Hey y'all!

So me being a massive Ghibli fan and being the completionist that I am, I recently decided to finish off all the ones I hadn't seen before and rewatch some that weren't fresh enough in my mind. Figured I might as well post it. Also I didn't include Castle of Cagliostro, The Red Turtle, or Mary and the Witch's Flower as I'm not convinced they really count. Anyway, onto the ranking!

SPOILERS AHEAD

23: Earwig and the Witch (2/10)

I'm sure y'all saw this coming but believe it or not this was a tough call. Ultimately I put this at the bottom on the basis of the animation being disgusting after the opening scene, but this movie doesn't frustrate me like the next one does, it's just baffling. A bizzare mix of a story that has no need of adaptation, a main plot of literal slave labour, magical plot elements torn straight out of the pages of other Ghibli movies, and an ending which makes no sense on paper and even less sense in practice due to it having no setup at all. At least the cat character was ok I suppose.

22: Ocean Waves (2/10)

Contrary to Earwig, this movie isn't bad for multiple reasons but bad because it does only one thing and it does it horrendously. This is a film about a guy who gets used, scammed and gaslighted by a shitbag of a girl who is given no redeeming qualities at all. Meanwhile the film is very explicit, purposefully or otherwise, about the strong bond him and his best friend have, including having some scenes literally directed like romances, before pulling the sike on you and saying that no, he's not gay, and in fact he's in love with the girl who treated him nothing but badly the entire time they knew each other, leading to what is quite possibly the stupidest reminiscing montage in film history. This is a 75-minute unconvincing queerbait and it blows.

21: Tales from Earthsea (4/10)

I find it hard to hate this one because more than anything it's just incredibly bland. Due to the density of the story, the characters have so little time to be made that I struggle to imagine them making more than just a deadpan expression. The worldbuilding opens with some extraordinarily clunky expositional dialogue, half of which never ends up being used in the world or relevant to the story in any way, and hardly develops past that. And quite frankly I just couldn't tell you anything that happened in this other than there was a dragon at the end which felt like it was included because they got to the end of the script and suddenly remembered there were dragons in the source material.

20: From Up On Poppy Hill (4/10)

Much to my surprise this is a hot take, but I'm sorry, for my money this is only an improvement over Earthsea in animation and having characters. In short, this is an amalgamation of 3 subplots, none of which feel connected enough or get enough time to be properly fleshed out because the direction of the story is constantly flipping between them. The incest mystery plotline is super weird, literally featuring a line where the girl says she'd still have feelings even if they were related. Give this one a try if you want, but it wasn't for me.

19: My Neighbours the Yamadas (5/10)

I feel like I'm probably being too harsh on this because it's just a slice of life film, but the whole time I was watching it I was acutely aware of how pointless its existence as a film seemed to me. Doesn't help that as it progressed I realised I don't like any of the members of the family, and any enjoyment I might've gotten out of the end scene was tainted by Mary and Max making me associate Que Sera with some seriously dark shit. Otherwise it's perfectly fine though.

18: Pom Poko (5/10)

The other not so good Takahata movie. Slightly higher than the previous one due to making creative use of the raccoon's powers and having an interesting ending, but fuck me it's just so weird for reasons I can't discern. I don't know what Takahata was on when he made this but he was really in the mood for a lot of stuff to do with balls. I had to check out for a bit after one of the elders had his balls stretched into a motherfucking boat.

17: Whisper of the Heart (5/10)

Another kinda hot take. This isn't bad by any means, it does a solid job at justifying some of the inspiration Shizuku gets from Seiji, and I liked the side characters. But man, I couldn't get behind this romance. By the end of the movie she is so head over heels for this guy with bigger dreams than her that you just know that if they get together, she's going to be too clingy, then at some point he's going to say something she misinterprets before isolating herself from him until eventually they stop talking and just make awkward eye contact in the halls.

16: Arrietty (6/10)

Visually I think this is one of the coolest Ghibli movies. It takes a nice and grounded fantasy concept and adapts the world to perfection. Watching everything from the perspective of the Clock family is a lot of fun and I had a great time with this movie. That said I'd rank it higher if it weren't for the characters other than the family, who feel kinda bland, or in the case of Haru, don't really warrent their existence.

15: Porco Rosso (7/10)

Onto the movies I genuinely like! This one is mainly here on the strength of its characters, which is among the best collections of characters in the Ghibli roster. I also really like the sequence where Porco sees what is presumably the afterlife, it's wonderfully atmospheric with a score which is a bit unconventional for Ghibli. Outside of that I don't really connect with anything else in it unfortunately, but it's still good stuff.

14: My Neighbour Totoro (7/10)

There isn't a whole lot to say about this one other than the whimsy is extremely effective. Unfortunately it's also a little sparse and it's not particularly engaging when Totoro and co. are absent, but hardly a major detractor.

13: Only Yesterday (7/10)

I will admit I wasn't convinced by this one for quite a while. The cohesion between the present and past scenes isn't the best, and not all the past scenes warrent being there. Towards the end though I really started connected with Taeko, and the eventual romance that develops is beautiful and much more well-justified and convincingly healthy than Whisper of the Heart. Eventually I was left with a warm feeling of contemplation and peacefulness.

12: The Wind Rises (7/10)

The romance in this film is also pretty good. I was quite tired watching it so I may be completely wrong when I say I felt it developed too fast, but once it does develop I thought it was really well-handled, enough so that I felt something about that moment towards the end I otherwise wouldn't have cared for. A little lower than it would otherwise be because I don't connect with the plane stuff, but still a pretty good movie.

11: Ponyo (7/10)

I would bump this up a few spots if the final act was longer and easier to follow, as it gets a bit messy at that point. Also the villain is a bit whatever. But still, this is Ghibli's cutest movie for me, and has some of their prettiest and well-scored scenes. Sosuke and Ponyo's relationship is super joyous to watch, even as someone who doesn't like kids. I enjoy the hell out of this film, it's just super lovely.

10: The Cat Returns (7/10)

Again I have barely anything to say about this. It's a bit higher than Totoro because it's much more consistently cute, and the cuteness having characterisation is a plus. Also I like Haru a lot as a protagonist, although I'd struggle to tell you why. Love Muta as well.

9: Howl's Moving Castle (7/10)

This film's charm is almost off the scale. Between Howl, Calcifer, the scarecrow, and especially the castle itself are just so joyous and a fascinating, immersive fantasy world. That said the plot is a bit of a clusterfuck; it flicks between tones and subplots all the time, with a war plotline I don't think needs to exist, and also ends pretty abruptly for a reason that makes no sense to me. Still, some great scenes bring this back up a bit, such as the collapse of the castle.

8: Kiki's Delivery Service (7/10)

This is easily the most thoughtful of the very kid-aimed entries in the Ghibli filmography, with some grounded lessons on motivation and skill for things you love. It also has one of the best talking animal characters and a climax that still manages to tease the hell out of you despite knowing what the likely outcome is. I don't enjoy this as much as some of the previous entries but it's a little more robust.

7: Castle in the Sky (8/10)

I found this one quite difficult to rank because it peaks in the middle. The main conflict is still plenty good but that robot rampage scene is bloody fantastic. Proper intimidating stuff. The pirates took me a while to get into but they're pretty fun eventually as well, and it's overall just an impressively immersive and tremendously entertaining tale. The two leads are a little bit weak and I admit to not really finding the villain that memorable, but this is still a great film.

6: Spirited Away (8/10)

Hoo boy. Ok so this was my first Ghibli film as a kid, and I loved it back then purely as great entertainment. But weirdly now I'm older I don't really feel anything more than that towards it, which means it basically only made its way all the way up here because it's pretty and I can't really think of anything wrong with it. Yes the characters are great, yes the music is great, and the opening and ending scenes are wonderful, but I just can't for the life of me connect with the film. I get more out of it by listening to One Summer Day and thinking about other stuff than I do by watching it, and I've never been able to discern why. Sorry Spirited Away stans, I still think it's great but I'm evidently missing something y'all got.

5: When Marnie was There (9/10)

This is just straight up the best bond between characters in a Ghibli film. Heck, it probably rivals Mary and Max for the title of best character bond in animation. Every single character detail, every drop of dialogue between the two leads, is crafted to absolute perfection and laid out to make you feel every single emotion Anna feels. That said, I'm not a fan of the ending. The twist itself is fine though could've benefitted from having a more explicitly supernatural explanation, because as a grounded story it doesn't make any sense, but the real caveat is the fact that the whole thing is delivered as a narrative exposition dump. It's a bit of an anticlimax, even though it still somehow made me feel plenty. If that wasn't an issue I'd bump this all the way up to number 2. Even with that fault though I really do adore this film, it's a masterpiece.

4: The Tale the Princess Kaguya (9/10)

Ok I will admit this one is pretty 3rd act-carried. It's a pretty slow story which, while it succeeds in making you feel the emotions it's going for, doesn't really stand out among the crowd outside of the animation, until the end. But my GOD the last two scenes are absolute perfection. They're probably two of the best scenes in any animated film I've seen. The absolute feat of making one of the most joyous, soul lifting scenes, immediately before one of the most soul crushing, is just incredible. I'm so glad I wasn't aware of the tale of the bamboo cutter before watching this rendition of it.

3: Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind (9/10)

This film is the definitive proof of Miyazaki's remarkable ability to realise large ambition. I know next to nothing about anime history but I feel like in 1984 this must've really been pushing the envelope, and it's aged like a fine wine. A fascinating world with striking visuals, memorable protagonists and antagonists, oddly scary moments (you cannot tell me an angry Ohmu isn't terrifying) and an incredible sense of scale and spectacle. This is such a treat of a film and I love it.

2: Princess Mononoke (10/10)

This one took a lot of pages from the Nausicaa book, but upped the beauty, score, worldbuilding, side characters, violence, and especially villain (Lady Hiboshi is hands down the best Ghibli antagonist). As such I don't have a whole lot extra to add. My favourite Miyazaki movie and one I recommend to everyone I meet. Which leaves...

1: Grave of the Fireflies (10/10)

I often see this ranked lower because of how depressing it is. But if I'm being honest with myself I have to admit that a film which can do that much emotional devastation to so many people, me included, has to be doing something really right. And it didn't just take the easy way out by making it depressing just by virtue of focussing on children; it also injects symbolism and hints of that childhood wonder that Setsuko never got to truly experience, like so many in the war, and comments on the choices people make in times of crisis. I consistently cite this as the greatest animated film of all time, and I haven't found a rival for that title since I saw it maybe 5 or 6 years ago. Truly a landmark film in animation history.

So yeah, that's all. I have no idea what to write for a conclusive statement other than Ghibli are a fantastic studio and I will always be special to me. Would love to see your rankings, even if they're incomplete.