I’m going to go out on a limb and say the editors are responsible for the title and subtitle. Whatever the author’s suggested title, it was deemed unlikely to get clicks, but suggesting a hit piece on Hayao Miyazaki is pretty much guaranteed to bring in the clicks of wrathful fans. For anyone even casually acquainted with anime, criticizing Miyazaki is tantamount to blasphemy. He’s one of those few people who maybe not everybody loves, but nobody hates. Pretty much everyone aware of his existence loves him and his work. The nearest western comparison I can think of is Theodore Geisel (Dr. Seuss).
AJ Mac
5 months ago
Nice to get the perspective of an American who now lives in Japan.
I’m skeptical about the idea of a brilliant artist simply “anointing a successor”. How would that be accomplished? Who were Miyazaki’s forerunners? To put it mildly, he doesn’t seem highly collaborative in his creative process. Even if he were, it’s rare for an apprentice to become a real master in his or her own right.
Present and future animators have his work to admire and emulate. Picassos or Fellinis–note the absurdity of writing their names in the plural form–don’t hand their brushes or lenses to a chosen successor who then inherits the old man’s genius or muse. Nevertheless, the work exerts a powerful influence, and a portion of the master’s legacy endures.
Great point. If he did hand it off, there’s every chance that his successor would fail to achieve the same level of genius and leading the studio to failure, or worse, sell out to corporatism and turn Studio Ghibli into another corporate studio churning out formulaic junk in order to print more money for shareholders. Better for it to perish.
Thanks. You actually alerted me to a partial misreading on my part. I now see that Mr. Alt (sounds like a fictional name too) was referring more to the business side of things when he used the phrase “anoint a successor”. Still, certain kinds of important work should to take precedence to commercial concerns, in the long run anyway.
It’s the witch’s curse periodically coming into effect.
Brenda Becker
5 months ago
Awful headline!
Simon Blanchard
5 months ago
My name is… my name is… my name is Humbert von Gickingham!
Mike SampleName
5 months ago
I remember as a kid in the late 70s growing up on “Battle of The Planets” and “Star Blazers” which were American reskinned versions of Ninja Science Team Gatchaman and Space Battleship Yamato. I was hooked from that point. And boy, was I surprised when I finally got my hands on the original (albeit badly dubbed) versions.
When Guyver came out in the late 80s, that was it…
Hoping to get chance to see the Boy and the Heron during the Christmas break.
The headline makes this sound like it’s going to be a ‘Here’s why that thing you like is bad’ article, when it’s basically the exact opposite.
Had the exact same feeling. I was waiting for the “big reveal”, but it never came.
I’m going to go out on a limb and say the editors are responsible for the title and subtitle. Whatever the author’s suggested title, it was deemed unlikely to get clicks, but suggesting a hit piece on Hayao Miyazaki is pretty much guaranteed to bring in the clicks of wrathful fans. For anyone even casually acquainted with anime, criticizing Miyazaki is tantamount to blasphemy. He’s one of those few people who maybe not everybody loves, but nobody hates. Pretty much everyone aware of his existence loves him and his work. The nearest western comparison I can think of is Theodore Geisel (Dr. Seuss).
Nice to get the perspective of an American who now lives in Japan.
I’m skeptical about the idea of a brilliant artist simply “anointing a successor”. How would that be accomplished? Who were Miyazaki’s forerunners? To put it mildly, he doesn’t seem highly collaborative in his creative process. Even if he were, it’s rare for an apprentice to become a real master in his or her own right.
Present and future animators have his work to admire and emulate. Picassos or Fellinis–note the absurdity of writing their names in the plural form–don’t hand their brushes or lenses to a chosen successor who then inherits the old man’s genius or muse. Nevertheless, the work exerts a powerful influence, and a portion of the master’s legacy endures.
Great point. If he did hand it off, there’s every chance that his successor would fail to achieve the same level of genius and leading the studio to failure, or worse, sell out to corporatism and turn Studio Ghibli into another corporate studio churning out formulaic junk in order to print more money for shareholders. Better for it to perish.
Thanks. You actually alerted me to a partial misreading on my part. I now see that Mr. Alt (sounds like a fictional name too) was referring more to the business side of things when he used the phrase “anoint a successor”. Still, certain kinds of important work should to take precedence to commercial concerns, in the long run anyway.
Castle in the Sky
My Neighbor Totoro
Ponyo
For my money, the best of all.
Lupin III: The Castle of Cagliostro, Porco Rosso, and Princess Mononoke for me!
Loved Lupin!
Hated ponyo. 😉
Howl’s Moving Castle is the best.
I never understood why Sophie keeps getting old, young, older, younger, old, young, ecc.
It’s the witch’s curse periodically coming into effect.
Awful headline!
My name is… my name is… my name is Humbert von Gickingham!
I remember as a kid in the late 70s growing up on “Battle of The Planets” and “Star Blazers” which were American reskinned versions of Ninja Science Team Gatchaman and Space Battleship Yamato. I was hooked from that point. And boy, was I surprised when I finally got my hands on the original (albeit badly dubbed) versions.
When Guyver came out in the late 80s, that was it…
Hoping to get chance to see the Boy and the Heron during the Christmas break.