7 great Ghibli anime not directed by Hayao Miyazaki

Just yesterday

Drama, melodrama.
Japan, 1991.
Duration: 118 minutes
IMDb: 7, 7.

In this unexpectedly adult and serious drama, Isao Takahata, the co-founder of Ghibli and Miyazaki's permanent associate, discusses quite everyday topics: first love, growing up, nostalgia for a carefree childhood and the search for answers to the questions of the present in the actions of the past.

It would seem that it is completely inappropriate material for the studio, known to many for children's cartoons like "My Neighbor Totoro". Nevertheless, the picture was recognized as the pinnacle of Japanese animation, as well as the highest grossing national film in 1991. And the story of the emotional experiences of a young girl Taeko to this day can be considered one of the most accurate and rare representatives of a realistic anime made for a female audience.

Tanuki War during the Heisei and Pompoko periods

Fantasy, drama, comedy.
Japan, 1994.
Duration: 119 minutes
IMDb: 7, 4.

Another work by Isao Takahata, in which the current reality collides with ancient Japanese myths. The action takes place in modern Japan and tells about the struggle of magical creatures tanuki (raccoon dog) with high-rise buildings on the outskirts of Tokyo. To resist stubborn little people, they revive the ancient method of transformation and begin a military operation to save their habitat (including with the help of giant testicles).

Interestingly, in this way, "Ghibli" tried to draw attention to the real extinction of these rare wild animals in the built-up regions of the country.

Our neighbors Yamada

Comedy, family run.
Japan, 1999.
Duration: 104 minutes
IMDb: 7, 3.

The collection of comedy short stories about the Yamada family is a source of endless jokes about the everyday life of the modern Japanese. Among other things, this is the studio's first film entirely drawn on a computer. Hence such a nondescript, almost comic style of drawing and the use of simple watercolor graphics, which is very different from the usual animation style "Ghibli".

Return of the cat

Fantasy, adventure, family.
Japan, 2002.
Duration: 75 minutes
IMDb: 7, 3.

Like Whisper of the Heart, this short adventure film was created with the goal of engaging a younger generation of animators in the studio. Responsibility for the full-length version of the adventures of the cat Baron (flashed in "Whisper") was assigned to the newcomer Hiroyuki Morita.

Still, the main elements migrated into the picture clearly from Miyazaki's worlds: a very young heroine, a journey from reality to a magical land and a fight with the Cat King (he wants to marry his son to a girl) will more than once remind you of Spirited Away and other works of the famous master.

Tales of Earthsea

Fantasy, adventure.
Japan, 2006.
Duration: 115 minutes
IMDb: 6, 5.

In some ways, "Tales of Earthsea" can be compared with "Howl's Moving Castle" Miyazaki: in both tapes we are talking about a fantasy world where magic and reality are adjacent to each other; both are based on books by popular English-speaking authors in the fantasy genre. However, in the debut of Goro Miyazaki, the son of the great animator, the plot details and the general harsh intonation are borrowed more from the worlds of the American writer Ursula Le Guin, rather than from his father's work.

In general, this is a solid work of a novice director, full of dragons, chivalrous prowess and, of course, love.

Arietti from the land of the midgets

Fantasy, drama.
Japan, 2010.
Duration: 90 minutes
IMDb: 7, 6.

Hiromas Yonebayashi's debut work (Memories of Marnie) is also based on an English-language children's novel and tells the story of the friendship between Sho and Arietti, a teenage miner with congenital heart disease.

The film received successful worldwide reception, with Yonebayashi becoming the main contender for the continuation of the Miyazaki case, but ultimately chose to move to rival studio Ponoc. His new film, Mary and the Witch's Flower, which takes over the traditions of Ghibli, was released in Russia on March 1.

The Legend of Princess Kaguya

Fantasy.
Japan, 2013.
Duration: 125 minutes
IMDb: 8, 1.

Anime, without which it is difficult to imagine this collection. One of the main and criminally neglected peaks in Russia "Ghibli", which became the final one in the career of Isao Takahata. For his final painting, the master chose the oldest known Japanese legend - "The Tale of Old Taketori". However, the simple plot about the moon princess, abandoned to Earth by the dictates of fate, takes on an amazing philosophical color in Takahata's hands, resulting in one of the most poignant endings in the world of animation.