Please help me with my college coursework by responding to...Do you think that Studio Ghibli films are easily translatable to a non-Japanese audience? Please explain your reasoning (These are my specific chosen films) [goo.gl/y6vtDf] [goo.gl/9YgkR4] [goo.gl/VVa1eO] [goo.gl/pR5M1p]
shareBy translatable, do you mean enjoyable? I think the IMDb ratings give a good indication of how popular they are outside Japan. You can also check the MAL ratings. Most IMDb and MAL users are not Japanese.
IMDb ratings:
Spirited Away: 8.6 (highest ranked animated movie in the IMDb top 250)
Kiki's Delivery Service: 7.9
Arrietty: 7.7
The Cat Returns: 7.3 (better than the average IMDb rating)
I don't think any of these movies are hard to understand, but non-Japanese people might miss some small details (if they're not familiar with Japanese culture). I think Spirited Away is the one that feels most Japanese, yet it's the most popular one, so missing those details doesn't seem to have a significant impact on people's enjoyment of it. Arrietty was based on a British novel, so that one is the least Japanese.
Comedy is a genre that sometimes doesn't translate well, if the comedy relies heavily on knowledge of the language or culture, but I can't think of any specific anime comedies that don't translate well.