Every Studio Ghibli Movie Ranked Worst To Best
20. Ocean Waves (1993)
With Ocean Waves, both Miyazaki and Takahata decided to let their younger staff members take a stab at producing a movie with the core principles of Studio Ghibli front and centre.
The results of this little experiment are, all told, quite remarkable, as director Tomomi Mochizuki and writer Keiko Niwa offer up a bracing, sixty-five minute story about a love triangle that changes three lives forever.
Typically excellent visually, the true power of Ocean Waves comes from its narrative device, which uses its protagonist's memories to capture the magic of the story's central romance and haunting themes of acceptance and loss.
It's short, straightforward, and over too quickly, but if ever there was an underrated gem in Ghibli's back catalogue, it would be this touching ode to young love.