Curated playlist

Drama anime and manga

My Neighbor TotoroEight animators finished My Neighbor Totoro in just eight months. They spent one full month on a tadpole scene alone.
Kiki's Delivery ServiceKiki's Delivery Service was first planned as a 60-minute TV special. It grew into a 102-minute feature.
The Cat ReturnsThe Cat Returns began as a 20-minute short for a theme park that canceled it. Ghibli made it a feature.
Only Yesterday (1991 film)Ghibli's color team spent roughly a year hunting one shade of red for Only Yesterday.
Whisper of the HeartWhisper of the Heart begins when a girl sees the same name on every library book she borrows.
Kurau Phantom MemoryA lab accident scattered twelve-year-old Kurau into light. When she reformed, another being came back with her.
The Wind RisesIn The Wind Rises, a boy with weak eyes builds planes instead of flying them. It follows engineer Jiro Horikoshi.
Kaze to Ki no UtaEditors spent nearly seven years keeping the manga Kaze to Ki no Uta's first page from print.
Heidi, Girl of the AlpsThe 1974 anime Heidi, Girl of the Alps was never officially broadcast in Switzerland.
FrierenFrieren is an elven mage who makes a promise to her friends that, for her, is almost no promise at all. Under a meteor shower called the Era Meteors, which appears once every fifty years, she agrees to gather with her old companions again…
Oshi no KoIn Oshi no Ko, a doctor is murdered and reborn as his idol patient's son. He remembers his old life.
Royal Space Force: The Wings of HonnêamiseA Bandai president liked a film pitch because he could not tell what it was about. It became Royal Space Force.
Space Runaway IdeonSpace Runaway Ideon came straight out of director Yoshiyuki Tomino's studio after Mobile Suit Gundam, the signature work he had just finished. Sunrise produced it, and Tomino both created and directed it. The story sends ordinary human…