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Ribbon no Kishi is one of the earliest anime, made in 1967. It's from the period when Japanese animation hadn't yet gained its distinctive characteristics. It feels more like American cartoons of the period than modern Japanese anime. However, it preserves its innocence.

The plot is cute. Princess Sapphire was born with a girl’s body and a boy's mind (whatever it is). She is the “prince” of Silverland. There’s an iron law in Silverland that only males can inherit the throne. Being the only child of the royal family, her gender is kept secret from the public to guarantee royal succession. Some cunning palace officers, especially ... the main antagonist, Duke Duralumon strives to reveal the truth in order to rule Silverland.

But the poor princess’ problem doesn’t end there. She was born with a boy's mind due to a mischief of an angel called Tink. The angel is sent back to make her feel and behave feminine again. Tink always accompanies her.

This is a children's cartoon. It has the charming simplicity of characters, music, and art. Nevertheless, today's children wouldn't be satisfied with it. Its stereotypical characters with predictable actions may bore but if you're tired of convoluted and ridiculous plotlines, you should give it a try.

Arashi no Yoru ni is a tale of friendship between a goat and a wolf. The anime won Japan Academy Award in 2005. Although it appears like a kids’ stuff, it touches mature themes and faces the fundamental flaw in the main heroes’ friendship, namely, the fact that one is predator and the other prey.

The plot is simple and straightforward. In a stormy night Gobu (wolf) and Mei (goat) find shelter in a barn. They cannot see or smell each other. They pass time in talking and become friends. They decide to meet another time, and soon find out the unfortunate truth. Yet they decide ... to continue their friendship. They develop such a strong bond that when facing starvation, Gobu refuses to eat his friend.

At first glance the anime looks like for kids: the plot is like a fairy tale. There is nothing special about it. Initially you may think it resembles Western cartoons catered to children. But Arashi no Yoru ni begs to differ. In a Disney or Pixar animation predator and prey are best buddies. Those studios intentionally avoid touching the ugly reality of the relationship between the hunted and the hunter. We ignore that being a predator is the nature of many animals. The beauty of Arashi lies in its facing reality, addressing the problem of human/wolf/lamb nature, and by doing so it successfully introduces a philosophical question to an ordinary story about a lamb and a wolf.

Arashi is dealing with an existential question. Gobu can eat Mei. It's in his nature, he is a wolf. But instead he chooses friendship, but without a change in his nature. He continues to kill and eat other preys. At nights he goes for hunt and Mei knows it. Here Arashi radically differs from Disney movies. In Disney, wolves, sharks, lions may become innocuous vegetarians. Nature is Disney’s plaything to make money. But in Arashi no Yoru ni, nature does not change that easily. It keeps its cruelty.

I think the most dramatic scene of the movie is when Gobu questions his own existence: he asks why he was born a wolf. The unlikely friends know their nature and they run away from what they are. Gobu and Mei leave their relatives - wolves and sheep. Despite their strong bond, nature is always there. When Gobu loses his memory and undergoes a temporary amnesia, he reverts back to his wolf nature. He does not recognize Mei and tries to eat him. The story ends when they arrive at a new land, where there's no hunter or prey. It is as if they die and nature cackles.

An individual’s world is small, cramped. It can be very hard to understand the reason behind our own actions let alone know why others choose this or that path for themselves. What we do provides the best clues for explaining us, yet they are just the surface, little waves of the ocean that don’t necessarily reveal our deeper character and thoughts. There is always a distance between what we are and what we do. We cannot get rid of the occasional reflection that people’s behavior often appears silly, egocentric, and to be a bit harsh, meaningless. Nevertheless those tiny waves stay as the best source ... of understanding human beings. Ocean Wave is about those waves. Although the original title means "I can hear the Sea" I think "Ocean Waves" better suits this anime.

The anime does not have a straightforward plot, though it can be hardly called unique. It can seem hard to get into because what the movie tries to convey is a sort of sensibility rather than action. It is somewhat similar to 5 centimeters per second. It depicts lives in small contexts, casts light on everyday worries and dreams, instead of throwing a grand event at us. The story does not dive into deeper feelings that determine characters. It focuses on the small ripples on the surface. Relations happen under the surface. It has a soft relaxing atmosphere, a trait not only Ghibli works but many other Japanese anime and movies share. The ending is beautiful, with no plot twist, nothing glamorous, yet fairly heart-warming. Characters are realistically and beautifully depicted. The story is not fast-paced, it lets us stay with the heroes and understand them a bit, and while there, understand some of our own feelings as well.

Ocean Wave is a Ghibli work, but one point must be mentioned. Ghibli movies share some common elements that make them typical in their category. Binge-watching is not recommended. But it is helpful to bear in mind that Ghibli productions stand worlds apart from the rest. They change over time. They grow, mature in some respects, and sometimes regress. For example, earlier Ghibli works have stronger and more active characters than later ones. Later works have somewhat repetitious characters, as if copied from the older ones. Nevertheless, their every work stands above from the majority of anime inundating the market with brainless battles, half-naked teenage girls, which give the impression that they’re specially tailored for unapologetic pedophiles fast approaching their midlife crisis. Therefore, every Ghibli work is always a fresh breath of air that helps us forget the stench of average popular anime.