Is it a love story? Just because Haku originally appears in the form of a boy about the same age as Sen/Chihiro, I would not think there’s any kind of romantic love between them.
And I’ll enthusiastically support the recommendation of My Neighbor Totoro – even though it centres on two young girls, it’s not just a kids’ movie.
I definitely don’t mind subtitles, so those recs are great.
Well, maybe it’s the English translation, but several times others (such as the boiler room/six-armed guy and Yababa’s twin sister) talk about Sen/Chihiro’s growing love for Haku and vice versa; plus the fact that they appear to have been bonded starting when Chihiro fell in the river… these are standard romantic tropes. Of course this could be platonic love, in which case I should get my mind out of the gutter! 
I second (seventh?) Castle in the Sky. It has a lot of cool steampunk technology going in it, and who doesn’t love a charming little film about sky pirates and a mystical city in the sky? It’s pure fantasy, through and through, and you can’t help but get lost in Miyazaki’s imagination. It’s a great escape and leaves you just feeling really good afterwards.
If you want something more serious, of course Grave of the Fireflies is the way to go. A previous poster hit the nail on the head by comparing it to Dancer in the Dark. It’ll just leave you feeling really bummed for the rest of the day. Watch it late at night so you can sleep it off as quickly as possible.
I would also suggest the pseudo-sequel to that, The Cat Returns. It’s just a fun story to keep you occupied for a while, but nonetheless great fun, especially for cat lovers 
ETA: Oh, Pochacco has mentioned it already. So make that a double recommend!
And for people loving mindfuck, try Catsoup. I was deeply disturbed by it for a long time after watching it. Do not watch it with kids. I repeat, do not watch it with kids (it’s work-safe stuff, but a lot of it is just wrong).
You could try the Plague Dogs by Martin Rosen.
Wait, Rosen? That’s not Japanese! Yes, believe it or not, there are animated films with beautiful, detailed, hand-drawn animation, and deep plots, that do not come from Japan! I know this thread was specifically about Japanese animation but I try to plug that movie at every opportunity because I think it’s visually one of the best animated features ever made, and the same people who like Miyazaki’s movies would probably like it - but let me warn you, it’s a pretty grim movie. There’s not much joy in it, a lot of disturbing and sad stuff, and the ending is extremely negative.
Well there’s love there, but it’s the love between two people who:
(1) find out they are old friends from the time when Haku was a real river, and
(2) have shared in the struggle to get out of Yubaba’s control.
I don’t think it’s the love that leads to dating and marriage – partly because Haku is a kami (god / spirit) and Sen/Chihiro is a human being, so that would be difficult.
Fantastic movie, done by the same studio and with some of the same VA’s as Watership Down. And, like Watership Down, if you like animals at all, it has a high likelihood of ripping your heart out and dancing all over it in pointy heels. I’ve heard rumors that there’s supposed to be a ray of hope at the end if you sit through the credits, but I haven’t owned a copy in so long that I haven’t been able to check.
Seconding the recommendation, just do not watch as a double feature with Grave of Fireflies.
FTR, the “raccoon with the giant testicles” is actually an animal native to Japan, known as a Tanuki, a subspecies of the “raccoon dog.” They don’t always have the mask-like coloration on their face (without it, they resemble a pudgy fox more than a raccoon, IMHO) but they always, apparently, have huge balls.
Carry on.
I found Porco Rosso a little inscrutable, myself. Totoro is extremely charming, but also totally boring.
Although it is indeed not a Ghibli film, it should be pointed out that a famous Japanese director got his start by directing The Castle of Cagliostro. His name was…Hayao Miyazaki. And now you know…the rest of the story.
(Castle was also used for an American laserdisc arcade game called Cliff Hanger.)
The Castle of Cagliostro is the first movie he directed, but before that he directed a television series: Future Boy Conan.
Conan is just as good as any of his movies, and I highly recommend it.
I’ll also echo the Whisper of the Heart recommendations. It is my second favorite Ghibli movie after Princess Mononoke. Ocean Waves is another very good one.
My eleven-year-old son loves anime and manga but for some reason The Cat Returns totally freaks him out. It’s bad enough that one time he refused to walk into a Japanese gift shop here in L.A. that was showing it on a TV in the back. We’ve never been able to identify what about it creeps him out.
My daughter loves it, though. And all the more so because it makes her older brother crazy … .
To continue the hijack: tanuki actually have tiny balls. I know this not because I checked but because a trivia-type tv show did a story on whether they actually had huge testicles. Tanuki sculptures are often seen near the entrance of shops. Like the fox, the tanuki, in Japanese folklore, is a magical spirit. While the fox is malicious, the tanuki is mischievous. While you want to keep the fox away, you simply want to keep the tanuki happy. If you’re kind to him, he might bring good fortune your way. The huge testicles (sfw) are actually a pun. One of the euphemisms for “testicles” is kintama or “gold balls”. You put a tanuki with huge balls of gold in the hope that business will be good.
Now, I am given to understand from that tanuki do have large testicles for an animal of its size, just not comically enormous as in most depictions (legendarily, the size of 8 tatami mats).
But just try and find an actual picture of Tanuki testicles to prove whether this is right or wrong. sigh I can’t believe the internet let me down on testicles.
Not pictures but a primary cite:
Seasonal Changes of the Testis in the Raccoon Dog, Nyctereutes procyonoides in Kagawa Prefecture, Japan.
I have access to the full article, and the average size for their sample was 15 by 20mm, with a lower bound of 6mm and upper bound of 25mm for the minor axis. As the paper shows, the weight varies between 0.5 and 3 grams depending on the age of the specimen and the season.
Back on topic, in the same line as Grave of the Fireflies, there is also Barefoot Gen which deals with the aftermath of the Hiroshima bombing told from the point of view of a child. I’d recommend also Wings of Honneamise about an astronaut in an alternate history.
Ah heck… I’m going to have to head back to the video store.
A local dvd/games store has a sale running on Studio Ghibli films, and I picked up 5 last night (Howl’s, Princess Mononoke, Kiki’s, Totoro, and their Earthsea adaption). I already had Spirited Away.
Guess I might be heading back for Castle in the Sky (was very tempted already)… and perhaps Nausicaä. Oh dear. 
For my wife and I, Totoro is our therapy movie. Whenever we’re feeling displaced or depressed, Totoro goes in the DVD player.
The amazing thing was that Totoro was released as a double feature with Grave of the Fireflies in Japan. I suppose in a way it makes sense: after watching GOTF what better way to recover than the simple joys of Totoro (I am assuming this is the order in which the films were shown). Perhaps the greatest double feature in movie history.
IIRC Totoro was set quite soon after the war which does give the two films a kind of thematic link. With a bit of luck the two kids in GOTF and their family might have lived to see the kind of idyllic country life in Totoro. Or conversely the family in Totoro might have succumbed to the horrors of WW2.
Okay y’all, I binged on two films tonight – Nausicaa and Howl’s, as recommended.
Nausicaa continued with the Miyazaki’s umbrella theme of environmentalism. Actually, I put that badly; it’s pretty obvious this was one of his earlier films, so maybe I should say that it was a beginning part of this trend? There’s such a respect and love for nature in this stories. What’s really struck me is how strong and interesting this guy’s female characters are. That’s a tremendous relief, as I always had the impression that women in anime were either perfect girly-girls or evil demonesses. Obviously I was misinformed. If Nausicaa fell down anywhere it was with the lack of a solid supporting cast, except for Lord Yuba. The animation was definitely not as sophisticated as the other two I’d seen previously – much more jerky, far less detailed – but that’s less important to me. (Besides, unlike the later films, Nausicaa probably didn’t have either as big a budget or the benefit of computer assistance.)
By the way, the English dub was excellent, with Patrick Stewart, Chris Sarandon, Edward James Olmos, Uma Thurman, Allison Lohman and Shia LaBoeuf.
Next I dove into Howl’s Moving Castle, which was … infreakin’credible! Definitely my favorite so far. The animation was positively stunning, and I’d say this had the best characterization by far, with a really deep bench of interesting, quirky, charming supporting characters. For once I loved both male and female leads. Howl was complex, seemingly cowardly and selfish and yet devoted to fighting against war. Similarly, Sophie was funny and brave, and even though she could be understandably grumpy given her situation she always persevered and reached out to others in need. The supporting cast was brilliant: Calcifer, the little kid whose name I never did quite catch (Marco?), Turnip Head, that adorable dry dog, and even the witch eventually won me over. This is destined to be a classic.
(By the way I’m embarrassed how late into the film it was before I recognized how much an homage to Wizard of Oz this was. I mean, Witch of the Waste? The scarecrow? The dog? The moving house? Where was my brain?? Hell, I only just now realized that Howl was even pretending to be a wizard himself. I’m slow.)
You know what I’ve loved best about his films? The weight they place on compassion, where the heroine or hero will perform acts of surprising kindness to a creature or person whom others ignore or outright despise. In Spirited Away it was Chihiro’s open invitation to No-Face; in Nausicaa it was Nausicaa’s concern for the hideously scary insects; and in Howl’s, it appeared with Sophie’s stopping to help the scarecrow, her being willing to help the witch up the stairs, and even towards the dog she didn’t trust. I found these moments incredibly touching.
Thank so so much for recommending these to me, guys.
Oh, good. I’m always leery of recommending Nausicaa to people and having them pick up the chopped-down Warriors of the Wind dub instead.
My favouite line: “That’s Lord Yupa! Kill him and you’ll be famous!” slice&dice
Although I still think Kiki’s Delivery Service is underrated for the masterpiece it is (the landscape and cityscape especially), my favourite remains Spirited Away. Although I’ve been hearing good things about the latest one, Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea (I’m glad he decided not to stay retired for one last movie)
I too have been trying to get into Japanese animation lately. My advice: don’t automatically rule out dubbing when subtitles are available (it sounds like you haven’t.)
With other genres I avoid dubbing like the plague, but I think it works very well for Japanese animation, and oddly enough, I’m starting to prefer it to subtitles. I think there are two reasons for this: 1) I’d rather be appreciating the artwork than staring down at the text all the time, and 2) I seem to have trouble picking up some of the more subtle nuances of spoken Japanese, so I have to rely more on the text to pick up emotional cues than I would for, say, a French film.
I actually saw most of Miyazaki’s stuff a few years ago, but I stuck to the subtitled Japanese and most of the films left me a little cold. I’m in the process of rewatching them with Disney’s high-quality dubs, and it makes a world of difference. I guess I’m a philistine.
