And maybe, fans hope, a long-awaited sequel to a Studio Ghibli masterpiece.

For all of his immense movie-making talent, Studio Ghibli co-founder Hayao Miyazaki doesn’t have a reputation as an outgoing, gregarious sort of fellow. Similarly, Evangelion creator Hideaki Anno often comes across as a guy who’s more comfortable expressing himself through his art than in direct face-to-face conversation.

The two famed anime directors have a strong friendship with each other, though, originally forged when Anno was still in the early stages of his career and serving as an animator on the Miyazaki-directed Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind. The two would work together again on Ghibli’s The Wind Rises, in which Anno provided the voice of the protagonist, and Studio Ghibli even let Anno’s Studio Khara use some of its rare animation-making equipment for the production of the final Evangelion movie. And as further proof that Anno and Miyazaki are good friends, the two recently posed for a photo together, which was then shared by the Studio Khara Twitter account.

The picture was taken at the entrance to Nibariki, Miyazaki’s private studio which he maintains separately from the Studio Ghibli office. With Anno having released three major movies since 2021 (Evangelion: 3.0+1.0 Thrice Upon a Time, Shin Ultraman, and Shin Kamen Rider) and Miyazaki’s latest anime, The Boy and the Heron, being released in 2023, this was the pair’s first time seeing each other in six years…which meant it was also the first time for Anno to see Miyazaki in the flesh but without the beard.

Though he was smooth faced throughout the 1980s, for most of Miyazaki’s time since becoming the world’s most famous anime creator he sported a stately white beard. Fans were startled to see him without it during an acceptance speech video for an award in 2023, and Anno said that Miyazaki being beardless gave him a “fresh” aura.

But with Miyazaki being such an accomplished artist, a master at using subtle visual cues to send a message and create a mood, is there some deep meaning behind him removing his facial hair? Nope. As Anno reports:

“Miyazaki said that his beard was a pain to trim and groom, and that’s why he shaved it all off.”

Anno also shared a snapshot taken inside Miyazaki’s studio. Though it had been eight years since his last visit there, Anno was impressed by how time appears to be standing still in one part of the room where Miyazaki still has a VHS player hooked up.

Getting back to the shot of the two directors outside the studio, commenters couldn’t help noticing that while Miyazaki no longer has his beard, Anno’s facial hair is looking thicker than ever.

“With his white hair and beard, Anno is looking more Miyazaki-like than even Miyazaki these days.”
“It almost looks like Anno is Miyazaki’s little brother or something.”
“Looking like a dad and his son in that shot.”
“I love how Miyazaki still wears an apron. Makes me feel like he’s still an active artist”
“It’s great to see Miyazaki looking so energetic.”

As for who took the photo of the two of them, Anno doesn’t name names, but says that “a veteran staff member since Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind” snapped the shutter. That in turn has commenters buzzing hopefully that this may be a sign that Anno might have been meeting with Miyazaki to discuss handing off the reigns to Nausicaa so that Anno can adapt the rest of the story from Miyazaki’s manga source material, something Anno has been expressing a desire to do for years, but currently there’s no official statement that they talked about anything other than beards.

Source: Twitter/@khara_inc2 via Otakomu
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