Studio Ghibli, famous for producing probably the best anime movies of all time, might finally be seeing an end to its 20+ -year domination … in a very interesting twist of fates. Certainly the movies will continue to gross large amounts of money, but I really think that a few ill-made decisions will do them in within the next few years (this isn’t a prediction .. I mean, I hope they produce good films to come!).
The current “drama” is this: legendary director/producer/animator Hayao Miyazaki allowed his son to produce the latest Ghibli film, “Tales from Earthsea” (with a different title in Japan) – based on the popular books of the same name. The elder Miyazaki, though, seems to have originally had reservations about his son doing the movie. Although a lot of people have been praising Hayao Miyazaki’s “foresight” into the apparent flop of Earthsea, I think that there is a lot more to it than just a change in directors. And to those who called Miyazaki a bad father for not encouraging his son, I think that maybe it should be seen in this light: the success of the greatest Ghibli films came because they were perfect. It is very obvious, from the subject matter of the movies to the movies themselves, that there is a strong “do or do not, there is no try” mentality going on. I think that only a director with such a strong obessesion and devotion could ever help keep Ghibli’s empire afloat.
The deeper problem, as I see it, is this: too many of the same movie. Looking at the vast differences between Mononoke and Castle in the Sky, or Spirited Away vs. Nausicaa, it is easy to say that Ghibli is very versatile. But is it really? Look at it this way: in the modern anime scene we have Ouran Host Club with off-the-wall humor and very beautiful boys .. we have a show about a paranoid schizophrenic recluse in NHK no Youkoso .. we even have Samuel L. Jackson’s Afro Samurai that is the closest thing to blaxploitation in anime as we’ve seen so far (but I’m sure it’ll still be pretty badass in any case). The anime market has evolved, but Ghibli has not. While its characters and settings are very endearing, it’s getting harder to tell the difference between their “heartwarming fantasy” and that of ordinary, low-budget shows like Petopeto-san or Kamichu!, all of which feature the same sort of spirit-filled worlds that Ghibli is known for.
Sadly enough, with the advent of computer-animation, it’s not too hard to make something pretty anymore. Realizing the potential, then, of pushing expression way beyond the real world, many modern animes have been exaggerating the facial contortions, the bodily proportions, etc. to new heights. This is because the anime field is realizing that, like painters before them, realism doesn’t cut it. Ghibli is gorgeous, but all their characters look the same. Their eyes are the same; their noses are the same; their hairstyles are the same; and, relevantly to the new movie, their skin tones are the same as well (while the rest of anime has become heavily multicultural, despite the continued disproportionately white-looking characters vs. Asian/black/etc. – although Japan only has one race of people, it is undeniable that the various other races in the world have begun to influence the country greatly).
While it would be risky for Ghibli to suddenly try something new, I think that it should consider that there is more than one way to entertain a child. Without suddenly making something horrendously bloody or whatever, instead perhaps they could try a different sort of character – a different sort of character flaw! A female lead who is not quite so young, or who doesn’t have a perfect romance with the male lead; maybe a setting that is not quite so nostalgic; oh, I don’t know! I’m not an advisor for this sort of thing.
I have no doubts that Earthsea isn’t really all that bad. But that it is disappointing isn’t just Goro’s fault. Howl’s Moving Castle was a mess, too, and Hayao Miyazaki was in charge of that one.
On the other hand, I am very interested in Toki wa Kakeru Shoujo, being released around this time, too. The director is apparently a former Ghibli member who was kicked out for some political reasons during the last film. The trailer’s landscapes are nowhere near as grandiose and fancy as Gedo Senki’s. The girl looks like she’s drawn with quite a bit less polish and consistency. But it’s refreshing, and the story seems to be small and simple. Ghibli’s attempts to adapt foreign books which have epic, complicated plots, then localize them into Japanese culture – I think that maybe it’s biting off more than you can chew. You have only two hours to get the job done. You need a story that could be told to someone else in two hours without confusing him or her.
Instead of going for huge epics, I think a return to movies like Totoro with simple, inconsequential plots – maybe that’s the way to go. Then from there, use the extra space to explore new genres, new niches, new characters. You never know what might happen.
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