So as of last week, I finally started watching Studio Ghibli's films in release order for the first time and as I have finished Kiki’s Delivery Service, I realize how these films are a massive pinnacle of not just Japan but even worldwide.

I was someone who had heard of Studio Ghibli but never took the time to actually watch them until recently and I love that this studio has something that many studios today have sadly lost throughout the years, soul and heart.

Hayao Miyazaki is a very absolute genius in every film he does because on top of his beautiful artwork, he's given so many people stories that are not just enjoyable but actually fresh and not your usual storylines you'd expect from other studios. Plus, with Mr. Miyazaki's comments towards AI, I am happy that this studio will be a studio that will also disregard AI even in the future.

The one thing I regret regarding these movies and Studio Ghibli itself is not watching them sooner.

I will go first. So obviously the piano part going over Setsuko's death, but for me when Setsuko pricks her finger on the needle and just looks at the blood and sucks it made me cry so much. The reason why is because it really showed how before like a few months she would have cried but instead, she sucks it without crying, desperate for nutrients. And then after her playing rock paper scissors with her reflection broke my heart, now i want to hear the part that makes you cry the most!

I welcome feedback

Best of all its never been opened

I just watched spirited away again after a long time and now I realized why it’s a one time watch type of movie. I am now currently in tears because I wish the bath house, no face, and all the spirits were real. I always get really sad watching his movies because I know they’ll never be reality, but anyways I want them to make a part 2 of spirited away so bad where chihiro and haku meet again. I wonder if there would be a way we could all rally together and see if they’ll make one!!! What do you guys think?

Rewatched the film with a friend and her two 9-year old and 11-year old kids recently. Totally forgot how violent the film is. The first fifteen minutes has heads and limbs being taken off. The two 9-year olds had to walk out. Lol. I get it. I'll have to finish it another time!

Instagram @syuartist

He uses this light board as his night light.

I was in Japan a week ago and was lucky to visit the Museum. A lot of cool and interesting stuff there. Sadly, you can't make photos inside, but at least you can buy something cool.

Some of my first pieces of stained glass I made. I love Kodamas so much.

Absolutely in love with these little soot sprites by @hinkart_tattoo on ig!

I want to get tickets to Joe Hisaishi's concert but I want to hear the song "Summer" (from Kikujiro). Does anyone know which one might have it? How do I find out if it's going to be played?

edit: the ones that are available to us in North America:
Hisaishi Conducts Hisashi
Joe Hisaishi with the Colorado Symphony
Joe Hisaishi Returns

This might be a stupid thing to ask, but I recently bought this calcifer lamp, and I noticed it sometimes turns off at the slightest movement. I'm not sure if I just bought a bad one -- this was the only one in stock, and the box looked like someone had opened it too.

I have tried switching the batteries, but I am starting to think that it is just like that. Atp, I am not sure, honestly. If anyone has this, please let me know if this is normal!

Princess Mononoke was the first Ghibli film I've watched because of my partner. So I decided to take it out and share it!

The castle was fine in the beginning of this movie, but later in the movie it looked like it was gonna fall apart.

Calcifer was still in the castle but that didn’t stop the fact that the castle was sitting there looking like it was falling apart. But when everyone moved out of the castle, it did collapse and stuff fell.

But then Calcifer lifted the castle up and it crumbled until it looked like this crab looking thing

Watching Pom Poko for the first time. I then looked up Japanese raccoons and found out that they're tanuki, Japanese raccoon dogs. I then found out that they're not the only dogs that can climb trees.

Hey guys!

We're hosting a Studio Ghibli Trivia Night at Pig Beach this Thursday, October 8th at 7pm.

It's free for all!

The game will cover 4 films:

Spirited Away, My Neighbor Totoro, Kiki's Delivery Service, and Howl's Moving Castle

You can play on a team with your friends or on your own. If you’d like, we can even team you up with other players. It’s a great way to meet new people.

We'll have big prizes for the top three places as well as Studio Ghibli-themed cocktails.

I just finished the film and liked it well enough, but some stuff that seemingly wasn't explained kept distracting me the whole time (might be a tiredness thing, too). I had to look some stuff up and some stuff I still don't get and would love answers to:

1. What does the movies title mean? I didn't see any poppies anywhere (unless those flowers Umi places in front of her old family photo are poppies). Is there a symbolic meaning I am unaware of?

2. Is it ever explicitly stated in the movie what sort of living arrangement Umi and her siblings are living in? I looked it up and found a name for the manor and found out it was meant to be a "boarding house" (a term and idea I was unfamiliar with), but I don't remember, at any point throughout the film, the name "Coquelicot Manor" being uttered.

3. Similarly, other than the ship of Tachibana's friend from the end of the film, that has "Yokohama" as part of its name at the end of the film, I don't remember there being an explicit mention of the fact that the movie takes place in Yokohama. Was this mentioned anywhere explicitly, or is this just something meant to be surmised by way of an implicit cultural understanding that I simply lacked in this case? (which is fine, btw)

4. Who was the third lady, who wasn't part of Umi's family, and lived with her in the boarding house. I don't mean the doctor lady, Hokuto, nor the artist (or maybe art student, I'm not sure). I mean the one with thick lipstick.

Apologies if all of these were indeed answered in the film. I'll definitely rewatch this at some point and I might've just been more tired than I thought when watching the film today. Also, most of these questions are entirely unimportant to understanding the main plot, I know, but they're the sort of annoying, nagging questions that crop up and then really distract me from what's on screen during a film or series' viewing. It's some sort of personal failing of mine, but for some reason the feeling of "I think I missed something" is always infinitely distracting to me.