Who hasn't heard of Studio Ghibli before? This renown animation studio really has the best movies I've ever seen. And I have been watching anime for quite some time now.

It all started at a very young age when Club Dorothé was on the tv channel of TéléFrance. I really loved watching most of the anime series that were aired on that show. One of the series I still remember I was very fond of was Sherlock Hound.

##Sherlock Hound (Meitantei Hōmuzu) An anime series that was co-written and directed by Hayao Miyazaki. And like the name does imply it is the story about the great detective Sherlock Holmes, created by sir Arthur Conan Doyle. The only difference is that here every character has been turned into a canine. The show originally ran in 1984, but I remember it being aired at a later time on Club Dorothé. Of course at that time I hadn't got a clue who Hayao Miyazaki was and about other great anime he was a part of.

##The Castle Of Cagliostro (Kariosutoro no Shiro)

In the same period I also discovered a great movie called The Castle of Cagliostro, another anime I am still very fond of. And as you probably will suspect I didn't have a single clue at that time that this was also a gem that has been co-written and directed by Hayao Miyazaki. The Castle of Cagliostro however is a movie that dates back from 1979! The story is about Lupin III, a master thief that robs the Monte Carlo Casino. Together with his colleague Daisuke Jigen they flee with all the money only to discover that all the bills are high quality counterfeits. And at that point they decide to search for the source.

##Studio Ghibli

Both of the anime's I mentioned where from mr Miyazaki's pre Ghibli period. And since one of Studio Ghibli's founders is actually Hayao Miyazaki, you could say those where the ones that awakened my love for that type of anime.

For those who didn't know, Studio Ghibli was founded in 1985 after the success of Nausicaa valley of the wind. And since that time Studio Ghibli has produced at least twenty anime movies. One of the most recent movies is: When Marnie Was There.

When Marnie Was There (Omoide no Mānii)

As most of the movies that were created by Studio Ghibli and or Hayao Miyazaki, this is also a stunning movie in so many ways. The details never cease to amaze me. And neither does the storyline.

The story is about Anna, a very introverted young girl suffering from asthma. The reason behind Anna's introvertion is that she feels rejected by her surroundings and adoption parents. After a severe asthma attack Anna's mother sends her over to her aunt and uncle who live by the coast, in order to recover. From the moment of her arrival Anna get's fascinated by an abandoned villa and get sucked into her imagination.

This movie, like all the other Ghiblis has real everyday topics about life brought into vision. And the protagonist(s) aren't always the typical characters you'd suspect them to be. They portray real life people with real life problems and establish an emotional connection with the viewers. Or at least that's how I feel.

If you've never watched anime before I strongly recommend with starting with a Studio Ghibli movie, even though some of it's movies share a really dramatic story. And also not all Studio Ghibli movies are proper for small kids. So keep that in mind!

But if you would like to watch one that isn't too weird to begin with, you could start with one of these:

• Porco Rosso (Kurenai no Buta)
• My neighbor Totoro (Tonari no Totoro)
• Kiki's Delivery Service (Majo no Takkyūbin)

I also made a Ghibli-Miyazaki list that you can view here: Ghibli-Miyazaki movie list

Life is a winking light in the darkness.
- Hayao Miyazaki