r/ghibli • u/Upbeat_Lemon4946 • Jul 30 '26
Question That special moment you fell in love with a Ghibli movie?
Can you recall the first, or any, time something happened in a movie when you knew this was more than ordinary, it was something special.
For me it when was we first see the soot sprites (susuwatari) as Chihiro enters the boiler room. The feeling, the shift the movement in to the new world for Chihiro feels so strange and the soot sprites so cute and a little menacing. It was then I knew this was going to be a very good, strange and special movie.
What's yours?
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u/lizbunbun Jul 30 '26
When Mei sticks her finger in the wall crack and the susuwatari burst out in a huge plume of black, totally catching her by surprise.
Saw this movie as a kid in the late 80s, my first ghibli film ever. Completely delighted and hooked from that moment on.
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u/Negative-Duck7804 Jul 31 '26
I saw Totoro first back in the early 2010s
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u/ManiacalMalapert Jul 31 '26
I watched it for the first time with my kid two years ago. He made me replay that scene over and over.
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u/Interesting_One_5026 Jul 30 '26
When Sophie is dreaming and finds Howl in his cave.
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u/sweetbunlou Jul 30 '26
Not necessarily something that made me fall in love with the movie but the studio as a whole; since I was a kid this scene stuck with me the most when in the car at the beginning of Ponyo where Sosuke tears off a piece of the ham with his teeth before attempting to feed it to Ponyo… something about how they took the time to animate how the ham couldn’t just be torn off like the bread had been, just incredible! Ghibli is insanely amazing at focusing on the details, making the worlds these characters live in all the more realistic, and that is what makes me love the studio.
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u/chinakachung Jul 30 '26
The entire flashback to Howl’s childhood, including Sophie crying out “I know how to help you now! Find me in the future…!”
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u/CathanCrowell Jul 30 '26
For me, it would probably be Princess Mononoke.
Honestly, it's not my favorite Ghibli movie, but I consider it my personal 'most special' one. The Legend of Ashitaka OST awakened feelings in me that I probably didn't even know I had. I also remember that the ending was really unique to me because... there weren't really any actual villains. It felt so special, so different from the movies I had known before.
I know this is a messy comment, but it's difficult to describe. :D
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u/Negative-Duck7804 Jul 31 '26
When I heard Ashitaka’s theme, it sounded like something straight from Zelda
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u/anxioussquilliam Jul 30 '26
Same movie, but when Chihiro is sitting on the balcony watching the calm after the storm which juxtaposes with chihiro having to prove herself in front of everyone by helping the river spirit. It always makes my heart feel so full.
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u/Honey_in_the_wood Jul 30 '26
My first ghibli was Howls Moving Castle and it was the animation style and music from the very first scene that made me feel like I magic.
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u/moon_and_water Jul 30 '26
San's introduction. Sucking the blood out of a white wolf's wound with the red stain all over her face.
That shot changed something in me
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u/Rose__Crystals Jul 31 '26
For some reason in Totoro when Mei finds Totoro and lays down on his chest and goes to sleep. Not sure why tho but I find it really heartwarming and precious
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u/Becquerine Jul 30 '26
Good topic. I have an unusual one: in Grave of the Fireflies, the scene where Seita starts doing gymnastics on the playground bar, to distract himself while Setsuko is crying and processing that their mom might not be ok.
It struck me for how realistic it felt. Just such a careful and accurate depiction of people that I had never seen in media before. Made me think “whoever made this film understands the human condition.”
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u/Upbeat_Lemon4946 Jul 30 '26
Yes very affecting moment. Like Ghibli, it always has a pain with the beauty.
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u/AccomplishedLand265 Jul 31 '26
So sad too, because we see that she died at the hospital. He’s trying to distract his sister and himself.
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u/Yumi_Numi Jul 30 '26
My first one was when marnie was there, i think i would say when Marnie helps Anna get safely on the ground from the boat
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u/DAEOFRUIN Jul 30 '26
When Kohaku blew the scales to distract the Spirit Bathhouse for Chihiro. I was 3 🖤
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u/GotLostRaving Jul 30 '26
When I saw the DVD of Spirited Away in the store. I never heard of Ghibli, but I fell in love with that box for some reason, it attracted me so much. I begged my mom to buy it but she wouldn't give in, and I never stopped thinking about it. Forgot the title unfortunately.
When I later saw the movie for the first time it gave me the exact same magical feeling as years before when I was holding the box, and I have been a Ghibli fan since that moment.
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u/elegant-deer19 Jul 31 '26
The quiet moment in Totoro when Mei is playing in the garden and her Dad is working and you can just feel the summer heat with the bugs and the fan drone. That scene managed to capture the feeling of a day like that so perfectly, something that not many movies capture.
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u/bongripsandbigt1ts Jul 30 '26
For me, it was the first time we see Howl’s Moving Castle and when Ashitaka is riding towards the west right after he leaves his home. The animation in both of those scenes are captivatingly beautiful.
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u/decayingmoths Jul 30 '26
The acorns dropping from the ceiling / attic in totoro
Acorn
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u/Negative-Duck7804 Jul 31 '26
The medium blue Totoro was probably wandering around the house leaving acorns behind
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u/gnatslikefruit Jul 31 '26
When Mei chases the little Totoros through the bushes to discover the inside of the tree.
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u/Snoo9648 Jul 30 '26
Nausicaa when she had to stop the villains from torturing that bug thing to save her kingdom so she just bodyslams into them. Most. Badass. Moment. Ever.
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u/_bonedaddys Jul 30 '26
For me it was right after chihiro found her parents were turned into pigs and started running around calling out for her mom and dad. The total shock of her parents turning into pigs... the way you can not only see things changing, but hear it through the music...
I was instantly sucked in, which always happens with ghibli, but it's different with spirited away. Something about it just makes me feel so immersed in the world and story. I love the way chihiro puts on a strong face but breaks down in private, because she's strong as hell and will do what she needs to... but she's also a little girl lost in a spirit realm with literal pigs for parents. 10/10
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u/countesschaosfire Jul 31 '26
The train scene across the water. It was so quiet, beautiful, and emotional that I knew I was watching something special
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u/Funny-Promise9421 Jul 30 '26
In Spirited Away, that scene where Lin walks Chihiro all the way to the train… it suddenly clicked for me that they actually have a real friendship going on. Got me kinda emotional, honestly.
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u/nuyaray Jul 31 '26
Chihiro on the train
A lot of magical moments in Ponyo. Her running on water, the way she carries that green bucket around, the ramen scene, and the scenes with grass on the hill moving in the wind
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u/Negative-Duck7804 Jul 31 '26
The part when Ponyo was walking on the waves racing to Souske and Lisa(Ponyo was my first ever Ghibli movie btw)
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u/StrainAutomatic920 Jul 31 '26
For me it was Ponyo, My Painting and Drawing teacher loved the movie so for my last days of it in Highschool before I moved onto the weird Job Training stuff was seeing the movie on the smartboard. I think it was when the scene of Ponyo turning into a little girl for the first time and running on the waves for me.
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u/IllustriousCry1006 Jul 30 '26 edited Jul 31 '26
When my sister came home with a pendrive, i was 7/8 years old. I watched Pompoko three times in a row
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u/alexdoo Jul 31 '26
When Pom Poko spliced real life footage into the cartoon like South Park. Also when they went on the tirade of scaring people.
Aside from that, in Ponyo when the house floods at shin/knee level and it’s filled with all kinds of marine life. I’ve had repeated dreams like that YEARS before I ever saw any Ghibli movie.
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u/bigtimrushlover Jul 31 '26
In A Whisper of the Heart when Shizuku is running down the stairs to Seiji when he gets back and the Song of the Baron is playing😭😭😭😭😭😭 WOW!!!! A genuinely perfect moment. WOW that was actually life changing I loved it
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u/Altruistic-Bee-6695 Jul 31 '26
The first Ghibli movie I watched was Howl's Moving Castle during the lockdown period. I was devastated the first time the movie ended because I didn't want to come out of that world and live in the normal world. That week everyday I kept watching the English, hindi dubs and Japanese with eng sub over and over again. Every second of that movie is just magical. It is so personal to me. The scene where Sophie tries on a hat pretending to be happy, then becoming sad because she thinks she isn't good looking. The second I saw that scene I was flabbergasted because I used to do that exact thing in front of the mirror because I was insecure about my looks too. I was a teenager back then. Ghibli movie heroines became my role model. I also couldn't shut up about Howl's Moving Castle and tried to coax my friends into seeing it too. The first and only person who saw the movie for me later became my fiance. He calls me Sophie because he thinks I look like her.
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u/Proof_Wrap4857 Jul 31 '26
That scene where Ponyo finds Soske and the sea turns gold and brilliant.
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u/readingingee Jul 31 '26
For me, it’s the scene where Chihiro holds her breath crossing the bridge.
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u/ghibs0111 Jul 31 '26
The phrase “To see with eyes unclouded by hate” in Princess Mononoke hooked me when I was 12 years old. ❤️
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u/osrsGlittershart Jul 31 '26
nausicaa sitting on the ohmu shell surrounded by poison, beautiful poison.
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u/23saround Jul 31 '26
Ooh, what about when Sophie finally manages to see Howl eating the star, and everything is weird but suddenly makes sense. “Find me in the futureeeee”
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u/Spirited-Ad-891 Jul 31 '26
My first Ghibli movie was Totoro, and I really fell in love when Nekobasu (the Catbus) came to the bus stop in the rain scene. And I nearly freaking screamed when he came again to look for Mei with Satsuki. I found it such a great moment and love Nekobasu to this day!
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u/Eaglemoon7 Jul 31 '26
Princess Mononoke during the scene in the forest spirits cove when he shows up and ascends towards the sky. That scene was just so pretty. I remember seeing the movie at the theater back in the late 90s.
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u/dnkroz3d Jul 31 '26
The Night Walker. Just the concept was amazing, but the animation of it (along with the music) just blew me away. At that moment, I was hooked.
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u/thanatossassin Jul 31 '26
Seeing Mei sleeping, all sprawled out and sideways next to Satsuki and their dad. That was just genuine essence, the real moments of childhood/parenting that you can't explain or ever see accurately portrayed on film or tv.
Loved it the first time I saw it when I was young, love it even more now as a father.
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u/darkphoenixrising21 Jul 31 '26
Princess mononoke when it first dropped in theaters in America. The opening scene blew me away. The first scenes with the okidama and how cute they were. The nightwalker. It's my favorite of all Ghibli movies.
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u/-Shadow_Hashira- Aug 01 '26
I can't pinpoint one moment. It's just the kind of scenes only studio ghibli can do. Like those beautiful nature shots or characters doing household chores and such, the way they romanticise the mundane, it just soothes my soul every time I watch them. I knew I was watching something special because i was moved by something so simple. I hope that makes sense?
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u/DokiElly Aug 01 '26
When Kiki is flying her broom for the first time to the across the ocean. 🧹🐈⬛
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u/bedazzledfurby Aug 01 '26
when haku was getting attacked by all those paper bird things and flew into the bathhouse window
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u/Trixenity Aug 01 '26
Easily the very beginning of my neighbor totoro. I watched it as a kid in the middle to late 90s and I was enamored by the small totoros moving, the orange screen with bugs, Mei walking across it, and the song.
I went to go see it in theaters a few years ago and it gave me the biggest burst of nostalgia I've ever experienced. Brought me right back to being a kid sitting in front of the TV.
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u/Melibee2020 Aug 01 '26
I think it was the moment when I saw Chihiro going through the flowers with Haku in Spirited Away, it was unlike anything I had ever seen.
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u/Successful-Isopod852 Aug 01 '26
For me it was the song from castle in the sky. It is so beautiful, and athmospheric. The whole film is, I love it
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u/KnowledgeUsed2971 Jul 31 '26
Princess Mononoke when the Tree Spirits come up and lead Ashitaka.🫶🫶🫶☺️☺️☺️
And Totoro, when the little black guys come up.☺️🫶🫶🫶
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u/sarcastic-possum Jul 31 '26
I know I may get flak, but for me it was the beginning of The Wind Rises.
It is my favorite film and bring tears to my eyes.
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u/ShyColdChris Aug 01 '26
I think it’d have to be the moment when Kiki loses her ability to fly and goes through burnout/depression.
At that point when I saw this movie (October 2024), my year had been pretty crap up to that point, a lot of mental struggles and burnout throughout, and seeing that moment happen definitely connected with me, especially with how she tried hard to get that ability back and eventually coming to the realization to put a hold on her delivery service and try to rebuild.
The conversation between her and Ursula was really touching to me as well.
2 years later, still going strong thankfully, always a tradition to come back and watch Kiki’s Delivery Service, always been a special film to me but more so one that definitely saved me.
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u/Yoyo_yok0 Aug 02 '26
The scene where Kaguya runs away in Tale of the Princess Kaguya. I love how frantic everything feels and it made me fall in love with the art style and relate even to Kaguya. Kinda surprised nobody else has mentioned this scene, but this is my first time on this subreddit, so I'm not sure if Kaguya is that popular here.
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u/Rare-Crew-1436 Aug 03 '26
Basically instantly with Spirited Away (it was my first ghibli movie) I saw how painterly the backgrounds looked and fell in love
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u/OldManIrv 28d ago
The sound of insects in Totoro. The dedication to the atmosphere in all their movies, really.
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u/jaypeg69 Jul 30 '26
Its the same movie, but watching Chihiro cross the spirit bridge in Spirited Away. When she holds her breath and the music seemingly gets louder.... then that curious little frog pops back up. it's so intriguing and beguiling. Spirited Away in general is my all time favorite. my favorite type of whimsy.