Gake no Ue no Ponyo

A goldfish sneaks away from home and floats off on the back of a jellyfish. After getting stuck in a glass jar, she drifts to the shore where she is freed by Sousuke, a five-year-old boy who lives with his mother Lisa in a house by the sea while his father Koichi works on a fishing boat. After healing a cut on Sousuke's finger by licking it, the goldfish is named Ponyo by her new friend.

Unknown to Sousuke, Ponyo already has a name and a family. Her father Fujimoto, a sorcerer who forsook his humanity to live underwater, searches frantically for his daughter Brunhilde. When found and captured, Ponyo rejects her birth name and declares that she wants to become a human. Using the power received from Sousuke's blood, she grows arms and legs and escapes to the surface once more. But the magic released into the ocean causes an imbalance in nature, causing the Moon to start falling out of orbit and the tides to grow dangerously stronger. Reunited with Ponyo, Sousuke must pass an ancient test to restore order in the world and let his companion live on as a human.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Ponyo Main

Kouzuki, Yuria Japanese

Sousuke Main

Doi, Hiroki Japanese

Fujimoto Supporting

Tokoro, George Japanese

Lisa Supporting

Yamaguchi, Tomoko Japanese

Granmammare Supporting

Amami, Yuuki Japanese

Yoshie Supporting

Naraoka, Tomoko Japanese

Kumiko Supporting

Hiraoka, Eimi Japanese

Toki Supporting

Yoshiyuki, Kazuko Japanese

Koichi Supporting

Suzuki, Toshio Producer

Miyazaki, Hayao Director, Script, Screenplay, Executive Producer, Animation Director

Kimura, Eriko Sound Director

Medel, Jennifer Script

Reviews

Feb 20, 2025

jennisiaria

Recommended

Ponyo is like the Disney princess movie if the princess was a goldfish, her prince was a five-year-old with way too much enthusiasm, and the plot was basically a fever dream involving sea creatures, magic, and some seriously questionable parenting choices.

Let’s start with the main character: Ponyo. She’s a goldfish who’s bored of being a goldfish, so what does she do? Turn into a human because, apparently, swimming around in the ocean with her sisters is so last season. Naturally, she’s also got magic powers—because why not? I mean, who wouldn't want to become a human just to throw all the ocean into chaos and ... nearly flood the entire world? Just classic Ponyo stuff.

Then there’s Sosuke, the five-year-old boy who is absolutely convinced that this fish-turned-girl is his soulmate. To be fair, he does everything you’d expect a kid to do when they find their one true love—he gives her a ham sandwich, promises to protect her, and doesn’t really question the "Hey, I have an ocean-controlling magical fish girl in my house" situation. Honestly, it’s refreshing to see a child protagonist who doesn't overthink everything and just rolls with whatever bizarre event is happening. A true icon.

Now, let’s talk about the animation because, if there’s one thing Ghibli nails every time, it’s animation that will leave you staring at your screen thinking, “Wait, is this what an acid trip looks like but with more fish and water?” The colors are so vibrant, you’ll wonder if someone slipped a glitter bomb into the ocean. The underwater world looks like it was made by a child who’s way too excited about painting in watercolor. It’s all bright, swirly, and a little chaotic—basically the visual equivalent of a sugar rush. Oh, and don’t forget the giant tsunami—it’s there for reasons that are extremely unclear but definitely super fun.

The movie’s plot is simple, or rather, delightfully wacky. Ponyo’s desire to become human causes literal natural disasters. It's a love story, yes, but also a “let’s turn the Earth into a water park” story. So, while Sosuke is trying to save the day with his determination (and the power of not really understanding what’s going on), we watch as Ponyo's magic does whatever it feels like. If the ocean could give a middle finger, it probably would.

Let’s not forget the world-ending consequences of this little magical mishap. You’ve got the ocean rising to the point that the world might actually drown, and the only thing that’s saving it is a young boy promising that he’s going to “love this fish forever” (which, okay, is adorable but also mildly concerning if you think about it for too long). It’s heartwarming but also like…a little bit of an environmental disaster waiting to happen. Whoops!

Despite the oceans rising and overwhelming everything, the film has this very “it’s all going to be okay” vibe. It's like someone took a classic Ghibli story, added some underwater chaos, sprinkled in some fish magic, and then told you, “It’s okay, we’ll fix it with love and some ham sandwiches.” It’s a weird, whimsical ride that will make you question the mechanics of ocean-level flooding but also leave you with a smile.

So, if you like your movies with a dash of magical fish girls, an entire world teetering on the edge of aquatic doom, and a whole lot of beautiful animation that’ll leave you wondering if your eyeballs have been blessed, then Ponyo is the movie for you. It’s cute, it’s weird, and it’s the aquatic chaos we didn’t know we needed. Enjoy it for the sheer weirdness, and don’t overthink it. Just ride the wave! 🌊

Reviewer’s Rating: 7

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Jul 27, 2021

SnailKai

Mixed Feelings

At first I thought this movie was gonna be very different than what it was actually like, I was expecting something more along the lines of an ordinary every day kids cartoon but instead it was like if the writers of Emperor's New Groove had taken LSD then tried to write an anime. All aside this movie was very interesting and unique, i feel like they could've definitely gone a different direction but im definitely okay with how it went. The beginning is very weird with a magical person seducing fish then chasing a fat baby to land after it hitched a ride inside a ... jelly fish? I wish we had a bit more context at the start with Ponyo and her father and what their relationship was like and why Ponyo doesnt like her father.
I like how Sosuke actually acts like a 5 year old, in other shows you'll see children acting very differently than how a regular 5 year old would but nope, Sosuke hangs out with the elderly women at the senior centre because they find him cute, he puts a fish in a bucket after finding it in the fucking ocean (where it lives), forgives his dad for being an absent workaholic, doesnt question why a "fish?" is speaking to him? Y'know normal stuff. We dont even find out what Ponyo even is even after it nearly killed him by flooding the island him and his village live on.
Finding it very odd that the mum doesnt even suspect anything when Ponyo comes back as a little girl she just dries her off from the ocean and is like "welp yeah you're here now"

Reviewer’s Rating: 6

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Feb 10, 2025

dzzthink

Not Recommended

It's quite confusing and altogether unsatisfying. Its premise seems really interesting and provides a view into a brother-sister dynamic during a flooding event, but the fact that Miyazaki doesn't usually rely on thought-out scripts and mostly on storyboards really led to the downfall of this movie as it resulted in a boring middle section and really bland ending. This problem is usually not so bad in many Ghibli movies as it is offset by actually interesting characters and plot but there just wasn't enough going for this movie to actually make it interesting. Animation is still really great, which apparently was mostly hand-drawn, making the ... sea really beautiful, and is what sort of redeems the movie.

Reviewer’s Rating: 4

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