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10 Great Non-Studio Ghibli Family-friendly Anime Movies


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Just Passing Through



Joined: 04 Apr 2011
Posts: 276
PostPosted: Fri Jun 17, 2022 1:38 pm Reply with quote
Brave Story is a great family film from Studio Gonzo (preferable IMO to the same company's Origin Spirits of the Past). It was released in the UK on DVD in 2008 by Optimum Entertainment, and it's well worth seeking out.

anime#4873
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Doctorkev



Joined: 17 Feb 2018
Posts: 76
Location: Scotland
PostPosted: Fri Jun 17, 2022 1:52 pm Reply with quote
Just Passing Through wrote:
Brave Story is a great family film from Studio Gonzo (preferable IMO to the same company's Origin Spirits of the Past). It was released in the UK on DVD in 2008 by Optimum Entertainment, and it's well worth seeking out.

anime#4873


I watched Brave Story years ago, I remember thinking it was pretty good. Think I’ll probably re-watch it with my 11-year-old son soon, though we’re currently watching the Future Boy Conan TV show, and he seems to be really enjoying that.
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tintor2



Joined: 11 Aug 2010
Posts: 1804
PostPosted: Fri Jun 17, 2022 1:54 pm Reply with quote
Wolf's Children is one of the few films that made me cry so far. I really liked it.

Memorable mention to Tokyo Godfathers.
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enurtsol



Joined: 01 May 2007
Posts: 14746
PostPosted: Fri Jun 17, 2022 2:45 pm Reply with quote
Adults don't understand Metropolis! How's children supposed to?! Laughing
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Villain-chan





PostPosted: Fri Jun 17, 2022 2:55 pm Reply with quote
I hated Wolf Children. The premise was dumb. Don't get me wrong, if it didn't have two GLARING problems then it'd have been a GREAT movie... but becus it had a GAPING plot hole plus sends a bad message to the audience as a result, thats why the premise was dumb and why i hate it. What was this plot hole? Heck its not even a spoiler so I'll just tell ya, its the premise of the movie itself. The children can only be wolf or human... thats how their mother raised them though she hoped for human iirc. That was the entire premise the movie set up and had drama surrounding that. But, their father lived as both a human AND wolf. Sure something happened to him which I can get may've influenced the mother's decision to force only ONE option on her children (this is BAD parenting) but he still lived AS both, it was HIS decision and the entire reason why the mother even had children in the first place. Further more, what happened to the father spoiler[(death)] can happen to ANYONE, human or wolf or otherwise.

So honestly, the fact she CONSTANTLY only gave them 1 option to choose, was dumb as heck and when the movie had spoiler[each child finally choose to either live as a human or as a wolf, but neither got to choose to live as both becus of their mother's foolishness! It just soured me further.] Its been many years so its possible that am forgetting that the mother may've tried to settle for human over wolf or maybe she just said only one or the other but either way its the mother's fault for how that movie ended and more than the mother's fault, its the WRITER'S FAULT for writing such a dumb plot point that had a gaping plot hole and sent a bad message to the audience to boot.

Yet despite this gaping plot hole, almost everyone I've seen whose watched it liked the movie, and those that didn't were like me, noticed the dumb plot hole and didn't like the movie as a result. The movie doesn't embrace being all of oneself, it embraces being only part of urself which is also sending a BAD message to the audience watching which further ticks me off about the movie. If anyone likes this garbage as I call it, thats fine, but I hate this movie. If you have kids, do yourself a fave and A) Don't make the same mistake as that mother and B) Don't let ur kids watch this movie until they're able to make decisions about what they like, don't like and who they wanna be but make SURE if they do watch, u point out its ok to be urself and not part of urself.
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joemuszynski



Joined: 09 Apr 2020
Posts: 50
PostPosted: Fri Jun 17, 2022 3:48 pm Reply with quote
I would love to watch the ones not available in the US. It kind of amazes me when something is not available these days…
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MarshalBanana



Joined: 31 Aug 2014
Posts: 5294
PostPosted: Fri Jun 17, 2022 3:49 pm Reply with quote
it's a shame that Princess Arete is not available in the US, it's a hidden gem that i feel more people should experience. And from my experience you don't need to be a feminist to enjoy it.
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Doctorkev



Joined: 17 Feb 2018
Posts: 76
Location: Scotland
PostPosted: Fri Jun 17, 2022 4:01 pm Reply with quote
If anyone is interested in reading more detailed reviews of most of the movies discussed in the article, here is a link to my original reviews that I used to help construct it.

https://doctorkev.medium.com/10-of-the-best-non-studio-ghibli-family-friendly-anime-movies-b9a4628ae4b1
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StarDango



Joined: 22 Sep 2021
Posts: 87
PostPosted: Fri Jun 17, 2022 5:00 pm Reply with quote
Villain-chan wrote:
I Snip


So…You’re allowed to dislike the movie, sure. But I think you’re misunderstanding the thing you’re calling a plot hole. Hana didn’t force her children to chose between being a wolf or a human. The reason the whole “wolf child” thing was kept a strict family secret was because Hana had zero idea how everyone else would react to them. What if the public would try and attack her kids? What if they shunned them? Remember that there are no wolves native in Japan anymore. They’ve been extinct for decades. Having two wolf pups running around would cause a lot of suspicions and even public panic.

The core of the story’s conflict is that her wolf-man partner died before he could properly raise their kids alongside her and teach all of them what it meant to be a wolf-human. Heck, how do we even know the wolf man chose to be both man and wolf? For all we know, he was a man 99% of the time and only became a wolf when his “instincts” kicked in. He died before we could get a full understanding of the hows and whys.

But the fact that we know so little about what goes into raising hybrid kids and the potential difficulties is part of what makes Hana an admirable mother. She’s not ashamed of her kids and just wants them to be safe. She never forces her kids to choose to be human or wolf, only telling them when’s the right time to do it to avoid any suspicious of the family. They were allowed to be pups when she knew she was the only one around. She does ask them whether they’d rather be a human or a wolf, but it was when they were toddlers and it didn’t come off as an actual demand. At worst, she makes common parenting mistakes and is overprotective (because, you know, she already lost her lover.)

Heck, she’s right to be concerned near the end of the movie when spoiler[ Ame goes of into the forest. In a severe storm. Without really telling his mother what was really going on. I don’t remember if he even completely explained to her his intentions. It’s only when she sees that protecting the forest is what Ame wants is when she stops being worried about him. Again, it wasn’t about controlling whether or not they could be a wolf or a human. It was about what was right for Ame and his well-being.]

And by the end, she lets both kids grow up the way they want to, even if it meant having to let one go. It wasn’t about forcing a choice on the children. It was about allowing children to make a choice for themselves and how supportive parents need to be (even if that meant saying goodbye to their kids.)
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Villain-chan





PostPosted: Fri Jun 17, 2022 6:12 pm Reply with quote
StarDango wrote:
And I think u'r forgetting thats exactly why she moved to the middle of no where where not many humans were around... She has her great points as a mother no doubt but the way she raised her kids, is why the kids spoiler[only fig'd they had to choose instead of being both. Let's also not forget that we didn't see these kids grow up day by day, there were YEARS skipped. Yes she let them be themselves when alone, but throughout the ENTIRE MOVIE the choice was CONSTANTLY shoved in the viewers' face and the kids' faces too. Either be one or the other but not BOTH. I remember this VERY well as it really ticked me off throughout the film whenever the dang "choice" came up. If the kids mentioned it, why do u THINK they mentioned it? Its becus the mother didn't teach em they could be BOTH and instead only taught one or the other but not BOTH and regardless of how MUCH the father was in wolf form vs. human form, he did live as BOTH and the mother KNEW this but she only gave her kids a single choice, one or the other but not both.] Like I said, I GET why she did that, but that doesn't make it right and is bad parenting and lastly, I go out of my way to spoiler tag what happened to the father and u spoiled it. :P

Anyway, I have nothing more to say on this, not worth my time.
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Hiroki not Takuya



Joined: 17 Apr 2012
Posts: 2501
PostPosted: Fri Jun 17, 2022 11:53 pm Reply with quote
Thank you for mentioning one of my all-time favorites Patema Inverted. It's actually a 2-fer of phobias, agorophobia and acrophobia and with a possible bonus 3-fer of xenophobia if you are not one of the "inverts". Razz
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Suxinn



Joined: 23 Jan 2009
Posts: 242
PostPosted: Sat Jun 18, 2022 2:22 am Reply with quote
Patema Inverted is one of my favorites, so glad to see it on here.

I probably would've included Welcome to the Space Show as well, and I dearly wish Majokko Shimai no Yoyo to Nene was available somewhere legally in English, since I loved that movie, and I wish more people had the chance to see it.
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Doctorkev



Joined: 17 Feb 2018
Posts: 76
Location: Scotland
PostPosted: Sat Jun 18, 2022 2:36 am Reply with quote
Suxinn wrote:
Patema Inverted is one of my favorites, so glad to see it on here.

I probably would've included Welcome to the Space Show as well, and I dearly wish Majokko Shimai no Yoyo to Nene was available somewhere legally in English, since I loved that movie, and I wish more people had the chance to see it.


Welcome to the Space Show has been on my backlog for a long time! I have the DVD, so I’ll watch it with my son eventually. Glad to hear it’s good, because it’s not a movie you otherwise hear much about.
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pluvia33



Joined: 23 Mar 2005
Posts: 194
Location: Dayton, OH, USA
PostPosted: Sat Jun 18, 2022 5:39 am Reply with quote
Suxinn wrote:
I probably would've included Welcome to the Space Show as well


I would DEFINITELY have included Welcome to the Space Show! I find that movie to be vastly underrated. It's my second favorite standalone anime movie of all time (after Your Name). Just a pure joy to watch.

I'd also consider Words Bubble Up Like Soda Pop and Lu Over the Wall.
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enurtsol



Joined: 01 May 2007
Posts: 14746
PostPosted: Sat Jun 18, 2022 4:30 pm Reply with quote
Hiroki not Takuya wrote:

Thank you for mentioning one of my all-time favorites Patema Inverted. It's actually a 2-fer of phobias, agorophobia and acrophobia and with a possible bonus 3-fer of xenophobia if you are not one of the "inverts". Razz


So long as ya don't have mastophobia - that's the only way to hold on to that anchor from falling below Laughing
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