I don't need to say much about Hayao Miyazaki and his films. They are charming gems that the world has fallen in love with – hopefully. Some are quiet and quaint. Some take you on a journey to unseen worlds. Some are creepy and uncomfortable. Almost none of them are filled with unnecessary violence or pointless action. His on-screen action is highly motivated by the story and his charming characters. I'm just fine with that.
I do like his sort-of reoccurring characters like old ladies with large noses. They all have strong personalities and tend to fuel the main character in some way. It's safe to surmise that he had an older woman in his life that heavily influenced his work. You can also say that he loves aviation to the point of wishing he could just sprout wings and fly away...
I do like his sort-of reoccurring characters like old ladies with large noses. They all have strong personalities and tend to fuel the main character in some way. It's safe to surmise that he had an older woman in his life that heavily influenced his work. You can also say that he loves aviation to the point of wishing he could just sprout wings and fly away...
I'm not here to pick apart his brain, but I am here to tell you that he recently gave some classic Miyazaki wisdom to the world of anime. Apparently, anime studios are filled with otaku (nerds) and to Miyazaki that's not necessarily a good thing. In a TV interview he said, "If you don't spend time watching real people, you can't do this, because you've never seen it." He went on to say, “It’s produced by humans who can’t stand looking at other humans.” At this point it's hard to tell if he personally knows this for a fact or if he's just being cranky. "And that’s why the industry is full of otaku!”
If you compare his work to the rest of the anime industry, yeah, there's some not so great stuff, but there's also some amazing productions that edge pretty close to the master himself. If I had to pick two artists most similar to Miyazaki, I would have to go with Makoto Shinkai and Shūzō Oshimi. There's no doubt that each of these writers observed real life people or else they wouldn't have been able to produce such beautiful work that is grounded in deep human relationships, which explore some of the most breathtaking moments I've ever witnessed in any medium of entertainment. I may have just thrown a brick into a glass window saying something like that, but it's 100% true.
 Makoto Shinkai's "5 Centimeters Per Second" |  Shūzō Oshimi's "The Flowers of Evil" ("Aku No Hana") |
Miyazaki's last film, "The Wind Rises" comes to theaters in limited release February 21st. Retiring from the one medium through which his work has literally come to life is beyond sad. Hopefully it will be his greatest film yet and leave us with some fulfillment. But I doubt he'll rest. He does create some pretty amazing mangas and might continue to do so at the wise age of 73.
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