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I've seen most of them by now. Friday I saw the cutest one ever, Whisper of the Heart...god I loved that film.

So pick your top three favorites by everyone's favorite director, Hayao Miyazaki! More polls with other directors coming soon.

Personally I love all of them, but Spirited Away, Howl's Moving Castle, and Princess Mononoke are my favorites. Totoro, Porco, and Kiki have a special place in my heart--they're such great films as well. Ponyo, yepyepyep. Nausicaa and Castle in the Sky aren't my favorites at all :P

Note: technically Nausicaa was made before Studio Ghibli was formed, but it has since been rereleased under the Studio Ghibli banner.

PONYO. FUCK YEAH.

:P my...third least favorite. But it's still cute. I'm surprised you picked it over any of his others, though. The English dub is at least good--except for the torturous Noah Cyrus and Frankie Jonas performances... XD

Voted for Howl's because it's obviously the best. 8)

To be honest, i havent seen all of em. And yeah frankie jonas and noah cyrus were kinda piercing :P

Howl's moving castle is my favourite too. Laputa was interesting to watch too since I had heard that Sonic the Hedgehog got some influences from it. Porco Rosso is my least favourite :I just too...meh.

I feel ashamed 'cause I haven't seen Totoro or Spirited Away, should watch them now when I have time.

Nausicaa and Laputa were my least favorites :P I quite enjoyed Porco! But yeah Spirited Away is on par with Howl's, definitely find time to see it.

Darnit man, making me choose between Howl's Moving Castle and Spirited Away.

I guess HMC is my favorite at the end of the day though.

Nausicaa is fantastic, dunno why you don't like it

Don't hate on Castle in the Sky!

Both of those just felt so unpolished to me :/ Course I thought the same thing about Mononoke the first time I saw it, so maybe I just need to watch them again.

You're missing the Grave of Fireflies, The Cat Return, and Whisper of the Heart-all of which I liked. >:C Missing a few others as well...
Laputa was pretty good, too.

No, I'm not. The poll specifically says films directed by Hayao Miyazaki. I'm doing the other ones by different directors later. (Cause I specifically mentioned Whisper of the Heart as a favorite of mine in the first post).

Ah. Tbh, I didn't even read the 1st post, A nasty habit, I know...  but if that's the case, the title is misleading...

 No...since I said I'd do other polls from the studio later... :P gaah. And I hope to see Grave of the Fireflies and My Neighbors the Yamadas, then I'll have seen them all.

Quote from: SlowPokemon on February 29, 2012, 07:49:31 PMI hope to see Grave of the Fireflies

Prepare to cry.

Quote from: Olimar12345 on February 29, 2012, 07:51:03 PMPrepare to cry.

Agreed. Better watch it with other people around...

That is the most depressing film ever ;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;

WHY WOULD YOU WATCH THAT!? Don't do that! Are you trying to convince yourself to commit suicide?

Also, I don't get why people like Miyazaki movies. I watched Spirited Away and I can sort of see how little kids would find it fun but not someone in their teens or older.

Quote from: Super Zombie on March 02, 2012, 07:08:29 PMAlso, I don't get why people like Miyazaki movies. I watched Spirited Away and I can sort of see how little kids would find it fun but not someone in their teens or older.

Ban.

Quote from: Olimar12345 on March 02, 2012, 07:09:53 PMBan.

Same...if you don't appreciate Miyazaki, I can't take you seriously as a movie lover.

Quote from: Olimar12345 on March 02, 2012, 07:09:53 PMBan.

I'm on it.

No you aren't.  It is one of the more poorly reviewed films :|

^not from anything I've seen.... 3 and a half stars from ebert, 97% on rotten tomatoes and 100% from top critics...I haven't read a bad review beyond narrow minded people.

I'm don't see how someone could call me narrow-minded. I gave it a shot. When someone recommends a movie to me, I almost always watch it. I really just don't see the appeal to an older audience. A little girl (who has no nose apparently, but that's besides the point) goes to a spirit town and her parents are turned into pigs. She has to work for a woman. There are several (more than most movies) antagonists, but every single time she overcomes the conflict, the antagonist turns good (reminded me of all the spy-kids villains). Then she gets her parents back and goes home. I guess one of my main problems with the plot was that every single bad guy turns out to be misunderstood or turns good, and there are a lot of them, with no main antagonist really. So it feels like a drawn-out sequence of episodes put together into a film. And I was bored the whole time.

I gave it a shot, I didn't like it, no one's ever been able to explain why they think it's good (and I have heard it's one of Miyazaki's worst, but the trailers for some of the other ones look very similar to this movie (ex: In the trailer of Howl's Moving Castle, you see a flying boy (who I guess turns into a flying creature) with a girl and an old woman. Very Spirited Away-esque, no?)). So don't hate me because I don't agree with you. I've given it thought and I'm not just dismissing it closed-mindedly.

I just have an inability to understand your viewpoint :P it's Miyazaki's masterpiece, other than Totoro, Kiki's, Mononoke, or Howl's...I can't understand your opinion. But whatevs.

Not sure if this has been brought up anywhere, yet, but has anyone seen Arrietty?

I just saw it a few days ago, the American title "The Secret World of Arrietty." I thought it was pretty good! Spoilers: The only critique I'd have is the english voice acting for Sean and Arrietty's dad was a little bland... but. Sean was dying anyway, so I guess his voice would have to sound tired and all. Oh well! My favorite part was when they first entered the kitchen, and you could hear all the little sounds that we wouldn't hear normally. and i thought it was a cool idea. etc..

Arrietty was fantastic, it made me tear up a little at the end.

lol, i was the first one to like spirited away. I've watched it soo many times and loved it!

Now that I've explained why I don't like it, why doesn't someone explain why they LIKE Spirited Away, so at least I can understand your viewpoints?

lol, lemme do dah explaining.

It's good for me coz it was my first ghibli studio film and i enjoyed the plot and characters sooo much! everything was plot at correct spots and everything finally came together smoothly. :P and at the end when the main character finally turned to look behind her gives us the suspense on whats gonna happen to that ghost bathhouse. the producers did it this way to give the viewers their own imagination on what's gonna happen to that bathhouse

I will generally enjoy any Studio Ghibli film, mostly because I enjoy the animation and the fantasy settings. They also usually have likable characters and interesting/odd plots(imo), which is enough to keep my attention for the hour-and-a-half to two-hour range.

I probably should have said poorly regarded rather than poorly reviewed.  Ponyo got some good reviews but anyone that has watched it knows that it was rather mehhhhhhh

Quote from: KefkaticFanatic on March 24, 2012, 02:53:34 PMI probably should have said poorly regarded rather than poorly reviewed.  Ponyo got some good reviews but anyone that has watched it knows that it was rather mehhhhhhh

Yes, I feel the same way. I don't understand what's so fantastic about Ponyo. It wasn't as good as its reviews indicated.

But Spirited Away isn't even poorly regarded so that still doesn't make sense.

....poorly regarded?

IGN's 12th best animated film of all time (http://movies.ign.com/articles/650/650717p3.html)

IMDB's 46th best film of all time (http://www.imdb.com/chart/top?tt0245429)

97% on Rotten Tomatoes and 95% by users (http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/spirited_away/)

94 out of 100 by Metacritc. 9.3 by users. (http://www.metacritic.com/movie/spirited-away)

Nope, don't think so.

By everyone I've ever talked to that have seen the films and that actually know things about movies, yea.  You should know well enough that meh movies can get overrated.  Plenty of you have derped about it before.

Quote from: KefkaticFanatic on March 24, 2012, 09:15:01 PMBy everyone I've ever talked to that have seen the films and that actually know things about movies, yea.  You should know well enough that meh movies can get overrated.  Plenty of you have derped about it before.

Lol nope you're totally wrong here. Spirited Away is a fantastic film and is totally well regarded. ^_^ you're the one derping so if you don't have anything nice to say shut up and stop criticizing fantastic works of art if you can't show any reason for doing so.

I like how The Dark Knight is #8 on IMDb's list of the top 250 films. As good as it was, I don't think it's the 8th best movie.

I agree with that... sometimes movies are really crazy overrated. I'll admit that. These movies are just really my tastes =P

Watched GOTF today. Cried for like twenty minute. :'( So sad.

Quote from: Super Zombie on April 04, 2012, 08:00:30 PMI like how The Dark Knight is #8 on IMDb's list of the top 250 films. As good as it was, I don't think it's the 8th best movie.

Bro, Inception #14. At least Dark Knight was a fairly amazing movie. Inception doesn't even deserve to be in the top 200. Outranking amazing movies like Rear Window, Forrest Gump, Goodfellas, and Citizen Kane; it almost makes me want to cry.

Mmmm I liked Inception and Dark Knight about the same, they were both pretty great films. Not really deserving those high places but they're both good films.

People also have to remember that just because a movie is new doesn't automatically make it worse than any movie that is old.  And vice versa.

Correct. New movies can be just as amazing as any old movie. Such as No Country For Old Men, one of my all-time favorites. Or anything starring Tom Hanks.

Turns out Spirited Away is now #44 on imdb's list of the top 250 >:0 it went up!

Quote from: SuperFireKirby on April 15, 2012, 09:50:54 AMCorrect. New movies can be just as amazing as any old movie. Such as No Country For Old Men, one of my all-time favorites. Or anything starring Tom Hanks.

Uhm...no not anything starring Tom Hanks.

Quote from: SlowPokemon on April 15, 2012, 10:34:32 AMUhm...no not anything starring Tom Hanks.

Quote from: SlowPokemon on April 15, 2012, 10:34:32 AMUhm...no not anything starring Tom Hanks.

I can't believe I never read this before. Slow, you have given me yet another reason to believe you have no soul.

Also, just watched Tales from Earthsea. Pretty great film(William Defoe plays the main bad guy, automatic plus). It was quite a bit more bloody and brutal than any Ghibli film I've seen before. There's quite a bit of blood in a few scenes and a guy gets his arm cut off(which was pretty sweet). Still, it certainly isn't Howl's Moving Castle good, but a great movie none the less.

Quote from: SuperFireKirby on June 19, 2012, 04:48:46 PMAlso, just watched Tales from Earthsea. Pretty great film(William Defoe plays the main bad guy, automatic plus). It was quite a bit more bloody and brutal than any Ghibli film I've seen before. There's quite a bit of blood in a few scenes and a guy gets his arm cut off(which was pretty sweet). Still, it certainly isn't Howl's Moving Castle good, but a great movie none the less.

Hmm, that's easily the weakest of the Ghibli films in my opinion, but that isn't to say it wasn't enjoyable. I think as a Ghibli film it disappoints, but if you view it objectively as an anime, it's very enjoyable. Willem Dafoe's character was so creepy though! Firstly, he has a REALLY feminine figure for a guy (jussayin) and then when he's whispering to Arren he looks like a pedo. But his forearm gets cut off, so it's all good. (Also if you think that's violent....you should see Princess Mononoke, much more violent and a far better film :D) The imagery/animation merits a view by itself, in my opinion.

ANYWAY, I have now seen ALL Ghibli films with the exception of one, My Neighbors the Yamadas, and I just ordered that from Amazon today. And yes, this means I have seen Only Yesterday, which Disney owns the rights to but refuses to dub or release because it discusses menstruation briefly. Those pussies (no pun intended). I watched it with English subtitles online today, and it's definitely way slower-paced and reflective than the other ones. Not a kids' film. I finally own them all besides Tales from Earthsea, too (and I'll be ordering it soon). My collection is almost complete! ;D

I'm now editing the poll to include ALL Ghibli films.

ANYWAY, I watched My Neighbors the Yamadas which was adorable and pretty hilarious, so now I've seen all of them. Yaaaay! I still need to order Tales from Earthsea so I can own all of them though.

I love these movies :D

Inching my way through the whole collection, these are how many I've seen so far:

Castle in the Sky
Grave of the Fireflies
My Neighbor Totoro
Kiki's Delivery Service
Only Yesterday
Porco Rosso
Pom Poko
Whisper of the Heart
Princess Mononoke
My Neighbors the Yamadas
Spirited Away
The Cat Returns
Howl's Moving Castle
Tales from Earthsea
Ponyo
Arrietty
From Up on Poppy Hill
Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind

I really love Castle in the Sky.

That's one of my least favorites personally

Recently. I was called a weeb for liking a Studio Ghilbi Film.  :(

I enjoyed watching it more than Spirited Away (kill me) but Im not sure if thats because I've never seen it before or not.

TBH it's the only one I've seen so I can't give very good comparison.

Quote from: Bubbles7689 on December 24, 2012, 08:30:31 AMHowl's Moving Castle

Quote from: Bubbles7689 on November 19, 2012, 08:02:20 PMHowl's Moving Castle :D

Quote from: Bubbles7689 on December 10, 2012, 05:41:36 PMthis (https://dl.dropbox.com/u/100970699/Howl%20Sky%20Stroll.mp3) song

Quote from: Bubbles7689 on November 22, 2012, 06:50:34 PMHowl's moving castle

Quote from: Bubbles7689 on November 23, 2012, 08:32:37 PMHowl's Moving Castle,

Quote from: Bubbles7689 on November 21, 2012, 09:51:15 PMHowl's Moving Castle.

Quote from: Bubbles7689 on November 21, 2012, 09:36:16 PMI love Howl's Moving Castle so much

A few

Quote from: Bubbles7689 on December 25, 2012, 09:08:36 PMA few

Take a shot every time Bubbles mentions Howl's Moving Castle.

Quote from: SocialFox on December 25, 2012, 08:40:21 PMRecently. I was called a weeb for liking a Studio Ghilbi Film.  :(

Yeaaaah... In here watching anime makes you a wuss, too. Unless you're a girl. (it's a law of nature :P , don't blame me for this)

Eh, I wouldnt be so sure about that, at least here

I used to bully anime fanboys on the 9th grade. I now regret that. :-[

Fsm, a bully? No way

Sowwy, I was before high school. :-[ That's maybe the thing I would change about myself if I got a TARDIS.

*still needs to watch doctor who*

Quote from: Bubbles7689 on December 25, 2012, 11:23:48 PM*still needs to watch doctor who*

One thing:
I couldn't start watching Doctor Who unless I started watching from the VERY FIRST season... I'm just that thorough...  :-\

Obviously. Just get netflix. It shouldnt take you over a month and the $7 or so is well worth it

Quote from: Bubbles7689 on December 25, 2012, 11:29:43 PMObviously. Just get netflix. It shouldnt take you over a month and the $7 or so is well worth it

I don't have the time, unfortunately, unless I... had a time machine...

Cram on weekends? :P

I double post here too much :P

So Whisper of the Heart was adorable <3

Really? I don't seen any double posts from you. Yes, that movie is the most adorable in existence. I think it made me cry the first time I watched it (not at the end though--I found the end really bizarre and it kind of threw me off to be honest). I actually just watched this with my grandmother a few days ago and she spent pretty much the entire thing mumbling about how kids these days are too young to get into relationships.

I started crying halfway through, then I realized that I had no idea why I was crying. It was weird. And yeah the ending was crazy

Well, I've seen 9 out of 17 of those. My favorite is Spirited Away but Howl's Moving Castle is a close second. I love the artwork and imagination they put into these movies. And of course the music is awesome. I got the sheet music from a couple of them... it's beautiful

Just watched Castle in the Sky again.  Slow, I cannot understand why you don't like it.... I agree it seems a little unpolished, but it's such a phenomenal movie otherwise.

What :o You dont like it slow? Of course its unpolished, its almost 30 years old

I watched a few my ghibli films during the holidays. Princess Mononoke and The secret world of Arrietty.
They were soo good!

Quote from: Bubbles7689 on January 21, 2013, 07:42:12 PMWhat :o You dont like it slow? Of course its unpolished, its almost 30 years old

When did I say I didn't like it? I said I didn't like it as much as the others, so try reading closely next time you guys.

But even so..... the only two I've seen are it and Totoro, and Totoro doesn't even come close....

Totoro is a far better film than Castle in the Sky.

Saw these today on Facebook: Take the challenge and see if you can figure out from which Studio Ghibli film eah of these backgrounds are from! I recognized them all of course XD though some of them were tough.

Inside:
(https://sphotos-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-prn1/63039_540696149286738_630125628_n.jpg)

Answers:

Spoiler

1. The Secret World of Arrietty
2. The Cat Returns
3. Howl's Moving Castle
4. Kiki's Delivery Service
5. Grave of the Fireflies
6. Spirited Away
7. Whisper of the Heart

[close]

Outside:
(https://sphotos-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash3/559895_540712965951723_556160295_n.jpg)

Answers:

Spoiler

1. Spirited Away
2. Howl's Moving Castle
3. My Neighbor Totoro
4. Kiki's Delivery Service
5. The Secret World of Arrietty
6. Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind
7. From Up On Poppy Hill
8. Princess Mononoke
9. Grave of the Fireflies
10. Only Yesterday
11. The Castle in the Sky
12. Pom Poko
13. The Cat Returns
14. Tales from Earthsea
15. Porco Rosso
16. Ponyo
17. My Neighbors the Yamadas
18. Whisper of the Heart

[close]

I guessed most of them but yeah some of them were tough!

Like the From Up on Poppy Hill one, I didn't recognize it because I haven't seen that film yet xD

Quote from: MassiveMayhem on March 15, 2013, 04:26:37 PMI guessed most of them but yeah some of them were tough!

Like the From Up on Poppy Hill one, I didn't recognize it because I haven't seen that film yet xD

The only ones I guessed correctly were the ones from Spirited Away...

Watch the other Ghibli Films!
They're too good not to watch!

Quote from: MassiveMayhem on March 15, 2013, 04:59:01 PMWatch the other Ghibli Films!
They're too good not to watch!

I've seen a few, just not a "decent amount." :P

Quote from: MassiveMayhem on March 15, 2013, 04:26:37 PMI guessed most of them but yeah some of them were tough!

Like the From Up on Poppy Hill one, I didn't recognize it because I haven't seen that film yet xD

Only reason I knew was process of elimination XD all the others were used

I didn't seen this topic until now :o
Hm... I think i'm going to watch Kiki's Delivering Service this weekend; I haven't seen it in a wile, and I love it too much, especially Jiji <3
(https://www.ninsheetmusic.org/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.onlineghibli.com%2Fkiki%2Fnewimages%2FJiji.jpg&hash=0f138e2b5a950b0411ca8c2e0305e04ebf7a61b6)

Quote from: Maestro Aamir on March 15, 2013, 06:46:18 PMJiji

Totally made the movie XD <3

Quote from: Maestro Aamir on March 15, 2013, 06:46:18 PMI didn't seen this topic until now :o
Hm... I think i'm going to watch Kiki's Delivering Service this weekend; I haven't seen it in a wile, and I love it too much, especially Jiji <3
(https://www.ninsheetmusic.org/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.onlineghibli.com%2Fkiki%2Fnewimages%2FJiji.jpg&hash=0f138e2b5a950b0411ca8c2e0305e04ebf7a61b6)

The music in that movie is wonderful, particularly the main theme (you hear it at the beginning when Kiki is running home among other places).

Awww Jiji!

I read the kiki delivery's service manga. It was all in colour I think.

Yup the music is pretty awesome :3
AMG there's a manga?? D: I did not know that, i'm going to check the library when I go check out Kiki's Delivering Service (DVD) as well...

Quote from: Maestro Aamir on March 16, 2013, 10:40:40 AMYup the music is pretty awesome :3
AMG there's a manga?? D: I did not know that, i'm going to check the library when I go check out Kiki's Delivering Service (DVD) as well...

It's an adaptation of the movie, not the other way around.

There are around 4 volumes books I think.

They made those for a lot of the movies. I have the first two for Howls Moving Castle.

I just started watching Princess Mononoke and its...violent XD

Also the guy Ashitaka rescued reminds me of the actor Sokka from AtLA :3 :

(https://www.ninsheetmusic.org/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimages3.wikia.nocookie.net%2F__cb20090328124032%2Favatar%2Fimages%2F8%2F86%2FActor_Sokka.png&hash=97d73b83e768d49e9587f3a939c40d622b509c08)

Princess Mononoke is a beautiful film, but it's definitely an acquired taste. The first time I watched it I didn't like it all that much, but now it's one of my favorites.

Didn't go to the library, so I didn't watch KDS. v~v

That one was definitely different.

Spoiler

I was really expecting either San or Ashitaka to die. Also the forest spirit's face was really creepy XD

[close]

Spoiler

Did you watch through the end credits? The end credits music is BEAUTIFUL.

But yeah the Deer God was pretty freaky. As was the random graphic violence and the Demon God (Tatarigama the boar).

[close]

Spoiler

I KNOW. There was at least 8 beheadings, and 4 people who got limbs cut off. Both the boars will probably give me nightmares from those blood tentacles.

Don't get me wrong, it was a great movie. Ill probably end up listening to the soundtrack tomorrow.

[close]

Really? oh sweet! :D

Now I kinda want to change my vote from Ponyo to Howl's Moving Castle.

I'm not sure if this has ever been shared on the site but it's too good to miss.

The whole 25th Anniversary concert of Studio Ghibli with Joe Hisaishi's awesomeness AND IN GLORIOUS 1080P HD.
2 hours of beauty. I've watched it twice. <3

I've seen that. Pretty much the best thing ever. There's an album too but I haven't been able to find a download :(

Do you mean CD album or DVD/Blu ray?

EDIT: I'm pretty sure if you buy the DVD or Blu-ray it comes with the CD album, there has to be a download somewhere :C

There's both.

http://www.cdjapan.co.jp/detailview.html?KEY=VWBS-1078

The Blu-ray is $60 in US and does come with audio track.

Wish I had that kind of money to spend :s

Thank you for the list! I just ordered all of them (couldn't find only yesterday) on blockbuster (I watched some of them when I was 6, I loved them.)

I just watched Nausicaä and I think I liked it a bit more then Howl's moving castle.

lies

I just watched it a second time, and now I think howl's moving castle is a bit better, but they're pretty darn close. Can't wait to watch the rest!

ok...sorry for bumping...
but read this. I was so mind-blown
http://hayao-miyazaki.tumblr.com/post/560134537/spirited-away

Holy bahjezus

IKR!!!!

I didn't see any of that coming....plus I really love Spirited away!!
It's pretty cool how there is a deeper meaning behind it :O

So - I watched Pom Poko, Castle in the Sky, My Neighbors the Yamadas and Kiki's delivery service. They were all fantastic (and Dola is awesome!)

I'll have to rewatch Pom Poko soon. I haven't seen it in years.

I tried rewatching it not too long ago but I couldn't get past the multitudes of raccoon testicles. Oh well. I'll try again soon.

I KNOW. I watched it a couple months ago but I think I stopped after they were using them as blankets and sheets >.> Ill pick it up again eventually

Fun fact: Tom Nook is a tanuki, just like them. So most likely he has gigantic testicles.

I didn't even notice them until half way through.  ::)

And bubbles, later in the movie, they do MUCH more with them.

I kinda expected it :P

Bump.

Hey guys, this week, Studio Ghibli's 2012 film From Up On Poppy Hill comes out on DVD in North America. If any of you want it, you can order it from Amazon here (http://www.amazon.com/From-Poppy-Hill-Sarah-Bolger/dp/B00CSYR432/ref=tmm_dvd_title_0). I haven't seen it since it never came to theaters anywhere but New York, but I'm sure it'll be a good movie as Ghibli has yet to disappoint. I'll be ordering it myself soon enough.

oh! I saw dat movie poster on a little flyer I got when I went to an anime festival a few weeks ago xD

Must. See.

I posted something on Facebook, but if you aren't friends with me on there:

As I'm sure many of you have heard (and likely just as many have not), Mr. Hayao Miyazaki announced his retirement this week, making the July release The Wind Rises his last film. As a man who has influenced my life so much, I'm compelled to write something about him.

Any number of questions might be running through your mind after reading that. I'm sure a question far too many of you have is "Who is Hayao Miyazaki?" And there's no easy answer to that. I can't say that Hayao Miyazaki is a filmmaker, because that makes it sound like he just makes movies. I can't say that Hayao Miyazaki is an artist, because that makes it sound like he is only interested in superficial beauty. And I can't say Hayao Miyazaki is a storyteller, because much more than story goes into his works. His films are animated, but they are by no means just for children.

I think the best way to answer that question is to say that Hayao Miyazaki is a man who understands humans. He understands the issues that come with age, and at the same time he understands the innermost feelings of a child. He recognizes what resonates with us. Kiki's Delivery Service finds the titular character questioning whether she's talented enough to make it in the world, an internal battle that young adults everywhere find themselves fighting. The magic Satsuki and Mei find in My Neighbor Totoro is real, at least to them, and invokes nostalgic memories of summertime as a kid. In Howl's Moving Castle, young Sophie becomes an old woman whenever she can't speak her heart, and who among us hasn't felt like a boring old introvert when we're too afraid to voice our true feelings? All of his movies have personal touches that speak to us more deeply than a good plot or nice visuals would on their own.

Take a look at Miyazaki's 2001 release, Spirited Away, which I consider to be his best work. This film focuses on a young girl who must work at a spirits' bathhouse in order to rescue her parents. On paper, it sounds too strange and too steeped in Japanese culture to be accessible to Americans. So why is it so popular here in the states? The answer is simple: despite the cultural barrier, we can connect with Chihiro. We all know that selfish, lazy ten-year-old, and most of us were just like her at some point. And though we might not understand what makes a river god important or why Chihiro's name changes to Sen or even what a bathhouse is, it's impossible for us to be held back by such things when Miyazaki's vision is so resonant with our souls.

That's who Miyazaki is: a master of film, art, and storytelling. He taught me that movies shouldn't be distractions from life; they should increase your appreciation of the world around you. He will be greatly missed.

*clicks thumbs up*

So has anyone  who is not me seen The Wind Rises yet?

OHh I heard about that~ but no not yet :<

It's not coming to the town I go to college at, so I'll be seeing it over spring break next week. Also, here's a great read about Miyazaki's retirement:

http://www.buzzfeed.com/adambvary/hayao-miyazaki-retirement-the-wind-rises

am i a bad person if i haven't seen an entire studio ghibli film??

i remember some dude ripping his shirt with his muscles but that's the only thing i can remember lol

castle in the sky i think????

what should i torrent first?

Haha yeah that's Castle in the Sky. Watch Howl's Moving Castle first, Howl is super sexy and then you'll be motivated to watch other ones.

I was going to say exactly what slow said.

The Wind Rises was crazy good. If it's still in theaters near anyone I really recommend seeing it.

Quote from: SlowPokemon on March 07, 2014, 06:00:09 AMWatch Howl's Moving Castle first, Howl is super sexy and then you'll be motivated to watch other ones.

Quote from: Bubbles on March 07, 2014, 01:18:26 PMI was going to say exactly what slow said.

A+++++++++ movie

Have any of you ever seen My Neighbors the Yamadas by Isao Takahata? Such a great movie; it has a really fascinating art style and it's generally just a cute thing to enjoy.

Is My Neighbor Totoro by Studio Ghibli? xP

ummmmm yeah

Would I be considered heartless if I considered Grave of the Fireflies to be a bad film?

You'd be considered a moron.

any other good studio jibbly movies besides howl's moving car sale? kinda bored atm.

I recommend watching the most voted movies on the poll, they're fantastically good!

Whisper of the Heart was really cute and probably my favorite besides HMC. From up on Poppy Hill was also pretty cute. Both are more of slice of life films though so if you don't like that kind of stuff they probably won't be too interesting