For me it would be Princess Mononoke, which is also one of my favorite films, period. I really appreciate the maturity and nuance it brings to it’s environmental themes, which have been done in many other films, but not as well.
For me it would be Princess Mononoke, which is also one of my favorite films, period. I really appreciate the maturity and nuance it brings to it’s environmental themes, which have been done in many other films, but not as well.
Spirited away, just because I saw it as a child and it got me hooked on Miyasaki for life. It remains one of the most fun ones for me. It has the right balance between reality and fantasy, between fun and action/danger.
It also has that feeling of looking at a strange world as an outsider that I love, which is the reason I liked the first harry potter film/book for example. The wonder of a new, strange world with new rules that we do not comprehend.
The worldbuildling inside the bathhouse is incredible.
I always really liked how they showed the furnaces and living quarters.
I also like the world building outside very much. It’s not as strong as inside the bathhouse but very mysterious. When the train goes past that house on the island, you can see that there are drying clothes on the line. So someone actually lives there. I wonder where the ghost go that get off the train. Most hauntingly there is a small ghost child on one of the platforms just standing there and looking at the train as it goes by. Does she want to get on? And then they go past these neon adds looking things before they get to the swamp. Really puts the bathhouse in perspective and makes you feel that there is a whole world out there in just a few minutes.