Ghibli movies are known for being pleasing to the eye, but there's more than that.
Their works deal with pretty heavy themes, and the colorful animation is only the facade that makes it easy for viewers to digest.
Watching Ghibli movies at different ages allows the viewers to have a unique experience and feel the message behind the meticulously crafted frames.
Sometimes we're also guilty of downsizing the impact that movies from Studio Ghibli have to the mere vibe created by fluid animation with pristine attention to detail, to rounded shapes of the humanoid characters, to the general coziness that the color scheme creates.
But there's so much more than that underneath the facade that generates tons of likes and reposts for anime accounts, and this little article is a little reminder — for you, readers, and for ourselves — that there's so much more to the studio's works than just the style.
Pain in a Cozy Wrapper
Ghibli movies are many things. They deal with a plethora of human emotions, from overly engulfing happiness to maddening grief, from purest joy to debilitating sadness; they showcase the harsh realities, trapped snugly in this colorful cover of the studio's signature style; they openly paint the horrors of wars and conflicts and people who were caught in it.
Sure, the food in their works looks alluring, the scorching oil is hypnotizingly beautiful and the crispy golden sides of fried tempura shine in the most saliva-inducing way, but underneath all this attention always, always lies a powerful message.
Howl's Moving Castle deals with mental illnesses and covers the troubles of avoidance, self-doubt, and finding your place in the world. The world depicted in this story is bled dry by a war between two factions, and the message the movie translates differs from the one in the novel, but still has a lot of weight. The powerful anti-war messages are also translated in Grave of the Fireflies
Princess Mononoke is a cry, a literal cry of nature dying at the hands of humans, of this never-ending conflict between greedy anthropocene and forests, in which forests finally fight back, and of the hard choices a person has to make. It lies deeply in Shinto, a religion that gives every single thing a soul, and it shows the souls of those being destroyed by humanity.
A similar message can be heard in Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind — of partnership, of cohabitation, of understanding each other instead of useless, merciless fighting.
Growing Up Is Hard
Kiki's Delivery Service deals with depression that dawns on her when she faces the ruthlessness of capitalism and is forced to become an adult — and reminds us to have a proper work-life balance instead of succumbing to the hustle mentality prevailing in modern social media.
Spirited Away, one of the highest-grossing animated movies of all time, reminds you to stay true to yourself in the world that tries to strip you of your identity and consume you in order to make you a perfect working cog.
Studio Ghibli's works deal with traumas by putting them through the lenses of fantasy worlds, carefully wrapping them in metaphors, and making them easily digestible for viewers of all ages. But watching, say, My Neighbor Totoro is a dauntingly different experience for a 12-year-old and for someone pushing their 30s.
And we highly recommend you to look past the aesthetics and the vibes and enjoy the world-building and intricate storytelling that they can offer.
Time to dig deeper.
Summary:
Ghibli movies are known for being pleasing to the eye, but there's more than that.
Their works deal with pretty heavy themes, and the colorful animation is only the facade that makes it easy for viewers to digest.
Watching Ghibli movies at different ages allows the viewers to have a unique experience and feel the message behind the meticulously crafted frames.
Sometimes we're also guilty of downsizing the impact that movies from Studio Ghibli have to the mere vibe created by fluid animation with pristine attention to detail, to rounded shapes of the humanoid characters, to the general coziness that the color scheme creates.
But there's so much more than that underneath the facade that generates tons of likes and reposts for anime accounts, and this little article is a little reminder — for you, readers, and for ourselves — that there's so much more to the studio's works than just the style.
Pain in a Cozy Wrapper
Ghibli movies are many things. They deal with a plethora of human emotions, from overly engulfing happiness to maddening grief, from purest joy to debilitating sadness; they showcase the harsh realities, trapped snugly in this colorful cover of the studio's signature style; they openly paint the horrors of wars and conflicts and people who were caught in it.
Sure, the food in their works looks alluring, the scorching oil is hypnotizingly beautiful and the crispy golden sides of fried tempura shine in the most saliva-inducing way, but underneath all this attention always, always lies a powerful message.
Howl's Moving Castle deals with mental illnesses and covers the troubles of avoidance, self-doubt, and finding your place in the world. The world depicted in this story is bled dry by a war between two factions, and the message the movie translates differs from the one in the novel, but still has a lot of weight. The powerful anti-war messages are also translated in Grave of the Fireflies
Princess Mononoke is a cry, a literal cry of nature dying at the hands of humans, of this never-ending conflict between greedy anthropocene and forests, in which forests finally fight back, and of the hard choices a person has to make. It lies deeply in Shinto, a religion that gives every single thing a soul, and it shows the souls of those being destroyed by humanity.
A similar message can be heard in Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind — of partnership, of cohabitation, of understanding each other instead of useless, merciless fighting.
Growing Up Is Hard
Kiki's Delivery Service deals with depression that dawns on her when she faces the ruthlessness of capitalism and is forced to become an adult — and reminds us to have a proper work-life balance instead of succumbing to the hustle mentality prevailing in modern social media.
Spirited Away, one of the highest-grossing animated movies of all time, reminds you to stay true to yourself in the world that tries to strip you of your identity and consume you in order to make you a perfect working cog.
Studio Ghibli's works deal with traumas by putting them through the lenses of fantasy worlds, carefully wrapping them in metaphors, and making them easily digestible for viewers of all ages. But watching, say, My Neighbor Totoro is a dauntingly different experience for a 12-year-old and for someone pushing their 30s.
And we highly recommend you to look past the aesthetics and the vibes and enjoy the world-building and intricate storytelling that they can offer.
