5. Grave of the Fireflies
Best Studio Ghibli Movies, Ranked
Most would assume Studio Ghibli’s films are meant to make you smile and warm your heart, and they wouldn’t be wrong. However, after watching this film, they’d probably be hard pressed to say the studio didn’t have it in them to wreck a person’s emotions with the sheer, debilitating truth of reality.
Set against the crumbling conditions of Japan during World War II, this movie sees Seita and his younger sister Setsuko struggle to survive after their mother is killed in a bombing raid on their home town. Forced to steal from others in just as bad of a situation as they are, and constantly fighting against starvation and sickness, the two hold on for as long as they can, but not every story is meant to have a happy ending. Powerful and worth watching at least once, this film shows the emotional range of the studio that created it even if it goes to far darker places than one would ever expect.
4. Kiki’s Delivery Service
Best Studio Ghibli Movies, Ranked
Kiki, a young witch tasked with applying her magic in a new town for a year, finds her niche as a delivery girl in the town of Koriko. Taking on any and all jobs that come her way, she comes to call the place home and begins to find friends among the town’s populace, leaning on them for support when life’s challenges threaten to derail her progress toward her future goals.
A touching coming of age tale, Kiki’s Delivery Service showed the care and nuance Ghibli could lend to its characters with detailed animations which feel relatable and memorable. You root for Kiki to overcome the challenges in her life, and it’s hard not to remember your own challenges with the way the film so thoughtfully conveys them in artful motion.
3. Howl’s Moving Castle
Best Studio Ghibli Movies, Ranked
Based off of the novel by British author Dianne Wynne Jones, this fantastical thriller combines the wonder and imagination of Ghibli’s most prominent works with its themes of war and its consequences, resulting in a film that encapsulates much of what makes the studio’s works so iconic. After being cursed by the Witch of the Waste, she decides to escape from her boring life and start over as an old woman, taking on a housekeeping job for the wandering magician Howl.
As a result, she is drawn into his business of providing magical consultation to people across the world and finds she has a role to play in stopping the continued conflict between two kingdoms. Full of action, romance and learning to believe in what makes oneself special, you won’t want to pull yourself away from this excellent modern fairy tale of a movie.
2. Princess Mononoke
Best Studio Ghibli Movies, Ranked
Out of the films that are synonymous with Ghibli and their work, Princess Mononoke is arguably one of the most worthy of the honor. Telling the tale of Ashitaka, a young man out to cure a curse placed on him by an enraged boar god, the film delves into themes of nature and humankind’s impact on it in a way few of the studio’s other works have.
Whether in the budding relationship between himself and the forest protector San, or in his interactions with Lady Eboshi and her loyal citizens of Iron Town, every exchange and character moment feels genuine, memorable and carefully crafted to maximize its impact on the audience. That’s to say nothing of the gorgeous animation that puts other works to shame even today, the resonant soundtrack or most every other aspect of this outstanding film.
