Every Studio Ghibli Movie Ranked Worst To Best
22. My Neighbours The Yamadas (1999)
Brought to life by the late, great Ghibli co-founder Isao Takahata, My Neighbours the Yamadas is one of the director's rare forays into comedy, and by extension his less assured effort.
Split into a series of vignettes about the everyday life of a Japanese family, the film's episodic nature and unconventional narrative leaves it feeling almost unfinished, its themes and overarching story not quite coming together.
There's still plenty left to love with My Neighbours the Yamadas, mind, particularly in regards to its minimalistic, playful watercolour animation, and Takahata's humanist worldview pushing through the choppy story.
It's slight and minor by Ghibli standards, especially when compared to the two films either side of it - Princess Mononoke and Spirited Away - but still not a total travesty.