My general impression is that while they have made some absolutely wonderful movies, they have a few stinkers, too. The only one I haven't seen (including Ocean Waves and this one) is the Cat Returns, so I can't comment on it. My least favorites are Nausicaa, Laputa, and Only Yesterday.
Favorites are Porco Rosso, Pom Poko, Yamadas, Spirited Away and Castle of Cagliostro.
I think my favorites are From Up on Poppy Hill, Only Yesterday, and Whisper of the Heart.
Tales from Earthsea might be my least favorite.
I think my list is:
5 - Fireflies
4 - Ponyo
3 - Nausicaa
2 - Mononoke
1 - The Wind Rises
My top three are :
Howls
Castle in the Sky
KiKi
I just saw Only Yesterday, and thought it was great and completely agree with many on here who feel takahata and miyazaki have two different styles, and all the often Miyazaki and his films are what comes to mind when we hear Ghibli. Thats also why I think Wind Rises gets some flack because to me that is the most Takahata like Miyazaki movie. The fact is Miyazaki makes grand adventures, has a lot of fantasy, and often pits "man vs nature" or delves into grand concepts. Takahata on the other hand tends to be more realistic, and tends to focus on "man vs himself", like someone pointed out the flawed nature of people.
The only Ghibli movie I honestly don't like is Totoro, but I only saw it once long ago, so mabye it will fare better this time around.
Only Yesterday is honestly my favourite. I love its calm tone, gentle humour and universal coming of age tale that's easy to empathise with. Following that, I would say Porco Rosso, Princess Mononoke, Nausicaa and Whisper of the Heart come very close to favourites.
My least favourites would have to be Ocean Waves - I found it quite forgettable - and Tales of Earthsea. That might be a bit predictable: I don't necessarily think those two are dreadful films, but in comparison to the rest of the Ghibli films, they are probably the weakest efforts the studio has to offer so far.
I liked this one a lot. It's obviously meant for older kids, which is probably why it took so long to get a release in America, land of the infantile. My least favorites were Arietty and Howl's Moving Castle. The Cat Returns is one of my absolute favorites.
share[deleted]
Ponyo, no doubt.
Thumbs Up, Thumbs Down and a Wagging Finger of Shame