Porco Rosso is Miyazaki's best movie and, being about adapting to trauma (him being a pig is a metaphor for survivor's guilt changing him as a man, you midwits, not a curse from god) and solidarity in the face of worldly hardship, is slightly outside of his usual thematic wheelhouse of childlike pacifism and ecology which makes a welcome change. Spirited Away, for all its normie appeal, is also an excellent movie. Howl's Moving Castle is his least-greatest movie (maybe; The Wind Rises which is beautiful but has practically no central conflict and suffers the flaws of the mid-20th century Japanese literature it emulates, but the jury's still out because it hasn't been out for long enough) but gets an unfair rap from dumb yanks who expected another Mononoke, which while visually stunning has an overrated third act. The manga version of Nausicaä is his best work overall. Kaguya is Takahata's best and should have won the Oscar if Spirited Away got one, Yamadas was crap, Only Yesterday was impressive at the time but overrated in retrospect. Cagliostro is a middling as a Lupin III instalment, straying from the tone of the original property, but is one of the definitive adventure movies of all time. Trying to follow the CG trend will be the death of the studio. Ponyo is a Disney tier flick story-wise but achieves what it sets out to do very well and gets kudos for having a unique style, a worthy successor to Totoro. The Cat Returns is probably the best Ghibli film not directed or co-directed by either of the big two. Kiki's Delivery Service has the comfiest setting but is hampered the most by Miyazaki's no-script improvisational approach with its central conflict / character development totally fudged in the third act.
The Wind Rises was the first and favorite Ghibli movie i saw. For kids movies the rest ive seen are rly slow to pick up, takes like 3 attempts to finish them.
Jason Robinson
I never got why people say that Castle of Cagliostro isn't like the original Lupin III. Don't you know it's the same people who made it? Takahata and Miyazaki directed the first TV series in the 70s.
Eli Harris
>Porco Rosso is Miyazaki's best movie That's a weird way of spelling kiki
I mean the comics, but yeah I know they did the TV series
I can't deny it has rewatch value, it's a romantic tragedy to rival Mishima, but there's a glaring lack of insight into any sort of awareness of the consequences of war bar the poignant recognition that not a single original Zero survived the war in one line in the final scene which feels dishonest in a film that's ostensibly about the price of making one's dreams come true, I don't expect an angst-wank but it's a little too sanitised even for Miyazaki when you consider this is the same dude who drew those incredible scenes of Kushana watching her own troops being needlessly sacrificed by her brothers, and bio-engineered human clones gorily breaking down etc., earlier in his career
John Ramirez
Why does Pom Poko get so much hate? I thought it was a pretty witty take on the fantasy-realism niche, sorta like the Artemis Fowl books
Lincoln Richardson
>Kiki's Delivery Service >totally fudged in the third act Wrong, that is a perfect movie.
Daniel Butler
What? The Ghibli shorts were actually released?
Parker Jackson
>The Cat Returns is probably the best Ghibli film not directed or co-directed by either of the big two. That would be Whisper of the Heart, which actually better one of the best movies to come out of the studio, and, directing-wise, I wouldn't be shocked if someone considers it the best of them all.
Isaiah Harris
Miyazaki co-directed I thought?
Isaac Cooper
i don't know to be honest. always knew it was kondo the director.
Miyazaiki wrote the screenplays for Whisper of the Heart, The Secret World of Arrietty, and From Up on Poppy Hill.
Benjamin Cooper
Porco Rosso should be in the top 10 at least, appreciate Whisper Of The Heart and Kaguya being the top 2 but overall a far worse list than this
Jackson Sullivan
how have i not seen whisper of the heart yet? didnt even know it existed what the fuck
Asher Reyes
Porco Rosso is massively overrated by 4channel.org and massively underrated by the general public. It's not a top 10 Ghibli movie.
Hudson Anderson
personally i enjoyed mononoke, totoro and spirited away more than any of the others. They just resonate with me and make me emotional.
Adrian Cook
To me, Castle of Cagliostro is like the Porco Rosso that people here say it is.
Nicholas Wood
b
Nathaniel Thompson
Miyazaki's Greatest Work: Naussicaa manga Best Ghibli animator:Hideaki Anno
Wyatt Young
You really should see it. I'd say the story and plot are maybe just above average, a bit banal in some places even, but charming and uplifting nonetheless. However, what always draws me back to the film is the atmosphere of the town (and some of the interior) they've manage build that's both tranquil and vivid at the same time. The backgrounds are beautiful, as is to be expected. Unlike I don't think it's the best film Ghibli has ever produced but I'm not surprised how someone might think otherwise. Don't go into it thinking it's a fantasy film, though: the cover can be quite misleading. It's more of an everyday realism.
Porco is great, but my favourite Ghibli movie is "Ocean Waves".
Luis Robinson
What's the appeal of Whisper? It has a interesting setting, nice visual direction, but that's pretty much it. To me it was just another basic coming of age story, melodramatic even (by Ghibli standards).
Dylan Gutierrez
Max comfy. Best theme song. Bygone days is on my pre-sleep play list.
I guess I'm being overly harsh on Whisper because I watched it right after Only Yesterday which, in comparison, was better in every single way.
Hudson Reyes
Pom Poko is not good, but to think Earthsea is better you must have some really particular reasoning.
Gabriel Bailey
Pleb. Ponyo is Miyazaki's best. Howl is second best. You don't have the brain capacity to appreciate.
Hunter White
This but unironically. I particularly liked that Ponyo was somewhat of an apology to his son and a return to his Totoro days in atmosphere. I understand this can be partially lost on people who haven't watched his films in release order.
I really like that one, too. I'd say it's a better film, though if I had to choose which I would rewatch between the two, Whisper of the Heart or Only Yesterday, I'd probably choose the former most of the time. I've heard (and seen how) Only Yesterday can be a bit polarizing. I loved the movie when I saw it for the second time a year ago, whereas my brother almost fell asleep at times. It is a rather slow but also a jumpy film with the flashbacks, and sometimes the childhood scenes have seemingly nothing to do with the contemporary timeline, so I can see how it could be a bit grating to some people.
For me it's that the conclusion of the romance was so abrupt and ham-fisted. Really pulls the film down in my estimation.
Parker Morgan
Earthsea is Goro's film tho
Gavin Campbell
Still Ghibli.
Gavin Nelson
Yeah, it's a bit corny. But so are teenagers like the two main characters in general. And who's to say their romance will actually endure the separation. I wouldn't have minded if the film would have been a tad more subtle with the romance, though. The abrupt end didn't help either.
Jack Jackson
I wasn't being ironic. Ponyo is the Götterdämmerung and the Great Flood presented as a cheerful children's story. The contrast is brilliant and hammers down Miyazaki's idea that children will have fun no matter the situation, because they can't understand and they don't care if it may or may not be the apocalypse. Howl is similarly brilliant because it's an anti-war story which doesn't stop at saying "war is bad", but goes on to show that through love we can rebuild, despite losing almost everything. Most people are too stupid to see these themes.
Henry Nelson
the opening of Whisper Of The Heart is kino as absolute fuck
The Budokan live version is one of my favourite Joe Hisaishi tracks
WHY does everyone dislike Pom Poko??? below Marnie, really?
Nicholas Morales
>Only Yesterday I didn't realise the guy she fell in love with and the older guy with basically the same face were meant to be different people until right near the end, totally bamboozled me
Cameron Long
>testicles in children's movie I wonder why. So until we see vaginas it's not equal yet.
Christian Nguyen
How can you put Marnie that low? It’s a tearjerker.
David Butler
Marnie is just there. You watch it, then you forget it. The first time I watched Pom Poko I liked it. Near the end when the elderly catch a glimpse of what it used to be was touching. Now the scene is still good, but everything else got worse.
I really wish Miyazaki made a movie out of pic related, it had such good story potential I will forever be pissed that the full manga adaptation Ive been waiting for turns out to be a shitty Kabuki play.
It feels like the risk of doing something worse than the original is too high. It is so tight. It delivers everything you need in just a few minutes. Less is more.
Elijah Powell
So far the only Ghibli films I’ve seen are Kiki’s Delivery Service, Nausicaä, and Spirited Away, and Castle of Cagliostro, if that counts Out of the four, my favorite was Nausicaä. It had a simple yet fun adventure story, incredibly likable protagonist, great villain, and a fun and unique world that was like a strange mix of steampunk and middle age culture. What other Ghibli film would you anons recommend me, I kinda want to get into some of Takahata’s films
Probably because lupin III is/was already an established franchise outside of Ghibli, so they can't put it in as a movie under their name most likely
Ayden Jackson
sounds like a job for epic teamup special release promo version
John Young
i'm with you on ponyo, though admittedly i know nothing about wagner's work and can't draw whatever the connection is there. but ponyo presents a really nice lesson on how to respond to disaster. and it's cool how miyazaki limits the presence of fujimoto whose conflict delivers the theme of the movie. so when ponyo and sosuke's joy and trust overwhelm fujimoto's fear and desire for control it doesn't feel preachy but simply pleasant. i don't get what you mean with howl though. i haven't really thought about it because it's just so much less enjoyable for me to watch compared to other miyazaki movies. but i'd like to read an expansion on your thoughts about howl and maybe have them in mind next time i watch it, if you care to share.
Julian Howard
Miyazaki's gonna croak it before he finishes 'How do you Live' isn't he? The film's been in production for 4 years and is barely done
