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[Extra Sauce]

17. Pom Poko

How dare you.

 

[ShadowElliot]

Spirited Away is my favorite Ghibli film ever! The animation is beautiful, plus, how can you hate No Face? And the food... oh god, the food in that film!

 

[TheGreatDirector]

I can't rank them. It would be an injustice to say Spirited Away is better than Princess Mononoke or vice versa. It would be even worse to ignore the underrated masterpieces like Porco Rosso and Kiki's Delivery Service. Sometimes I love the adventurous mood of Castle in the Sky or something magical like Howl's Moving Castle. Other times I want something more calming like My Neighbor Totoro. They all have their own qualities that make comparing them difficult and they all excel in their own styles.

 

[30yearsofhurt]

I'm a Laputa guy.

 

[riskybusinesstomcruise]

It is so fucking hard to rank these movies you guys. I've mulled over which are my favourites in the past but it's really hard.

A tier list is easier !

God tier:

Castle in the Sky, Porco Rosso, Spirited Away, Ponyo, Kiki's Delivery Service, The Wind Rises, My Neighbour Totoro, The Castle of Cagliostro

High tier:

Princess Mononoke, Howl's Moving Castle, Princess Kaguya, Arietty

Low tier:

Tales from Earthsea

Tier list disclaimer:

-No particular order within tiers
-Personal opinion of course (most of the movies in my high tier would be considered god tier)
-Movies omitted I have not seen
-Yes I know the Nausicaa manga is god tier, I just haven't watched the movie

 

[tzhu07]

Yup, Spirited Away is the best.

 

[Wanderer5]

I love Spirited Away, but I think Princess Mononoke and Castle in the Sky gets the edge.

 

[Empty]

it's kiki's or totoro.

i like kiki's more these days

 

[To Far Away Times]

They're all tremendous but Spirited Away gets my pick.

 

[Toad.T]

My Neighbors The Yamadas, is severely underrated, IMO. It's the exact opposite of what you'd expect from a Ghibli film, and that's what makes it work. It shows that Ghibli can make anything magic, even in a genre they have no experience with, using something as unlikely as a newspaper comic strip.

 

[EmSeta]

Grave of the Fireflies is my fave. Such a heartrending experience.

 

[BlueBadger]

I'm also partial to Mononoke.

why Totoro so far down tho? :'( it's so cute.

 

[Concept17]

I haven't seen a handful still, but Spirited Away is certainly #1 from what I have seen.

It's all great though. Just the whole body of work. There is never a moment I can't appreciate from an artist's point of view.

 

[Octavianus]

I'm partial to this film.

But the GOAT thing Miyazaki has done is the Nausicaa manga. One of the best comics/graphics novels ever. His magnum opus for sure.

Yes. This man knows what's up.

 

[DustyVonEric]

It's actually Princess Mononoke.

But it's number 2 on the list, so no complaints.

 

[Danneee]

Nausicaa is easily the best, closely followed by Laputa.

 

[Thornton Reed]

Princess Mononoke for me

 

[Shepard]

Nausicaa or Mononoke, can't go wrong.

 

[Laputa_94]

But the GOAT thing Miyazaki has done is the Nausicaa manga. One of the best comics/graphics novels ever. His magnum opus for sure.

Completely agree I wish we could see the rest of the manga animated.

On topic I think Spirited Away is one of their best films, but personally I put films like Whisper of the Heart, Mononoke, and Porco Rosso above it. At the end of the day though almost every film they have ever done is a classic.

 

[vagabondarts]

It's my favorite but I don't know if it's the best.
I love them all really

 

[SiRatul]

Nothing tops Mononoke for me. It was the first Miyazaki movie I watched. I was a kid back then and nothing I can remember left me as impressed as that movie. Spirited away is a close second for me though.

 

[Vyrance]

I like Mononoke then Nausicaa

 

[Nocturnowl]

I went on a Ghibli binge over the last year wrapping up all the films I'd yet to see (well except Tales from Earthsea, oh and upcoming DVD/Blu Ray releases like Kaguya).

I go back and forth as to what my absolute favourite is but I'm leaning towards My Neighbour Totoro.
I feared that Spirited Away wouldn't meet the hype but fortunately it did, while I'm not sure if its a top tier favourite of mine it's certainly fun to watch.

Kiki's Delivery Service gets the soundtrack award, its recurring theme burrowed right into my head watching it a few months back and it's stayed there.

On the whole most are enjoyable, the only one that had me just lose interest entirely was Pom Poko.

 

[Fuzzery]

Spirited away is a personal favorite, but Nausicaa is GOAT

 

[AngryMoth]

All the ones I've seen are amazing, but my favourites and Howl's and Whisper of the Heart. I'm weirdly down on Mononoke compared to most it seems.

Grave of the Fireflies actually might technically be the best, but fuck me I don't ever wanna watch that film again!

 

[Moaradin]

Porco Rosso

 

[Nakho]

Mononoke is the best animated film of all time, so no.

 

[Jex]

Ghibli's never made a bad movie, but Spirited Away doesn't even make my top 5. It's gorgeous but I think its reputation mainly comes from it being a lot of Western viewers' and critics' first exposure to Ghibli's work.

Right, it's a direct result of it's Oscar buzz and subsequent Western exposure.

 

[Duane Cunningham]

Spirited Away probably narrowly edges out Mononoke for me.

 

[bobawesome]

Naw. Princess Kaguya deserves that top spot because, well...it was beautiful in every sense of the word. :')

 

[mkenyon]

Mononoke is the best animated film of all time, so no.

.

 

[xandaca]

Grave Of The Fireflies is heartbreaking and an utterly extraordinary achievement in animated storytelling. Spirited Away is also wonderful, but I think Fireflies edges it for power and importance. Enjoyed but wasn't especially ecstatic about Howl's Moving Castle and Mononoke was too long ago for me to remember it with especial clarity.

 

[Tuck]

Sounds like you havnt seen Tales from Earth Sea.....

Or that tanooki one.

 

[bender]

I've tried to watch it few times over the years and have never been able to finish it. I just got the Blu Ray so I'll give it another whirl but I don't think anything can topple Mononoke or Grave. I'm not sure I dislike Spirited but it's yet to grab me. I sat through Borrower of Arrietty and I'm not a fan of that movie at all.

edit: I haven't braved watching Earth Sea yet either.

 

[SCULLIBUNDO]

Mononoke best.

Nausicaa manga is Miyazaki's best work to date though. The film might just have Hisaishi's best suite too.

 

[Hours Left]

Spirited Away would be in my top 3, but I'd say my favorite is My Neighbor Totoro.

But really, every Ghibli film besides Tales of Earthsea is worth watching. My favorite film studio of all time.

 

[TrounceX]

I liked the idea of a tier list. #1 is Princess Mononoke without a shadow of doubt in my mind. The others could be anywhere in the tier depending on the day.

God tier:

Princess Mononoke, Spirited Away, Whisper of the Heart (seriously underrated), Nausicaa

High tier:

Howl's Moving Castle, From Up on Poppy Hill, The Wind Rises, Kiki's Delivery Service, Totoro, Laputa, Porco Rosso, Lupin III

Mid tier:

Only Yesterday (almost high tier because of dat ending), Kaguya, When Marnie Was There, Ponyo, Arietty

Low tier:

Grave Of The Fireflies, The Cat Returns

Legit bad tier

Tales From Earthsea

 

[345triangle]

it's probably not even in my top 10.

let me try to make a top 15! woo list thread.

1) nausicaa
2) kiki
3) only yesterday
4) whisper of the heart
5) laputa
6) totoro
7) arrietty
8) kaguya
9) wind rises
10) marnie
11) poppy hill
12) mononoke
13) grave of the fireflies
14) spirited away
15) porco rosso

so yeah. (all these movies are great of course)

 

[sora87]

Laputa and Nausicaa for me.

 

[Mister Wilhelm]

It's Princess for sure.

Spirited Away had too many Ghibli tropes in it and the story was pretty unsubstantial and meandering.

 

[Nickle]

I haven't watched a Ghibli film since 3rd grade, is there any specific order I should watch them in?

 

[enanogrande]

I haven't watched a Ghibli film since 3rd grade, is there any specific order I should watch them in?

Not really, they're totally independent of one another. Just don't watch Grave of the Fireflies first, you'll be overly bummed too soon :/

 

[Big_Al]

Spirited Away is amazing but my favourite will always be My Neighbour Totoro, I love that film so damn much.

And whilst by no means their best film, the scene with the cat jester in The Cat Returns makes me laugh so much every time. It's a very quick joke/scene but it just makes me laugh like a drain.

 

[A Link to the Past]

Nausicaa is the best for me, but most of Miyazaki's films can reasonably be called the best.

For me (stealing the setup from riskybusinesstomcruise):

God tier:

1. Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind
2. Spirited Away
3. Princess Mononoke

High tier:

4. Porco Rosso
5. Grave of the Fireflies
6. My Neighbor Totoro
7. Castle in the Sky
8. Kiki's Delivery Service

High-mid tier:

9. The Secret World of Arrietty

Mid tier:

10. Ponyo

Low-mid tier:

11. Howl's Moving Castle

 

[darkazcura]

I might be the only person I know that doesn't like Mononoke.

 

[Arondight]

I think the top Ghibli films are pretty much top stuff. Nausicaa, Laputa, Spirited Away, Grave of the fireflies,Mononoke,Totoro are incredible.

Laputa: Castle in the sky is my favourite out of all of them though. It's got the greatest sense of adventure, The protagonists are incredibly likable almost immediately, the beginning scene is unforgettable of the girl falling down from the sky after a huge gun shootout, the music track is probably my favourite too.

One of my favourite ghibli scenes. Starting from when she says the incantation to the robot activating to the desperate rescue and succeeding.

The reason why Nausicaa isn't my favourite (used to be) was because the manga was so good it kind of made me rethink my stance on the film.

The weakest films have probably got to be Tales from Earthsea, Howl's Moving Castle or From Up on Poppy Hill.

Curious but does anyone else feel that there's also something about the artstyle in not just this film but Nausicaa, Totoro (basically the older works) that I love that I felt didn't really feel as great in stuff like Ponyo, Spirited away, wind rises etc?. It kind of seems a bit harsher I guess? Which is weird when there's a lot of scenes in those films that are clearly got this beautiful painted look.

 

[zswordsman]

Y'all mother fuckers need some Kiki's delivery service.

That and mononoke, spirited away and howls moving castle are my fave.

 

[Krev]

Spirited Away has a really unique magic to it. I think it's the best.

 

[Fox Mulder]

Just got this in the mail, never seen it.

Like seeing these lists as I've only just got into these movies and have five or six.

 

[Broank]

12. Grave of the Fireflies
13. My Neighbour Totoro
16. Whisper of the Heart

Those are the three best right there (along with Castle of Cagliostro if you want to count that) you got a way different taste in Ghibli movies than me.