Studio Ghibli: the Japanese animations you have to see one day

Since June 15, 1985, the world of animation has never been the same. That day, Studio Ghibli was founded, a collective responsible for classics that are still popular today.

Image: Studio Ghibli / Netflix

The artists presenting the world with Studio Ghibli were directors Hayao Miyazaki and Isao Takahata and producer Toshio Suzuki.

On Netflix, you can find several of the studio's masterpieces. The films are full of references to Japanese culture, such as its beliefs in the protective spirits of nature.

Pictured, director Hayao Miyazaki

In addition, several of the films show the relationships of trust and love between friends, parents and children. In the next slides are some of Ghibli's best titles. Be sure to watch them!

A prince named Ashitaka flees his village, believing he is cursed for killing a god. During his trip, he meets a warrior princess who, mounted on a huge wolf, confronts all who dare to destroy nature.

Image: Studio Ghibli / Netflix

'Princess Mononoke' was the highest-grossing film in Japan until 2001 (when Studio Ghibli released the spectacular 'Spirited Away').

Image: Studio Ghibli / Netflix

This is perhaps the most successful Studio Ghibli film so far. In fact, it won the Oscar for Best Animation.

Image: Studio Ghibli / Netflix

A girl loses her parents in an enchanted place, full of strange beings. Greed and its consequences are important themes in the story, which is also an ode to friendship.

Image: Studio Ghibli / Netflix

An elderly woman, who is actually just a cursed girl, accompanies the mysterious wizard Howl on his adventures. Meanwhile, a war between competing realms is developing in the background.

Image: Studio Ghibli / Netflix

Loyalty, feminism, compassion, acceptance of age, and condemnation of wars are the values portrayed in this film.

Image: Studio Ghibli / Netflix

Tenderness abounds in this film about two sisters who find Totoro, a magical being of nature, the perfect distraction while they wait for their mother.

Image: Studio Ghibli / Netflix

In fact, the fame and importance of the Totoro character are to Japan and other Asian countries what Mickey Mouse is to the West.

Image: Studio Ghibli / Netflix

The first decade of the 2000s was marked by another great Studio Ghibli production. In it, we once again dove into a world of fantasy, magic, and, above all, friendship and trust.

Image: Studio Ghibli / Netflix

Ponyo portrays a metaphor for the will to live despite difficulties. The film tells the story of a completely flooded city whose population manages to find a peculiar way out. It's a film aimed at all audiences, like almost all of Miyazaki's work.

Image: Studio Ghibli / Netflix

Inspired by Eiko Kadono's 1985 novel of the same name, this film deals with Kiki who, at age 13, leaves home to work delivering goods.

Image: Studio Ghibli / Netflix

Adventures and new friendships await her in this new phase of her life. Once again, Miyazaki centers the story on a female protagonist.

Image: Studio Ghibli / Netflix

The animation is set on a deserted island in the Adriatic Sea in wartime Italy. It revolves around a former pilot who turns into a bounty hunter. 

Image: Studio Ghibli / Netflix

Film critic Paolo Mereghetti wrote in Corriere: "The raincoat with the raised collar and tight belt seems to come out of Bogart's wardrobe."

Image: Studio Ghibli / Netflix

Japan's involvement in World War II, the Kanto earthquake, epidemics, and economic crises provide the setting of this story about the talented Jiro Horikoshi, an expert in building aircraft.

Image: Studio Ghibli / Netflix

The film was nominated for several awards, including the Oscar and the Golden Globe. It had a production team of 200 people and a budget of 30 million dollars.

Image: Studio Ghibli / Netflix

Directed by Isao Takahata, this film is about a 27-year-old woman who takes stock of her life during a trip and asks for the help of a new friend to discover her true self.

Anna has health problems and spends time in a quiet village to get better. There, she meets Marnie, a cheerful and mysterious girl who, supposedly, lives in a house that everyone believes is abandoned.

The shy student Haru is guided by a mysterious cat to a secret world dominated by felines, where she becomes trapped with a schoolmate and begins to experience a transformation.

This film by Hayao Miyazaki was released a year before the founding of Studio Ghibli. In fact, it was his success that led to the collective.

Image: Studio Ghibli / Netflix

A thousand years after an event that destroyed almost the entire planet, the remaining population struggles to survive among the ruins and is divided by a toxic forest.

Image: Studio Ghibli / Netflix

In 2013, during the 70th Venice International Film Festival, Miyazaki announced his imminent retirement as a director, animator, and cartoonist due to his advanced age. He was subsequently awarded an Honorary Oscar.

However, in 2016, the famous Japanese director was working on another animated film. The work, tentatively called 'How Do You Live,' is set to hit theaters in Japan in July 2023.