The Definitive Ranking of Studio Ghibli Movies from Worst to Best

7. My Neighbor Totoro

Here it is, Studio Ghibli’s most iconic film of them all, My Neighbor Totoro. I mean, just look at the studio’s logo and you’ll see the titular forest spirit himself. The film is actually about a little girl who is spending her summer in the countryside with her father. The reason for this is that her mother is very sick, and he’s trying to get her away so that she doesn’t have to see her mother like that. There’s not much for her to do in the countryside other than making friends with forest spirits (and a nightmarish cat-bus-thing). Needless to say, it’s a pretty good summer.

6. The Tale of Princess Kaguya

The last film Isao Takahata made for Studio Ghibli was The Tale of Princess Kaguya, which is fitting considering how sad the film is. The movie is actually based on an ancient Japanese folktale called The Bamboo Cutter’s Daughter about a farmer and his wife who discover a small girl in a shoot of bamboo and adopt her. She grows into a beautiful young woman and pretty soon everyone in the country is pitching woo at her. It has a bit of a sad ending, but I won’t spoil it for you since you should definitely check it out.

5. Only Yesterday

One of the most beautiful Studio Ghibli movies has to be Only Yesterday. It’s such a simple story, but it examines so many powerful aspects of being human. In it, a young woman takes a vacation home from the big city and finds herself filled with nostalgia as she is immersed in memories of her childhood. It’s not just a bunch of flashbacks though. Instead, the woman wonders what her childhood self might think of her now and what that means for her future. It’s essentially a beautiful, zen-like midlife crisis, and I loved it.