Easy Branches allows you to share your guest post within our network in any countries of the world to reach Global customers start sharing your stories today!
Easy Branches
34/17 Moo 3 Chao fah west Road, Phuket, Thailand, PhuketCall: 076 367 766
info@easybranches.com
Studio Ghibli is one of the most important and successful production companies of all time. Since 1985, the animation studio has produced some of the most renowned animated films ever made--including the works of acclaimed director Hayao Miyazaki, such as Spirited Away, Howl's Moving Castle, and Princess Mononoke.
To date, Studio Ghibli has produced 22 feature films, a handful of TV series, animated shorts, and commercials, and has even provided animation and visual direction on video games like Ni No Kuni. While many of these works were once hard to find outside of Japan, almost all of the studio's films and TV series are now available on Blu-ray and DVD, including a recent line of steelbook collectors editions. To help you track down and collect them all, we put together this buying guide for all the Studio Ghibli Blu-rays currently available online. The list covers all of the studio's movies and TV series that are available in English (either dubbed or subbed), as well as a few non-Ghibli releases made by the studio's main directors that die-hard Ghibli fans will want to pick up.
Studio Ghibli's latest film, The Boy and the Heron, is a mind-bending trip that blends otherworldly visuals and themes with semi-autobiographical elements drawn from director Hayao Miyazaki's own life. The movie is notably darker and more violent than most of the studio's output, but also stands as one of its deepest and most moving works. It is available in 4k and standard Blu-ray at Amazon.
Where to buy The Boy and the Heron
While Nausicaa and the Valley of the Wind was technically made prior to Studio Ghibli's existence, it is often included on lists of the studio's works since it was made by many of the key members who went on to found the studio. It also it established many of the elements and visuals that both Ghibili and director Hayao Miyazaki's films are known for. Adapted from the manga of the same name--which was also written and illustrated by Miyazaki--Nausicaa, features a powerful sci-fi story about the importance of the natural world and the futility of war.
Where to buy Nausicaa and the Valley of the Wind
Castle in the Sky was Studio Ghibli's first official film. The movie follows two young orphans, Sheeta and Pazu, who embark on an adventure to find a castle hidden on an island in the sky. They're pursued by soldiers, government agents, and sky pirates who also want to find the mythical floating structure. The movie has served as inspiration for many other films, TV series, and video games, most notably The Legend of Zelda series.
Where to buy Castle in the Sky
My Neighbor Totoro is a whimsical slice-of-life story about sisters Satsuki and Mei whose family move to the Japanese countryside. There, the pair experience a magical adventure full of charming creatures, including the eponymous forest spirit Totoro.
Where to buy My Neighbor Totoro
Grave of the Fireflies is a harrowing tale of orphaned siblings Seita and Setsuko surviving in Japan during the final days of World War II. The movie received critical acclaim upon release for its realistic and uncompromising portrayal of the effects the war and America's bombing raids had on Japanese citizens. It's the first Ghibli movie directed by Isao Takahata.
Watch Grave of the Fireflies on Max
Directed by Isao Takahata, Kiki's Delivery Service is a fun story about a young witch named Kiki who starts a small delivery service. She and her cat Jiji fly on her magical broomstick delivering packages around town, but soon run into trouble when one of her deliveries is lost in a windstorm, setting off a series of small--but not insignificant--issues Kiki must overcome to rediscover her confidence.
Where to buy Kiki's Delivery Service
Only Yesterday is the film adaptation of the manga Omoide Poro Poro, and is directed by Isao Takahata. The film follows 27-year-old Taeki Okajima as she grapples with conflicted feelings about adulthood, love, and her childhood while on a trip with her family.
Where to buy Only Yesterday
Hayao Miyazaki has a deep fascination with aircraft and Porco Rosso is one of the first of the director's works to explore that interest on film. Set against the backdrop of post-WWI Italy, the movie follows the exploits of Porco Rosso, an ex-fighter pilot turned mercenary who defends trading vessels from pirates--and, eventually, the new fascist government that has taken control of the country. Oh, and he's cursed to look like a pig. Don't worry, it makes sense in the context of the movie, and acts as the emotional crux of Porco's storyline.
Where to buy Porco Rosso
Based on a manga of the same name, Ocean Waves is a romance drama about two high school friends who both have feelings for the same girl. Studio Ghibli made the movie as a way to give its younger staff their own project.
Where to buy Ocean Waves
While many of Studio Ghibli's films feature ecological and animist themes, Pom Poko is one of the most overt in its messaging. The film is about a group of tanukis--also known as Japanese racoon dogs--who live in the wilderness outside Tokyo. When their habitats are threatened by urban development, the tanukis embark on a campaign to keep their homes safe and remind the encroaching humans of the beauty and value of the wilderness before it's all gone.
Where to buy Pom Poko
Whisper of the Heart follows Shizuku, a 14-year-old whose life changes when she crosses paths with a mysterious alley cat, sparking a personal journey of self-discovery and young love. It's the only Ghibli film directed by the late Yoshifumi Kondo before his sudden death in 1998.
Where to buy Whisper of the Heart
Princess Mononoke was Studio Ghibli's first major international success, and with good reason. The film's fantastical tale of humans, animals, and powerful nature spirits locked in a struggle for survival is just as visually stunning and thematically relevant today as it was when it premiered in 1997.
Where to buy Princess Mononoke
This comedic slice-of-life film follows the Yamada family across multiple short vignettes that show each member of the family going about their daily lives, and the complexities of their relationships. The film's cartoony art style is a notable departure from Ghibli's usual visual direction, but it suits the film's subject matter and episodic pacing well.
Where to buy My Neighbors the Yamadas
Studio Ghibli's highest-grossing film, and the second-highest Japanese film of all time, Spirited Away the quintessential Studio Ghibli movie. 10-year-old Chihiro and her parents find themselves trapped in a liminal world where spirits live. Chihiro's parents are transformed into gluttonous pig creatures, and Chihiro must work at an otherworldly hotel to rescue them.
Where to buy Spirited Away
The Cat Returns is a semi-sequel to Whisper of the Heart that sees the enigmatic cat… well, return. After high school student Haru saves the cat from a traffic accident, it reveals itself to be a feline prince and whisks Haru away to his magical cat kingdom. However, once there, Haru discovers that returning to the human world will be much more difficult than she realized.
Where to buy The Cat Returns
Howl's Moving Castle is a romantic fairytale with a deeper anti-war message. When the young hat maker Sophie is cursed to age rapidly by the jealous Witch of the Wastes, she seeks out the mysterious wizard Howl, who lives in a giant mechanical castle that wanders the countryside, in hopes of breaking the curse. Howl's Moving Castle is one of Ghibli's most popular films, and director Hayao Miyazaki has even cited it as one of his favorite projects.
Where to buy Howl's Moving Castle
See Blu-ray Steelbook edition at Amazon
Watch Howl's Moving Castle on Max
Tales from Earthsea is the first movie directed by Goro Miyazaki, Hayao Miyzaki's son. The movie adapts and remixes elements of the first four novels in fantasy author Ursula Le Guin's Earthsea series. Following a series of cataclysmic events, a fugitive prince, a powerful mage, and a mysterious girl find themselves on a quest to save the world of Earthsea.
Where to buy Tales from Earthsea
See Blu-ray Steelbook edition at Amazon
See Blu-ray at Amazon
See DVD at Amazon
Watch Tales from Earthsea on Max
A young boy named Sosuke stumbles upon a strange fish with surprisingly human-like behaviors while exploring a beach one day and decides to take it home. He names the fish Ponyo, and the two become fast friends. However, as Sosuke soon discovers, the fish is actually a young princess from a kingdom under the ocean, and her excursion to the surface may cause more trouble than either could expect.
Where to buy Ponyo
The Secret World of Arrietty is Studio Ghibli's adaptation of the classic children's novel The Borrowers, where tiny people called Borrowers live in the walls of human homes and "borrow" food, tools, and other materials they need to survive. In the movie, Arrietty and her family of Borrowers live in an elderly woman's home, their presence unknown until the woman's grandson visits for the summer and discovers Arrietty and the two slowly form a friendship.
Where to buy The Secret World of Arrietty
Set in the early 1960s, From Up on Poppy Hill follows Umi Matsuzaki, a young boarding school student who finds herself at odds with a local businessman who plans to demolish her school's clubhouse building. The movie explores Japanese history and culture in the early 1960s when the country was still recovering from the aftermath of World War II while also preparing to hold the 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo.
Where to buy From Up on Poppy Hill
Director Hayao Miyazaki combined his interests in aviation, Japanese history, and anti-war messaging for The Wind Rises, a fictionalized retelling of the creation of the Mitsubishi A5M airplane, which was eventually used as one of the Japanese airforce's primary fighter planes in the early years of World War II.
Where to buy The Wind Rises
Directed by Isao Takahata, The Tale of Princess Kaguya explores Japanese history and folklore during the country's feudal era. While working in a bamboo field, a man finds a tiny human-like girl who he believes is a divine being. The man and his wife raise the girl, who, over the years, grows into a beautiful woman with many suitors. She asks her suitors to perform a series of tasks to prove their love.
Where to buy The Tale of Princess Kaguya
During a summer vacation with her family in a rural town on the Japanese seaside, 12-year-old Anna Sasaki stumbles upon an abandoned mansion in the countryside. There, she meets a mysterious girl named Marnie, and the two form a secret friendship. However, there is more to Marnie's past than Anna realizes.
Where to buy When Marnie Was There
The Red Turtle is an ambient movie about a man stranded on a deserted island whose repeated attempts to build a raft and escape to safety are thwarted by a giant red sea turtle. But what starts as an antagonistic--and even violent--relationship soon changes into something much deeper. It's a simple but moving tale delivered with no dialogue, instead relying on the beautiful animation and score to tell the story.
Where to buy The Red Turtle
Ronja, the Robber's Daughter is a 26-episode anime series directed by Goro Miyazaki and adapted from the Swedish children's book. The series follows Ronja, a young girl from a bandit clan who lives deep in the medieval Scandinavian wilderness. While exploring the forest one day, she meets and befriends Birk, a young boy who--unbeknownst to either of them--is from a rival clan.
Where to buy Ronja, the Robber's Daughter
Directed by Goro Miyazaki, Earwig and the Witch is the first 3D CGI animated film from Studio Ghibli. The movie is set in the 1990s and follows Earwig, a young orphan who is adopted by a witch. Despite promising to teach Earwig magic, the witch instead forces her to do nothing but chores around the house, sparking a rebellious streak in Earwig.
Where to buy Earwig and the Witch
This animated short from Studio Ghibli features Grogu, aka Baby Yoda, from Star Wars The Mandalorian series encountering the dust spirits from My Neighbor Totoro. It's available to watch on Disney+.
Another non-Ghibli film worth grabbing is Lupin The Third: The Castle of Cagliostro, which is the first movie ever directed by Hayao Miyazaki. The movie ties into the long-running Lupin the III anime series, which follows the eponymous "gentleman thief" on various heists and cons. However, Castle of Cagliostro is a standalone story you can easily jump in with, even if you're not familiar with the original series.
Where to buy Lupin The Third: The Castle of Cagliostro
Many of Studio Ghibli's films have been adapted into stage plays, including the production company's most famous movie, Spirited Away. While you would normally have to see these performances live in Japan, Spirited Away: Live on Stage is available on Blu-ray, which features two live performances filmed during the play's 2022 run at the Imperial Theatre in Tokyo, Japan.
Where to buy Spirited Away: Live on Stage
