Next to Princess Mononoke, Spirited Away is Studio Ghibli’s most famous and treasured work of art. Spirited Away has a special place in the heart of anime fans and if you are generation Z don’t know what Spirited Away is then you need to go to amazon right away and watch the movie.
Spirited Away is such an amazing film. Some people look for similar movies (that are not Disney). Its unique style of story telling has been done before by other anime studios (mostly ex-Studio Ghibli employees).
So the following 10 anime are similar to Spirited Away in either the style of story telling, the vibe of the movie, animation and art style or simply the way the characters look.
A Whisker Away
Produced by Netflix and animated by studio Colorido. The original title was suppose to be “Wanting to cry, I pretended to be a cat.” However, Netflix was smart enough to name it A Whisker Away to convince anime fans to watch it. Its like Spirited Away with Cats. Miyo reminds me of a more emotional Chihiro.
A Whisker Away sometimes makes you want to cry because you feel for Miyo. The girl tries to escape her reality by wishing to be a cat and then a shape shifting cat like creature approaches her one day and offers her that opportunity. Although it takes place in Japan with Japanese culture, it has a fantasy element that will surprise you.
You could say its a love story but it is not the primary focus. The focus is mostly on Miyo’s emotional issues and what she does to overcome them.
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Weathering With You
Weathering With You is that art project where the student took all the time in the world to make it. The animation is so clean and so smooth sometimes you forget that you are watching an anime. From the realistic rain drops to the street signs and beautiful realistic clouds, Weathering With You is an artistic master piece.
It follows the same story pattern as Your Name. In the story Hodaka leaves his home island to move to Tokyo. Then he meets Hina, the girl who seems to have the ability to control the weather. Some business people try to make a profit from her ability. They charge people money for the girl to pray the rain away. Since the populous want more sunshine, a small business is started to satisfy this need. Hina’s abilities and the business started to get in the way of their relationship.
The movie is similar to Your Name. However, those who like Spirited Away will also enjoy this movie.
Your Name
You are probably wondering, how is Your Name similar to Spirited Away. Mostly because of the magical realism element of the story. Your Name is a body swap movie. Taki and Mitsuha’s relationship is very intimate in the sense that their are literally in each other’s body and each other’s personal life.
Not many anime movies make it big in the USA. Last anime film that became a hit were the studio Ghibli movies, other than, Your Name won the hearts of so many people. It really shows you what its like to step into someone else’s shoes. The anticipation between the two characters finally meeting at the end makes the entire movie very satisfying to watch.
A Whisper of the Heart
A Whisper of the Heart is a captivating realistic romance slice of life anime movie. Imagine Chihiro in High School. That is what A Whisper of the Heart feels like. It gets away from the fantasy settings of Studio Ghibli and grounds you in reality.
Maiko is in a love triangle with a boy in school. The story shows the Japanese teenage life while they are trying to figure out life. If you are trying to find your calling in life then this movie might inspire you. If you love a good slice of life with a life lesson that you can take with you then this is the movie for you.
Ni No Kuni
Ni No Kuni is the Isekai of Studio Ghibli. Although Spirited Away is consider an Isekai, it is actually more grounded in reality. With Netflix’s Ni No Kuni, we are taken to a fantasy world. This shows you what can be done with the fantasy genre. Its like Narnia when the kids go through the wardrobe to the fantasy land.
Ni No Kuni explores this genre with a twist. One character reincarnates to the real world. Yuu, who is on a wheelchair is friends with Haru a basket ball who are also friends with Kotona. One day, they try to save Kotona from an accident and are sent to Ni No Kuni.
The same animators that worked on Spirited Away directed this movie. Animation director Yoshiyuki Momose. If you love epic fantasy like I do then this is the anime movie for you. If you love Studio Ghibli films then this is the anime for you.
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The Secret World of Arrietty
This Studio Ghibli movie was actually inspired by Disney’s The Borrowers. The idea of little people taking things from humans or “borrowing things from humans.” Although this movie is set in a realistic setting, it feels a bit more like a fantasy with Hobbits in it.
It is fun to see things from another perspective. The view point of a little person that is as small as your pinky finger. Its adorable and adventurous because to the borrowers, everything is so big and it seems that they cannot go very far. Things that us humans see as disgusting like roaches are actually a threat to these little people.
The Secret World of Arrietty takes you back to being a kid again when you played with things and imagine that the world around was much bigger. Oh yeah, another comparison to this movie is Thumbelina.
Mary and the Witch’s Flower
Mary does not have too many friends. She follows a cat into the woods one day and finds a flower
a flower that she does not recognize. When she breaks one of the bulbs of the flower she gains magical abilities and gets transported to a different world. She then tries to find out if she wants to be this new powerful witch or go back to being her old clumsy self.
In the new magical world which is similar to Hogwarts.
Made by studio Ponoc. A studio that was formed by Studio Ghibli employees.
The Tale of Princess Kaguya
Another Studio Ghibli master piece. Originally from the Japanese folklore, “The Tale of the Bamboo cutter.”
The hand drawn animation of this movie is absolutely stunning. It is good to see that there is no 3D CGI used in this movie. The animation is very raw and it seems like they used many traditional methods of animation on this film. You can tell they used a lot of watercolors in this movie. If feels as though the animators and artist were not afraid to show that they got their hands dirty and smeared some of the paint on the sheets.
The Story of Princess Kaguya shows us the day when she was found in the bamboo forest by a bamboo cutter to the day she became a princess. We see her grow up happy and free. Once she becomes a princess her life becomes more difficult and she becomes more miserable. There is raw emotion in this movie. We see the destructive side of Kaguya’s femininity as well as the positive and beautiful side of it.
It is a master piece and I would put it at the same level if not higher than Spirited Away.
The animation with watercolor gave it that awe that pulls your soul into the screen.
When Marnie Was There
This movie is the kind of movie you want your children to see. While American animation companies make silly movies to make kids laugh, Studio Ghibli films like When Marnie Was There.
The movie is about Anna who one day sees a blonde girl in a house by the sea shore called Marnie. This movie explores dark emotions that kids go through in their age and it is something that has to be talked about. American cartoons dont tackle emotional problems like this and this is why anime will continue to grow in popularity.
Watch When Marnie Was There with your kids. Like all studio Ghibli films, it is beautifully done and stunning.
Mirai
A boy deals with a crisis because his parents just had a new born daughter. Now he has a sister that is getting all the attention that he used to get. The boy deals with a lot of jealousy. He runs back to his garden and finds a portal that lets him travel through time and meet family members from the past and the future. Going back in time he learns a lessons of what it means to be a real family.
This is a good movie to watch with your kids or siblings. I think it has the potential to help people overcome family drama.
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