Sorry for responding late, your VM got a little buried, haha. ^_^
I just finished re-watching Spirited Away a few days ago. <3 Other favourites of mine are How's Moving Castle (naturally), Princess Mononoke, The Secret World of Arrietty, Ponyo, Kiki's Delivery Service... basically anything by Miyazaki. :D
And thanks! I like to write (though I haven't in a while) and I'm kind of a sucker for purple prose; it keeps slipping into my writing. So if you really want to, feel free to use that expression for $500 so I can afford a PS4 Pro :')
You're right, Ghibli films are amazing in all aspects, and my answer is exactly the same as yours! I really like how no matter the age or gender of the main characters, even when they're ordinary people like Chihiro, they all possess an inner strength that enables them to pull through any situation. A lot of the anime I've seen tends to have archetypal, one dimensional characters, but not Ghibli—it truly is unique.
Haha, at least we both seem to have settled for now!
Did you hear about Isao Takahata's death? :( I never even saw his work... but I'm going to pay my respects and start by watching The Tale of Princess Kaguya. I'd like to see Grave of the Fireflies as well some day.