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I'm assuming that a lot of people will be commenting about Grave of the Fireflies. It's a stunning movie, but I felt a much greater connection to My Neighbors The Yamadas. I found it to be such a delightful movie, full of small family moments. Very few actual crises, very few actual stakes, but so wonderfully realized.

It's a great loss.

Grave of the Fireflies is a movie I can't think of watching again. Extremely beautiful but also emotionally exhausting.

I really enjoyed Only Yesterday. But I tend to like "slice of life" stuff.

Slice of life films tend to depress and/or stress me. I tend to avoid them because I empathize too much. Just reading the wikipedia summaries of the films you wrote about, got me anxious, especially `Only Yesterday` because I'm at the same age with the protagonist and my career and love life are lacking.

If a film has a [redacted-for-spoilers] aspect, even with all the drama, I enjoy it more. If you're like me, you'll definitely enjoy `Your Name`. I cried more than when I watched Lion King for the first time.

The reason that I can empathize and I can feel the feels is the reason I watched slice of life :) But now when it feels too much of effort, romantic comedy or just pure comedy is what I seek for relaxation (and escape?). U seem like an "emotions" guy and I would love to hear any recommendations My myanimelist is same as my username here
Indeed, “Grave of the Fireflies” was the first ever, and so far only, movie that has brought me to tears. If anyone ever questions if an animated movie can ever convey emotions like “real” movies, think of this masterpiece.
you know what’s weird? In Europe and America we consider animated films “cartoons”, say they are for kids, and generally don’t see them as a serious storytelling medium. But in Japan, an animated film is not seen in this manner. In fact, animated films enabled movie directors in Japan to depict scenes that were simply impossible or prohibitively expensive to create with cameras and actors. So back when movie cameras were just starting to capture a decent frame rate and resolution, there were already excellent stories being told via hand-drawn animations and voice. The Japanese animators really embraced the creative freedoms that animation enables and you can see it in the wonderful storytelling value of their animated works.

TLDR; in Japan an animated movie is a real movie.

I wrote a long reply to this but then realised maybe you meant that it's the first and only _animated_ movie that brought you to tears?
The best part is, those that deny the power, can prove it by watching the movie.

Experience says there won't be a repeat viewing.

> was the first ever, and so far only, movie that has brought me to tears

What about "Life is Beautiful" and/or "It's a Wonderful Life"?

“It’s a Wonderful Life” has never failed to elicite tears from me at some point in the film. They’re never quite tears of sadness though. They’re this moving, so full of emotion, happy/ sad/ overwhelmed tears that actually feel like a cathartic experience when done.

I used to live in state college, pa.... the State Theater (name of the cinema, not a state run theater ) there would have showings of it around Christmas time. I would highly recommend.

I haven't yet seen it - the only Ghibli animation I did not dare to watch. Heck, I cry my eyes out after each and every one, I might as well just jump from a bridge...

Though Pom Poko is wonderful (another Takahata one), it's enviromentalism is subtle and sad. Yamadas were lovely.

I have the same. I cry in every Ghibli movie, even if they're fun to watch. I cry even when I think about Totoro flying around the big tree, I cry when I remember how Kiki can handle the world and her own life all by herself and I cry when I think about the killer robots of Laputa helping the little animals and plants to survive on that killing machine.

And I don't usually cry in the movies.

And yes, Grave of the Fireflies is tough.

Edit: Or that train crossing the flooded plains. Uh... We should not forget Joe Hisaishi's part in this.

Edit2: Or how Porco can't face love after being part of the war as a pilot.

Kaguya hime no monogatari was a masterpiece.
Absolutely agree. While I've had mixed reactions to his movies, I absolutely adored Kaguya. I didn't expect such a simple story could bring me to the point of tears, but it was very emotional, and the animation was amazing.
The scene under the cherry blossom is tear jerking. The scene of the princess running is simply amazing. Motion in particular, with flowing kimono, provided an arresting emotional portrait.
yes. not well known but excellent.
Most Ghibli releases are totally awesome. :)

Grave of the Fireflies still remains one of the most impressive animations i have ever seen. Such a brutal honest display.

My Neighbors the Yamada is great but it is not really a Ghibli creation since it is adapted from an existing comic strip. Grave of The Fireflies comes from a book but is definitely a whole different thing.
Certainly, but I adore the stylized (if you can call any kind of anime stylized) pastel coloring, the deliberate rough edges. Delicious :)
Yeah it's quite a hidden gem. Thanks for the reminder.
A video of the team at Ghibli having a late dinner together, as they near the release date of one of their bigger features: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0BPTNdmdJSc

They were working hard in that studio, with passion and conviction.

I watched Grave of the Fireflies (Hotaru no Haka), alone, sitting it my in-laws' condo in Tokyo back in 1991. To this day, it remains one of the most emotionally wrenching film experiences of my life. The only movie I've ever cried through. I consider it the best "war" film I've ever seen.

I have enjoyed nearly every movie Studio Ghibli has produced, especially early films like Kaze no Tani no Nausicaä and Tenkū no Shiro Rapyuta but Hotaru no Haka has a special, honored place at the top of my list.

Rest in peace, 高畑さん

This is a very sad day since their work marked my childhood and I'll always cherris anything they ever touched. The very emotion and story they encapsulate is purely breadth taking. Princess Mononoke, Howls moving castle, Laputa, Spirited away are probably going to stay my all time favourites.
Great artist. I truly believe "Only Yesterday" is one of the best movies ever made.
Only Yesterday is probably one of the most underrated movies from Ghibli.
I agree. this is a fantastic movie that went beyond the medium limitations in ways only few people in the 7art did. (another anime genius satoshi kon did too)
the only ghibli ive seen in a cinema and it was perfect in every way.
I have a mixed perception of his films (I absolutely hated 'Grave of the Fireflies' on multiple levels, loved many of his other films, and disliked or felt ambivalent about others), but he was a man who really cared about the craft, and that's getting rarer and rarer in the anime industry. I consider this a great loss.
Studio Ghibli movies shaped my childhood and I loved them. (My parents didn't even realise they were Anime until later, they assumed it was from Disney because they were so well made) Spirited Away was a favorite family movie for a long time.

I think Laputa - Castle in the Sky will remain my all-time favorite and Princess Mononoke second.

Actually the movies you cite are all Miyazaki.

Takahata directed Grave of the Fireflies, Pompoko, my Neighbors the Yamada and others.

I watched those too but they aren't as high on my favorites list. Studio Ghibli overall produces amazing content.
Kaguya Hime as well
For some, it probably shaped it more than they knew. The Rankin-Bass animations (The Hobbit, The Last Unicorn, etc) was outsourced to a studio named Topcraft.

> The studio went bankrupt and dissolved in June 15, 1985 essentially splitting the studio in half. Hayao Miyazaki, Toshio Suzuki and Isao Takahata bought the studio when laying off most of its animation staff and changed its name to Studio Ghibli.

I would put Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind slightly above Laputa, but agreed otherwise :)
Grew up with these movies. Sad day. Moulded my childhood
I balled so hard with gotf
I think you mean "bawled", as in to cry noisily, right? Right?