Some great news for fans of popular music streaming services: Studio Ghibli has just dropped 38 albums on Apple Music and Spotify as well as Amazon Music, Google Play Music, and YouTube Music. This means that whenever you were doing a moment ago, you can do while listening to your favorite Ghibli music, whether it’s the uplifting Totoro theme song or the operatic Princess Mononoke ending song, or whatever your favorite Ghibli songs are. Pretty much the entire catalog of soundtracks from all the company’s films have been made available for your streaming pleasure!
I’ve been a lifelong fan of the works of Hayao Miyazaki, and was one of the first fans outside of Japan to see My Neighbor Totoro, being lucky to be sitting in the anime room at the San Diego Comic-Con one morning when staff from Tokuma Shoten showed the film to get an idea of how international fans would receive the film. I did my first and only cosplay two years later, creating a Totoro costume out of wire and fur, though not many fans knew the character in 1990.
While it’s great to have instant access to all the major Ghibli albums, I was disappointed to see that not all content from the studio is available, at least on the U.S. Apple Music account I use. I’m a pretty hardcore fan of the music of Joe Hisaishi, and collect all his Studio Ghibli works, including his “image albums” made for each of his films, which include playful remixes of all his music as well as “experimental” additional songs sung by the characters. It would have been neat to have those too.
Going by music alone, I’d have to say my top five Studio Ghibli music scores are
- Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind. Although it was the first music Joe Hisaishi composed for Hayao Miyazaki, it’s still some of his best work.
- My Neighbor Totoro. One of the reasons we all fell in love with this filmthere was the “organic” nature of the music.
- Laputa, Castle in the Sky. One of the best adventure stories ever told in anime also has a great soundtrack to go with it.
- Spirited Away. Such a perfectly executed film with an excellent score.
- Kiki’s Delivery Service. A wonderful study and a wonderful soundtrack that’s very easy to get stuck in your head.
Kiki’s Delivery Service is one of the great animated films by Hayao Miyazaki, with the best soundtrack by #HisaishiJoe of any Ghibli film, IMO. The English dub also has a great and (sadly) the final performance by actor #PhilHartman, who died 21 years ago today. #ripphilhartman pic.twitter.com/kl9JZjfquQ
— Peter Payne (@JListPeter) May 28, 2019
What’s your favorite Studio Ghibli music? Tell us in the comments or on Twitter!
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