26/05/2021: 6 of my favorite Studio Ghibli movies

This list is long-overdue! Studio Ghibli’s played a central role in bringing anime to the mainstream and therefore helping proliferate anime so we can enjoy it today. Although Hayao Miyazaki has been less-than-kind in his words where regards the anime industry today, he and his studio have no doubt cemented their place in animation and weaboo history. I thought it’d be nice to run through some of their body of work.

Movies that didn’t make the list:

Before we begin, I’ve also included my reasons for excluding some of the most famous Ghibli movies, for fear of being mischaracterized as being ignorant or foolish. Don’t get me wrong – they’re all great movies, but they aren’t my favorite.

Spirited Away

I feel like this is the most egregious omission from the list.

I agree that it’s probably the greatest animated film ever made but I hate it! In my opinion, it’s very similar to Alice in Wonderland because it follows our main character (also a young girl) through a strange, unnatural and fantastical setting with a lot of strange incidents that feel very episodic, and ends with (spoiler-y) some uncertainty over whether the events of the movie actually happened at all. I can appreciate this kind of story to the extent that it provides a great setting for lots of interesting anecdotes and imaginative imagery. I also acknowledge that our female lead is a good girl who has a worthy objective (traversing this world, finding her parents and being helpful) and undergoes a good amount of character development. (Spoiler: She doesn’t exactly change, but her interaction with the world depends on her behaving as she does and simply being herself, and her success throughout the story is very much a celebration of the value of being oneself, which I think is an interesting idea.) The action, when it happens, is exciting. That can’t help but be the case when the screen is almost perpetually bursting with glorious detail and memorable images like No-Face and other fantasy creatures.

However, I personally thought that the story felt a bit messy. A lot of critics said it was straightforward, but I couldn’t really get into it. I should clarify that I’m the kind of person who can’t stand abstract stories or those that leave you wondering about certain things (e.g., Alice in Wonderland). Also, although it’s very much like Alice in Wonderland, it didn’t quite feel so “wonderful” to me despite the imaginative setting. Some of the imagery was just plain unpleasant (no doubt intentionally – some consider some of these to represent societal ills like overindulgence, parental overprotection, among others) which hit a bit too hard for me.

I can’t dispute that it’s a great movie, but it just wasn’t for me.

Grave of the Fireflies

It’s just too depressing.

Howl’s Moving Castle

A young girl offends a witch and gets cursed to be old. She ends up going along with Howl, a wizard, to try to undo the curse while he’s busy interfering with a war.

I didn’t appreciate the anti-war themes in this movie, which I thought detracted from a potentially better narrative focusing on class and gender like the original book. It was a bit too on-the-nose for me. Also, the story just went off the rails towards the end and it felt like the story just stopped caring if it made sense. The rest of it also felt very unfocused and messy. That said, a lot of my personal distaste arose from my dislike for Sophie’s predicament because I saw a horror movie where the heroine gets trapped in a decrepit old body by the villains who employ a voodoo ritual and the movie just ended like that so it brought up those unpleasant memories.

However, I should point out that Howl is played by one of my favorite Japanese actors, Takuya Kimura, and the Witch of the Waste was voiced in the dub by Lauren Bacall, a classic Golden-Age Hollywood actress.

Porco Rosso

Porco Rosso is an anthropomorphic pig who was an Italian fighter ace in WW1 who got cursed after he fled from a battle once. This is a story about his adventures, including a feud with another fighter ace, Curtis, over the affections of Gina, a proprietress of a hotel where everyone hangs out, and Fio, a mechanic he meets along the way. The story isn’t particularly grand but it’s fairly interesting since it involves dogfights and actual historical events like the rise of fascism. The characters are also all quite interesting and 3-dimensional, which is only accentuated in the English dub since they’re voiced by greats like Michael Keaton and Cary Elwes.

However, I hate stories that involve love triangles, especially when all of them seem like nice characters, since some of the characters you like will definitely not have a good ending (at least concerning the romantic storyline). It’s only because of my personal preference for characters like Curtis over Porco Rosso – a more objective and balanced person would probably enjoy it fine.

Arietty

I hate movies with sick kids.

The actual list

1) My Neighbor Totoro

In my opinion, this is a perfect “nowhere” story.

Satsuki and Mei, two young sisters, move to the countryside with their dad after their mom (who is quite ill) is moved to a hospital here. They soon discover that their house is haunted by all kinds of spirits but that’s OK because they aren’t scary. Their encounters with one such spirit, the iconic Totoro (whose name is derived by Mei from its unintelligible roars), on several occasions form the rest of what little plot there is in the movie. For example, it accompanies them while they’re waiting at the bus stop for their dad, plants a magic tree with them and stuff like that. Towards the end of the movie, there’s a small emergency which Totoro helps resolve, but the movie is mostly just about the girls settling into their new home and having fun.

Personally, I think My Neighbor Totoro excels at presenting a mundane, everyday story in an interesting way without resorting to forced drama (except that last emergency, which might be considered the climax of the movie, although even that is a fairly normal occurrence). Wouldn’t you normally expect the sick mother to present an easy source of tension to drive the plot along or some great tragedy that has to be overcome somehow? However, the movie didn’t take that easy route but instead tackled it more realistically: falling sick (even seriously so) or moving to a new, strange place and feeling out of place are common occurrences, after all. Having Totoro or the other fantasy elements on top of the usual melodrama would provoke eye-rolls, I think. Instead, despite the lack of action, thrills or tension, the movie remains intriguing from start to finish precisely because it portrays a realistic family in a realistic scenario. (OK, maybe “realistic” goes too far – they are quite the ideal family, which you might consider as fantastical as a giant furry spirit that gives you magic seeds – but they are within the realm of possibility.) Totoro and the spirits are pretty cool but the heart of the movie remains the family, particularly Satsuki and Mei since their parents aren’t in the movie all that much. Their relationship on-screen really made me believe they were sisters who loved each other (and their parents, since they are good girls) and they felt so real. I think that there are a lot of ways you can look at the movie, but I feel like it’s about being a kid and seeing what kind of fun you can have even though life isn’t perfect because it’s still a lot of fun.

To add on, my mum has mentioned to me that she found the movie oddly depressing. On some level, I can agree with her despite the film’s overwhelmingly pleasant feeling. After all, you really wouldn’t expect a family to be happy after moving to the countryside because the mother got sick. Most likely, the dad would be drinking or resentful of the mother, who’d be depressed, and the kids might be gloomy and lost because of the effective loss of one/both parental figures or having to leave their old friends behind. The countryside looks pretty as a picture, but there’re lots of amenities that you miss out on and kids might be upset at the whole arrangement. I think that many Studio Ghibli movies “suffer” from this – it’s the tragedy of beholding something so beautiful that you can never truly touch. When a subject is portrayed so well, the distance between viewer and subject can seem even greater because it’s understandable but subconsciously unrelatable. There’s a certain sadness in the beauty, but also a beauty in the same sadness.

2) Princess Mononoke

If My Neighbor Totoro was a “nothing” movie, Princess Mononoke is the exact opposite. It’s a grand adventure of a prince who’s infected by a curse when he protects his village from a rogue forest spirit who’s been corrupted. He’s banished from his hometown (harsh) and travels to find a cure for the curse which is like a strength buff but will eventually kill him. He makes his way to Iron Town and learns that the spirits are going nuts because of the industrialization and deforestation and they keep getting attacked by various spirits like the boar clan and the wolf clan. Notably, there’s a girl who hangs out with the wolves because she hates humans and was raised by the wolves. The rest of the plot is pretty much about the conflict between man and nature and culminates in an epic climax.

This is my favorite Studio Ghibli movie (tied with The Cat Returns) and it isn’t hard to see why. It’s an epic fantasy with a grand man vs nature theme that’s executed with frenetic action, otherworldly imagery and characters that bare their humanity. That last factor is especially important to this movie. Without believable characters, a “man vs nature” story devolves into a preachy mess – ahem, Avatar (James Cameron, not the cartoon). In this case, the Iron Town folks are very decent. Although they’re polluting the area and killing the forest and spirits, they’re still good people because they’re providing jobs for outcasts that other cities have rejected and are led by a strong woman leader who takes no shit from other exploitative leaders. It’s actually a very compelling conflict of interests and it isn’t so clear what the right balance is. Spoiler: In fact, I like that the movie doesn’t presume itself to be greater than it is by imposing its own idea of what that balance should be, opting instead for a promise to be “better” which is more realistic and hopeful than some cheesy Disney nonsense.

Hayao Miyazaki had explored the same theme earlier on with Nausiccaa of the Valley of the Wind, but with much less nuance. (I still like that movie because it’s great sci-fi action, although it’s not really a Studio Ghibli movie.)

3) Kiki’s Delivery Service

I feel like Kiki gets mischaracterized as a “nothing” movie like Totoro, but I actually think it’s different.

The plot is very simple: Kiki comes of age and has to leave home to train to be a witch by going out into the world and earning her living. Using her broom, she runs a delivery service from a bakery that takes her in and she makes many friends like the baker and his wife, a bespectacled boy and an old lady, to name a few. After a setback, she loses her abilities for a while (a bit like in Spider-Man 2) but she manages to get out of her rut at the end just in time to save the day during the climax of the movie.

First off, it’s an exceptionally pleasant movie. In many ways, it shares this with My Neighbor Totoro. A lot of the pleasantness derives from the likability of Kiki, who’s smart and driven and energetic and kind, and the rest of the cast, most of whom are exceptionally helpful and kind as well. This brings up the similar “problem”, so I get a little bit sad while watching the movie, even though it’s a happy movie. Besides the characters, I absolutely adore the Mediterranean setting of the movie. The town itself has a bright summery vibe and you can almost feel the sea breeze and taste the salt, and feel the slight warmth of the sun on your skin. That’s how good the colors are. The time its set in is somewhat indeterminate, but it feels like the 60s to me. The other environs like a countryside cottage are also exceptionally beautiful. If Princess Mononoke could showcase the beauty of a fantasy, Kiki showcases the same for a real-life environment. I don’t get the chance to travel much, but I really feel like going to Italy or somewhere like that to see if it really is like that.

Returning to my original point, I feel like one of the messages in Kiki is super important. Somewhere in the middle, Kiki gets a bit depressed after a bad delivery and loses her powers. She stays in this rut for a while until an artist friend helps her out. (I won’t spoil more of it.) When I saw it, I felt like it encouraged me to pick myself up to get out of whatever predicament I was in. It could be writer’s block, lack of motivation to study, or a depression (not the clinical kind, obviously, that needs professional help), but you might be able to overcome it with the support of the right people who care or the right things, like surrounding yourself with nature or other inspirations. I felt like Kiki did so by reminding herself that she liked what she did and why that was the case so she could continue with what she was doing.

4) The Cat Returns

It’s a spin-off from Whispers of the Heart, which I wrote about here: https://btcnopico.wixsite.com/btcnopico/post/10-2-21-valentine-s-day-movies

Haru, a student who’s not particularly special or confident about anything, saves a cat from being hit by a lorry. This act of heroism attracts the attention and gratitude of the cat kingdom and she’s whisked away to a fantasy world after she accidentally accepts his proposal for marriage. Luckily, she runs into the Baron (a heroic gentleman cat) and his assistants Toto and Muta who rescue her and they embark on adventure to return her home before she transforms into a cat.

It’s a fairly straightforward fantasy adventure with a lot of excitement and memorable characters. The English dub for this movie is excellent – a young Anne Hathaway (still working for Disney) plays Haru spectacularly and she’s super cute and lovely; the dashing Cary Elwes brings the Baron splendidly to life, while the cast is rounded out by Petere Boule, Elliot Gould and even Tim Curry! The movie really makes you feel like you’re on a grand adventure with Haru and the Baron and it’s a happy, pleasant adventure as well. Said positive vibes are only enhanced by the beautiful scenery and colors. It’s a damn shame that Hiroyuki Morita never directed another film for Studio Ghibli. There are also lots of memorable and epic scenes that stay with you long after the credits have rolled. I’d say it’s my favorite Studio Ghibli movie. If I had to pick between this and Princess Mononoke, this would win by a slight margin.

Oh yes – the ending song, Kaze ni Naru, is among the best I’ve heard in a movie. It’s saccharine and lovely. The Mandarin cover by Fish Leong is really good.

5) From Up on Poppy Hill

A post-war coming-of-age story about a bunch of schoolchildren who work together to restore a club room so it won’t get knocked down. Over the events, a boy and girl (who obviously don’t get along at the start) start to develop a relationship but run into a series of obstacles (I won’t spoil it).

I found the post-war setting unusual for an anime, which went well with the teen romance story. I loved the designs for the buildings and rooms, which felt very real to me. It really felt like being in a real 60s Japanese town! I think the nostalgic value of the setting is really worth the price of admission because it was like looking through a time machine. It’s not all sunshine and rainbows because they acknowledge the bad things that happened around the time and how things got to that point and there’s a certain value to having that although it kind of makes you wince. As for the story, it’s fairly standard and I’m not sure why I liked it so much, but the first bit about the clubhouse felt really good. The romance part, especially the big problem, was really melodramatic but I didn’t mind it so much in light of the good stuff I mentioned earlier and the two characters were quite likable.

I read a review that said that it didn’t push the boundaries but remains engaging, which I think nicely sums it up.

6) Only Yesterday

The final entry on this list is an adult drama about a woman who visits relatives in the countryside and gets flashbacks to her childhood and contemplates her life decisions.

I like anything that has something to do with the countryside and nostalgia, and this movie reeks of it. Besides that, the main character goes through this whole emotional deliberation for the whole movie which basically boils down to whether she’s living a life that’s true to what she wanted to be when she was a kid. I feel like that’s a nice sentiment – one that you can disagree with – and it really resonated with me when I watched it. It would be great if we could try to keep true to the ideals, hopes and dreams that we had as children and live lives that the younger versions of us would be proud of.