The best Studio Ghibli films
The top 3 according to 0 votes from people: Spirited Away · Castle in the Sky · Princess Mononoke. (Updated Sep 12, 2026.)
Ghibli films that rank highest in Japanese popularity polls (Minna no Ranking, reader surveys), ordered by overall popularity.
Automatically translated (original in 日本語). See the original
Top 20
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1
Spirited Away
Hayao Miyazaki, 2001. Long held Japan's all-time box-office record and won the Oscar for Best Animated Feature.
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2
Castle in the Sky
Hayao Miyazaki, 1986. Studio Ghibli's first film; the word 'Balse' trends every time it airs on Japanese TV.
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3
Princess Mononoke
Hayao Miyazaki, 1997. An epic about the war between humans and the gods of the forest.
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4
My Neighbor Totoro
Hayao Miyazaki, 1988. Satsuki, Mei and Totoro, spirit of the forest, who became Ghibli's logo.
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5
Kiki's Delivery Service
Hayao Miyazaki, 1989. Kiki, a 13-year-old witch, starts a delivery service in a seaside town.
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6
Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind
Hayao Miyazaki, 1984. Made just before Ghibli was founded, but usually counted among its films.
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7
Howl's Moving Castle
Hayao Miyazaki, 2004. Sophie, turned into an old woman by a curse, and the wizard Howl.
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8
Whisper of the Heart
Yoshifumi Kondō, 1995. Book-loving Shizuku and Seiji, who dreams of becoming a violin maker.
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9
Porco Rosso
Hayao Miyazaki, 1992. Porco Rosso, a seaplane pilot cursed with a pig's face.
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10
Ponyo
Hayao Miyazaki, 2008. Ponyo the fish-girl and five-year-old Sōsuke; entirely hand-drawn.
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11
Grave of the Fireflies
Isao Takahata, 1988. Seita and Setsuko try to survive in Kobe at the end of the war.
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12
The Cat Returns
Hiroyuki Morita, 2002. Schoolgirl Haru is invited to the Kingdom of Cats; the Baron from Whisper of the Heart returns.
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13
The Wind Rises
Hayao Miyazaki, 2013. A story inspired by Jiro Horikoshi, designer of the Zero fighter plane.
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14
The Boy and the Heron
Hayao Miyazaki, 2023. Miyazaki's latest film, winner of the Oscar for Best Animated Feature.
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15
Arrietty
Hiromasa Yonebayashi, 2010. Arrietty, a tiny girl who lives under the floorboards.
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16
When Marnie Was There
Hiromasa Yonebayashi, 2014. A mysterious girl, Marnie, met at a marsh house in Hokkaido.
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17
The Tale of the Princess Kaguya
Isao Takahata, 2013. Takahata's final film, the 'Bamboo Cutter' tale drawn like a watercolour.
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18
From Up on Poppy Hill
Gorō Miyazaki, 2011. A coming-of-age story set in Yokohama in 1963.
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19
Pom Poko
Isao Takahata, 1994. Shape-shifting tanuki fight the construction of Tama New Town.
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20
Only Yesterday
Isao Takahata, 1991. Taeko, 27, recalls her fifth-grade self on a trip to Yamagata.
How is this ranking ordered? By people's votes: each ▲ adds a point and each ▼ takes one away. Anyone can vote and add what is missing.
Is something missing?
Comments (2)
耳をすませばは何度見ても泣ける…
千と千尋が1位は納得。でもラピュタも大好き。