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Quartet
(TV Series)

If there is one thing I would LOVE for you to watch from this list, it's this. And, to top it off, I think you should go into this completely blind. (Trust me!)

It was such a joy to watch this series unfold, slowly learning what it is and then being blown away as it continues to reinvent itself.

I don't want to talk about ANYTHING to do with the plot, but I will say that its characters are perhaps the most beloved cast of characters to me out of any TV series I have seen. They are fascinating to watch, and the dialogue is delivered so quickly and naturally that it makes even otherwise mundane scenes exciting to behold. Dinnertime conversations have never been so engaging to watch!

Also, if you are a Dragon Quest fan like me, there are a couple of parts that will bring a tear to your eye.

I first watched Quartet bit by bit in the dead of night, while bottle-feeding our newborn. Desperate for something to help me stay awake, I chose to watch it at random. I then proceeded to race through episodes (as fast as one can while watching exclusively during nighttime bottle feeds), and fell absolutely in love with it.

After finishing it, I knew that my wife would love it too. So we started watching it together immediately, and watching it a second time was EVEN BETTER!

That's it. That's my sales pitch. Please watch Quartet! Or, better yet, if you know me in the real world - let's watch it together!

Ainori
(TV Series)

After exhausting every episode of Terrace House (including the original not on Netflix!) we were searching for something that scratched a similar itch.

Well, luckily, we found something that was (for us) BETTER! Ainori has wonderful stories of its participants forming deep bonds of friendship (and maybe more) as they travel around the world. These stories are often told with very entertaining editing, and a sense of humour that really resonates with us.

The participants travel through various countries of the world on a little pink bus known as the Love Wagon. The goal is to fall in love and return to Japan. I like the fact that despite the fact the core of the show centres on this pursuit of romance, the actual focus of an episode will more often focus on the general relationships of people on the Love Wagon and the places they are travelling through. The romances tend to happen quietly in the background, and it's just kind of nice.

Though it sometimes falls prey to reality TV drama (especially in the two Asian Journey seasons on Netflix), this is rarely the defining trait. If you happen to have watched Asian Journey and bounced off some of the drama, I really recommend African Journey. It's so heartwarming, and feels like it really captures the true spirit of Ainori!

If, like me, you want to go even deeper, you can find fan-made subtitles for a good number of the original televised series from the early 2000's. It's a nostalgic window to the past, and these episodes feature some of the most lovely participants from the entire show. It's worth doing some digging for these older Ainori episodes if you're into it. It's a goldmine.

If there's one good thing I hope will come from this dark age of AI, it's that I hope I will be able to generate accurate English subtitles for all the old episodes that didn't get a fan translation!

Only Yesterday
(Film)

Previously, I think I'd have struggled to pick a favourite Ghibli film. They're all so magical for many reasons, and I have long been very fond of Ponyo, Howl's Moving Castle, and My Neighbour Totoro. I know I certainly wouldn't have picked Only Yesterday as a favourite.

The first time I watched Only Yesterday, I was probably around 17 years old. I found it to be immensely boring, and I just didn't get it. As the credits rolled, I was just glad it was over.

However, years passed and I'm basically twice as old now. Life has happened, and in so many ways both I and my life seem unrecognisable. And one day I found myself thinking about that boring Ghibli film I was once so disappointed with.

I brought Only Yesterday home from the library and we watched it together. I was kind of in disbelief - this didn't feel anything like the movie I watched before! I was swept away by each scene, hanging on every little word and animation. It was wonderful!

As with anything else here, I'm avoiding discussing specifics about the plot. I won't say anything beyond the fact that this is a story about a woman reminiscing about her home and her youth, especially in relation to her current position in life. My wife astutely pointed out that the film didn't resonate with me the first time as I had never known what it was like to have a past or a home to be nostalgic for. I was still basically a child living at home. Whereas now I'm in a position to personally relate to the protagonist.

I would describe most of the film as simply lovely and relatable in this way, and it wraps up with an absolutely enchanting scene that never fails to make my eyes misty upon mentioning it. It's astonishing, and single-handedly puts this at the top of my Ghibli rankings, and probably my film rankings in general.

I think younger me was looking for the Ghibli magic found in Totoro or Spirited Away. Whereas Only Yesterday is filled with the magic of the real world that we sometimes can only see many, many years after the fact. If we're lucky, we'll see it again - and that's what watching this film as an adult made me feel so hopeful for.