‧₊˚ ⋅ghibli movie ranking ‧₊˚ ⋅

i saw this idea on @yellowfrog s page and found it so cool! i'm not the biggest ghibli head but i thought it would be interesting to revisit the movies







8. howl's moving castle

i know this film is among the most beloved of the ghibli movies but i just didn't connect with it in the slightest. i found it very lengthy and unclear in its motivation. it's sad cause the world design is so beautiful (see howls bedroom omg). i honestly didn't like the characters nor the storyline. towards the end i was waiting for it to be over. i'd be super interested in reading the book and seeing if i like it.





7. totoro

okay, so this is a case of ~ i never saw any ghibli movies when i was a kid~. i was in my teens when i decided to get into them and i thought starting out with their most recognizable movie would make sense. i have to say, i think i was just too old for this one. i have somewhat similiar critiques for this one: i found it lengthy at times and didn't really connect with the characters. all in all it just wasn't for me.





6. spirited away

soo starting here i'm really uncertain about the order, but from here on out i think all movies mentioned are at least ~fine. i probably would have loved spirited away a lot more had i seen it in my childhood. the world is what really gets me in this one. the depiction of spirits and the bathhouse alone is so fascinating and it feels merely like a glimpse into the world. where this movie loses me is agaain the characters and plot. i don't particularely like haku.





5. whisper of the heart

this is the movie i feel most neutral about. i like its lowkey energy and simple plot. to me it feels like breathing. it does however have a special meaning to me cause my boyfriend really likes this one.





4. from up on poppy hill

this is where my fav movies start and again, figuring out the order is super hard. i've had an obsession with this movie since i was a little child. though i didn't watch the movie until i was an adult, i had the trailer on loop at times. the atmosphere of the changing city, the group of students, the music, THE ACTUAL POPPY HILL, i found it all so mesmerizing. the plot was a little ... if you know you know, but still it is sooo cute.





3. when marnie was there

shoutout to this one for being the only ghibli movie to ever make me cry. my god, it's so beautiful yet heartbreaking. honestly, had they been ... you know it would have been amazing, but the canon is incredible too. i love the dreamlike aspects of this one.





2. castle in the sky

i went into this not really knowing anything about it and wow. it fascinated and entertained me so much. the main relationship is so cute! at its core it's a beautiful adventure movie with a lot of heart. the relationships between kids and adults are adorable.





1. princess mononoke

i think this is the one that fluctuates most in my eyes, but overall it's the most well rounded one in my opinion. i LOVE the depiction of the forest and nature as a sentient being, the notion of the spirits being so closely tied to the nature and the topic of economy vs. ecology. lady eboshi is THE BEST villain imo, she is so incredibly fleshed out. also san and ashitaka are great characters, watching this princess movie and comparing it to any disney princess movie shows how studio ghibli is so much deeper and more nuanced in its messaging and takes its characters so seriously. also, the music is stellar, it's so moving to me.