There's obviously no one-to-one, Miyazaki being a legend for a reason. But I've founded the work by Satoshi Kon to give me a blending of fiction and reality and depth of storytelling makes me think a little of what Miyazaki does.
In particular, Tokyo Godfathers hits in a way that not even Miyazaki can replicate IMO. Satoshi Kon probably wasn't as consistent as Miyazaki. But damn, the good Satoshi Kon movies were just beyond excellent.
Mamoru Hosoda is also pretty good. Wolf Children is one of the most "hits you in the real feels" movie that I've seen, despite its surface-level fantasy premise. A true masterpiece, though other movies from Hosoda aren't quite as good IMO. Still, his Digimon and Summer Wars are fun watches.
-----------
There's that off-branch of Ghibli, Studio Ponac too. I've only seen their collection of 3x short films: Modest Heroes (one about a crab family, one about an egg allergy, and one about an invisible guy), but its extremely "Ghibli-like".
Modest Heroes is that mix of fantasy but very much down-to-earth storytelling that reflects upon life, in a child-friendly storytelling style. "Ghibli-style" as people might say.
I was a huge fan of The Girl Who Leapt Through Time and Wolf Children, and started watching everything he made, only to find that he was no longer able to produce movies of that quality. The last 3 - The Boy and the Beast, Mirai, and Belle - have been mediocre at best with stories and characters that were very poorly assembled. I continue to have some hope for future films, but frankly my expectations are very low at this point. Not many directors have produced 3 duds in a row in the prime of their career and then recovered with incredible stories later.
>Satoshi Kon probably wasn't as consistent as Miyazaki.
Well, aside from a few small projects, he only made four movies and one show, and in my estimation they're all excellent. Paranoia Agent I would say is deliberately uneven, being assembled from various unused ideas from past projects, and is quite effective in that way.
Paranoia Agent really is a masterpiece. It works incredibly well.
Every time it comes up, I have to shill Kuuchuu Buranko as something anyone who enjoyed Paranoia Agent should watch. It, along with Tatami and Paranoia, are my personal trifecta of shows that use the medium to the max.
