What is the best Isao Takahata movie?

Decades of hand-drawn storytelling, from gut-wrenching wartime tragedy to gentle slice-of-life comedy and folktale fantasy. Which one moves you most?

1

Grave of the Fireflies

Takahata's devastating 1988 wartime drama about two siblings struggling to survive in the final months of WWII Japan.

1000pts

2

Pom Poko

A 1994 environmental fable about shape-shifting raccoon dogs fighting to save their forest from urban development.

727pts

3

Gauche the Cellist

A 1982 musical drama about a struggling cellist who learns to play through nightly visits from animals.

717pts

4

My Neighbors the Yamadas

A 1999 comic-strip-style slice-of-life comedy following the everyday misadventures of an ordinary Japanese family.

605pts

5

Horus, Prince of the Sun

His 1968 debut feature, a landmark fantasy adventure that helped define modern Japanese animation.

605pts

6

The Tale of the Princess Kaguya

His final film, a 2013 watercolor-style retelling of a Japanese folktale nominated for the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature.

605pts

7

Only Yesterday

A 1991 introspective drama about a Tokyo office worker reflecting on her childhood during a countryside trip.

533pts

8

Panda! Go Panda!

A charming 1972 children's film about a girl who befriends a pair of pandas, an early collaboration with Hayao Miyazaki.

533pts

9

Chie the Brat

A 1981 comedy about a streetwise young girl running her family's restaurant in working-class Osaka.

444pts