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.