Studio Ghibli have been enchanting audiences since 1985 through boundless creativity, breath-taking visuals, and captivating storytelling. Their most iconic films, such as My Neighbor Totoro and Spirited Away, have become beloved classics around the globe.
But with 22 feature films under their belts — and 2 more in the works — it's easy for some of their most inspiring works to become overlooked. We thought we'd highlight some of their most underrated films, as well as 5 of their surprisingly less-impressive entries.
Since Studio Ghibli are yet to make an objectively bad movie, we've compared all the key features which make the studio's movies unique and included the least memorable films from their back catalog.
10 Underrated: Whisper of the Heart (1995)
This coming-of-age drama conveys a joyfully simple tale of young bookworm Shizuku Tsukishima becoming inspired to follow her dream of being an author after befriending a young boy, Seiji. An aspiring violin maker, Seiji moves to Italy to pursue his studies, prompting Shizuku to neglect her traditional responsibilities in favor of her creative endeavors.
The art is beautifully realistic, filled with intricate background details. Shizuku's emotional journey makes for an uplifting story which brilliantly captures teenage self-doubt and imagination. Directed by Miyazaki and Takahata's protégé, Yoshifumi Kondō, Whisper of the Heart is Kondō's only feature, with the young creator tragically passing away in 1998.
9 Surprisingly Bad: Ocean Waves (1993)
While Whisper of the Heart may have brilliantly captured young romance, this TV-movie was less inspired. A love triangle develops when best friends Taku and Yutaka meet exchange student Rikaku, and the film explores the changing dynamics between the trio as relationships evolve.
It's a perfectly likable drama but comes across as plain when compared to the studio's more vibrant features. Production was hindered by time and budget restraints which put pressure on the creators: the studio's youngest team members. An experiment by Ghibli to challenge their greener staff, control was passed over to the younger creatives. While it may lack the charm of Miyazaki or Takahata's films, it does show promise, proving the next generation has learned from the best.
8 Underrated: Porco Rosso (1992)
Following the events of World War I, a peculiar curse transformed Italian fighter ace, Marco Rossolini, into an anthropomorphic pig. He now lives as a bounty hunter, chasing pirates across the Adriatic Sea in his iconic red plane.
Porco Rosso was originally intended to be an in-flight short for Japan Airlines, but Hayao Miyazaki instead developed it into a full-length feature. It's packed with excellent visuals, memorable characters, exciting action, and hilarious dialogue, but also includes poignant commentary about anti-fascism, politics, and war. The skillful blend of history with fantasy and comedy with adventure showcases Miyazaki's masterful capability as a storyteller.
7 Surprisingly Bad: My Neighbors the Yamadas (1999)
Isao Takahata's My Neighbors the Yamadas is one of the studio's most stylistically interesting movies. Mimicking the style and humor of comic strips, the film tells a series of stories about the dysfunctional Yamada family's misadventures.
The film is creative and entertaining, with the family dynamics feeling very relatable. However, in the wider library of Studio Ghibli, something about the movie doesn't quite fit. The comedy is wry and observational, but following the "funny pages" style, a series of short vignettes are woven together, creating quick bursts of laughter as the punchlines hit, with the novelty wearing off as the film progresses.
6 Underrated: Castle in the Sky (1986)
Studio Ghibli's first feature film tells the tale of two young children, Sheeta and Pazu, who attempt to reach the legendary Laputa (the titular castle in the sky) while protecting a crystal from military agents.
It's a wildly imaginative adventure that explores the enduring battle between humankind and nature, as well as ordinary people doing heroic deeds. Above it all, Castle in the Sky is a jaw-dropping spectacle, filled with stunning artwork and sweeping animation. Not only laying clear foundations for the studio's future productions, it hugely influenced Japanese pop culture and the global steampunk genre, perhaps most notably inspiring Hironobu Sakaguchi's work on Final Fantasy.
5 Surprisingly Bad: Pom Poko (1994)
The difficult relationship and enduring battles between humans and nature has been regularly revisited in Studio Ghibli's works. Taking central focus in Pom Poko, the film is an entertaining watch, but lacks the subtle development of the topic that their other films have managed to intricately weave into their narratives.
When a family of tanuki discover their territory is endangered by housing developers, they wage war against the continuous expansion of suburban Tokyo. It's filled with great humor as the animals try to scare the humans away, and has an important and timely message which ultimately could have been all the more impactful had the desired lesson been less on the nose.
4 Underrated: The Tale of Princess Kaguya (2013)
Isao Takahata's retelling of a famous Japanese folktale is a sweeping epic that breathed new life into animated storytelling. It's a visually unique film, blending calligraphic outlines with watercolors to create a soft, fairytale-like quality, with the art enhancing the story in dynamic ways.
The tale is poignant too, and one Takahata wrestled with for years before finding a compelling way to adapt it. When a bamboo cutter and his wife raise a mystical young girl found within a bamboo stalk, they eventually send her to the capital to become a noble lady. Yearning for her simplistic life of freedom, Kaguya rebels against a meaningless life of luxury. A gorgeous masterwork, it demonstrates the limitless expanse of Takahata's imagination.
3 Surprisingly Bad: The Cat Returns (2002)
Inspired by the popularity of Shizuki's fictional Baron the Cat in Whisper of the Heart, The Cat Returns explores the character further in this bizarre fantasy adventure. When a young woman wins the favor of the mythical Cat Kingdom, she tries to escape to the human world before being betrothed to the kingdom's prince.
It's a simple tale with brilliant humor but pales in comparison to Ghibli's other works. The artwork is more cartoony than the studio's traditional style and lacks the depth of their signature storytelling. Perhaps most detrimental, The Cat Returns was released in the same year as Spirited Away — one of the mightiest examples of the studio's talent — harshly highlighting the movie's flaws.
2 Underrated: Only Yesterday (1991)
Renowned for making heartwarming children's adventures, Isao Takahata stepped into the unknown with this realistic drama. With an adult woman at the center of the tale, Only Yesterday empathetically explores women's lives in Japanese society. When 27-year-old Taeko decides to leave Tokyo to visit relatives in the countryside, old memories stir, leading her to reconnect with lost childhood dreams.
Despite its box office success in Japan and widespread critical acclaim, Only Yesterday wasn't released in the U.S. until 2016. Even without the fantastical elements the studio is known for, it still retains all of the charm, beauty, and wonder of their trademark films, bursting with humor and emotion.
1 Surprisingly Bad: Tales from Earthsea (2006)
This adaptation of Ursula Le Guin's Earthsea novels is widely considered to be the only minor blemish in Studio Ghibli's library. While worthwhile viewing, the adaptation failed to successfully capture the intricacies of Le Guin's work. Hindered by a meandering plot and stuffed full of fantasy tropes, there was no room for character growth. Most upsetting for Le Guin was the introduction of violence — something the author purposefully avoided in her novels.
Studio Ghibli fought long and hard to persuade Le Guin to agree to an adaptation, and it wasn't until Spirited Away's Oscar-win that she finally agreed. But in the end, Le Guin expressed disappointment in the work — a sentiment echoed by many fans of hers and Studio Ghibli.