I read 'House of Sand and Fog' and I loved the book but just can't bear to watch the movie. Not that there is anything (that I am aware of) that is wrong with it, but the book was sooo sad.

Princess Mononoke is great, but I still prefer Spirited Away.

Just watched the Prestige, it was very hard to follow, not as good as some of the hype I expected.

I thought Mononoke was extremely tight and well made. But, for some reason, it didn't wow me the way Spirited or Howl's did. I loved everything about it though.

I loved Princess Mononoke muchly at the time but it hasn't aged as well in my memory as others. Probably because Spirited Away and Howl's Moving Castle were so much better while things like Porco Rosso and The Cat Returns are more purely entertaining.

Howl's had problems. It was overly long and suffered from multiple endings, many of which didn't make much sense. I remember having trouble liking Howl's character.

But still, it was breathtaking in scope, visuals, and concepts, which was enough to make it very memorable. Mononoke seemed somewhat the opposite to me, in that it was well put together but lacked wow, even though the concepts were great. I dug it a lot.

Fireflies was sad, but mostly because it was not really all that good.

And oooh, I'd forgotten about When the Wind Blows, thanks GC. Maybe my quest for a sad but good anime won't be fruitless after all.



And don't resist House of Sand and Fog for sadness avoidance ... it's a great film.

I thought Mononoke stands up to Howl's and Spirited. I found the animation gorgeous and the story the best of the 3. I think I'd still put Spirited Away ahead of it, but only very slightly.

Watch Spirited Away for the backgrounds, the general art design, and the increased fluidity of the (stylistically limited) anime animation ... and I think it becomes clear it's the Pinocchio of the Miyazaki canon.







But I'd sure like to watch Princess Mononoke on acid.

For me, Spirited Away, Kiki's Delivery Service and Porco Rosso have stood the test of repeated viewings more than any other of the the Ghiblis. Beauty aside, it's the storytelling that gets me every time.

(one cartoon I never ever ever want to see again: The Plague Dogs)

Like I said, Spirited Away remains tops. But Mononoke's style just resonated with me. From the moment the first hint of the demon boar appeared on screen I was transfixed. Plus I prefer the tighter story telling. That puts it right on Spirited Away's tail.

Honestly, attempting to rank any of them is becoming a meaningless exercise for me as they all offer something to love.