Miyazaki was right.

Now that The Boy and the Heron has released, figured it’s time to revisit the philosophy of everyone’s favourite anime grump, Hayao Miyazaki.
Clip used at the start: The Kingdom of Dreams and Madness 2013, Directed by Mami Sunada and Distributed by Toho Co., Ltd.
Tracks used:
Sir Cubworth - Simple Sonata
dreamy pie - pavement

[@juromori]

Miyazaki secretly really wants to practice parkour

[@takusaka3667]

🤣 lmao

[@takusaka3667]

True

[@michotito4874]

if l could do parkour like an anime ninja instead of some Assassins Creed at best then l would too lamo

[@user-zp8kj2cl9g]

If it wasn't a life threatening hobby, who wouldn't?

[@leftyfourguns]

Well parkour is French and Miyazaki is a Francophile so it checks out

[@vigor4973]

"I want to make movies that show kids it's good to be alive." - Hayao Miyazaki

[@graneishere9658]

@@CamelliaFlingert ?? I don't think any kids want to kill themselves, or wish they weren't alive after watching one of his films.

[@graneishere9658]

@@CamelliaFlingert I think you're wrong here. You're saying that his films didn't have any significant impact on those who watched it. To expect that his films will change the world is an overstatement. He's not the Beatles of anime, but I think his films did great on the youth who has watched it. His films teach kids to not be afraid of change, to show kindness, curiosity and freedom, how important family is, to comfort others and to face your fears, and to respect nature, and that we can't dominate nature, and the balance of it will crumble if we don't love and care for it. And to enjoy life. Almost everyone has 1 of his films as a great memory that will stay with them forever. Nothing in the world hasn't changed probably, but that doesn't mean that his films didn't do what he wanted them to do, the messages he wanted people to hear. I'm positive that his films have had great impact on the youth, and that the films have resulted in move love for the world rather than hate, or not changing a thing.

[@graneishere9658]

@@CamelliaFlingert Of course there would be more bad people always. But imagine if his films never existed in the first place. It's impossible to imagine 100% because we wouldn't know. But I' sure that there would be more negativity without his films. I'm sure that his films have reached the hearts of those who have watched them to change for the better for the world. But to say that they didn't have any impact at all is very farfetched. Just because there are bad people, doesn't mean that there aren't good people. He didn't have a goal to change the entire world. But he has certainly been positive for the youth. So his goal was reached.

[@bignasty389]

@@CamelliaFlingert I mean, he didn't specify *which kids*. I don't think there's anyone or anything that can help you in particular. Sucks to suck.

[@chmood]

Maybe he’ll get around to movies that show old people it’s okay to still BE alive - how to be humble, courteous, cheerful, motivated, *human* in a world that doesn’t want them, that won’t have them, that impatiently wants them already dead…seems the NON-humans are the only ones who/ ways around that Miyazaki is an international treasure: may he continue to work and be satisfied

[@waits-jo6ze]

imagine a world where we don't disappoint miyazaki

[@TheONLYFeli0]

not just miyazaki, but every artist. I feel disappointed, too.

[@thatoneguy_71]

I think Miyazaki would appreciate shows like Kinos Journey ( 2003 anime and manga), erased ( manga) and Vinland saga (anime/manga).

[@cvetanvelinov4404]

Him getting dissappointed from reality now makes sense for him to be making fantasy animation

[@plantday4680]

Honestlyy man i just want tk some fantasy with overpowered characters and cool fight with potential bl shipping. After a long day of work. Live action cant do that in a million years.

[@sparta007ot]

no@@thatoneguy_71

[@genuinesaucy]

Some of the best writing advice I ever heard was from Ross Scott of the KZbin channel Accursed Farms. "I can get into the most fantastical story you can throw at me, but if the people in it don't act like actual PEOPLE, then that kills it for me." Miyazaki's work is one of the greatest examples of hitting that nail directly on the head. Almost all his movies are set in crazy, outlandish fantasy worlds, but you can suspend your disbelief that much more easily because all the characters feel so authentic.

[@vangoghsseveredear]

Ross is great!

[@carlcarlson5553]

Doesn't work for me. I HATE completely authentic and grounded characters. To me it destroys fantasy.

[@aoshinn]

yes, but not because of him, he barely touched the scripts because he was utterly snob.

[@alpha-sama]

Honestly, that's a very weak case you're making. You can't decide what makes a person act like a person. For example, if you put someone who lived a peaceful life next to someone who experienced a lot of trauma as a kid next to each other, their behaviors and world views are likely to be vastly different. It's very much possible that they won't be able to understand how the other thinks or rationalizes. Does that mean one of them isn't human? And if so, which one? You see, it falls apart.

[@HasufelyArod]

By this quote, one can say that sitcomes like Friends and The Big Bang Theory are hellwalks.

[@Neonagi]

I think the takeaway is that there's not enough anime out there that masterfully intertwines the boundaries between fantasy or escapism and the realism of people or humanity like Miyazaki films. Too many characters feel like tropes instead of real people in your average one cour episodic anime. Though, I believe that's okay, it just shouldn't be the only thing available. More anime that try different techniques or settings or styles or themes are always a pleasure to behold; variety is the spice of life.

[@ScooterCat64]

I agree with this! To me, current anime characters feel like characters only based and inspired by prior anime characters. Distorted and alien to how people act in real life.

[@Amgarrak]

@@ScooterCat64 Basically they are made up tropes than actual defining characteristics. Which makes the characters feel two dimensional.

[@islandboy9381]

@@ScooterCat64 Every anime discussion has gone from talking about the actual substance to ''oh it's this former anime's tropes but done right/better ect.'' simply to cater to fandoms built from that and nothing else.

[@ayceinquisitor190]

"More anime that try different techniques or settings or styles or themes are always a pleasure to behold" this is true of all animation too. We deserve to see experimentation by artists

[@Arcanineisthebest]

These boundries do not exist. You can literally have a slice of life anime but have the characters, their decisions, the consequences that drive their actions, their attitude, their reactions, their past, their interactions, etc etc etc... Be completely unrealistic and not meant to represent reality. The best sci fi movies/anime/media are realistic in every single aspect I mentioned, and they literally never come down to earth. They're very escapist. Same for slice of life, fantasy, action, you get the point.

[@K150arts]

the beauty in the mundane is something we can all learn to appreciate. The joy of humanity and understanding others as real people too is something that is more needed in this world. Nothing is black and white and its nice to remember that once in a while

[@eggbun]

Which is exactly why there are a hundred or so slice of life anime out there

[@powerstar2028cartoon]

lol yeah i guess...if ur crazy and dumb and dont see humans suck in general dont bother even looking at em

[@truck6859]

Well-said!

[@Steak818]

@@eggbun Most slice of life anime are more boring than "mundane" the way it is portrayed here. Full of tropes and no creative ambition.

[@plantday4680]

Conflicted I enjoy bl and just want to be able to enjoy overpowered fantasy world with no cool powers and fights and a good plot and great animation. But I get what y'all mean by the relation with others.

[@tarnetskygge]

"Anime is produced by humans who can't stand looking at other humans" yeah you can see why he gets on so well with Hideaki Anno, that particular human failing is one of the core themes of Evangelion.

[@ccengineer5902]

What are you talking about, Evangelion is full of complex, conflicted characters dealing with very human circumstances and situations. Perhaps Hideaki didn't like people,but he most certainly watched and understood them. What's different with him is he doesn't force a happy ending like Miyazaky preferrs to do, he let's his humans play out to their naturally self-destructive nature.

[@irmalair4730]

Humans who can't stand looking at other humans also have a story to tell, even if Miyazaki doesn't like it...

[@williamwoolf8072]

Lol somebody that didnt understand evangelion at all. I admit the first 15 episodes were more or less unnessecary. And a lot of fluff. But even then Kaji ritsuko and shinji felt like real people. The end of evangelion is where the core of the message lies. To run away from love and to simply merge with everyone or to accept it despite the pain and hardships. This is something we see with shinji struggling to connect with aska Rei and purple haired lady. Ironically making it one of the few animes where having the supporting cast be female was acrually nessecary. In the end we see shinji choosing a different path from Gendo and choking ask a because rather than escaling into the instrumentality project he chose to take his chances and form bonds with other peopls despite his fear of rejection. He wanted to hear aska reject him to have proof that they were back in the real world.

[@williamwoolf8072]

The problem is evangelion was ahead of its time. And all its fans were only watching it for robot fights while the focus was actually on the eva pilots state of mind and psychology and how it begins to degrade. The main theme was hinted at all the way in episode 3 wien ritsuko brings up the hedgehog dilemma. Also the ed always had a sad melody that spirals to despair as the series moves on.

[@Knight_Artorias007]

What about the rebuild and its escapism to the real world?

[@gabrielmeyer5644]

Orson Welles said something to the effect of, "Young filmmakers today are soaked in films," stating he was sick of the waves of homage that consistently swept the industry; similar to Miyazaki, he thought said filmmakers ended up distracted from what should be the real mission of a serious artist -- that being taking note of real people and channeling your specific experiences into creative, original expression. I think this line of thought needs more encouragement in today's generation of artists.

[@classic_kennedy]

Thanks, this post really helped me think about my photography/film work.

[@Observer-O]

.

[@gokurocks9]

You really hit the nail of the head here. Thanks, Gabe!

[@ajuwaaa]

this quote of his is truly amazing, thanks for sharing it

[@Rajonas007]

That's exactly how it feels. It's so rare and refreshing to see a human acting like a human character in anime especially recently.

[@REALdavidmiscarriage]

Monster for example has a bunch of realistic characters...

[@Nem87]

For this reason I carefully choose what new shows to watch, though luckily there's still some gems released. I recommend watching Frieren if you haven't done so yet. I think it's a beautifully crafted series that reflects a lot more on life despite in a fantasy setting, than most recent anime set in a modern setting

[@techissus7449]

​@@Nem87seconded, on another note, which I haven't seen it dungeon meshi appears to follow a similar string

[@carlcarlson5553]

​@@Nem87 Completely grounded and authentic characters in fantasy should stay a rarity. The reason I say it should stay rare is because that is the ONLY reason it is so enjoyable when done right. For me fantasy is ruined by completely authentic and realistic characters. That's not why I watch fantasy anime.

[@nemmeth7710]

@@carlcarlson5553well I guess there's different types of fantasy. Like complete escapism completely detached from reality, or fantasy that can be a reflection on reality. I prefer the latter cause it teaches me new things in life but also to be given the ability to process what's going on in reality. But I do get the appeal of complete escapism too, to just be able to relax and focus on something completely else. I enjoy that too at times. But yeah, also luckily people's tastes vary so we get a bunch of different things to choose from 👍

[@JasonOfArgo]

Escapism is fine, even Miyazaki's films are escapist in their elevation of the mundane to something magical, but the difference is a lot of anime refuses to come back down to Earth at any point. It's all escapism and lack of realism, all the time, until it becomes an experience that isn't meant to be relatable, like daydreaming instead of working towards an ambition. You will never actually experience most of the things that happen in an anime, but Miyazaki films are inherently grounded in what real people might go through.

[@utkarshsingh-rp2dq]

What are these anime that you're talking about? Can you name a few? honestly, I don't understand the insistence on realism?

[@justingoers]

Great take!

[@honaleri]

I never once left a Miyazaki film feeling I'd escaped, or that his takes on the mundane where anything other than accurate portrayals. His use of fantasy is awe inspiring, but mostly- used to tell more complex stories of real conflict, real divides people feel, and real issues people endure. Never once did I feel I'd left the world, I only ever felt I'd seen it more clearly after watching a Miyazaki film.

[@will_mear]

@@utkarshsingh-rp2dq I don't know if the OP would agree, but something like "In another world with my smartphone" or "Campfire Cooking in Another World with My Absurd Skill" stuff like that, where they are fun to watch with the brain turned off but have no real unique premises or different world view. Granted they can still be fun to watch but they are so similar that there is no real difference and that Miyazaki's films often time have some sort of meaning in the background and is very grounded, so while they can have unrealistic elements an are entertaining, they show different viewpoints about part of the human condition and have a more nuanced meaning(granted I don't watch anime too often anymore so I could be wrong).

[@Arcanineisthebest]

Nah. You mean realistic settings, but the characters, their decisions, the consequences that drive their actions, their attitude, their reactions, their past, their interactions, etc etc etc... Are completely unrealistic and not meant to represent reality. The best sci fi movies/anime/media are realistic in every single aspect I mentioned, and they literally never come down to earth. Same for slice of life, fantasy, action, you get the point.

[@erinbathie-moore8478]

I think that's why so many people like Miyazaki films. They breathe life and appreciation into everyday motions. They give us reason to love where we are

[@andreatomassini5521]

Many people like his movies because he's closer someway to western expectations.

[@JustAGuySlayingDragons]

His movies acts as a reminder to enjoy simple moments in life. Like clouds, grass, branded chocolates. Life is fun.

[@lordlopikong6940]

It's because he brings out the wonders of imaginations. Remember when you were a kid bored during a trip and you'd imagine the a ninja run on the cable wires or the son chasing after you? Miyazaki makes these imaginations come to life. And it isn't even the main focus

[@DanielSilvaProf]

I have a very similar feeling about writing for books. Old classic writers had an interesting life before writing: fought wars, did journalism, praticed radical sports, traveled the world, talked to strangers in seedy bars, lawyers, medical doctors, policemen, even drug dealers and thieves. Now they go to a university to learn how to be a writer, then write professionally, ghostwriting and copywriting until they get a hit. They learn how to write before they have anything interesting to write about.

[@southoceann]

Wow you put it perfectly in your last sentence! I have pondered the question many times myself too, and my conclusion was it's not possible to teach people to make great arts. All great artists go through an intense process of self learning, embracing their individual perspective on the matter. Artists are born not from expertise but inspiration, and while knowledge can be passed on, inspirations cannot be imposed.

[@lordlopikong6940]

Yeah that's very accurate, I don't think there is ever a writer that wrote anything interesting that didn't come from an inspiration of experience. Now it's copy and paste.

[@Lampoluke]

As someone who actually writes (for now as a hobby) I agree with you, and not only that, I am afraid to be to derivative myself. I am thankful to my parents to allow me to travel the world and take martial arts because I am capable of writing cultures coming into contact and proper fight scenes, unlike some writers 20 years into their career.

[@honkhonk8009]

ONG BRO. Watch star trek, LOTR, and those old ahh movies. Dude these people been to war. They have life experiences that feel so human. The star trek episode im talking about specifically is the one where kirk fights the romulan ship. Looseley based off a submarine novel. You get to see their chain of command, their culture, and the way they think and act. While very clinical and military feeling, it comes off human yk? It has qualities only a human would pick out. Dude its so wierd cus nowadays, the plot and the characters are so much more artificial.

[@honkhonk8009]

I think its partially because people these days are just boring. Were a generation of replaceable NPC's living meaningless lives. I have no where the same amount of experiences my dad has. My life is bleakly uninteresting nowadays. If I did the same shit my dad was able to do, my life would be ruined. Life is too clinical. I have to be a perfect person to get anywhere, or get replaced

[@bleatsdgoat3638]

I cried for an hour after watching the Boy and the Heron, I literally had to hide out in the bathroom of the movie theater just to keep it together to get to the car. The magic is, I couldn't even rationalize it for a long time, the tears just kept coming. The first movie I saw in the movie theater with my dad was Castle of Cagliostro in the late 80's. The day after my grandmother died I watched Princess Mononoke in the movie theater... then watched it 3 more times that week. When I first lived on my own, in a new city, just me and my fiancé having met no friends yet, I saw Spirited Away with her and both of our mothers. His movies have been the touchstones of my life and I know that story is the same for millions around the globe. His films are so delicately layered with real life and speak to the human soul in ways few artists eve capture. Miyazaki films are felt, not always understood. Thank you for your beautiful video

[@Rays91546]

I also cried after watching The Boy and the Heron and oh boy I can tell you that I definitely felt it and didn't understand it. I sat down in the lobby of the movie theater and just stared at the floor trying to contain my tears, but I couldn't do it. I broke down and cried. I was trying to rationalize what I had just watched and none of it made any sense and the more I thought about it the less sense it made, it was infuriating. "What the f did I just watch?" I kept repeating in my head. The movie struck chords deep within me which I didn't know I had, but none of it made any sense. I hated the feeling and I hated how much disgust the movie made me feel. I did not like the birds one bit. There definitely is something to Miyazaki's movies. This is the first film of his that touched me this deeply and generated this much negative emotions within me, it was painful. Although I guess that isn't all that surprising considering a lot of his movies focus on war and tragedy. I like his lighthearted movies like Totoro and Kikis Delivery service a lot more.

[@GeneralKenobi69420]

Most mature furry

[@protastudios]

@@GeneralKenobi69420 Apparently sensitive people are immature now.

[@willbaker8505]

​@@protastudios yes

[@candide1065]

@@protastudios yes

[@zaktan7197]

I think the best kind of escapism art rather than make the world look dull in comparison makes one see mundane with a sense of wonder.

[@halominder]

It's like talking to someone who is passionate about something - you may have had no interest whatsoever prior to the conversation, but their energy creates intrigue and a fondness of whatever it is they are passionate about, and you begin to see it in a new frame of thought... it can be enjoyable.

[@DoctorPhileasFragg]

You need some commas here, but this is a good thought.

[@Mackievellian]

Nice thoughts :). Also 😂😂😂. No need to point that out, you understood what they were saying so just leave it, no? ​@@DoctorPhileasFragg

[@greyfox4838]

That is how some of the best works of fantasy make me feel. It's not "look how boring your world is, you wish you died and came to this world instead huh?" No, the best ones make me want to go outside and experience what the characters have experienced. The Hobbit makes me want to go on an adventure like Bilbo, Whisper of the Heart makes me want to pick up a pen or an instrument right away, even something dark like Berserk makes me feel hopeful for myself if someone like Guts can be hopeful too. The best works of fantasy are not "escapism from my world," it's "escapism to a world."

[@TosoToco]

Indeed. Escapism isn't always good for people and societies. Miyazakis films makes me love the world while a lot of modern fiction makes me want to escape or ignore it in a time when it's not needed. We live in the most peaceful age in human history. The only way we can preserve it is if we live it.

[@LoupLoup-kj2wh]

Most peaceful age in human history? Do you also live on planet Earth.

[@TosoToco]

@@LoupLoup-kj2wh but this is common knowledge my friend. Just look it up:)

[@jabread8907]

too much freedom is a bad thing, its human nature for humans to appreciate things that don't come easy but something you put effort towards

[@ningensan8198]

The fuck? Most peaceful age?! With people literally getting genocided 2 Continents away? Your comment is the embodiment of escapism that plagues people minds today

[@rangopistacho6928]

most peaceful age? when we are on the constant risk of a third world war breaking out any minute, it has never been more closer to it due to a certain war going on in europe, there wont be a peace to preserve soon enough

[@TheMasterfulEmerld]

Am I the only one who thinks that this applies to with Hollywood as well but with a different setting?

[@aaronlaughter6471]

It does, Martin Scorsese said the same but for cinema, superhero's movies are not movies. Yet look at what the superhero fans did to him. Just like weebs and otakus did to Miyazaki.

[@Leunenkoenig]

Miyazaki is old and has lived a life where he was able to carve out a niche for him to follow his passion. He sees the world he lived in and wanted more. Animators and Mangaka today are often young-ish men who are faced with the growing issues of their generation, a growing estrangement from the world, and the prospects of a life that they know will not hold the wonders they dream of. Animation today rejects the world that rejected them. "I'm going to build my own theme park with blackjack and hookers"

[@yoman8027]

Thank you! This is the comment I was looking for. Yeah, Miyazaki is a great storyteller, but he failed to understand that the main issue with today's anime is not in the authors, but the society. A society that keeps people pigeonholed into strict societal and professional rules that hinder, harper and discourage social interaction.

[@iamLI3]

@@yoman8027 indeed this is a serious factor in the equation , for even as of recent there's been the huge deal that had people in the anime industry complaining to the government about the changes they did to invoice finance handling that's going to cost these artist a lot , and the result i gathered from this is it will mean there will be half as much anime made at half the quality.....

[@yoman8027]

@@iamLI3 Dark times incoming.

[@iamLI3]

@@yoman8027 here's hoping their activism will be able to get the jap gov to revert these changes before it gets to that >w< .....

[@matthewcarroll2533]

But from the way you put it, it doesn't even sound like such a bad thing.

[@leightonholley4342]

The industry has a significant lack of artists, but a surplus of manufacturers.

[@Ignatiusussy]

The industry has plenty of artists, they are forced to manufacture. Seriously read through some of the notes and tweets written by Japanese animators. "I don't even feel like I'm animating,[...]Is this a factory?" "I want to sleep and eat properly, I want to go home" As well as actual s***ide notes. Amazing artists working on things they have no passion for, for less pay than prisoners making license plates, 400 hours a month. All so the investors can turn a profit.

[@KxNOxUTA]

@@Ignatiusussy This! All was said, when the sentence starts with "the industry". Yup. That construct itself has been built on an inhumane premise. It's one of the very ugly results of patriarchy, too. Because it's really a system that assumes singles or "men with care-giving partner at home and 0 partnership needs". Even in Germany it's still far from being decently based in "work-life-balance". And then there's countless countries where things are significantly worse, with 0 regard for ppl wo work. And that's not even starting with the "cost vs. use" balance. It won't get better until we stop upholding inhumane systems. Everywhere. Lack of care and kindness are by no means new. And we're learning to get it more and more established. But it's a long way and really really hard on people. Because we're now in the phase where running no longer helps. Sth. has to give and it's ugly and miserable, before it mends. If anything, sth. life Studio Ghibli being in existence and that widely beloved, is a splendid thing. It's one of those corner stones that remind people of where we want to be headed, at all times. And what we want to learn to say no to, and what "No"s from our pears we must learn to actually respect.

[@Bilbo122333]

@@KxNOxUTA you lost me at patriarchy. This has nothing to do with gender power structure nonsense. This is a company taking advantage of lackluster labour laws. Same shit happens under a matriarchy. The problem is there's no proper regulations and laws to prevent this. A company is entitled to make money, but just not at the expense of its workers to this ridiculous degree.

[@Bilbo122333]

@wyltedleaves why does the gender of the person matter? Your argument is very dehumanizing reducing a person down to their gender. Honestly it’s pretty sexist and hateful to say “well cause a man was in charge” no different if a guy said that about a woman. Hope you realize we are all human at the end of the day

[@Bilbo122333]

@wyltedleaves also can you prove there isn’t any company at all in Japan/Korea/china that doesn’t have woman in ANY position of power at their company? Cause saying patriarchy implies only men hold position of power cause their men.

[@saundramonette4137]

Miyazaki outwardly rejects the general tropes the anime industry uses to define women such as (but not limited to) "Moe" characters, characters used only as fanservice, infatillized or whose purpose relies on the male characters. He sees women as human beings and ground their personalities in the real world rather than making them cardboard cut-outd to the male fantasy. He tries to capture this in his films, a notion that doesn't reflect the vast majority of anime produced. This was what he was referring to in this quote, I believe.

[@TheJeffDing]

@@ValKerdenstein-nh4ll Braindead take

[@ItsSupercat94]

I honestly just don't see this even being as common anymore, even the most generic anime nowadays don't have the female cast in just one set trope, and atleast have a spin on it and aren't used only for fanservice.

[@digestiveissue7710]

Obviously someone's gonna spin it as feminist propaganda.

[@chicha400]

@@digestiveissue7710this is in no way “feminist propaganda”. The original commenter makes a good point about the way women are portrayed in anime, and actually the way they tend to be shown may be telling of how women are treated in the real world. Let’s not pretend like there aren’t countless instances where women (and even young girls) are shown in anime in a way that is highly questionable. As an anime fan since the early 2010s, I can tell you people have always associated anime with brain dead pervy nonsense. Lots of things I see, including in anime I really like, make me feel embarrassed to be watching content in a medium filled with such oddities, that many fans just write off as a “quirk of anime”. I hope we don’t normalise people going crazy over 2d girls with stupidly (and biologically improbable) proportions dancing around or going out of their way to act “kawaii” in a way people don’t do in real life.

[@digestiveissue7710]

@@chicha400 Man stop larping as a puritan and shut up. Why shouldn't we "normalize" people going crazy over 2d girls with unrealistic proportions when we've normalized gay relationships, gender changing surgeries and everything in between?

[@paxleviathan]

what makes a story good is the externalization of some human struggle. in being able to see some issue that we may relate to from the view of an impartial observer, we may gain greater understanding of ourselves, and the world in which we live

[@rangopistacho6928]

what makes a story good is completely subjective though as well, a story is just a story, if simply tie a single example of the essence of a good story then you will drive yourself mad in circles

[@AA-sm2mm]

And even with that we stay blind, many manga and anime had show the world and it's unfairness and yet we will just continue to watch anime,read manga without acting for the most part

[@cyndawu1940]

One of the best detail in some Miyazaki films, is that there's no real evil villian in most of his films. Most antagonist are very human and are victims of fate, such as war or the very nature of their life, like in howls moving castle and spirited away. Anime nowadays paint villians as clearly idoitic, selfish and wrong. But movies such as Princess Monoke and Nausicaa do not make it clear whos right or wrong. Sometimes its just hard to achieve peace and properity between sides of people. Even in Ponyo, it seems that humans deserve to be punished by the ocean since they take the ocean for granted and cause horrible water pollution. But there are still hope in humanity since there are still a lot of good people who care about the ocean and nature. Although Miyazaki films are fantasy films, characters think and behave like actual real people, unlike mordern anime where people admire characters that are silly, reckless and naive. Despite that, there's a beauty in mordern anime because it inspires people to improve themselves to be cool strong charismatic people like in anime. While Miyazaki films inspire people to achieve enlightenment, understanding of mother nature and human nature

[@silverhawkscape2677]

And? The west has tried to make more Morally Grey Villains only to end up with Characters who do unforgivable things but try to gaslight the audience that they aren't all evil...like the Scarlet Witch Show for Example. People Nowadays flock to anime because of those clearly evil villains. No excuses to be made for them and their evil.

[@masters3104]

Honestly, you sound like you've never seen a single anime your whole life.

[@cyndawu1940]

@@masters3104 There are mature plot shows such as Attack on Titan, Naruto, Full Metal Alchemist where there's a lot of sympathetic villians. Especially attack on titan in season 4, where everyone is a bad guy and good guy in some way. Sometimes, the good guys themselves aren't even mentally sane and cause destruction like in evangelion. But there are a lot of straight forward anime where you just enjoy seeing good guys beating up bad guys like One Piece, JoJo Pokemon, Digimon, and pretty much every Isekai show I watch in 2010s.(Which i also really enjoy) Slice of life which is great too. But then there's a lot of dumb harem shows and isekai shows. Yeah there are good ones like Jobless Reincarnation and Re zero (kinda). Though You can't deny that every time a few masterpiece such as Cyberpunk 2077 in a year, another 40 silly pointless isekai or harem show gets made within a year

[@masters3104]

@@cyndawu1940 Tbh that's just a writing problem in general I feel. I hear this complaint about isekais all the time and all I can say is yeah, your lowest common denominator probably wouldn't have the same level of insight as Miyazaki or other amazing artists and storytellers, just like every other medium. Creating art isn't just where you take inspiration from, it's how you apply that inspiration and how much you hone your skill.

[@Skye2993]

@@cyndawu1940 I don’t know why people treat Anime like this golden high standard when it’s not, it’s like Western Animation except Eastern, the same as the West has shows for certain demographics is the same for Anime, if you want more mature stories I would think you would go to the more adult oriented ones such as the gentleman works in the video who the KZbinr is discussing, obviously Anime’s like Pokémon, Digimon and so on are for little kids, Dragon Ball and any Shonen are for young teens and Seinen Anime are for adults, Sports Anime’s are for sports fanatics, now for Isekai, they can be for adults but most of the time they are for young teens who like the idea of a fantasy world now this genre has been oversaturated with the same old thing but I could apply this to other genres as well quite honestly, Harem’s could work I’ve seen a few harem’s that were quite enjoyable (Like three) but I honestly think these are just meant to be for fun, just like with Western Animation your going to have those ones that don’t really need to be more than what they are especially when you have other genres out there that can cater to whatever your looking for. I do think these kinds of shows have their place if you individually don’t like them you have every right not to watch them there’s infinite Anime’s out there and even back then there were Anime’s that weren’t that great and let’s be honest people saying that there’s every Isekai or harem nowadays getting put out in like they must’ve not been around back then because that always seems to be a thing like I remember when Mecha Anime were getting churned out, then Shonen Anime were getting churned out trying to be the next big thing, then cutesy Anime so this isn’t particularly anything new we’re now in the era of Isskai getting churned out but I’m sure another genre will take it’s place soon.

[@pale_al]

It's beautiful to watch his movies with my daughters and see girls portrayed as real people, not just tropes. He captures childhood and emotions so well. I'm not saying that all anime portrays women poorly, but that is the case a lot of the time, and it's refreshing to see them as the people that are based off of real people. Not some what someone wants them to be.

[@InternetNonsense]

Most anime nowadays treats women as lust objects and that's it, it's obvious creators only see women and even girls through fantasies and porn addiction. Not to mention lately girl-centric shoujo genres like cutesy romance and magical girls have been declining for some reason, so it is becoming quite an incel fest. I've stopped engaging with anime unless it prioritizes story and not fanservice and the pickings are very slim.

[@Christopher-rw2bp]

@@InternetNonsense Give me this "most anime", because clearly you haven't seen much anime other than whatever obscure clips of obscure anime you find online

[@InternetNonsense]

@@Christopher-rw2bp It's most anime. Period. There's been very few and far between exceptions. Judging from the picture on your banner I see you take it personally as the shoe fits. So why are you so uppity when the industry clearly caters to you. Maybe you're just too pornsick and desensitized to see it anymore. You're not a woman and likely don't have daughters so depiction of female characters in the media doesn't matter to you. When you consume your jollies you are blind to it, or might even be recluse porn addict to imagine that's the reality. Which is exactly the problem Miyazaki was talking about. Women and girls are people with goals, flaws and strengths not decorative cardboard cutout tropes and porn categories, just to jiggle around obsessively orbiting the escapism male heroes.

[@CrymariaLevin]

​@@Christopher-rw2bp I mean the thing is there are a lot of mainstream shonen anime, where if you talk to men, none of them will see how the camera angles portray women, or are meant to show women off and even most of the anime series that portray "strong women", often do so in a perverted way without considering the female perspective. Jujutsu Kaisen, Kimetsu no Yaiba, Chainsaw Man, Bleach, Hellsing Ultimate, Mushoku Tensei, Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann, Shokugeki no Soma, Jigokuraku, Overlord, Bakemonogatari, My Dress Up Darling, and Cyberpunk Edgerunners are all very mainstream and acclaimed anime. Their stories are good. But they are extremely male-gaze centric. Most men you talk to won't see any problem but a lot of women do get uncomfortable at the "lust-object" treatment some female characters get if you actually ask people outside your bubble. Even "Made in Abyss", a series I still really love and has a Ghibli-like aesthetic. has an uncomfortable torture fetish towards girls. So yeah dude, a LOT of very mainstream anime series are super male gaze focused and most men don't understand that it can actually make some women uncomfortable. If a "strong female character" is fighting a battle the camera will often zoom to her legs, tits, or ass while she's striking her sword or powering up. And the boys clip these, put them on youtube and make sexual jokes about them So yeah a lot of mainstream anime is a bit of a lust object fantasy. It's also one of the distinguishing factors between most anime and whatever Ghibli makes which is why it will be the end of an era if Ghibli ever stops making films in Miyazaki's style.

[@LunamrathP]

@@CrymariaLevin To be fair a lot of people recognize that and are just sort of numb to it. I know how the camera treats Yoko in TTGL, but it's still one of my favorite shows. There are still plenty that get it right at least, old and new, but it seems to me that the lack of that is found more in anime films than in anime series.

[@VunderGuy]

Anime is not a genre. It's a medium.

[@cinna-manspice4449]

I agree partially; I consider it a cultural medium. Japan didn’t have a lot of original animation from the 1920s, because they had a single animation department that burned down. So through the 1930s, their theaters mostly played western animation until WW2 when they (like most of the countries at the time) made propaganda animation. So most of Japan’s animation from the 1950s onward was inspired by cartoons from the 20s and 30s. Which is why characters in anime have such cartoonishly large eyes. Even Felix the Cat is more popular in Japan today that he is in America. (Sorry for the long comment by the way 😅.)

[@misterkefir]

THIS. THIS. THIS.

[@AllenLayhee]

Anime wasn't a mistake, weeboo culture was.

[@WarshipMolester]

Life is a mistake. May chaos take the world.

[@aaronlaughter6471]

/Otaku, which is a bad thing in Japan yet these idiots wear the term like a badge of honor.

[@tracker4980]

how did "weeboo [sic] culture" affect what japanese creators made for otaku audiences? weeboos [sic] mainly support stuff like ghibli/shonen jump while the japanese audience buys otaku goods

[@katelawyer3689]

@@Weegoodm3really protect the children; Anime is usually not for children. Also while some of those things you mentioned are evil some are just problematic in execution. Furthermore it seems you are coming at this from a conservative and religious angle; which is of course also horrible, just like the bad elements of many anime. Thus I could not disagree more from you on a fundamental level.

[@Itried20takennames]

I think Otaku culture was a mistake, more than Weeaboo culture. Weeaboo culture doesn’t really hurt anyone, except maybe the person if they become disappointed with the life they have, but Otaku culture is a part of why the Japanese population is in steep decline. Many other reasons for the Japanese population decline, but easy to turn to big eyed, big boobed waifu characters, rather than a real person and all their imperfections.

[@ved2360]

I actually get where Miyazaki is coming from these days. Without getting overly complicated, contemporary life is mostly just driving from one box to another for work, then another box for shopping and then driving home to another box for recovery. The way urban planning and work life is structured is designed to be alienating, which is why people date less, socialize less and so on. I mean, that's not a new problem, exactly. That's been a problem for decades, it just never hit the same critical mass, at least not on the States-side. In Japan that results in a grind and hustle culture with less of a dating life. Not only is society structured to be atomized, life is just becoming harder to afford. And that's really just embodied in the stressful grind culture and decreased dating life of Japanese people -- though that's really just happening to Americans, just on a slightly different timescale. Not only are you just driving between the same few boxes all the time, you might not even be able to afford the box you can sleep in. Physically, our cities are large, but socially, we only interact shallowly with a few people. Older generations have the skills and resources to retreat into a bubble and be fine. But younger people don't have the income, housing, friends, social network, social skills or coping mechanism to deal with it. It's becoming increasingly evident that a lot of young people are spiraling into this vicious cycle where alienation and social skills feed into self-loathing, which just feed back into just avoiding having to deal with the former problems. Legitimately, I've met zoomers who have to _ask_ how they can join a game of _Dungeons and Dragons._ So while I've dealt with loneliness and social alienation for much of my adult life -- knowing how to do that was never _that_ bad for me. And it never occurs to them that even that much social interaction can do wonders for their mental health and dating prospects. They have no concept of that. That world I grew up in, while it had it its problems, was never quite _that_ bad. I at least could see the trajectory. That's what's different about Miyazaki's internal life from a NEET's. Yes, he's a nerd about airplanes and how his community might look from the sky. He also lived in a world where he gets to see girls put on shoes and where chefs pull eels out of a tank in a restaurant. He has _interests_ and a social life. That's the point. He has an internal life to draw upon that's enriched by his participation in the world around him, however flawed and painful it may be. The problem with otaku is that they have tropes that exist in an abstract vacuum. You have the "tsundere" and the "waifu" and impossibly stylized and beautiful cartoon people that don't actually exist or behave like normal humans. And if all you do is repost those same memes, then _how the hell do you know what your taste in women would actually be?_ You have characters who have fashion sense, but you don't have any art depicting what it means to _care_ about fashion or how women self-actualize themselves as a human interest nerd piece. Therein lies the problem. Anime as an industry is a stagnant pond of empty tropes. It's so bad that whenever Miyazaki does stuff, the industry steals his visual motifs and tries to imitate it without understanding its substance. They copy the form because they have none of their own internal life to draw on. And that's a shame. My life has been immensely been enriched by going out and actually doing shit I care about and interacting with people, even as an extreme introvert. I'm lonely, the difference is that I know _why._ I don't follow up on social opportunities that I'm given or follow up on leads because I'm lazy and because I like being alone. But it's different knowing that I have a choice and being a slob about it and being a slob and not understanding why you're suffering. This is what the MGTOW, incel and what will soon become femcels will never accept nor understand. Touching grass works. It sounds like insultingly simple advice. But putting it into actual practice is work and requires your participation, _especially_ because the system is stacked against you.

[@jameshutchinson3672]

Geez. This is why I still read comments on YT. What an insightful and thought-provoking little essay you’ve given everyone for free. Very well-written.

[@Ozzianman]

Tldr: touch grass, it actually works! Well written essay and I wholeheartedly agree. I am Autistic and have severe ADHD, life is stacked against me yet I ain't giving up no matter the setbacks.

[@mommalion7028]

The box thing is true. I’ve had other moms of small kids living next to me since my kids were born, 4 different moms with like eight different kids. Haven’t secured a single play date yet because the moms only take their kids outside to drive them to another box. Oh we say we’ll meet up but there never seems to be time with all the boxes they need to go to. It’s so absolutely lonely. I shouldn’t have to pay $50 a pop to get repeating play dates for my kids when so many other kids live within walking distance, yet here I am, literally paying for friends for my kid. I never had to do this as a kid my mom was a belligerent drunk. I could just make friends by waking around the neighborhood. And I was a poor smelly weirdo. My kid is nicer and well dressed and I make an effort to be kind and we’re just so lonely. I’m frustrated.

[@3nertia]

Everything is merely a symptom of this predatory economic system we've been stuck in for millennia - we call it "capitalism" now but it's always been the system where the worst of us, the predators, are in charge :/

[@3nertia]

@@mommalion7028 *HUGS*

[@TheLastPudding]

I've seen a panel interview with Miyazaki, and he kind of categorized/ redefined anime as manga translated into T.V. shows. That the difference in his work is based on craft. He explained that in anime they would need to take short cuts because of budget and schedule. But that he and his studio tries to translate stories to film, focusing intently also on background, side characters, micro character movements and environment.

[@TheBelrick]

Are we all really just learning that anime and by extension all movies, are escape from reality? That people are just watching anime because they cannot too much of their own lives? This is why anime girls are highly sexualized, escape fantasies for men. Fundamentally, there is little difference between alcoholism, video games and anime when studying why they are popular.

[@BenDover-cq6rr]

Just watched boy and heron and all of the background characters barely had faces

[@Th_Ghst_Kds1183]

I love how the text in the thumbnail says that "anime was a mistake" when even Oogway said in Kung-Fu Panda that, I quote, "There are no accidents".

[@attilathechilla.1383]

it's very rare that i rewatch a movie, anime or not. but miyazaki is one of those creators that I know with make me have an experience that I'll remember. just seeing a few scenes from howl's moving castle makes me want to rewatch the movie. even though I already know the end. the journeys he takes people on and the emotions he makes you feel is something that pushes me to create myself. even if I'll never get to his level I want to share just a bit of the emotions that he gave me while watching his stories. thanks for the video dude. keep up the good work.

[@Annatomova7]

I’ve accepted Miyazaki as my grandpa. He’s taught me so much through his films since I was 4. He practically raised me. At age 26 (now) I’ve gone through a lot of changes and rapidly started to mature all of a sudden. I realized recently that it was his movies that impacted my way of thinking and im fascinated by stories with plenty of fantasy but with highly complex, morally gray people and societies… I like stories that make me think and feel. I feel like I’m just as much a part of that world as the characters are when I’m watching or reading said stories. The real world may not have magic, but these stories have taught me to keep living and to appreciate life as it is, however mundane or sad it might seem at times. I’ve struggled a lot with mental illness. I had a very complex childhood. I have severe C-PTSD and depression. I genuinely it’s these stories and my faith in god but also LIFE itself that has kept me going.

[@sparklesparklesparkle6318]

hello. Miyazaki here. I reject you as my grandchild. please go away. do not watch my movies again

[@honkhonk8009]

Not even tryna sound corny, the fact you dont realize how sad that is, speaks to how little you acc matured bruh. Your grandpa should be a real life person that you ACTUALLY INTERACTED WITH. Not a person you only see through an internet screen. That shit is parasocial asf.

[@TinRapper]

When the greatest speaks, you don't call him old and grumpy, you listen.

[@GrabbandeseNuts]

When the wise speak, the young listen.

[@user-ee6lk1pb6w]

"Whatever you say Grandpa, now let's get you back to the nursing home"

[@GaionSputro]

​@@user-ee6lk1pb6w 🤣🤣🤣

[@andreatomassini5521]

Greatest only outside Japan

[@AA-sm2mm]

I don't see Oda

[@R3TR0J4N]

"if you can walk thru the cables.. if you can run thru the roofs" damn miyazaki mentioned everyones child imagination whenever theyre stuck behind the car, sittin watching thru the window

[@elmemearana]

It's literally me, fr 😂

[@MicMacMon]

Bruh, nice job. Moved my soul with that epic, clean narration.

[@prenimystic]

He truly is incredible at his work... he yearns to bring something to life that could never live in our world, and he does it so beautifully and respectfully. I truly treasure every single one of his works, and have ever since I was a child.

[@twocents7509]

To be fair, I don’t even think this is just a shonen anime problem, but a problem for many films and shows in general now. Many films have some idealized fantasy of who people are, and who they want to be, instead of who they actually are and how people actually are in reality. And (unfortunately) I think many people have heard more conversations on tv than in real life, and so a lot of people’s perceptions on what is normal conversation is skewed. I hope people realize this as they go about their lives, and they decide to turn off the tv and go talk with actual people.

[@nicolaserrazuriz4]

It's is much worse in anime, movies have been having a slow comeback since marvel is failing and started recovering more originality and humanity, Everything Everywhere all at once is the perfect example

[@SolracCAP]

You are unfortunately correct. Creators are increasingly drawing from other works and social media rather than real life experiences.

[@Alienrun]

I've been actively working to reduce my old "degenerate" habits by using the internet less and practicing things like meditation ect. Problem is I worry that other people will still talk in a memey way in irl when I want more genuine discussion. Getting the bs out of your system isn't enough...you need to replace it with something good! TL;DR I should take christianity more seriously I guess! lol :P

[@zerospace101]

You have to find the people who are willing to talk first....

[@GaionSputro]

Its time to other country to make 2D animation series with good quality rather than japan who only think about their fethises first.

[@WildDuo]

I just wanted to say the first minute or so of this video is truly profound in a way I can't exactly describe, except that it was something I needed to see today. Thank you.

[@AlxandreNotavo]

I felt like him when i learned about the genre known as "isekai"

[@aquilschutte]

Yeah isekai is soo boring, its all the same too. The fan service is horrendous too. Its simply disgusting

[@sub.sa.3058]

Anno realized how it affected people who watched it. Miyazaki who was there from the beginning and seeing what it has become since the beginning. From his perspective it makes a lot of sense. Animes before use to take inspiration from other sources and art forms. That's why they were so interesting, but now they are only getting inspirations from other animes, and this is what brings the stagnation or 'lack of originality' you mention. Ghibli movies have the vibe of an interesting book you pick up that teaches you life lesson in the process, Akira is like a really good sci fi novel. Evangelion is like if a Kaiju movie and a psychological drama had a baby, etc. Most animes nowadays self reference the medium so much, they stay in the box, and it makes sense, because it's assured sucess, not everybody wants to try crazy stuff like that. But it would be better if they tried, at least for us who watch it.

[@zeltzamer4010]

This is why I think Bebop was the best serialized anime and that there will be nothing else that really comes close. Just a whole lot of cultural influences combined into something unique.

[@Paugose]

"The more virgin our eyes are, the more we have to say. The greatest ennemy of the director is the hommage. I don't want to see another god damned hommage, there's already too much made uncouciously! I mean of course you should watch films, and you should watch great films, but do not make the mistake of soaking yourself in it. Because the thing is, you can do incredible films out of simply nothing. Just look at Fellini." - Orson Welles

[@simpson6700]

akira is so overrated... good sci-fi movie? have you watched it recently or is your nostalgia talking? the only thing akira has going for itself is the visuals.

[@sub.sa.3058]

@@simpson6700 I read the manga. I meant the manga where they explain and expand everything a lot better. The movie is like a highlight reels of the manga really. It's still pretty good though.

[@emperorfaiz]

@@simpson6700 Pretty great movie despite seeing it twice. I don't know why you're so offended at people liking things you don't like. Agree to disagree and deal with it. Focus on yourself not others.

[@TimothyCHenderson]

You may just be hitting the cultural barrier. I still watch anime now and then, usually movies, but my big anime era was in the 90s. The first few anime you watch seem incredibly fresh and new because you're exploring a different approach to story telling and character design. After a while, you start to see the stock characters, the story beats and the twists coming from a mile away. You start to understand that every culture has tried and true formulas and genres that have always been there but you haven't been exposed to before. The novelty wears off and you start to appreciate anime for what it is rather than what you expect it to be.

[@penrilfake]

Nah, there's still stories that treat anime as a medium rather than a genre. Even if they have culturally influenced tropes, whether we talk about the 90s or the 2020's, most anime is just mediocre or bad, but there are amazing exceptions. However, the last decade saw a decline in the quality of anime because it's now muddied by heavy corporate investment as the industry has become more and more cutthroat because of 'lovely' late stage capitalistic trends.

[@ThatGuy-ky2yf]

​@@penrilfakePrimarily Isekai copycats and mid romance wish fulfilment stories. The best of those still rise to the top but the medium still gets oversaturated.

[@Kindaul]

While you arent wrong about the stock characters and tropes and whatnot. This really didnt start being a thing until early 2000s, before that anime was much more diverse than it is now largely because many of the pojects weren't produced with the intention of reaching the largest audience possible. The stories were often more adult-themed and the money making formula hadn't been developed enough to outweigh the creative side of the industry. This is a prevalent occurence in pretty much all major media unfortunately, creative degradation and homogenization for a greater demographic for greater profits.

[@Samtastrophi]

That's part of it, sure, but that isn't a holistic answer. Samurai Champloo, atleast season one of the Promised Neverland, Paranoia Agent, Death Note, Uzumaki, Gurren Lagan(which has many of the same tropes, yes, but was also very innovative in many regards), Durarara, Steins:Gate, Psycho-Pass(Def only season one on this one, although season two isn't terrible because of falling into anime tropes per say), One Punch Man(innovative for non-sentimental reasons obv), Mob Psycho 100(would love to her Miyazaki's thoughts on this series), and these are all just titles that a very casual, washed up anime watcher is immediately aware of. Sure, there are always going to be tired beats and tropes that rear their heads in any genre, but the absolute desolation of innovation in the industry right now speaks way more to notions akin to focus group testing than the well running dry. Other than animation and character design they just hardly seem to care about the quality or consistency of their stories.

[@tristantries9211]

For me I just have become very picky about my anime. If it's super tropey I just don't watch it. There are well written animes that don't rely on tropes out there

[@toasterstrudel189]

Escapism being the main focus of anime, consuming media, people's lives, etc. was LITERALLY what Hideaki Anno was warning us about with Evangelion. He was on point edit: i'm gonna stop responding to people in replies i don't feel like having pointless debates

[@thronosstudios]

Be that as it may, how is that a problem? Escapism is the same as taking a break from work. Break time is just as important as work time.

[@toasterstrudel189]

@@thronosstudios Escapism is hardcore "taking a break". 'Escaping' is fine in moderation, yes. But that's not escapism. Escapism is what Hideaki Anno was talking about; Devoting every/most of your waking hours of your existence to escaping reality with distractions. It is nowhere near the scope of taking a break off work, your life isn't a job.

[@thronosstudios]

@@toasterstrudel189 "Your life isn't a job", yeah, that's exactly what people with an easy, convenient life would say. Stop judging others based on your standards. Everybody has varying degrees of problems to deal with the likes of which you might never even experience, hence why escapism is the only break they can get from a life full of misery, or whatever despair they might be experiencing.

[@toasterstrudel189]

@@thronosstudios I understand your confusion, as in retrospect I was not clear enough to get my point across (my error). What I meant to say with that was that you shouldn't consider your life itself as a job. I recognize that many people only have escapism to turn to due to their work/living conditions, but that doesn't mean that it still won't be negatively affecting in the long run. I am not trying to judge anyone; I am not saying you are a bad person for turning to escapism.

[@thronosstudios]

@@toasterstrudel189 Ah, thanks for clarifying. I agree with your point to an extent. There should definitely be balance when engaging in escapism (as there are things one can _only_ do in the "real world" as it were) so I understand your perspective. I wasn't particularly speaking from personal experience, but I do know people that have it hard so my heart goes out to them. Thanks for understanding 🙏

[@derkorni6710]

Beautifully put. I think it is not just the anime Industry but the entertainment Industry at large. Thank you for this video.

[@user-dh2qf5kd8c]

NAUSICAA was the first Miyazaki film I ever saw (1980s); it drove me to become an animator. This video was quietly moving, concise, and excellent. Automatic sub.

[@Icarus975]

Did you became an animator? How are things going these days?

[@user-dh2qf5kd8c]

Retired now; started as part of the second CG revolution that began with JURASSIC PARK (the first being STAR WARS trench run through about WILLOW). Began in the mid 80s doing cell animation, but after STANLEY AND STELLA and SEXY ROBOT I was soon working on Silicon Graphics work stations, with hour long renders, film wedges, and scanner/screen calibration. We made it all up as we went along. I grew up on WIZARDS, HEAVY METAL, and ROCK AND RULE... back before Crunchy Roll and Cartoon Network, when Anime wasn't even a word here and Bakshi and Nelvana were the only western animation studios that didn't center their work around dancing, singing mice. I miss the days of hand-drawn animation; I think IRON GIANT was the last great American hurrah... but you never know!

[@taric2133]

The best inspiration for stories comes from going out and interacting with people. As much as I enjoy anime & manga, this has always been my biggest complaint about most of the productions. I wonder if this is partly due to the work ethic in the industry. When you hardly have time for anything outside of work, how do you get inspiration for your work?

[@1haunt]

I think this is what really made me abandon anime almost completely in the past 3 years and what always lurked beneath the surface when I did watch. You really just don't feel like most of it has anything to say, just simple and easily digestible emotions/stories/characters where nuance is few and far between. Obviously not everything you watch has to be philosophical or imbued with deep meaning but you can tell that a lot of anime is just built around an initial wacky premise which serves as pure escapism with the depth of a fortune cookie. There is some really really good stuff (it's usually at least 20 years old) but it takes way too much effort to trudge through all the mediocrity and bad recommendations that I much rather stick to films for my main source of visual escapism.

[@rangopistacho6928]

you know you dont need to directly interact with people though to get inspiration, some stories can be inspired by tv shows, books, games or just seeing parts of the world, and they can give some arguably great stories, I feel like you seriously limit yourself if you just only take in the aspect of the people, what about the world, the enviorment, the plant life, the creatures, the culture, the cities, the history, the mystery. every aspect of the world is what makes a good story and it seems like your quote is very one dimentional not taking into consideration of all that is around you, if all the world to you is people then your as shallow as the people who use escapism

[@taric2133]

Sure! I especially love video games, for example, which tell a story mostly through their world. I didn't mean to say that you ONLY have to be inspired by social interactions. But if your story has any characters in it, it probably involves social interactions haha And imo most mainstream anime & manga suffer from very uninspired character dynamics. That doesn't mean that I or anyone else can't enjoy them :) I just sometimes miss the complexity of human interaction in anime stories. And I don't think that's a shallow view to have.

[@rangopistacho6928]

@@taric2133 I see, sorry if my message came off as a little mean, I typed this when I was tired, I do agree a lot of animes dont have those dynamic interactions, but anime does still have good examples (like one piece) I have had real life friends who acted like zoro and sanji with their rivalry but ultimately both of them are really good close friends. ive seen some people relate to weird strange and unusual characters from animes. the only inherently bad ones are bland and heavily stereotypical ones

[@lilypadlane7492]

man I have so much respect for him. He has such amazing and wonderful ideas. the best stories are usually grounded in reality in my opinion

[@iim4xii129]

"They're standing on the shoulders of geniuses"...

[@adrianpierre5744]

Like the days of old, stories hold good lessons that we can take and apply to our lives. We have strayed away from that and it’s sad, using anime to escape reality instead of taking a lesson to implement into your life and improve your own life. For example any anime I cried to is because I’ve taken something from it even after it finished, like Ranking of Kings for example a beautiful anime which I recommend for anyone to watch! If you took the time to read this then God bless, and thank you for your time.

[@Slavolko]

God bless you too. Maybe I'll put that show on my bucket list, if you liked it that much.

[@adrianpierre5744]

@@Slavolko Its an incredibly beautiful and a heartwarming journey that relates to me on a personal level in some ways.

[@Blaidd1298]

Also watch Vinland Saga

[@fraser1614]

I think Miyazaki's quote about people not working from observing real life comes more from an actual drawing perspective. In the past, the traditional method to learn to draw was to draw from reality, still life drawings, understanding anatomy and how people look, how light hits objects, shading, etc... Though I think those traditional methods of learning are kinda becoming less prevalent, like I know quite a few artists who learned to draw people based on using anime or other drawings as reference material, rather than training their eye to see the true shape of objects and I can see how that could cause proportions and styles to become warped from an artist not truly understanding how a human body looks and moves. Maybe I'm putting words in his mouth but at least from an artistic point of view its what I thought of.

[@StealthMoustache]

I agree 100 % originality and nuance is lost upon a lot of people and the industry should take this lesson to heart, i don't think everything has to be real or close to real life, but that you can base a lot of behavior and world building character building with these simple principles in mind, and what a legend this man, Miyazaki bringing us such great pieces of art.

[@max4Q]

thank you for not making this video an hour long. Good analysis

[@ProfessorFlowers]

This is my exact problem with anime. I grew up loving it so much, but at some point I realized that I wanted more. I wanted to see characters be developed and reveal humanizing experiences. So much of popular anime fails to do this, it creates an escape, it doesn't really deal with trauma or the reality of pain in our world. But growing up, I always held Miyazaki's movies close because they did.

[@GetShrekd]

have you watched mob psycho 100? if you care about character development i can't recommend it more. its one of the best anime of the 10s.

[@voon1032]

>so much of popular anime fails to do this So watch more anime.

[@Merilirem]

There are plenty of anime that do this though. So just go watch those instead.

[@divusartemis2045]

@@Merilirem There are, but in recent times the number of thought provoking series have diminished in my view. If you look at any given season, you will see about 80+% Isekai and Shonen anime with the same old recycled tropes and characters. Sure, I can enjoy a JJK for what it is, but it's not something that gives me pause to think.

[@VitalityRichPlus]

​@@divusartemis2045 Man, you're so green

[@user-cp3le5li1t]

His way of talking sounds so nice and relaxing, I just want to fall asleep while listening to his speech

[@Wisewolfholo4]

Hes a complaining tourist. If you dont like the anime dont watch it. Nobody is forcing you and you shouldnt hate on stuff you dont like.

[@user-cp3le5li1t]

@@Wisewolfholo4 huh??? I never said I hated anime, I just said I liked his way of talking?

[@Piktoravatar]

"A unique reflection of life" the best description to miyazaki's masterpieces

[@darliiingz03]

ive been feeling that way about anime in soo long, wondering if i just don"t enjoy anything recent at that point. but you just put into words the feelings that i'm sure many people have. I miss the slice of life anime.

[@herbanox]

Witch Hat Atelier. Original and inspiring. Hopefully coming to life sometime soon.

[@RamTG-ts1mn]

I hope the anime does justice to the manga.

[@unepersonne412]

The creator of the Owl House has recommended it many times! Plus the art looks really good, I'm picking it up as soon as I'm done with exams

[@wandiriswan6116]

YEEAH!!!! Another WHA fan lessgooooi;!!

[@theboneman7379]

I don't think its necessarily bad to have escapism. sometimes after a long and grueling day at work you just want sit down and watch something fun and not so demanding on your brain that's been deep-fried at that point of the day. But, I do agree that it can be a bit much at times. Isekai is a pretty good example of the off kilter balance of the anime industry. you'll get shows like Re:Zero and Mushoku Tensei that are really good, but then you get like 3 "(insert gimmick) in another world" and while you can have some fun with those it gets stale rather fast. idk for sure, at the end of the day it comes down to a persons individual perspective.

[@Mumspaghettti]

Agree 100% - there's definitely a place for those kinds of shows, and the good ones can be really great

[@cloudssoup7024]

Also Miyazaki provides fantasy as the medium to analyse real life, which gives his films considerably more substance

[@theboneman7379]

@@cloudssoup7024 never once said his didn't. Was simply saying that there is a place for the more trashy brain dead series.

[@polarpickles8035]

miyazaki actually talked about it in one of his old essays/lectures from the 80s. while he thinks escapism can be good after a long day of work, what he feels conflicted about is just the sheer amount of stuff that gets put out not only for adults, but also for children. hes always had conflicting ideals with this fact: he thinks that today way too many shows and movies are made to come and go for no reason, but at the same time he lives through movies and wants to create things as well. if youre interested in more miyazaki, definitely read the books Starting Point and Turning Point, its essentially just collections of translated interviews and essays from miyazaki from 1979-1996 and 1997-2008, great read.

[@HakuYuki001]

@@theboneman7379 "Was simply saying that there is a place for the more trashy brain dead series." That's a rather ridiculous thing to say when 99% of all media is precisely that. What are you even defending? Do you think it should be 99.999999% instead? It ought to be well under 50% but every time a critique is brought up, you people jump to the defense and say "well it's not fundamentally bad and should exist at least somewhat". Well whoopdie fucking doo, that's not the fucking point. Every time people complain about low standards it's not with the agenda of wiping out everything that isn't high quality. You are defending what needs not a strand of defense.

[@angelarch5352]

Very excellent video, and commentary on current anime and Miazaki's thoughts.

[@Yaszebel]

This is so beautiful, thank you

[@pokelover1kassey]

Despite the video being short, this was well spoken and I enjoyed this thoroughly. I agree with everything in this video to a T and it really does make you think about the art of anime and the story telling but also as well what people churn out just to make profit and those seeking out those anime just to escape real life. Things need to change in the anime industry but where would the change even begin if it ever does?

[@SpecialKapson]

Consumers should stop consuming inferior products. But then, them doing so is also a cause of something lying deeper within the society. Everybody should just touch grass I guess

[@______IV]

Miyazaki’s work is inspired and has saved me during some dark times. Many artists have pensive personalities though, so it’s unsurprising Miyazaki would express that opinion.

[@Shedrick_Goldsmith]

Miyazaki would be disappointed at the most replayed timestamp.

[@Di5functi0n3l_playp3n]

It takes a deep understanding of humanity to be able to develop storys like that. Its rare.

[@jayerose1032]

i don’t know if you’ve watched the video talking about the slave conditions of animators in the anime industry (there are probably plenty lol) but his words in the contexts of how f*cked it is makes sense, they produce to make as much profit, but also produce episodes weekly, not enough time to actually put time in developing good well thought out characters without the formula that makes the most money, but also these animators are burnt out shiet before we want more from anime the working conditions of animators need to be dealt with 🤦🏻‍♀️

[@3nertia]

Welcome to capitalism; Profits over People! :/

[@Steak818]

Dude literally said that people shouldn't work for him if they weren't ready to make sacrifices. Seems he was also pretty rough on his staff.

[@jayerose1032]

@@Steak818 that's true, he's an overall complicated human, very much like his characters. He has his good points like his contribution to animation, and his contribution in unionizing for Toei animation (during his younger years), but bad points is his overall approach in his system for completing animations (which wasn't the best due to the time crunches). But we're here because of his works, I could say that he was successful in a way to inspire me as an artist and probably others in displaying what good art is or specifically animations. The nature of the industry is just a hard one it's not an easy job, i changed majors because of this reason its just not a bright future.

[@woofexe4050]

Wow, this is very well made... I quite enjoyed this short, sweet yet reflective video on art and animation. I don't watch anime much but you made this feel like this video is a bit bigger than that... I look forward to more video from you if you so choose to make them, thank you

[@Mumspaghettti]

Thanks! Means a lot :)

[@howtoappearincompletely9739]

@@Mumspaghettti I'll second that. This video is lovely.

[@Mary-Ann_B_Mabaet]

If you hardly watch anime, I highly recommend some Studio Ghibli and Chizu motion pictures. "Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind", "Princess Mononoke", and "Spirited Away" are pieces from Studio Ghibli whereas "Wolf Children" is from Studio Chizu. Amazing tales that utilize reflections of reality, very convincing personalities with actual backgrounds.

[@Lasse_kreikemeier]

just thinking about his movies makes me tear up even after all these years, thats how much of an impact they had on me. the day miyazaki dies is gonna be the saddest day in anime history

[@FScaler]

Miyazaki made my childhood Modern animes don't even compete with Ghibli studio

[@johnmorrow5461]

A big part of the problem is that other people get a large part of their experience of the world filtered through others via formal education, media, and fiction. They don't meet real ship engineers. They watch fictional starship engineers on Star Trek. They don't visit a rural countryside and explore or just play in the mud but watch movies and TV shows where that happens to characters in a story. They don't fight in or experience wars but watch movies about them. And I get the impression that a lot of anime characters don't reflect real people that the author knows, observed, or studied but they are instead lifted from characters that they liked in other anime and want to emulate or copy, and because of that they don't always fit the story the author has put them in or have much depth to them. I'm old enough to have had a "go out and play" childhood, largely before cable television, VCRs, or the Internet and stayed at my grandparents house in the summer without air conditioning, where we played with handmade models of the submarines in Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea in pools of water we created by digging a hole, putting a plastic bag in it as a liner, and filling it with water from a hose. I could spend all day with friends in a gully at home exploring and building things or capturing toads and fireflies at night, so I get what Miyazaki is trying to capture in stories like Totoro and what Stranger Things is trying to capture with the kids on bicycles. I experienced stuff like that myself. But a next generation that uses Totoro or Stranger Things as their model for an idyllic childhood without ever having experienced it is going to be creating a copy of a copy, and details, meaning, and depth will be lost because they don't have the real thing to work with, only the limited copy that they're using as their source. Does that mean you can't be an author without living a life of adventure? Of course not. Research, which can include reading history books and biographies, watching interviews and documentaries, reading news archives, and just talking to older or different people will create a much richer understanding of the world than watching movies, TV shows, and reading social media or blogs, which basically mean that aspiring authors shouldn't be lazy and assume that just consuming a lot of media and fiction along with whatever they picked up in school is enough to understand the people and the world around them with any real depth.

[@shiranui2844]

I like this comment.

[@zcoy4478]

Your cut during Miyazaki’s opening dialogue from Ghibli’s animations back to the rooftops he is pointing out worked so well that I initially saw it AS animation. That was magical, thank you ❤

[@pedjamigrant7189]

I think you just explained to me why we need art in life and thanks for that sir. You also, made me cry when you compared Miyazaki to lady Eboshi, and that would be the first essay i cried to haha . Incredible essay. thanks again.

[@crazyspider17]

i love the fact that this video is not bloated. most channels will try to stretch this kind of video to 10~15 minutes, usually by saying the same thing more than once with different wording. but you just said enough to make your Point. not more not less. sometime less is more in this video is a great example of that. Great job Keep it up.

[@Vara508]

nuance is so difficult to find nowdays. Great video on the industry mate, hats off to you

[@rangopistacho6928]

no, nuance isnt that hard to find, you have simply been looking at the surface level things that are designed to appeal to massive audiences and are mass produced, there are tons of games, films, anime, cartoons, animation, tv, books, comics, manga that all have great interesting nuanced stories, for goodness sake read hunter X hunter, it has one of the most nuanced and well written stories ive ever seen and even twists the very nature of a "happy go lucky protagonist"

[@Tofuschnittchen]

I have no idea how I got here, yet I'm really glad I did. This video put a smile on my face, I'll definitely share it. :D Keep up the great work, you're really talented! Hope you'll get a lot of subscribers in the (near) future. :)

[@Mumspaghettti]

Glad you enjoyed it! Appreciate the support :)

[@montybrewster7]

I think you touch on a really interesting point towards the end there & that's what is it we as viewers want from any given media. I personally want to escape reality & not be forced or even encouraged to dwell on reality. On the other hand that can make for some very throw away meaningless films, books or whatever. I think miyazaki is somewhat unique in that his films often combine both. However i think it's worth remembering that is why he is one of the masters of the genre & we shouldn't expect such complexity from every amine we watch. Thanks for a great vid dude.

[@RurouniKalainGaming]

A short thought stimulating peace. Well done.

[@petergrasso9459]

Really good video man. Good music choice. Keep it up

[@mellttabor2134]

Kiki, spirited away, and howls flying castle are my favorites. Yes his movies are anime but you can watch the whole movie with your family and come away with a true sense of wonder and growth… and yes tears… EVERYTIME you rewatch it. :)

[@redanime1422]

Love This Video type essay, Really touched on the core values of anime and why I watch it 🙏🏽

[@redanime1422]

Came back to this video 4 months later and needed it more now then ever ... I don't wanna seek an escape anymore but rather live

[@HopeeStudios]

Thanks for bringing this side of Miyazaki to my attention, man. Today, maybe not an anime, but this video made me think. So, thanks for that too :) Have a lovely week 💚

[@Kent_GM]

KZbin has been forced to feeding me this video for the past couple weeks in my recs. Ill give in

[@NextToToddliness]

I think this sentiment also profoundly resonates within the finale of Hideaki Anno's Eva series. Sometimes, you just need to go outside and touch grass.

[@aaronlaughter6471]

Dude your speaking anime fans/ weebs, they will never do that. Unless to curse us with anime conventions and horrible bo.

[@deltonlufungulo9058]

Thank you for the video. You have a very calming voice.

[@Aight7]

I'd like to live in a world where Haruki Murakami and Hayoi Miyazaki pair up to create something extraordinarily beautiful, classy, significant, meditative and imbibed in magical realism.

[@Neonagi]

Also, I think of the new anime out right now, Sousou no Frieren manages to combine these traits. In a lot of ways it honestly feels like a Ghibli story.

[@thomascranor2668]

I couldn't agree more! I keep getting the same feelings from Sousou no Frieren that I got from many Ghibli films.

[@wernerbeinhart2320]

Nah

[@escapetherace1943]

you're such a tourist if you think Frieren is anything other than trash. It becomes a garbage shounen not that deep in but deep enough to trick you into thinking it was something else. Get real

[@Thiccness_Is_Delicious]

​@escapetherace1943 ​ive been saying that about oshi no ko since its release, they think the mangaka is the new god because love is war was a good rom com but not anything absolutely over the top legendary and I think alot of casual fans try to see depth were there isnt really any besides surface level thoughts and idea's.

[@escapetherace1943]

@@Thiccness_Is_Delicious Kaguya is nothing special. Frieren is nothing special. Anime hitting mass appeal, specifically overseas is what ruined the industry, along with isekai of course.

[@Alamandorious]

On Princess Mononoke (which happens to be one of my favorite anime's of all time), none of the people in it are actually villains. The villains are far away, of screen, and have through their greed and insanity caused events to happen as they have. Jiko was tempted into attempting to claim the Spirit of the Forest's head by immense wealth that, being an older man, would have ensured he was cared for into his later years. He's the closest you get to being a villain, but through his interactions early on with Ashitaka you see he's not actually one. Eboshi established the land to protect the less fortunate and outcasts from the Capital...the prostitutes, the lepers. Okkoto and his kin want to protect the forest, and believe the only way to do that is to kill the humans. Moro and her children aren't villains, despite the fact they attack and kill humans. They, like Okkoto, think this is the only way to protect the forest and the Spirit of the Forest. Even the mercenaries and hunters that Jiko brings aren't evil. The amount of money being offered by the Emperor would keep them and any families they have safe for a long time. You could even argue that the Emperor isn't a villain, because he's getting old, is afraid of death, and he believes that the head of the Spirit of the Forest would make him immortal...but that reasoning is even more selfish than simple greed, because he's seeking it to empower himself, and is doing so at the expense of the safety of others. He is cowardly, and rather than being there himself, he sends others to do his bidding.

[@christinmoon823]

I was scared what the video had to offer because of the thumbnail, but instead I was granted good humbleness Thanks for that!

[@shamkraffl6050]

Miyazaki could follow a trend and still make it one of a kind.

[@dewaeryadi7776]

for me anime is just another medium of storytelling and the only mistake of anime is the treatment of animators, they deserve much more better

[@Kindaul]

Seems like Miyazaki was referring to the same creative degradation most of our major media suffers from around the world. Things have been creatively watered down and sensationalized in an effort for media to reach a greater demographic and thus greater profits. Things are flashier and more exciting, easier for the masses to digest. But in the process any effort to create a deeper connection with real life or philosophical thought is avoided as this often turns people off by confusing them emotionally. Most peope just want to see bad guys, good guys, and happy endings all clearly labelled and defined so they dont have to think and know exactly how to feel.

[@lionheart4424]

Amazing video. I have been watching some Ghibli movies for the first time like Porco Rosso and Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind. And the characters is the most fascinating aspect of those films. Not even movies like Your Name, as great as it is, made me feel so much introspection like movies from Miyazaki. I just watched MONSTER for the very first time as well and man, it deserves every compliment it has gotten. It is so humane and somehow does not feel like an anime its truly a breath of fresh air... from the past, of course.

[@UraiTheSmoke]

Thank you for this. I didn't know Miyazaki felt this way. I've always felt this way about anime, but his. I can only watch the top recommended shows because they have the must character motion in them

[@julecaesara482]

really damn good art is when it offers an escape but you can't stop thinking about how this piece of art parallels real life problems

[@MothGuyz-]

Real. And then, for half of that art, the author is like “what the heck I didn’t mean that at all”

[@thejuiceking2219]

hence why the greatest art of all time is the 2005 animated masterpiece Robots

[@scissors6116]

dunning kruger comment section

[@Sir.Allegations]

so true!

[@nocturn333]

The thing with people that complain about modern media or "consooming" is that they only see what is popular, and have very little experience themselves. Isekai gets criticized for good reason, but if you watch nothing but isekai, you're watching something just to be critical, or worse, to parrot the opinion of someone else. I'm saying this as someone was making the same comments 10 years ago while having barely 50 shows under my belt.

[@Sir.Allegations]

@@nocturn333 mmm agree a lot with this. There is so much stuff out as well that its easy to just avoid isekai lol. Also based chaika pfp. Not sure why KZbin only notified me a month later 😅

[@aaronlaughter6471]

@@nocturn333 Because that's all that is popular. You really think a historic WW1 anime that shows a French/British/German/(insert many of the countries who fought in that war) soldier, suffering, hoping he doesn't die and be forgotten, to hope he makes it back home and truly show the horrors of war and human evil is going to sell. Fuck that, we cant have fan service, how are we showing tits and ass in a trench, littered with body parts and mud. No giant robots or aliens either. Well fuck that, the average anime consumer wants fan service, flashy action, and all that shit that makes modern anime shit. Don't act as if the anime industry and you weebs/otakus did not cause this. Its what's you people watched, so they gave you more of it. And now you want blame everyone else. Fuck you.

[@Reriren]

i feel like a lot of people just forces themselves to watch every single anime instead of just watching what actually interests them

[@sivasish8]

Nothing is a mistake. Everything happens for a reason. Or one could say things take place as a chain reaction. One thing leads to another. No one can stop the flow.

[@c.galindo9639]

Absolutely beautiful. This is what art is meant to depict and not just an escape from reality and put on paper but a manifestation of true open imagination with severe deep thought and growing cognitive profound insights into the ideas of those creating the art

[@momsaccount4033]

The problem with modern anime isn’t the oversaturated genres or the way how human characters are portrayed in my opinion. As stated in the video, anime is inherently different and separate from real life. But without real life, there is no anime. I believe that creating art, whether it be through writing a book, composing music, or creating animation, what you are doing is appreciating life. You are taking the experience you have had with life up until the point you make a given work and filter it through the medium you use. When it comes to animation specifically, regardless of which style of animation you use or what the inspirations are, animation is inherently the art of appreciating motion. It is the art of telling story not with words but with visual action. If you want to create good animation that defies realism and the norm, you have to have an intimate understanding of the nuances of reality. Reality and fantasy are two sides of the same coin. One is the physical world, and the other is our human imagination. They both feed off of and give to each other. The problem with Japanese animation is that the country’s working culture *actively prevents* young talent from realizing the full potential of their artistry. Rushed schedules, unpaid overtime, forcing worked to stay at the company for multiple days and nights at a time, young talent are actively squeezed dry of any and all love they have for animation just to sell a product. Very few modern anime from official studios have anything meaningful to tell if the director or original author aren’t putting in their best effort to make the potential of a given work shine. So many anime cut corners in animation just to make ends meet. Characters standing still for prolonged periods of time, stiff movements that convey the bare minimum amount of movement needed to portray a specific action. Even anime that have good direction and stellar animated sequences only look that way with specific scenes. The level of animation quality you see in big important scenes isn’t the same level as you see in the mundane scenes, and I don’t want to hear the argument of “why do mundane scenes need to have the same level of detail put into them as the high-budget sakuga scenes?” IT’S BECAUSE THAT’S WHAT YOU’RE SUPPOSED TO DO IN ANIMATION. Look at every single one of Miyazaki’s movies. Every single one. They look nothing like modern TV anime for a reason. Every single scene is animated with the same amount of care and intention as some of the more iconic and crazier scenes. The way that characters shift the weight of their bodies whenever they sit down or walk around, the way how they make different subtle poses with their body in order to put emphasis on the words they say, this is the kind of attention to detail that is missing in a lot of TV anime, and it’s not because “anime movies have a higher budget”. In this modern day and age? Studios should be getting more than enough money to fund the necessary tools needed. Technology has nothing to do with it. The amount of “frames” in an animation has nothing to do with it. I swear so many people think “more frames = better animation” no it fucking doesn’t. What matter is what the artistic intention is. Sometimes I feel like otaku culture actively ruin the potential of anime. These days it’s treated like a fucking novelty product. Animation is art. Animation has the power to be the culmination of human potential, determination, wisdom, and emotion. I don’t know where I heard this quote from, but it went something like “In anime, the animation isn’t what matters, it’s the story”. To an extent that’s true, but this mentality forgets that animation *is* storytelling. Nuanced animation that gives a shit about attention to detail is the most important catalyst for effective storytelling. The potential for amazing anime is always bogged down by the people who don’t give a shit about the medium, either squeezing it for profit or holding arrogant stubborn opinions like “animation is for children” and thinking that being an artist is an inferior job compared to being a doctor or some other kind of civil worker. Tell me. When you get home from work, what do you do to relax. What do you do to take the edge off. What do you do to keep yourself from going insane from all of the effort you put in to feed yourself and keep a roof over your head? You play a game. You watch a movie. You read a book. You consume art. Art is one of the most important aspects of humanity. Art has been a part of all human cultures ever since the earliest records of civilization. If it isn’t for stories, if it isn’t for fictional characters we see ourselves in, or characters that intrigue us because of how different they are from us, if we didn’t share stories to each other to teach each other about things that we couldn’t be taught otherwise, humanity would have died out a long time ago. Food. Water. Art. We need all three to survive. That is a hill I will die on. Anime is not a mistake. It never was a mistake. But the current state of the medium today is, frankly speaking, pathetic. Nobody understands good art. Nobody thinks of the current state of the Japanese working culture as a evil that needs to be fought against. Japan is probably one of if not the most important country on Earth when it comes to the art they make and share with the world. A lot of intellectual properties and icons that are synonymous with pop culture around the world have come from Japan. Even if we ignore anime, think about video games, live action movies, paintings, recognizable iconography, many important things that we appreciate come from this small, beautiful island nation. While I think it is ridiculous to think that Japan is a “dying country”, the state of the country is worrying. Japan doesn’t deserve to be suffering the way that it is right now. Sorry, I don’t have a big thesis statement to say at the end, I think I’ve already said my piece.

[@PeterOla-Itan]

Sometime animes grounded in reality bring a breath of fresh air. In that regard the Tatami Galaxy was great. I also liked NHK ni Youkoso

[@Bernholesurfer]

Ashita no Joe, Touch, Kimagure Orange Road, NieA_7, Honey and Clover, GTO, Black Jack, Kaiba, there's plenty of anime that is worthwhile, people are just lazy.

[@PeterOla-Itan]

@@Bernholesurfer😅

[@jase276]

I know the topic is anime but also read NHK's manga if you haven't yet. I personally find it way better than the anime and I love the anime. Much better ending too, imo

[@PeterOla-Itan]

@@jase276 because of adult life I don't really buy manga anymore , I just read the scans from time to time, but i'll try it it

[@di380]

Miyazaki is a genius of animation. His art is not just attractive but it is magical. I have not seen anything like Mr Miyazaki’s work

[@Paparazzientourage]

Your Topic Is Worth My time and Energy.. Thank you.. this is a Beautiful Topic and it was well done... :)

[@bluemoondiadochi]

I think in Miyazaki's formative years the japanese society was still a place where "life" was. the people, social realities and way of life were such that there was possible to observe and gain valuable insight into human nature. but in subsequent decades, it has transformed into a mechanical hollowed out place, where realities devour individuals. you can follow this transformation through landmark animation such as Neon Genesis Evangelion, which WAS grounded in reality of the time and generation it presented. So, what are you going to observe now? salaryman zombies? hollowed out "families"? brutalist architecture? socially inept youth? YES , and all of these ARE already taken as a basis of modern anime, which does perhaps the best thing it can with them - use them as a starting point to get away from it! Human being have an innate compass in them, and can feel if there is something wrong with society, even if they cannot verbalize it. and i think escapism is one obvious and natural way of dealing with it, because it at least allowed the light of human spirit to shine "somewhere". otaku are already a firm product of this society, wether they focus on light novels, idols or manga or anime, they are already there. So Miyazaki is a cultural dinosaur of a time which is long gone. the current society cannot generate lessons as those it could when miyazaki and his generation grew up.

[@wakkaseta8351]

So we should just toss out the lessons of the past because "ok boomer" mentality?

[@SoulSoundMuisc]

I don't think there's anything wrong with escapism. It's been around for a very long time, beginning with so-called primitive people sitting around a fire and telling stories to each other. Sometimes the stories were fantastical, and sometimes there was a lesson in them, or even just a retelling of events that happened. Sometimes they were told as a way to explain why the world worked for people who didn't understand physics and bacteria, astronomy, and other things we now take for granted. But a lot of stories were told strictly for entertainment. We have that in books as well. There are any number of biographies out there, or history books, or books about science or physics. There are all kinds of books that are purely fiction and some of them are written to broadcast an idea about the human condition, told from a human perspective (you could even argue many books do that). Sometimes a book is pure fantasy, pure escapism. You get the same thing in film. And you get it in anime. Which films have you watched, stories you've heard, books you've read or anime you watched that really stuck with you? The ones that are timeless? Those are Miyazaki style stories, the sorts of things he's talking about. They're the least common, always have been, but they stay with us because they resonate with us on a deeper level. There's a ton of films (dating all the way back to the infancy of film in the silent film era) that are pure fantasy and pure escapism; there is no lesson to be learned, there is no deeper character development, there is no great 'human story'. Are his kinds of stories 'better'? I would argue that they are. The first anime I ever watched was Nausicaa and it had a massive impact on me as a child. It stuck with me. Have I watched a lot of anime since then? Absolutely, and while some of the stories are very dear to my heart for the stories they tell and the impact they have, a lot of it has also been largely forgettable. I enjoyed them when I watched them, purely for escapism. All these years later, I've forgotten about them. Not everything has to be an essay about the Human Condition. Not everything *should* be.

[@mark-wh2yv]

For the entire video, my eyes have been very sweaty 😂. Your brief video hits and it's refreshing you honesty. So many of today's anime, though good lack so much. They ," rinse & repeat" so many of the same stories. And like " fireworks" , depends on solely on the flash & bang effect, rather than true original story telling. You young man, have wisdom that is so uncommon for young people today. Be proud,be strong and keep doing what you do.. I'll be cheering for you.🙏🧐 Be well Sensei

[@tumangeorange8388]

very true and very appealing observation. appreciate you making this video