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So after Doug Walker did his Disneycember on Studio Ghibli films, I've been interested in watching them all. Previously I kind of took those films for granted, and now I'm going to be watching them to see what I thought of them. Now I've made this thread to have everyone share their opinions on the films.

So I just watched Nausicaä, and it seemed interesting to me. I had a hard time following it in the beginning, but by the time the third act started, I was able to really get into it. The animation was of course good, but considering it was their first one, I expected it to be less than spectacular than the ones that came later. To be honest, I think the reason I was having a hard time getting what was going on was because I was distracted by Teto, who was just too cute.

I absolutely love Studio Ghibli films, specifically those directed by Hayao Miyazaki.

I especially loved Spirited Away, and it's probably my favorite among their works, but I have a special place in my heart for Kiki's Delivery Service thanks to good old nostalgia. It was the first Studio Ghibli film I watched, and I watched it at a very young age. It was my first foray into anime, so it holds that distinction as well.

I'm also a huge fan of Studio Ghibli. My favorite is definitely Spirited Away but Princess Mononoke is a close second.

I can describe it as "meh" I have seen the films and I wasn't too impressed. Sure it is better than the lazy otaku animes out there but I have seen anime I prefer over ghibli (parasyte for example).

I've held a great affection for Studio Ghibli's films for as long as I've been watching movies. And I LOVE the soundtracks. It took me until my late teens to "get" why people listened to music recreationally, without doing anything else simultaneously. Despite that though, I sought out the soundtracks from time to time before that epiphany, and I don't think I can say that truthfully for any other music.

If I had to pick a favourite animation from Ghibli, I'd say Nausicaä. I just bought the Artbook of it at a covention where Doug Walker happened to be the quest of honor. I just love Miyazaki's watercolor illustrations. However, even though Nausicaä is awesome in my opinion, I'm much more fond of the manga version. After reading the manga, the anime just seems really incomplete.

Another favourite of mine would be Kiki's Delivery Service. I just love the feelgood atomosphere of the movie, and the beautiful soundtrack. I still enjoy the more popular movies like Totoro and Spirited Away, but somehow Kiki was the one that left me with the biggest impression, right along with Nausicaä.

Nausicaä is my least favourite personally, it lacks the interesting characters that other Ghibli films have, and while I would praise it for how artistically creative it is, other films like Spirited away, Totoro or Howl's moving castle are still far more enjoyable to look at. I liked the ending, those huge forest creatures were really cute in a weird way.

Mononoke is also pretty good, everyone always picks it as a fave but, I dunno, maybe it's something to do with a nostalgia factor? I only saw it for the first time a couple of years ago, it's VERY good don't get me wrong, like an 8/10 at least, I just prefer other films I guess.

Other films I more recently saw include Laputa, Kiki's delivery Service and Porco Rosso, ALL of which I would consider among Ghibli's best, these were 9/10 films for me.

Still, my absolute favourite is Spirited away. I don't think I could make a list of my favourites outside of that film though, after that I just like them all and can't favour some over others.

One thing I wanted to hear from people is what they think of the studio's film that has the lowest ratings: Tales from Earthsea. Haven't seen it yet, but Doug really seemed to like it, yet it seems to get hate from people and even won worst film and director in Japan. What do you think of this film personally?

I actually haven't seen Tales from Earthsea either, but I'll give it a watch at some point and get back to you with my thoughts on it.

I personally haven't watched it myself, but many (including a friend of mine from Japan) look at it as the Cars 2 of Ghibli.

It was directed by Goro Miyazaki (Hayao Miyazaki's son, who didn't even want to get into animation initially) and from what I've heard his inexperience shows. Much like Pixar, Studio Ghibli had an almost perfect track record of great movies until this one came around. Regardless if it's actually that bad, it's terrible compared to the high quality of movies before it.

On topic, Studio Ghibli is my favorite animation studio next to Pixar, and my personal favorite movie from them is Princess Mononoke. I really liked Castle in the Sky, but I still need to see Ponyo and Howl's Moving Castle. I'll maybe get around to watching Porco Rosso and Castle of Cagliostro.