HBO Max has landed and with the streaming service comes a library that houses nearly the entirety of legendary anime classics from Studio Ghibli, but if you’re wondering which films you should dive in first as the best of the best, we have some choices for you to jump right into! Though every Studio Ghibli is definitely worth your time, there are definitely some that have are higher up on the “must watch” list when everything gets boiled down. With Studio Ghibli, and Crunchyroll, giving HBO Max a ton of anime to add to its roster, the streaming service is giving fans plenty of content to binge!
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What was the first thing you watched on HBO Max? What is your favorite Studio Ghibli film? Feel free to let us know in the comments or hit me up directly on Twitter @EVComedy to talk all things comcis, anime, and the world of Studio Ghibli!
Spirited Away
Spirited Away isn’t just one of the best films in the Studio Ghibli library, it also got the honor of taking home the an Academy Award for Best Animated Picture. The story follows a young girl who finds herself in a magical land, attempting to discover a cure for her parents who have been turned into pigs thanks to a witch’s spell. With our protagonist becoming a worker in a bath house, Hayao Miyazaki was able to spin a story that effortlessly blends the magical with the mundane!
Howl’s Moving Castle
Howl’s Moving Castle definitely has some of the most insane character designs of any Studio Ghibli feature, with our protagonist attempting to discover a cure for a spell that transformed her into an old woman. Along the way, she encounters the wizard Howl and is dragged into a supernatural world that also happens to have a walking castle within it.
Princess Mononoke
Princess Mononoke is often considered the entry point for many fans into learning about Studio Ghibli, and takes viewers into a magical land that is fit to bursting with supernatural beings that encompass the spirit of the forest. With the film acting as a battlefield between the world of magic and the world of technology, the feature length film does a fantastic job of creating an all encompassing story.
My Neighbor Totoro
My Neighbor Totoro is a heart warming story that has some truly insane elements such as cat buses, giant wood nymphs, and other magical elements. Following a family that is moving to a house out in the country to be closer to their ailing mother in the hospital, the young girls run into “Totoro” who is a large magical cat beast that weaves its way into their lives.
Kiki’s Delivery Service
Another big film that brought more fans to Studio Ghibli was Kiki’s Delivery Service which followed a young witch travelling the world in order to assist her “delivery service”. Showing off Studio Ghibli’s ability to animate amazing environments as well as fast paced motion, this is definitely a must watch for those fans of animation that haven’t had the chance to see it!
The Wind Rises
The Wind Rises is a very different film from some of the other movies that Studio Ghibli has created in the past, following a true life story of a young man discovering his love of aviation and his plan to create the best planes flying through the sky. The story of Jiro Horikoshi follows the story of his life as he struggles with balancing his work with his loved ones, and is definitely a change of place as there is no supernatural elements to be found within it. However, despite having no magical aspects, The Wind Rises is definitely worth your time!
Nausicaa Of The Valley of The Wind
Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind was the first movie created by Studio Ghibli and even though it was their first effort, you can hardly tell as it was fit to bursting with the gorgeous animation that we’ve seen from the legendary anime house. Taking us into an alternate reality that gives us a barren world, the first movie from Ghibli is definitely worth your time.
