The Great Ghibli Gander #0 – Introduction

I recently got a big ass Totoro tattooed on my thigh and, during the process, I was speaking to the artist about all the different Ghibli films and then I realised that I hadn’t actually seen that many despite owning most of the movies on DVD. This realisation gave me some motivation to actually go through and watch (and rewatch) all of the Studio Ghibli movies.
However, because I’m trying to breathe activity into this blog, I thought I’d write up blog posts for each movie as I watch them.
But before I get into all the movies, I’ll go through a few points first
  • First of all, I will be starting at ‘Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind’ (1984) which is labeled as a Studio Ghibli film (and is part of the MadMan Studio Ghibli collection) despite it not actually technically being a Ghibli film as it was released a year before Studio Ghibli was formed. The latest movie is ‘When Marnie Was There’ (2014) which I do not currently own, but hopefully will by the time I’ve watched everything else.
  • I will not be watching ‘Lupin III: The Castle of Cagliostro’ (1979) as it is not labled as a Studio Ghibli film. I own this on DVD as it was released in the ‘Hayou Miyazaki Collection’.
  • This is a Studio Ghibli (and Nausicaa) watch through, not Hayou Miyazaki, meaning I will be watching all of the Ghibli movies even if Hayou Miyazaki did not work on them.
  • Will I get a tattoo of a character from each movie? Probably actually. I really want a Haku from ‘Spirited Away’.
  • I’m intending to hopefully write down some Japanese vocab from each movie and hopefully write up a few things for ‘Wandering Across the Rainbow Chopsticks’ because I really do enjoy writing those, I just don’t often have ideas for it.
  • I’m not sure how long this will take, it won’t have any scheduled release as this is for fun. I’d hope I’ve watched everything before ‘How Do You Live?’ (2020).
Finally, for reference, here are the Studio Ghibli DVDs that I currently own:
  • Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind (1984)
  • Laputa: Castle in the Sky (1986) ^
  • Grave of the Fireflies (1988) *
  • My Neighbor Totoro (1988) ^
  • Kiki’s Delivery Service (1989) ^
  • Only Yesterday (1991) *
  • Porco Rosso (1992)
  • Ocean Waves (1993) *
  • Pom Poko (1994) *
  • Whisper of the Heart (1995) *
  • Princess Mononoke (1997) ^
  • My Neighbors the Yamadas (1999) *
  • Spirited Away (2001) ^
  • The Cat Returns (2002) *
  • Howl’s Moving Castle (2004) ^
  • Tales from Earthsea (2006) *
  • Ponyo (2008) ^
  • The Wind Rises (2013)
Movies that marked with an asterisks (*) means I have purchased them recently and they haven’t arrived yet, but will have arrived by the time I need to cover them. Movies that are marked with a caret (^) means I have seen this movie before.
As for the movies I don’t own because I couldn’t find the Region 4 DVD for a decent price but I will hopefully acquire when I get up to covering them:
  • The Secret World of Arrietty’ (2010)
  • From Up on Poppy Hill (2011)
  • The Tale of the Princess Kaguya (2013)
  • When Marnie Was There (2014)
As always, any donations via PayPal, Patreon, or Ko-Fi would be really appreciated.
Hopefully this venture is something that both I and you, the reader, will enjoy!