Clive Watches Ghibli: Part 7 (2013-2014)

It's finally here, the final part of my Ghibli retrospective (you can find the other parts over on our index page). There's only two films left to cover and not a Miyazaki in sight. Let's crack on.

The Tale of Princess Kaguya (2013)

Isao Takahata's 2013 swansong before his death earlier this year is undoubtedly one of his, and Studio Ghibli's, best films. Based on the 10th century Japanese story The Bamboo Cutter it follows a bamboo cutter who finds a mysterious baby that appears inside a bamboo shoot. Discovering quickly that she grows more rapidly than normal humans, he believes her to be divine royalty and sees to it that she lives as such. He is aided in this quest by the lavish gifts that also magically appear in the bamboo he cuts.

The Tale of Princess Kaguya is a soaring coming of age tale that's themes are remarkably down to earth behind its mystical exterior. Growing up, going your own way, how life becomes more complicated as we get older, the corruptive influence of money and how it hurts to let go of our children when they grow up are all central themes to the film and are delivered in a way that feels universal despite the very Japanese feel to the film. The animation is more experimental (it's Takahata after all) and I probably like it less than the more traditional Ghibli style although I can't deny it's beautiful and I do feel it suits this older, more classic story. I think the film drags a little in the middle (I feel like closer to two hours would have been the sweet spot) but it's so ripe with beauty and observations about life that I consider it in the upper echelons of Ghibli's catalogue. The final scenes are absolutely stunning too. 

8/10

When Marnie Was There (2014)

Hiromasa Yonebayashi's second Studio Ghibli film (his first was Whispers of the Heart) is based on Juan G. Robinson's novel of the same name. Anna suffers an asthma attack at school and worried by her declining health and anxiety her foster parents send her to live with the foster-mother's relatives, who live in a seaside town where the air is clearer. Anna soon meets Marnie in an abandoned seaside mansion nearby, and it becomes clear pretty quickly that Marnie is not from the present. To me, it had similarities to something like Tom's Midnight Garden where the protagonist can meet people who live in the same place but in other time periods. As things go on Marnie and Anna's relationship deepens and secrets begin to unfold.

I thoroughly enjoyed this film to begin with and found Anna's highly anxious character very interesting, relatable, and full of depth. However I didn't find the reveal as rewarding as a lot of people seem to as I predicted it fairly early on, to say any more would be to spoil it. Nevertheless, this is a well put together film about family, anxiety, the past, and belonging. It's gorgeously animated and perhaps one of the more emotional Ghibli films, thanks partly to a very pretty soundtrack. I didn't connect with it as deeply as some have, but I can certainly appreciate it's beauty.

7/10

And so that's it. Two more films to throw into the Ghibli mixer and see how the final rankings pop out. I suspect these will change over time (some already have since the last post), especially when I rewatch the more meaty, harder to digest ones. But for now, here's how I'd rank them with the final two additions in bold italics:

1. Princess Mononoke

2. My Neighbour Totoro

3. Grave of the Fireflies

4. Kiki's Delivery Service

5. Spirited Away

6. The Tale of Princess Kaguya

7. Howl's Moving Castle

8. Laputa: Castle in the Sky

9. The Wind Rises

10. Arrietty

11. Whisper of the Heart

12. Only Yesterday

13. From Up on Poppy Hill

14. When Marnie Was There

15. Porco Rosso

16. The Cat Returns

17. Ponyo

18. My Neighbours the Yamadas

19. Pom Poko

20. Tales from Earthsea

Wow. What an amazing set of films, it is perhaps only the last two or three that I didn't enjoy all that much (although they were still very much serviceable). The top three are masterpieces in my eyes. I've been continually blown away, surprised and believe this little adventure is the birth of a love of anime. Next, I shall be watching all the top 100 ranked anime films at random (over many years no doubt) and posting reviews over on the YouTube channel. At least that's the current plan. Should any of these crop up I shall watch them again, and my rankings will no doubt change, though I seriously doubt Princess Mononoke will be taken from the top spot.

Thanks for reading this little series and stay classy y'all!

Clive :)

Clive Watches Ghibli: Part 6 (2010-2013)

In the penultimate part of my 'watch and rank' Studio Ghibli mission, we have Hiromasa Yonebayashi's directorial debut in Arrietty followed by two films directed by Goro Miyazaki and his famous father Hayao Miyazaki respectively. The quality shows no signs of dipping in what is another thoroughly delightful set of films. Let's get started. Head on over to our articles index page if you want to read the series from the start.

Arrietty (2010)

Yonebayashi's directorial debut for Studio Ghibli (he also directed the recently released non-Ghibli film Mary and the Witch's Flower) is a film based on the book The Borrowers by Mary Norton. Arrietty is a young borrower who lives with her parents under the floorboards in the house of some 'beings' (the word that borrowers use to refer to their full-size counterparts). She ends up being spotted by 12 year old Shawn, who is one of the aforementioned 'beings'. Her family decides they must all move now that they have been seen, but Arrietty has other ideas...

Arrietty really surprised me, it's a film brimming with that Ghibli magic and a very strong debut from Yonebayashi. It's such a simple story and the way it portrays basic things so beautifully is reminiscent of the masterpiece My Neighbour Totoro, if somewhat less imaginative. The friendship at the film's core is truly heartwarming and Arrietty is yet another strong female protagonist, who is not only a super kind person (or borrower) but one that is strong-willed and inspirational to those around her. It is a film about friends and family, and about how sometimes we need someone to reach out and give us a little help. Another one that children would thoroughly enjoy, but one that I feel has a bit more for the adults than for example Ponyo.

8/10

From Up on Poppy Hill (2011)

After Goro Miyazaki's much-maligned Tales from Earthsea, which I still enjoyed, Goro had something to prove with his sophomore effort, and he very much delivered. From Up on Poppy Hill, which was scripted by Goro's father Hayao, tells the story of high school girl Umi Matzusaki who meets Shun, the leader of the fight to stop the school clubhouse being demolished for redevelopment. Umi's father died in the Korean war and she raises signal flags every morning for him, something she has done since his death.

From Up on Poppy Hill is a realistic drama film that tackles the idea of a country moving into the future while still remembering the past. It's a film steeped with Japanese tradition and an absolutely gorgeous one at that. I could look at that house on the hill with its flags waving all day, those light-green trees looking down on the calm sea creating a setting that just relaxes you straight away, it really is stunning. While tackling some pretty heavy topics such as losing family members to war this film manages to be one of the more light Ghibli films to watch and I feel like Goro really injected his own style into things here. The film sacrifices some emotional heft with the breezy feel it has, which at times makes some of the more emotional scenes seem a little inconsequential, but I thought this was good, simple story, well told.

7/10

The Wind Rises (2013)

Hayao Miyazaki is known for magical films with crazy ideas that burst with imagination such as Spirited Away and Howl's Moving Castle. The Wind Rises is a somewhat more restrained, more grounded effort. It is a fictionalised biopic of Jiro Horikoshi, designer of the famous Mitsubishi A6M Zero, a World War II fighter plane well ahead of its time.

Hayao Miyazaki seems incapable of making a film that is any less than 'great' and he's done it again here. This is definitely one of his less essential works but the way it fits 20 odd years into two hours of film is quite something. It's the story of a man honing his craft, being inspired by the world around him, and watching his creations get used for something he entirely disagrees with. The love story (which I believe is entirely fictional) doesn't feel tacked on at all and feels integral to the messages of the film, one of which was that even the greatest creation bares little importance when those you love are struggling.

8/10

Three more down and they all land pretty squarely in the middle of a rather brilliant set of films. Let's see where I'd rank them. New additions in bold italics.

1. Princess Mononoke

2. My Neighbour Totoro

3. Grave of the Fireflies

4. Kiki's Delivery Service

5. Spirited Away

6. Howl's Moving Castle

7. Laputa: Castle in the Sky

8. The Wind Rises

9. Arrietty

10. Whisper of the Heart

11. Only Yesterday

12. From Up on Poppy Hill

13. Porco Rosso

14. The Cat Returns

15. Ponyo

16. My Neighbours the Yamadas

17. Pom Poko

18. Tales from Earthsea

See you next time for the final two films in the Studio Ghibli canon: The Tale of Princess Kaguya and When Marnie Was There. Stay classy people.

Clive Watches Ghilbi: Part 5 (2004-2008)

It's time for our next three Studio Ghibli films as my quest to watch and rank all the studio's output continues. This time it's a Miyazaki family extravaganza with Howl's Moving Castle and Ponyo directed by Hayao and Tales from Earthsea directed by his son Goro. If you want to start from the beginning part 1 is here. If not, let's get cracking with these 3 and see how they compare to what I've seen so far.

Howl's Moving Castle (2004)

Loosely based on Dianne Wynne's novel of the same name, Howl's Moving Castle tells the story of a young woman named Sophie who is turned old by an evil witch. She then meets a wizard named Howl, who lives in a spectacular but rather dilapidated old castle which moves on four legs, and is powered by a fire-demon named Calcifer. In the backdrop to all this, there is a war happening with another unnamed kingdom.

Howl's Moving Castle was made in response to the Iraq war and Miyazaki's anger about it. As such it definitely has an anti-war message in there. War is depicted as idiotic and unwise throughout the film. However, this isn't the only theme and I'd say the more prominent message is that of humans getting happier in old-age, as we are freed from the expectations and challenges of youth. It once again features a very strong female central character in Sophie who helps the rather self-destructive and vain Howl realise the power he has. This is another Miyazaki film that tackles an awful lot of subjects in its running time and I felt it didn't quite do it as skillfully as for example Princess Mononoke where, although there was a lot going on, it all still felt absorbable in one viewing. This one feels like you need to watch it at least twice and there were definitely certain parts that didn't fully sink in for me on my initial viewing. It joins Spirited Away on the list of films that may well rise up the rankings on a second viewing. It's ambitious and magical, if slightly inaccessible.

8/10

Tales from Earthsea (2006)

Hayao Miyazaki had always wanted to adapt Ursula K. Le Guin's Tales from Earthsea books to the big screen. When he initially asked he was turned down due to Le Guin's assumption that Ghibli was just another Disney. Many years later, when she realised this was not the case, she gave Studio Ghibli the rights to the film. Unfortunately, Hayao Miyazaki was busy on Howl's Moving Castle and so against his will, the film was given to his son Goro, who had limited animation experience. Father and Son didn't talk throughout its entire production and Hayao was apparently rather disappointed with his son's film upon seeing it for the first time.

Tales from Earthsea is a fantasy tale of wizards and dragons. It follows the story of Ged (or Sparrowhawk), a wizard who bumps into Prince Arren, a young boy with a dark side, as the world is beginning to deteriorate and all kinds of strange happenings are going on. They adventure together on a quest to stop an evil foe whose search for immortality could be the end of Earthsea.

This film gets a lot of hate and is generally believed to be Ghibli's worst film. While I probably agree, I disagree that this is a bad film, I just think it's a flawed one. The animation itself is just as stunning as any other Ghibli film (if perhaps less original or imaginative) and the dragons look particularly fantastic. The story, pacing and script are a little clunky but not to the point where it's particularly egregious, it just lacks the magic of some of his father's best work. As I've never read the books, the fact it takes large liberties with the plot didn't bother me. I liked the main characters, particularly Sparrowhawk, and thought that some of the more dreamy scenes were very effective. I also liked the androgynous villain. I think Goro Miyazaki bit off a little more than he could chew here, but the film is still enjoyable and I'd say it's 'ok' rather than 'bad'.

6/10

Ponyo (2008)

Ponyo is essentially Hayao Miyazaki's take on The Little Mermaid. One morning when heading down to the small beach near his house, the young Sosuke finds a small goldfish in a glass which he rescues and calls Ponyo. The films centers on their adventures together and Ponyo's quest to become a human and bring back the balance of nature.

As with a lot of Ghibli films, this one has a strong environmental message. However unlike a lot of Ghibli films, this one is definitely aimed at children. Ponyo as a character is absolutely adorable and the whole film has a very whimsical, sweet feel to it despite some of the horrible things happening. The protagonists are younger than those in most Ghibli films and that adds to the more simplistic feel of the film. It's beautiful to watch and there are some touching moments. However, it isn't among my favourites thanks to there not being as much to chew on than other films by the studio and the fact I found it a little hard to get behind the idea of kids this young falling in love. It's definitely one I'd recommend showing to children as I think they'd really enjoy it and it is very sweet, but it didn't do that much for me personally.

6/10

With only two of these posts left to go let's see how these three rank up against the others I've seen so far. New entries in bold italics.

1. Princess Mononoke

2. My Neighbour Totoro

3. Grave of the Fireflies

4. Kiki's Delivery Service

5. Spirited Away

6. Howl's Moving Castle

7. Laputa: Castle in the Sky

8. Whisper of the Heart

9. Only Yesterday

10. Porco Rosso

11. The Cat Returns

12. Ponyo

13. My Neighbours the Yamadas

14. Pom Poko

15. Tales from Earthsea

Thanks for reading. Join me again next time for Arrietty, From Up on Poppy Hill and The Wind Rises.

Clive Watches Ghibli: Part 4 (1999-2002)

As I trudge into the 2000's in my mission to watch and rank all the Studio Ghibli films fatigue has yet to set in, I'm still very much in love with this journey; the ups, the downs, the sheer beauty of it all (part 1 is here if you want to start from the beginning). This time the veterans Miyazaki and Takahata are once again joined by a directorial debutant in the shape of Hiroyuki Morita, who made his only appearance as a director for Studio Ghibli (he played a role as an animator on numerous others) in The Cat Returns. Let's get started.

My Neighbours the Yamadas (1999)

Isao Takahata has at this point made such varied films that it's hard to know what to expect next. He is perhaps always slightly overshadowed by Miyazaki, but there's no doubt that Takahata is a great director who doesn't like to stand still and who is never afraid to try something new, something I always admire in an artist. This time he turns his hand to adapting Hisaichi Ishi's yonkoma manga (think Peanuts 4-panel style comic) Nono-Chan to film. It stands out in Studio Ghibli's catalogue for two main reasons.  Firstly, the animation style is hugely different to any of the other films. This one stays very true to the manga with very little background detail (something Ghibli is usually famous for) and a very sketched feel that I absolutely adored. Secondly, the film has no real story arc. It is a set of vignettes ranging from 3 to 10 minutes each. My Neighbours the Yamadas follows a normal Japanese family (mum, dad, two kids and a grandma) and picks out little slices of their lives. Sometimes they connect, sometimes they don't.

This film is above all brilliantly observed and I found some of the scenes really moving thanks to a combination of some brilliant writing and an excellent soundtrack. The relationships feel real and are very relatable and at times the film is very thought-provoking. Despite this, I feel like this would have been best kept to around an hour as the run-time definitely dragged after that. It felt very much like a Saturday morning cartoon and would have worked a lot better split into a mini-TV series of 10 to 20 minute episodes or so I think. It's just hard to maintain interest for such an extended sitting when there is no main story arc, as good as the little stories contained within it are. There's a lot to be celebrated about My Neighbours the Yamadas but overall it could have done with being significantly leaner, or being presented in a different format which more suits the short-stories it contains.

6/10

Spirited Away (2001)

Most people have at least heard of Miyazaki's masterpiece Spirited Away. Among stupendous amounts of other accolades, it remains the only hand-drawn and non-English language film to win the 'Best Animated Feature' Oscar, something of a landmark moment in cinema. Spirited Away tells the story of Chihiro. She gets lost with her parents on route to her new house and ends up entering a strange spirit world housed at an abandoned theme park. What happens from then on is some of the most imaginative film-making you're ever likely to see.

Spirited Away is clearly influenced by Lewis Carroll's Alice In Wonderland: a girl wanders off on her own and finds herself lost in a strange world full of strange characters. However, don't ever come into this feeling like you know what's coming. Trust me, you have no idea. It's unexpectedly dark, kind of gross at points, endlessly discussable and full of the absolutely gorgeous animation I've come to expect of Studio Ghibli by now. It didn't resonate with me as much as some of the others have on this particular viewing, and thus won't be at the very top of my list, but there's no doubt this is a masterful piece of animation, and one I haven't been able to stop thinking about since I watched it. I'm struggling to think if I've ever seen anything more imaginative. We see Chihiro grow as a character throughout the film and her genuine, unshakeable good-heartedness is such a delight, as is the knowledge that this film is so ripe for themes and discussion that I'll get something more out of it on every repeat viewing. Although this is one of the few Ghibli films I've already seen (many, many years ago) I feel like my opinion of it will improve every time I watch it, and it may rest closer to the very top of my list once I see it once (or twice) more.

9/10

The Cat Returns (2002)

One of the few Ghibli films not directed by Takahata or Miyazaki. This one is Horyuki Morita's only appearance as a director for the studio. The Cat Returns is a loose spin-off of Whisper of the Heart and follows our protagonist Haru, a quiet and shy girl who is invited to a magical cat-kingdom after saving one of its important inhabitants from being run over by a truck.

The animation of the characters in The Cat Returns isn't quite as detailed, although this feels like an artistic choice, and the story is far more simplistic than most of the famous duo's films. Nevertheless, the film is fast, entertaining, and one of the few Ghibli films that is very much suitable for younger children. Unlike My Neighbours the Yamadas I wasn't hugely moved at any point, this isn't that type of film, but unlike that film, I was very much entertained from start to finish. The film has good characters, a good sense of humour, and is admirably lean. There are far worse ways to spend 1 hour and 15 minutes.

7/10

So now it's time to get ranking. Let's throw this lot (all shown in bold italics) in the mixer and see what happens...

1. Princess Mononoke

2. My Neighbour Totoro

3. Grave of the Fireflies

4. Kiki's Delivery Service

5. Spirited Away (again, I feel this will probably end up higher when I watch it again)

6. Laputa: Castle in the Sky

7. Whisper of the Heart

8. Only Yesterday

9. Porco Rosso

10. The Cat Returns

11. My Neighbours the Yamadas

12. Pom Poko

Thanks for reading, we're past the half-way point now! Join me next time for Howl's Moving Castle, Tales from Earthsea and Ponyo.

Clive Watches Ghibli: Part 3 (1994-1997)

It's time for part 3 of my adventure to watch all the Studio Ghibli films in order of release and rank them as I go! Head over to parts 1 and 2 here and here respectively if you want to read my thoughts on the earlier Ghibli films. This time we've got the lesser known Pom Poko and Whisper of the Heart as well as the anime giant Princess Mononoke. For the first time each of the three films features a different director with Isao Takahata directing Pom Poko, Yoshifumi Kondo making his directorial debut with Whisper of the Heart before his unfortunate death from overwork shortly after and the legendary Hayao Miyazaki directing his classic Princess Mononoke. Let's get to it.

Pom Poko (1994)

Probably the weirdest Ghibli film I've seen so far. Takahata's Pom Poko tells the story of a tribe of raccoons who are having their habitat mowed down by humans to make way for a new housing development outside of Tokyo. The raccoons have magical testicles (yep, it's a thing) that can help them transform into all sorts of things, which plays a big part in the film's plot. They use these skills, among others, to attempt to thwart the human attempts to build on their land.

Pom Poko delivers its message in a very heavy-handed manner, and coming in at just shy of 2 hours feels a little too long. To me, it doesn't quite justify its running time as the story is very simplistic, never has any major surprises, and doesn't have all that much to say on the topic other than that we need to consider the effects of destroying habitats. A great message no doubt, but not one that needed to be delivered in a fresher way than it is here to hold my interest. I didn't latch onto any of the characters in this one in the same way I have in other Ghibli films, and I have to say it's my least favourite of the bunch so far. Not bad by any means, perfectly watchable, pretty as usual, and there's fun to be had here. But overall I found it a little disappointing.

6/10

Whisper of the Heart (1995)

Whisper of the Heart is a pretty straight love story. Shizuku is a bookworm who is constantly taking out books from her school library. She soon notices that all the books she chooses have been checked out by a boy before her and she endeavors to find out who this mysterious guy is. As well as the love story at its core, the film tackles the idea of living as an artist and the sacrifices it entails, a topic that is close to my heart.

I really liked this film. I don't generally like love stories all that much but I found Shizuku completely charming and the relationship depicted never seemed cheesy or overly sappy. I strongly disliked the final scene because it felt so out of place with the rest of the film's tone regarding this but I won't go into more detail as I wouldn't want to spoil anything. Perhaps I just need to see it again? Animation-wise this is one of my favourite looking Ghibli movies, which is quite the achievement. It somehow makes normal neighbourhoods look magical, and the attention to detail is phenomenal. I thought the film had a lot of interesting things to say about honing one's craft as an artist, a theme that was covered in a much more interesting way than a lot of films I've seen. A delightful film slightly hampered by the not-so-great final scene.

8/10

Princess Mononoke (1997)

Princess Mononoke is a hard film to write a blurb for because there's just so much going on but I'll try anyway. Ashitaka is cursed when he defends his village from the attack of a boar god. On his way to find a cure, he finds San, or Princess Mononoke, who is fighting to protect the forest from the local humans,  led by their strong-willed queen Lady Eboshi, who are planning to destroy it.

I'm just going to come right out and say it. This is a masterpiece. My favourite so far. Although longer than Pom Poko (this one comes in at over two hours and ten minutes) none of its running time is wasted and it feels much shorter than that. There is so much going on in this film it's almost ridiculous, and yet it is never confusing or overbearing. The plotting and pacing throughout are masterful. Then there's the animation, which is hands down some of the best I've ever seen, it's thematically much darker than other animations I've seen and this is brought across perfectly in the darker, and yet still bold, colour palette of backgrounds. The film has so many themes: environmentalism, feminism and war being just a few of them and it handles them all in such a way as to never feel preachy, and yet you'll still take a bunch of messages on board. It also has one of the strongest endings you'll see anywhere, not just in animation. A magical piece of art that redefines to me just what an animation film can be.

10/10

Now it's time to throw these three in amongst the other Ghibli films I've seen and see where they rank. This post's films are in bold italics.

1. Princess Mononoke

2. My Neighbour Totoro

3. Grave of the Fireflies

4. Kiki's Delivery Service

5. Laputa: Castle in the Sky

6. Whisper of the Heart

7. Only Yesterday

8. Porco Rosso

9. Pom Poko

Thanks for reading and I'll see you next time for My Neighbours the Yamadas, Spirited Away and The Cat Returns. Stay classy.

Clive Watches Ghibli: Part 1 (1986-1988)

I've always liked anime, but have only ever scraped the very surface when it comes to watching any. While going through one of life's rough patches I visited my good friend Josh Keighley (of the books podcast on here) and we watched The Wind Rises together. The beautiful animation, the messages, the music, it was like a warm hug, I felt instantly better. I decided there and then I was going to make it my mission over the next few months or so to watch all the Studio Ghibli films in release order, to keep chasing that high. I'll be presenting them here in sets of three, and attempting to rank them as I go along (hey, I just like ranking things). Let us begin with the first three Studio Ghibli movies.

Laputa: Castle in the Sky (1986)

Officially, Laputa: Castle in the Sky is the first Studio Ghibli film, though I know there are others before made by Ghibli directors before the studio was formed. Castle in the Sky follows a young orphan named Sheeta who gets kidnapped by one of the film's best characters, the pirate leader Dola, and meets fellow orphan Pazu. Together they try to find the magical city of Laputa, which allegedly floats in the sky. 

This film surprised me. It's an action packed adventure that rarely lets up over its 2 hour 15 minute running time. The animation is absolutely gorgeous, the soundtrack suitably epic and yet pretty, but what really set the film apart for me was the character interactions. I loved Pazu and Sheeta's relationship, and any scene featuring Dola's pirate gang was a complete joy. The film definitely has themes of protecting the nature in our world and has the common anti-corporation/big business angle which I expect will come up in future Ghibli films too. Honestly, this is just a great action-adventure film, and I'd say pretty much anyone would enjoy this film. It's just a damn good time.

8/10

Grave of the Fireflies (1988)

Directed by Isao Takahata The Grave of the Fireflies follows Seita who is left to look after his little sister Setsuo as a result of the war. It's a heartbreaking tale of children having to grow up too fast, homelessness and the futility of war.

This was by no means an easy watch and certainly not one I'll be rewatching in a hurry because of just how heavy it is. However I firmly believe that anyone with even a slight interest in anime should not miss this. The animation is stunning as always and the story is paced beautifully. A delicate and yet emotionally brutal look at the effects of war. I cried, possibly twice.

9/10

My Neighbour Totoro (1988)

We're back to Hayao Miyazaki directing. This one features Ghibli's iconic mascot Totoro! The premise is a simple one: a father and his two daughters move into an old house in the country to be closer to their mother who is in hospital. It's a slice-of-life type film where the family settle into their new home and soon meet some mysterious forest creatures.

What can I say? This is one of my very favourite films and one of the few Ghibli films I've seen before. I love how there's no real plot, villain or good guy. The interactions when they first get to the farmhouse are so spot on I was taken right back to my own childhood, a crazy feeling of nostalgia, even when I'd never seen this film before. From then on we're taken on a fantastical journey with themes of nature and community, and the fact that the very things that most define us, are what we're losing. I can't think of another film that nails that feeling of being a child as well as this one. A warm hug of a film (yes I know that's the second time I've said that, but it's just true) that kept a stupid childish grin on my face for its entire duration. A truly magical masterpiece.

10/10

So here we are. 3 films down. I promised I'd rank them as I go along so here goes:

1. My Neighbour Totoro

2. Grave of the Fireflies

3. Laputa: Castle in the Sky

Thanks for reading and I'll catch you next time for the next 3 Ghibli films: Kiki's Delivery Service, Only Yesterday and Porco Rosso.