I was going to say Spirited Away with an honorable mention to Howl's Moving Castle as a crowd pleaser — but I haven't see either you mentioned. Thanks for the rec!

My Neighbours the Yamadas and Pom Poko are also worth a watch.

I loved Pom Poko, was such an interesting take on so many things.

Grave of the Fireflies

Grave of the Fireflies needs a warning label.

It's Schindler's List in a few important ways. 1) it's about WWII, 2) It's a gut punch, and 3) It's one of the greatest movies you only need to see once, and likely will only want to watch once.

I've told the kids they can only watch that movie once they're old enough to drink.

Well, if you want Ghibli's best movie ... Grave of the Fireflies to my mind is easily one of the best movies ever made, let alone Ghili's best. I've seen it at least 3 times because I'm a glutton for punishment that way.

I've heard this so much about _Grave of the Fireflies_ that I'm afraid to watch it - what if it doesn't affect me the way it does everyone else? Would that mean there's something wrong with me? Is it some kind of cinematic Voight-Kampff?

> what if it doesn't affect me the way it does everyone else? Would that mean there's something wrong with me?

If there was, wouldn't you want to know?

The sad parts involve kids. If that doesn't phase you the CIA has some wonderful career opportunities they'd love to talk to you about.

There's some quality offerings for such people on https://gchq.careers/ as well, for the non US folks.

Did you get an emotional reaction in the first 3-5 minutes of Pixar's UP? Congrats you have emotions.

> I've told the kids they can only watch that movie once they're old enough to drink.

So, 6 months old? (When I grew up, whiskey was a common cure for toothache, gripe, or any other bother infants had...)

The Tale of Princess Kaguya is up there. It and Princess Mononoke are probably my two favorites.