Spirited Away
Tale of the fanciful adventures of a ten-year-old girl named Chihiro, who discovers a secret world when she and her family get lost and venture through a hillside tunnel. When her parents undergo a mysterious transformation, Chihiro must fend for herself as she encounters strange spirits, assorted creatures and a grumpy sorceress who seeks to prevent her from returning to the human world.
Howl's Moving Castle
Sophie, a diligent teenage girl working in her family's hat shop, finds her life thrown into turmoil when a handsome-but-mysterious wizard named Howl sweeps her off her feet. This innocent encounter enrages the vain and conniving Witch of the Waste, who transforms Sophie into a 90-year-old woman. Sophie's efforts to break the curse bring her to Howl's magical moving castle, where she befriends Markl, Howl's apprentice, and the hot-headed fire demon Calcifer. Her love and support have a major impact on Howl, who can be maddeningly self-indulgent and singularly noble. He defies royal orders to participate in a meaningless war and risks his life to bring peace to the kingdom.
Princess Mononoke
Directed by renowned animator Hayao Miyazaki, this anime has broken a number of box office records in its native Japan. Essentially a statement on the ecological devastation brought on by human advancement, the story follows the battle between Princess Mononoke and a mining village.
The Boy and the Heron
A young boy named Mahito, yearning for his mother, ventures into a world shared by the living and the dead. There, death comes to an end, and life finds a new beginning. A semi-autobiographical fantasy about life, death, and creation, in tribute to friendship, from the mind of Hayao Miyazaki.