Top 5 Underrated Studio Ghibli Films
Studio Ghibli has made some of the best animated films every made. For the most part, the Miyazaki films are the ones that get the most attention, but that doesn't mean that his films are the only great films from this studio. Here, I have made a list of some of the underrated films that have been released, some being movies that you have probably haven't heard or seen or that have just gone unnoticed. Everything that Studio Ghibli has made has been good to great and these are just a few more that you can add to that list.
Whisper of the Heart
This is one of my favorite Studio Ghibli films ever released and is the one that I think goes most unnoticed. It follow a girl trying to figure out what her future holds, she doesn't know what she wants to do with her life. But when she gets inspired to write a story from a cat statue from a antique shop, she finally realized what she has been wanting to do all this time. At the same time developing a very kid friendly relationship with a boy who happens to share the same interest in books with her. Its a very nice tale that can get you inspired to do something you really enjoy, especially in the creative field.
To an extent this is one of the more popular non fantastical film that tells a story of a woman retelling her childhood events that prevent her from moving forward in life. It is the most grounded and realistic film but really takes advantage at the fact that of the animation at the right moments. The film is being re-released with a English dub for the first time on Blu-Ray in January of 2016, check it out when it is released as this is one of the most critically acclaimed Ghibli films.
This was a made for television animated film created by Studio Ghibli in the 90s. Normally that would mean something of lesser quality or something that just wasn't good enough for the silver screen but here this is quite the opposite. Compared to most straight to TV movies, this deserves to be released as a feature film because this is one of the better and most mature stories that Ghibli has every released. The film follows a student recounting his events from his senior year of high school and all the friendships and relationships he went through that year. Particularly with a girl who he has quite a conflict with for most of the film.
Tales of the Earthsea
The Cat Returns
You could call this movie, the sequel to the book that was written in Whisper of the Heart. It's a Spin off to that film where a few familiar characters from that movie show up. A girl saves a cat from being killed on the street but it turns out that he a prince from the world of cats. She gets invited to go stay there but soon realizes that if she doesn't leave by a certain point she will be stuck as a cat for the rest of her life. Its a light story with fun characters and a fun adventure.
