The beauty of nature can mean a lot of things, depending on who you ask. A quaint garden with colorful shrubs and trees can have the same impact as a forbidding mountain peak standing against a bare sky. Anime has plenty of movies that utilize nature as the theme, and even those that don't can take place in wild or verdant locations.
There's a lot of anime to choose from when it comes to showing off the beauty of nature. Even anime dedicated to futuristic or science fiction themes will have some impressive natural details. From the most humble blossom to the wide mountain valley, a natural location is often the star of these animated shows.
7 The Garden Of Words (2013)
Most of this story, which is about a friendship between two very different people, takes place in a lush urban park. Takao Akizuki is a 15-year-old high school student who aspires to become a shoemaker, and Yukari Yukino is a 27-year-old woman hiding from work. What they have in common is the green space where they both take refuge from their troubles.
It's not only the trees and plants that form the natural environment that functions as the setting for the story. The other ambient feature is the rain, which even has its own theme song. Unlike other anime, this was made into a manga after the fact and not the other way around.
6 Princess Mononoke (1997)
An environmental message as much as it is a tribute to the working man and a slap in the face to oppressive social norms, Princess Mononoke has even more to offer than most Studio Ghibli films when it comes to the beauty of nature. Given that Miyazaki does what he can to showcase the natural world in all of his work, that's a high bar.
The country home of the Eboshi People is painfully idyllic to begin with, and the quaint farms and fields of the Japanese countryside are equally beautiful. When the main character, Ashitaki, reaches the realm of the forest spirit, it's a feast for the eyes and includes spirits both great and small.
5 Okko's Inn (2018)
The greatest beauty can be found in even the most humble things and tragic days, which is the message contained in the story of Okko's Inn. The hero, whose nickname is Okko, is sent to live with her grandmother after losing her parents in a car accident. The inn is a type of ryokan, a traditional Japanese lodging that also includes historic architecture and gardens.
Most of the story takes place at the inn, which includes the impeccable gardens and water features that decorate the property. When Okko starts to befriend and speak to ghosts, they seem more like an extension of the natural environment as opposed to malevolent spirits that don't belong there.
4 My Neighbor Totoro (1988)
My Neighbor Totoro opens with a sequence on a rural road, following a truck laden with furniture and boxes. Mei and Satsuki are moving out to the country, and the viewer follows their journey through the sunny Japanese countryside. Their journey comes to an end at an equally charming but slightly run-down country house that almost looks like it sprung out of the ground like a plant itself.
Even without the supernatural forest spirit that gives this film its name, there's plenty to enjoy in the countryside. The beauty of the environment is equal parts farmland and wild forest, and Studio Ghibli makes sure the viewers get the best of both worlds.
3 The Summit Of The Gods (2021)
Written and designed to resemble a documentary to give it a look of authenticity, Summit of the Gods is an anime selection for those that prefer realism to fantasy. What started as a manga has both a live-action adaptation in Japan entitled Everest: Kamigami no Itadaki (2016) and this full-length anime film, which was produced in France and Luxembourg.
The story in each medium is basically unchanged, following the story of the protagonist Makoto Fukamachi after he finds an old camera on his trip up the face of Mount Everest. The depiction of the mountains, and the hardships and triumphs traversing them, is no less than stunning.
2 Nausicaa Of The Valley Of The Wind (1984)
What makes the environmental message of Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind a timeless one is the reverence that is always afforded to Mother Nature even when she's trying to kill us. Both the kind, fertile Valley of the Wind and the savage, toxic Wastelands are beautiful, a secret that Nausicaa is one of the few people in the world to understand.
The natural world includes the creatures that live there along with the plants, rivers, and mountains, and in Nausicaa's world, it's the bugs that rule. Often shunned by humans as ugly or dirty, this movie teaches us that the beauty of the environment has something to do with the sacrifices and hard work of the insects.
1 The Red Turtle (2016)
No matter how beautiful nature is, we often fight against it, either for mere convenience or serious survival. A tropical island sounds like a paradise, but those colorful plants and golden beaches don't take isolation or starvation into account. A castaway is trying to escape using simple means and is continuously thwarted by a mysterious red turtle, who is much more than she appears.
Studio Ghibli helped produce The Red Turtle, which should surprise nobody, and other companies like The Wild Bunch and Arte France Cinéma were also collaborators. It was only released in France and Japan a few years ago, but is currently available on a variety of online services.