Studio Ghibli: 10 Moments From The Studio's Movies That Will Always Make Us Cry
10. The Memory: Howl's Moving Castle
Protagonist, Sophie, is a hat maker transformed into an elderly woman by a witch, seeking the wizard Howl’s help.
Sophie is later transported to an early memory of Howl's and discovers the sad truth about Calcifer: he was originally a falling star, caught by Howl before he could extinguish upon the Earth. In an act of selflessness, Howl gave Calcifer his own heart, allowing him to live through their bond.
9. The Meow: Kiki's Delivery Service
Witch-in-training Kiki runs her own delivery business with her talking cat, Jiji. At first, Kiki thrives as she delivers wares on her trusty broomstick, but she soon becomes haggard and drained by her work. She falls into a depression and loses grip on her powers, finding that Jiji can no longer speak to her. When the once wise-cracking cat lets out a simple meow and stalks away, the viewer knows something is terribly wrong. This moment reminds us of how easy it is to get wrapped up in our work and disconnect from those we love.
8. The Fight: My Neighbor Totoro
At the surface, it seems like it's impossible for a film this colorful and cuddly-creature-filled to be sad at all. However, late into My Neighbor Totoro, sisters Mei and Satsuki get into an argument over a missed visit from their mother.
Mei doesn't understand why her mother isn't able to visit and, ultimately, Satsuki yells at her younger sibling and storms off. Mei begins to cry at Satsuki's harshness. It shows a contrast between a loss of innocence and stress of adult responsibility for Satsuki as the older sister and the confusion and loneliness for Mei as the younger sister.
Ponyo is Ghibli's loose retelling of The Little Mermaid, with the titular oceanic princess, originally named Brunhilde, pining for the world above. Brunhilde meets Sousuke, who vows to protect her and names her Ponyo. They only get a short time together, with Ponyo declaring her proud love for Sousuke before her father, Fujimoto, takes her back under the sea.
Sousuke clamors after Ponyo only to burst into sobs when his mother, Lisa, pulls him out and away from the ocean. At the same time, Sousuke's father stays out on his fishing trawler after promising to come home. Sousuke comforts his mother, and the two cling to each other in their heartache.
6. The Robe: The Tale Of Princess Kaguya
Told gently in watercolor animation, Princess Kaguya is a magical being from the Moon and is destined to return to it, though she has grown fond of her new home on Earth. At the film's end, Kaguya's race arrives to bring her back to the Moon. One of them drapes an enchanted robe around Kaguya which makes her forget her time on Earth, including her human parents.
Kaguya's parents watch, devastated, as the princess departs. Kaguya's expression opens in realization and she looks back to the Earth with tears in her eyes. he Earth gets smaller and smaller, alone in the ink-black sky, as Kaguya turns her face away.
5. The Reveal: When Marnie Was There
Anna Sasaki is a withdrawn, somber girl in a great deal of pain over the deaths of her parents. She has a strained relationship with her foster parents, whom she believes care for her only because of their government paycheck. Over the course of the film, Anna meets and develops a close relationship with the mysterious Marnie.
In the closing act, it is revealed that Anna is Marnie's granddaughter and that Marnie raised Anna after her parents' deaths until her own death. This revelation causes Anna to realize that her parents, grandmother, and foster parents did what was best for her out of love.
4. The Corruption: Princess Mononoke
Princess Mononoke takes place in an ancient world ruled by animal gods. The gods are at constant war with the greedy humans. In their quest to drive the Deer God out of the forest and take his land, the humans kill three animal gods: the Wolf God, the Boar God, and the Deer God.
It is awful to watch the corruption the iron bullets forged by the humans have caused, killing off the forests and distorting the graceful, majestic animal gods. This moment shows the reality of how far humans are willing to follow the path of their avarice, even if it means the destruction of the pure, the innocent, and the natural.
3. The Rice Balls: Spirited Away
Perhaps Ghibli's most famous masterpiece, Spirited Away centers on immature, spoiled Chihiro, who is swept into the spirit world while moving to a new home. Chihiro's parents are turned into pigs by the witch Yubaba for breaking the rules of the spirit world, and Chihiro is forced to earn back her freedom.
Haku, a kind but mysterious boy, comforts Chihiro with rice balls and his company. Huge tears begin to roll down Chihiro's face as she eats, realizing that she must be independent, brave, and strong if she is to ever to overcome her circumstances. Feelings of inspiration and uncertainty clash together in this scene and paint a sentiment that everyone has felt at least once in their lives.
2. The Lost Dream: The Wind Rises
Based on a true story, Jiro Horikoshi dreams of becoming a pilot, but his nearsightedness prevents him from achieving his goal. Jiro decides that, if he cannot fly planes, then he will design them, becoming chief designer of many fighter aircraft used by the Japanese in World War II.
In a gritty, dark scene, we see Jiro's designs he had worked so meticulously on have become twisted into weapons of war. The camera pans across a graveyard of fallen planes as Jiro walks among them, his dream laid to waste by the very different ambitions of his fellow man.
1. The Last Meal: Grave Of The Fireflies
Grave of the Fireflies details the powerful bond between siblings Seita and Setsuko in the last throes of World War II. As the children struggle to survive, Setsuko becomes emaciated and delirious with hunger: sucking on a marble, thinking it is hard candy and rolling rocks, believing she has just prepared rice balls.
Seita hurries to prepare a meal for Setsuko, only to discover that he is too late. After Setsuko has died, Seita clutches her body in his arms as night falls, completely alone in a brutal and very real existence no child should ever have to live through.
Please comment with your most memorable tearful ghibli moment!
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