By Vera Vargas & Ajay Aravind
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Some Studio Ghibli movies are sweet coming-of-age stories and tales of childhood whimsy, and they're all fully encapsulated narratives. Others cover more intense and complex topics like war, pollution, and human violence. The best ones, however, are often a blend of magical realism and emotional depth. That said, each Ghibli story comes full circle, offering thoughtful conclusions about difficult topics and hopeful happily ever afters after a hard-won character arc.
Studio Ghibli has a stellar reputation, even for audiences who don't really watch anime, although their offerings are generally more complex than the average anime series. In fact, most of their films are considered classics of the wider animation genre that includes Western movies. Even the more open-ended Ghibli films are satisfying and beg further thought. Studio Ghibli movies often work on more than one level — one that younger audiences will enjoy, and one that more mature viewers will appreciate.
Updated on January 3, 2025, by Ajay Aravind: A story is only as good as its ending, the part that allows the viewer to experience the culmination of their emotional journey. Ghibli movies have always been regarded as some of the best works of 21st-century fiction, and it stands to reason that their conclusions hit all the right notes. As such, we have updated this list with five more entries.
15 The Secret World of Arrietty Leaves Things Ambiguous
Arrietty the Borrower or The Secret World of Arrietty was adapted from Mary Norton's The Borrowers, a 1952 children's novel. The eponymous main character is like a Thumbelina of sorts, except with an entire clan behind her. The story revolves around the human boy Sho, who discovers the Borrower Arrietty over the course of a summer's week at his mother's house. They soon become friends, despite Arrietty's parents reacting negatively.
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Sho has a heart problem requiring an operation with a low success rate, and he doesn't feel too hopeful about it. On the other hand, Arrietty relies on Sho to save her and the other Borrowers, which instills some much-needed hope in Sho. However, the ending of the movie focuses on Arrietty and Sho's bond of friendship without revealing what happened to them. This ambiguous ending is what makes The Secret World of Arrietty such a powerful film.
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The Secret World of Arrietty
G
Anime
Adventure
Drama
In a secret world hidden from the eyes of humans, tiny beings known as Borrowers live quietly by borrowing items from humans to sustain their existence. The story follows young Arrietty, who, despite the rules, befriends a human boy, setting off a chain of events that challenge her family’s secretive lifestyle.
Director Hiromasa YonebayashiRelease Date February 17, 2012Cast Bridgit Mendler, Amy Poehler, Will Arnett, Mirai Shida, Ryûnosuke Kamiki, Tatsuya Fujiwara, Tomokazu Miura, Shinobu OtakeRuntime 94 Minutes14 The Wind Rises Is a Heady Mix of Gloom and Optimism
A Warplane Can Also Be a Masterpiece
Studio Ghibli doesn't just rely on the tropes of magic and fantasy; 2013's The Wind Rises takes a completely different route in the form of a historical drama. The story is based on the eponymous manga written by Miyazaki himself, featuring the real-life aerospace engineer Jiro Horikoshi in a heavily fictionalized role. The movie went on to earn multiple nominations, including a Golden Globe and an Academy Award.
The story chronicles Horikoshi's early life, romance, and career, revealing just how intelligent he must have been. However, impending conflicts leave Horikoshi designing warplanes, something that continues to haunt him until the end of the Second World War. The conclusion of The Wind Rises blalances the darkness with hope, with Horikoshi's recently deceased wife appearing in spirit form to give encourage him to go on living.
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The Wind Rises
PG-13
War
Romance
Original title: Kaze tachinuA look at the life of Jiro Horikoshi, the man who designed Japanese fighter planes during World War II.
Director Hayao MiyazakiRelease Date July 20, 2013Cast Hideaki Anno, Hidetoshi Nishijima, Masahiko Nishimura, Keiko Takeshita, Jun KunimuraRuntime 126 minutes13 The Tale of the Princess Kaguya Ends on a Bittersweet Note
Kaguya Won't Even Remember Her Human Family
Isao Takahata's The Tale of the Princess Kaguya is based on a literary tale from the 10th century. The animation style is considerably more spartan than the usual Ghibli fare, with a faint watercolor aesthetic that resembles the traditional style of Japanese sumi-e paintings. In addition to earning widespread critical acclaim, the movie also became the topic of a documentary about its making.
The narrative itself is hefty with magical realism, starring a mystical child discovered within a bamboo shoot. Nicknamed Little Bamboo, the child grows at an augmented rate. Little Bamboo loves being surrounded by nature, so relocation to a luxurious mansion leaves her pining for her home. Later known as Princess Kaguya, she ultimately reveals her lunar origins before leaving her Earth family behind. The saddest part of the ending is that her memories are erased completely.
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The Tale of the Princess Kaguya
PG
Animation
Drama
Fantasy
Discovered inside a glowing bamboo shoot by a humble bamboo cutter, a tiny princess magically transforms into a human baby. As she grows at an astonishing rate, her adoptive parents attempt to transform her into a noble princess, leading her through a life filled with societal expectations, only for her to struggle with her mysterious origin and the desire for a simpler life.
Director Isao TakahataRelease Date November 23, 2013Cast Takeo Chii, Aki Asakura, Nobuko Miyamoto, Kengo Kora, Atsuko Takahata, Tomoko Tabata, Shinosuke Tatekawa, Takaya Kamikawa, Hikaru Ijūin, Ryudo Uzaki, Shichinosuke Nakamura, Isao Hashizume, Tatsuya Nakadai, Yukiji Asaoka, Tamaki Kojo, Yuji Miyake, Mirai Uchida, Hiroyuki YamamotoRuntime 137 minutes12 Pom Poko Showcases the Consequences of Urban Expansion
The Tanuki Can Only Be Themselves in Secret and Sparingly
Themes of ecological awareness have always been common elements in Hayao Miyazaki's work, starting with his first movie. Isao Takahata also attempted his own take on the environmentalism concept with Pom Poko. Often misinterpreted as raccoons, the tanuki that inhabit this story face the recent threat of urban expansion. With Tokyo growing bigger through the 1960s and beyond, the tanuki local to the area have even less nature to live in.
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An adorable resistance movement forms among the tanuki, but things quickly get out of hand when their sabotage attempts end up killing construction workers. Meanwhile, the workers are quickly replaced, highlighting the inevitability of human progress. Even acts of eco-terrorism make no ultimate difference to the ending of Pom Poko. The Tanuki have to blend into human society or risk disappearing forever, with the ending scene asking the viewer to show some compassion for the animals of the world. See AlsoDestiny 2 Revenant Act 3: Start Date, End Date, Leaks, Kell's Fall Exotic Mission, Slayer's Fang, Artifact, and MoreCarter's quest for Mideast peace didn't end with Camp DavidA Tribe Called Quest – The Low End Theory - lese, höre, Einkauf HifiCarter's quest for Mideast peace didn't end with Camp David 
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Pom Poko
PG
Animation
Drama
Fantasy
This animated film from Studio Ghibli centers on a group of tanuki (Japanese raccoon dogs) in suburban Tokyo, who use their shape-shifting abilities to fight against urban development that threatens their forest home. Through humor and fantasy, the story reflects on environmental issues and the impact of modernization on traditional habitats.
Director Isao TakahataRelease Date July 16, 1994Cast Shinchou Kokontei, Makoto Nonomura, Yuriko Ishida, Norihei Miki, Nijiko Kiyokawa, Shigeru Izumiya, Gannosuke Ashiya, Takehiro MurataRuntime 119 Minutes11 Chihiro Ogino Completes Her Self-Actualization Journey
She Even Manages to Earn Yubaba's Grudging Respect
Chihiro passes so many tests in Spirited Away. The spirit world has very different rules from the human world, and thankfully, Chihiro has a few allies to look out for her. Her parents fail the first test of the spirit world when they gorge themselves on a bounty of food. Young Chihiro then spends the rest of the movie trying to survive as she works in the spirit bathhouse and looks for a way to save her parents.
At one point, Chihiro reaches a new low and cries as she worries she will lose her parents and remain stuck and alone. However, Chihiro is so compassionate and hardworking that she wins the witch Yubaba's love and respect and passes the final test, successfully picking out her parents from several other pigs. She leaves the spirit world and ends her tale with a new level of confidence and self-actualization that will suit her well for the rest of her life.
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Spirited Away
PG
Animation
Family
Fantasy
During her family's move to the suburbs, a sullen 10-year-old girl wanders into a world ruled by gods, witches and spirits, a world where humans are changed into beasts.
Director Hayao MiyazakiRelease Date July 20, 2001Studio Studio GhibliCast Rumi Hiiragi, Miyu Irino, Mari Natsuki, Takashi Naitô, Yasuko Sawaguchi, Tsunehiko Kamijô, Takehiko Ono, Bunta SugawaraRuntime 125 minutesMain Genre Animation10 Taeko Okajima Finally Figures Out Who She Is
Nostalgia Teaches Takeo Where She's Meant to Be
Only Yesterday is directed by Studio Ghibli co-founder, Isao Takahata, another director who deserves the same amount of attention as Hayao Miyazaki. Protagonist Taeko Okajima travels back to the countryside where she grew up, chasing feelings of nostalgia and yearning for her youth. Only Yesterday is a quiet and poignant film that's very underrated by audiences outside of Japan. In fact, it's ranked #10 on this list mainly because people haven't heard of it as much.
Nostalgia is a strong motivator for many people, especially as they grow older, which is what Takeo learns. She goes from working a boring job in the city to soaking up every moment in the countryside. When Taeko revisits her past, she starts to unlock the person she wants to be in the present and the future. Taeko ends her story by choosing where she wants to stay and even finds a sweet love with someone who lives life with authenticity and charming conviction.
Only Yesterday
Slice of Life
A twenty-seven-year-old office worker travels to the countryside while reminiscing about her childhood in Tokyo.
Director Isao TakahataRelease Date July 20, 1991Cast Writers Rating Runtime 118 MinutesProduction Company9 Ponyo Gets a Sweet Fairy Tale Ending
Granmamare and Lisa Help Ponyo End Her Journey
Ponyo causes delightful chaos when she leaves her home in the sea to explore the land. She's a goldfish princess, the daughter of a sea goddess and an overworked mer-scientist father, Fujimoto. Fujimoto has very important work restoring the ocean, and his feisty eldest daughter's curiosity stresses him out. When Ponyo defies her father and leaves the ocean a second time, she upsets the balance between land and sea, and the two elements merge.
Ponyo is too young to fully understand the consequences of her actions, but she ends up learning many things from her friendship with Sosuke on land. She uses her magic to feed a small baby, and she also learns a bit about how to prepare food. Her mother Granmamere and Sosuke's mother Lisa come together to find a solution for the sea and land and Ponyo, and Ponyo gets the ending she deserves.
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Ponyo
tv-14
Fantasy
Adventure
A five-year-old boy develops a relationship with Ponyo, a young goldfish princess who longs to become a human after falling in love with him.
Director Hayao MiyazakiRelease Date February 4, 2010Studio Cast Liam Neeson, Matt Damon, Betty White, Tina FeyWriters Hayao MiyazakiRuntime 111minutesAwards Won Distributor(s) Disney, studiocanal8 Shizuku Discovers an Unencumbered Sense of Purpose
She Understands the Difference Between Awareness and Self-Awareness
Whisper of the Heart is a beautiful shojo about first love and artistry. It was directed by Yoshifumi Kondo, whose unfortunate death put a damper on Studio Ghibli's hopes that he would succeed Miyazaki and Takahata. The artistic aspect of Kondo's only movie is the strongest part of the beautiful, cozy story. Shizuku is a voracious reader, and she aspires to be an author one day. The boy she ends up falling for, Seiji, is also an artist interested in constructing violins.
Shizuku's coming-of-age story is very relatable. Things don't come easily to her, and as she grows as a person and as a creative writer, she finds her place in the world. By the end of Whisper of the Heart, Shizuku realizes that she doesn't need to control her world to find her own sense of purpose, inner peace, and resolve, which makes her a more confident and whole artist.
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Whisper of the Heart
G
Drama
Family
A love story between a girl who loves reading books, and a boy who has previously checked out all of the library books she chooses.
Release Date July 15, 1995Runtime 111 MinutesMain Genre Animation7 Sheeta & Pazu Defeat the Villains and Save the Day
Laputa's Dangerous Technology Is Made Permanently Inaccessible
The first official movie made by Studio Ghibli's animation team, Castle in the Sky is a high fantasy anime about a girl falling out of the sky, sentient robots, and legendary lost cities. Sheeta comes from Laputa, a castle on a floating island, and everyone is after her and her crystal necklace which remains the only way to access Laputa. As a result, Sheeta and her eventual friend Pazu stay on the run from airship pirates and evil military officials.
Colonel Muska wants Sheeta's crystal so that he can activate Laputa's devastating robots and weaponry. Eventually, Dola and her air pirates switch sides and help Sheeta and Pazu fight off Colonel Muska. Sheeta and Pazu work together to destroy Colonel Muska's plans with an epic destruction spell, annihilating the weapons and saving themselves (and the rest of humanity) in the process.
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Castle in the Sky
PG
Original title: Tenkû no shiro RapyutaA young boy and a girl with a magic crystal must race against pirates and foreign agents in a search for a legendary floating castle.
Director Hayao MiyazakiCast Mayumi Tanaka, Keiko Yokozawa, Kotoe HatsuiWriters Hayao Miyazaki, Jonathan SwiftRuntime 2 hours 5 minutesProduction Company Tokuma Shoten, Studio Ghibli6 *Grave of the Fireflies Packs a Punch That Never Fades
The Horrors of War as Revealed Through the Eyes of Children
Grave of the Fireflies is widely regarded as one of the saddest movies ever made. The conclusion is exceptionally tragic, but the entire narrative feels like something out of a war docudrama. Set during the end stages of the Second World War, the story follows little Seita and his smaller sister Setsuko. With their mother's death after a bombing, the children go to an aunt who takes minimal care of them.
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Seita and Setsuko leave their aunt's place and set up home in an old bomb shelter, but they are later forced to resort to stealing food. Setsuko's malnutrition continues to get worse throughout, and she dies right before Seita makes some food for her. If Grave of the Fireflies couldn't get any sadder, Seita himself becomes a victim of starvation. The final scene reveals their spirits on a seemingly happy journey, but viewers are too numb to react by this point. This conclusion is completely out of style for Ghibli, but the punch it packs never fades.
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8
10
Grave of the Fireflies
Animation
Drama
War
A young boy and his little sister struggle to survive in Japan during World War II.
Director Isao TakahataRelease Date April 16, 1988Cast Tsutomu Tatsumi, Ayano Shiraishi, Akemi Yamaguchi, Yoshiko ShinoharaRuntime 89 MinsStreaming Service(s) Netflix5 Sophie & Howl Come Full Circle with Each Other
The Movie Ends with Them Sharing a Kiss
Howl's Moving Castle is based on the fantasy novel of the same name by Diana Wynne Jones. The main characters Sophie Hatter and Howl Pendragon are stuck with their own stubborn curses in Howl's Moving Castle. Sophie's cursed to be a young woman in an elderly lady's body, and Howl's curse remains a mystery for a long time. Eventually, it's clear to Sophie that Howl's curse is a bit of a ticking time bomb.
It's very loyal to the overall spirit of the story and characters, but Hayao Miyazaki added a time travel element toward the end of the film. In the end, Howl's fantastic flying castle, which serves as his escape, gets destroyed — but instead of running again, Howl decides to stay with and protect Sophie. Sophie also travels to the past to find out that there's so much more to Howl's curse and his love for her than she ever could have expected. Howl's Moving Castle has one of the best endings of any Studio Ghibli feature, with only four entries ranked higher.
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Howl's Moving Castle
8-12 years
When an unconfident young woman is cursed with an old body by a spiteful witch, her only chance of breaking the spell lies with a self-indulgent yet insecure young wizard and his companions in his legged, walking castle.
Director Hayao MiyazakiRelease Date November 20, 2004Studio Studio GhibliCast Chieko Baisho, Takuya Kimura, Akihiro Miwa, Tatsuya Gashûin, Ryûnosuke Kamiki, Mitsunori IsakiRuntime 119minutes4 Kiki Grows into a Better and More Confident Witch
She Also Saves Tonbo from Certain Death
Fans often debate about the ending of Kiki's Delivery Service. It was a source of contention between Studio Ghibli and American studios; the latter changed the ending without Miyazaki or Studio Ghibli's approval to make it more "happy." Kiki overworks herself so much with her delivery service that she gets sick and, shortly afterward, loses her powers and her ability to talk to her beloved cat Jiji.
By the end of the movie, Kiki regains her powers and uses them to save her new friend, Tombo. In the original ending, she still has a friendship with Jiji, but she never talks to him again like she used to. The ending was changed for American audiences so she could speak with Jiji again, but this takes away from a huge part of Kiki's growth. Jiji is Kiki's near-parental guide, and not needing to speak with him so directly anymore means that she finally feels confident and capable of herself.
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Kiki's Delivery Service
G
Animation
Family
Fantasy
A young witch, on her mandatory year of independent life, finds fitting into a new community difficult while she supports herself by running an air courier service.
Director Hayao MiyazakiRelease Date July 29, 1989Studio Cast Minami Takayama, Rei Sakuma, Kappei Yamaguchi, Keiko Toda, Mieko NobusawaRuntime 103 Minutes3 Everything Ends Well for Mei, Satsuki, and Totoro
Some Fans Have A Pretty Dark Interpretation of the Ending
My Neighbor Totoro tells a very simple and sweet story about two girls who move to the countryside with their father, so they can be closer to their mother who's recovering from an illness in the hospital. Part of the beauty of the movie is taking joy in small things — little kids exploring a new house, following a trail of acorns, laughing with their parents, and growing plants in a garden.
Both girls, Mei and Satsuki, worry about their mother. They've kept a brave and hopeful face about her recovery for so long, but they're disappointed and scared when a cold keeps her from a planned house visit. In all the confusion and fear, the youngest Mei takes off and walks to the hospital by herself to give her mother an ear of corn she grew just for her. Of course, the whole neighborhood is terrified when the little girl goes missing, but the nature spirit Totoro is there to look after her. All Mei just needs a little reassurance that her mother will be all right, and many people can relate to that.
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My Neighbor Totoro
5+
When two girls move to the country to be near their ailing mother, they have adventures with the wondrous forest spirits who live nearby.
Director Hayao MiyazakiRelease Date April 16, 1988Studio Cast Dakota Fanning, Elle FanningRuntime 86minutes2 San and Ashitaka Help Restore the Balance of Nature
They Might Even End Up Together in the Future
Everything falls apart in Princess Mononoke's third act. Lady Eboshi and her ilk behead the Forest Spirit, Ashitaka's curse spreads, and the animals in the forest die en masse. Ashitaka and San come together with her wolf brothers to make a final stand, trying to stop the battle as everyone is suffering. The Forest Spirit may lose its head, but there's no way to really kill the powerful god of life and death.
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After so much destruction, the Ghibli Forest Spirit cleanses the earth, exorcising the iron curse and healing the sick and injured. It gives the forest animals and the humans of Irontown a chance to start again. Even Lady Eboshi rethinks her ways with Prince Ashitaka's input. Some people think that the romance between Ashitaka and San ends sadly because there's no big kiss or love confession, but there's strong subtext that says they'll be together once the restructuring in the town and forest is settled.
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Princess Mononoke
PG-13
Animated
Epic
Historical
Fantasy
On a journey to find the cure for a Tatarigami's curse, Ashitaka finds himself in the middle of a war between the forest gods and Tatara, a mining colony. In this quest he also meets San, the Mononoke Hime.
Director Hayao MiyazakiRelease Date July 12, 1997Studio Cast Yôji Matsuda, Yuriko Ishida, Yûko Tanaka, Kaoru Kobayashi, Masahiko Nishimura, Tsunehiko Kamijô, Akihiro Miwa, Mitsuko Mori, Hisaya MorishigeWriters Hayao MiyazakiRuntime 133 MinutesMain Genre Historical FantasyProduction Company1 Nausicaä Nearly Sacrifices Herself to Save a Baby Ohmu
The Movie Begins on a Bleak Note but Ends with Great Hope
Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind was an original manga written by Hayao Miyazaki, while the film adaptation was his first-ever directorial venture. Although Studio Ghibli was founded a year after the movie's release, it is widely considered an integral part of their canon. Unfortunately, nearly everyone is suffering in Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind. Empires battle over illegal land grabs, pollution takes over the planet, humans grow sicker and sicker, and animals suffer from illness and deforestation.
The movie begins with little hope, but there are a couple of people who still believe in finding a solution, like Princess Nausicaä and Lord Yupa. Nausicaä keeps true to her convictions and compassion, turning many people's hearts, who then become key allies. When Nausicaa sees a tortured baby ohmu, she's willing to risk her life to save the creature. It's that act of selflessness that turns the tides and brings everyone together, renewing faith in their collective future. It is this blossoming of hope that makes the ending of Nausicaä the best in the Studio Ghibli canon.
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Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind
PG
Animation
Adventure
Sci-Fi
Nausicaä, the young princess of the Valley of the Wind, strives to protect her people and the natural world from the toxic jungle that threatens their existence. As she explores the mysteries of the jungle, she encounters giant insects and discovers the true nature of the environmental catastrophe. Her compassion and bravery lead her to seek harmony between humans and nature, battling destructive forces and uncovering ancient secrets along the way.
Director Hayao MiyazakiRelease Date March 11, 1984Studio Cast Sumi Shimamoto, Gorô Naya, Yôji MatsudaWriters Hayao Miyazaki, Cindy Davis, Donald H. Hewitt, Kazunori ItôRuntime 117 MinutesMain Genre Animation- Anime
- Studio Ghibli
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