Top Studio Ghibli OST Tracks

I recently made a post of my favorite general anime OST (original soundtrack) tracks, but I love so many Studio Ghibli ones that I had to make a separate post. Joe Hisaishi is one of my favorite composers, and he’s responsible for most, but not all, of the iconic Studio Ghibli songs we’re familiar with. If the track was composed by him, I’ll put an asterisk* by the title.

Like with the last post, I’ll be linking to Spotify, but you can also just search these titles on wherever you get your music!

The Dragon Boy* - Spirited Away

Spirited Away has many memorable and iconic tracks, but ‘The Dragon Boy’ has always been my absolute favorite; referring, clearly, to the character of Haku. To me this song has always captured the excitement (rather than the fear or mystery) of the world of Spirited Away.

Arietty’s Song - The Secret World of Arietty

This song is so haunting and mysterious, and as much as I love it I kind of feel like the mood is a little more intense than this movie actually is. Although, the whole point of the film is about how much more scary some things are to those tiny humans than they are to regular people, right?

A Town with an Ocean View* - Kiki’s Delivery Service

All of the music in Kiki’s Delivery Service makes me feel so calm and relaxed; I’m obsessed with this entire movie and the soothing mood it exudes. The soundtrack plays a huge part in creating that mood, and this particular song never fails to ground me.

The Rose - Only Yesterday

I’ve talked about this movie a million times on this blog, but just to reiterate, Only Yesterday is super underrated and it’s probably one of the best slice of life anime out there. This track perfectly captures the melancholy of nostalgia, which is essentially the main theme of the film.

 A Journey (Italian Winds)* - The Wind Rises

The Wind Rises is Hayao Miyazaki’s last film with Studio Ghibli (so far, that is), and you can just tell that this film is a love letter to both airplanes and animation. ‘A Journey’ is a recurring track; it’s the main theme of the movie, but altered to specifically fit different scenes. The ‘Italian Winds’ version is my favorite because I believe it encapsulates the feelings of admiration and yearning Jiro feels when dreaming about Giovanni Caproni’s planes.

Top Anime OST tracks

I’ve made a few lists about my favorite anime opening and ending songs, but I also listen to a lot of anime OST (original soundtrack) tracks that I really wanted to give a shoutout to!

I’m going to be linking to the tracks on Spotify, but I’m sure there are other places you can find these songs too.

81194 (Ray’s Theme) - The Promised Neverland

Ray is my favorite character in The Promised Neverland, and I absolutely adore his haunting theme. I think it captures his personality and role in the show extremely well.

My Lie - Your Lie in April

I really would love to put the entirety of Your Lie in April on this list, but if I have to choose only one of the non-lyrical songs off the OST it has to be My Lie. This track is repeated throughout the anime at emotional and evocative moments, and represents Your Lie in April’s heartbreaking nature.

Next to You - Parasyte: the Maxim

This OST track was very memorable for me, I was able to identify it at moments in the show where it acted as a mark of Shinichi’s inner struggles, or at times when it represented his interactions with another character. I really love this song, and even listening to it now makes me very emotional.

The Breakfast Song - From Up on Poppy Hill

I wasn’t going to include any Ghibli songs on this list (because I love too many of them) but I think I’m just going to create a separate Ghibli list later. That being said, I needed to talk about The Breakfast Song. This song was so memorable to me while watching the film, and it’s just super freaking cute and fun. It really fits the theme of the movie, because the main family runs what is essentially a Bed and Breakfast and provides meals for all their lodgers.

First View of Tokyo - Your Name

I am a huge fan of RADWIMPS, the band who wrote the soundtrack for both Your Name and Weathering With You. (like, remember when Spotify showed you what band you were in the top 1% of listeners for? I got that for RADWIMPS) I love pretty much every song on both of those soundtracks, but this song was particularly memorable to me because of its title and at what moment the track occurs during the movie.