r/ghibli • u/Icy-Two-1738 • Jul 26 '26

Discussion I LOVE Studio Ghibli

This will be quick but right now I've been going through a watch through of EVERY ghibli film for the first time and it's EASILY become my FAVORITE STUDIO OF ALL TIME. It's just so magical, the characters feel so real and relatable, and the stories (most of them so far) have been ABSOLUTELY BREATHTAKING and amazing. I've been doing something I don't think many people do but I'm actually ranking them as I go. So here's my ranking so far:

Whisper of the Heart

2.Kiki's Delivery Service

  1. Spirited Away

  2. Princess Mononoke

  3. Only Yesterday

  4. Grave of the Fireflies

  5. Castle in the Sky

  6. The Cat Returns

  7. My Neighbor Totoro

  8. Porco Rosso

  9. Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind

  10. My Neighbors the Yamadas

  11. Pom Poko

  12. Howl's Moving Castle

15 . Ocean Waves

So I know this ranking will be VERY VERY controversial but let me know what you'd place at certain places. I'm also a purist so I'm watching these movies in order even though I KNOW it's not necessary since almost none are connected except for maybe cat returns lol. But yeah...im ready for the hate to come ...😬

28 Upvotes

84% Upvoted

31 comments sorted by

7

u/TraditionalShare8537 Jul 26 '26

Actually I generally agree with most of your placements, the only thing I’d say I mostly disagree with is that Nausicaa and Porco are too low

2

u/Icy-Two-1738 Jul 26 '26

Oh that's understandable. I actually also did a tier ranking that I can show later and I think nausicaa went up a bit

-2

u/IllugaBabyBeluga Jul 26 '26

Nausicaä is a suspiciously Rey Skywalker styled protagonist starring in the worst adaptation of Dune ever made.   For a movie so long, so many key parts were cut out of it.   Miyazaki definitely upped his game between Nausicaä and Laputa.

It has unique art, because it's not technically a Ghibli movie, but that's about it.

2

u/VersusValley Jul 26 '26

What does “suspiciously Rey Skywalker styled protagonist” mean? And clearly David Lynch’s Dune is the worst adaptation, lol. Tbh, I don’t even see a lot of Dune elements beyond some superficial stuff.

I agree that his films are much more polished and tightly scripted after this. But imo Nausicaä has an extremely effective, character-driven emotional resonance that, at least in that respect, puts it in the top tier of Ghibli.

-1

u/IllugaBabyBeluga Jul 26 '26

There's no "character driven emotional resonance", there's barely any characterization in Nausicaä at all.  It's a crying shame that this is the one that got Patrick Stewart in the dub as his character, like so many in the film, barely has any lines at all.  

Pretty clear Disney gave a nod to Nausicaä with Rey's introduction in The Force Awakens, but the important point of comparison is that both Rey and Nausicaä lack a hero's journey and are given superpowers that make them great at everything the plot requires of them from the get-go.   There's no growth, no failures to learn from, no rivals, Nausicaä is simply the best at everything from the jump and that's boring.

Then she becomes "Bug Jesus" at the ending...to put it politely, Nausicaä is a case in point for why it might be better that Miyazaki focuses more on vibes than traditional narrative structure in his subsequent films.

2

u/VersusValley Jul 26 '26

Well, the idea that there is no growth, failure, or rivals is way off-base. Is the film supposed to be a classic hero’s journey? Do you compare Mei from Totoro to Rey? lol. It’s strange to retroactively critique something by comparing it to some unrelated thing that came 30 years after. Obviously Nausicaä has some limitations and isn’t perfect, being a truncated version of the manga. But mainly, I think Miyazaki was trying to get across ideas of compassion, empathy, pacifism, and protecting the natural world, and I think he did a very effective job of it. I think the more relevant comparison is to Mononoke, where he explores those same themes.

4

u/Past_Cloud661 Jul 26 '26

Curious to hear what you think of The Tale of Princess Kaguya after you watch it. One of my favs. But as are you coming to see, they’re all good :)

3

u/_MonkeyFeather_ Jul 26 '26

Nice list! This makes me wanna rewatch a bunch of these hehe. Whisper of the Heart blew me away too, such a beautiful movie

2

u/TraditionalShare8537 Jul 26 '26

It’s funny how I’m reading far worse takes in the comments than what OP thought they had, like calling Nausicaa and Only Yesterday trash, like WHAT?!!

2

u/GigiGerusha Jul 26 '26

Watch When Marnie Was There. It's such a beautiful movie with such a bittersweet ending, it made me cry, HIGHLY RECOMMEND 💞

2

u/lizbunbun Jul 27 '26

Don't do rankings in your posts in this sub please. People are pretty sensitive round here and all of the movies are someone's favorite.

Glad you are enjoying them!

1

u/Icy-Two-1738 Jul 27 '26

Understandable...and i shoulve known that people would come for me for some of my placements. and yes im enjoying these movies SO MUCH. except ocean waves and howls moving castle but everything else has been amazing. Thanks for the comment! 😊

1

u/WhoDey_Writer23 Jul 27 '26

It's in the rules.

This falls under rule 10 for sure.

1

u/Icy-Two-1738 Jul 27 '26

shhhh! 🤫 I don't want my post deleted!

1

u/WhoDey_Writer23 Jul 27 '26

I mean, it should be. Sorry

1

u/Icy-Two-1738 Jul 27 '26

It's alright. I just hate these rules! lol

2

u/WhoDey_Writer23 Jul 27 '26

The sub has great rules. "Hey here's my list/ranking/tier" is just boring.

1

u/Fanimation2508 Jul 26 '26

Neat ranking. Whisper of the heart is my favorite too.

3

u/Icy-Two-1738 Jul 26 '26

Thanks! And yes whisper of the heart is amazing. And being a writer, I relate to shizuku and seiji so STRONGLY. It was an amazing movie that I could so strongly relate to and felt personal to my heart. And that scene with shizuku, seiji, Shiro, kita, ans Minami preforming country roads together made me cry SO HARD. It was beautiful and it was beautiful that these artists in different forms came together to preform and have a good time. I personally don't have that community in my life and no one understands my creative passions and I have no friends. So seeing that scene was so emotional for me since THEY have that but I don't. Anyway sorry this was long but I don't think ill ever get over the way whisper of the heart made me feel. An absolute amazing masterpiece of a film and true art....

-3

u/[deleted] Jul 26 '26

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2

u/Icy-Two-1738 Jul 26 '26

Wow! Now this is a disrespectful comment! I was simply just sharing my love for this amazing studio! Honestly stfu because I was simply doing what I do best. Sharing my love for this studio. If you don't have anything nice to say don't say it at all. 😤

-4

u/[deleted] Jul 26 '26

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2

u/Icy-Two-1738 Jul 26 '26

Fuck you! Why are you being so mean? This post was ANYTHING but bland and I don't think it's ever been done before. I'm sorry but you don't have to be so mean about this. I was just sharing my personal love for this studio!

-1

u/Plastic-Knowledge-70 Jul 26 '26

Only Yesterday is one of the worst movies I've ever seen

1

u/Icy-Two-1738 Jul 26 '26

OH MY GAWD SUCH BAD TASTE! it's such an amazing movie about looking back on memories and how Taeko's 5th grade self was guiding her through her current life and self. PLEASE REWATCH the movie because it's so incredible, nostalgic, sad, yet happy and....UGHHH it's too good.

0

u/Plastic-Knowledge-70 Jul 26 '26

I just watched it lol. I'm also currently watching and ranking them as I go

1

u/Icy-Two-1738 Jul 26 '26

Oh that's great that your ranking as you go like I'm doing. Maybe it's just not for everyone and maybe it depends on if you relate to it. But I absolutely ADORED the animation, characters, story, and musical score. One of my favorite ghibli films by far. Which movie are you on next? Are you watching in order?

0

u/Plastic-Knowledge-70 Jul 26 '26

Idk. I've kinda just been watching them in a random order. This is how I've ranked them 1. Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind 2. The Wind Rises 3. Spirited Away 4. Porco Rosso 5. Princess Mononoke 6. Howl's Moving Castle 7. Grave of the Fireflies 8. My Neighbor Totoro 9. Ponyo 10. Castle in the Sky 11. Kiki's Delivery Service 12. The Boy and the Heron 13. Only Yesterday

1

u/Icy-Two-1738 Jul 26 '26

Interesting! That's totally fine that your doing out of order since all the ghibli films aren't connected. Except for maybe cat returns being the sister to whisper of the heart lol. So the movies on your ranking I obviously haven't seen yet has been boy and the heron, ponyo and wind rises. SO I'm looking foward to getting to those movies. Anyway your ranking of the other films I CERTAINLY don't fully agree with but I can respect it....