moving Castle

I guess I haven’t seen as many as I thought. I loved all of these except for Howl (I preferred the book) and the top three were exquisite films.

You chose wisely 

Always nice to see Whisper of the Heart that high. I understand that it doesn't have the broadest audience of all the Ghibli films (at least in the west), but I still think it's kinda under-appreciated. Also, having a fantasy epic and a whimsical slice of life flick next to each other at the top is a nice testament to Ghibli's versatility!

[Ravenclawjedi42]

31 minutes ago, Elegy said:

You chose wisely 

Always nice to see Whisper of the Heart that high. I understand that it doesn't have the broadest audience of all the Ghibli films (at least in the west), but I still think it's kinda under-appreciated. Also, having a fantasy epic and a whimsical slice of life flick next to each other at the top is a nice testament to Ghibli's versatility!

I loved Whisper of the Heart so, so much. It is actually what made me first think about writing, something I enjoy a lot and plan to do as a career, and it has a special place in my heart. And the studio is definitely very versatile, their films encompass so many genres while most are still clearly of similar styles.

[Eluvianii he/him]

I remember the first time I watched Whisper of the Heart I was strictly expecting a romance, and I didn't love it. It would have been in the lower end of my ranking then. But at some point I read the movie being described as "the birth of two artists". I watched the movie again after that and I don't know if it was the comment or simply the years that had passed since the first time but from then on it became one of my favorites. It's a very sweet movie.

 

[The Sibling she/her]

I've only seen princess mononoke and orca Russo but I like the style. I had to watch princess mononoke for English class a while ago so I really wasn't expecting much (my English teacher didn't have good taste in movies) but I really loved the style. Everything's just so pretty! I don't watch lots of animated stuff, but these movies seem really cool. Does anyone have a suggestion of which one to watch next?

Edited November 3, 2023 by The Sibling

[Elegy he/him]

On 11/3/2023 at 5:39 PM, The Sibling said:

I've only seen princess mononoke and orca Russo but I like the style. I had to watch princess mononoke for English class a while ago so I really wasn't expecting much (my English teacher didn't have good taste in movies) but I really loved the style. Everything's just so pretty! I don't watch lots of animated stuff, but these movies seem really cool. Does anyone have a suggestion of which one to watch next?

Spirited Away would be my recommendation. It's very different from those you've seen, more of a whimsical kind of magical and not quite as serious as Mononoke and Porco Rosso. But those three would give you a pretty good look at Miyazaki's different styles as a director. And depending on what you liked about which of these movies, you can move from there.

[celerrima she/her]

YAY Whisper of the Heart fans. I've seen nearly all their movies and that one usually doesn't get mentioned in talks like these. It's my friend's very favorite actually. I voted for Princess Mononoke for this poll but it was basically a toss up between that and Spirited Away. Also Grave of the Fireflies impressed me a ton but I'm not watching it again.

By the way, if you're totally caught up on your Ghibli stuff and would care to visit the 1970s, Takahata and Miyazaki worked together before starting that studio. Future Boy Conan is basically signature Ghibli, and maybe more importantly, they worked on the original Lupin III (the green jacket era) and were really important for the development of that franchise. I think Castle of Cagliostro is still widely considered to be the best Lupin movie.

[Eluvianii he/him]

Can't personally agree with the last bit, I think Lupin is at his best when he's only like half Miyazaki, but I'm still immensely grateful to him for setting the character on that course. Villain Lupin can be interesting, but this weird middle ground, mostly-hero-but-still-a-thief he has going on now is more fun.