Studio Ghibli announced on September 1 that Hayao Miyazaki is retiring. The director will hold a press conference on Friday to further explain the reasons for his retirement.
Hayao Miyazaki (Page 34)
When approached by fans, Hayao Miyazaki, acclaimed director of award winning movies such as Spirited Away and Princess Mononoke, always refuses to sign autographs. It wasn’t always like that, but one specific event made him shy away from putting pen to paper for his admirers. A separate, unrelated event convinced him to make a rare exception to his “no autograph” rule.
While the official release date of Ghibli’s new feature anime film, The Wind Rises (Kaze Tachinu), is still a few short days away, numerous preview screenings have already taken place across Japan. We too, went to a screening earlier this month and offered you our impressions after seeing the movie, and now, with all the reviews from luckier members off the public trickling in, it seems that not everyone is happy with Ghibli’s new creation, especially the younger audience.
“The wind is rising! … We must attempt to live! (Le vent se lève ! … Il faut tenter de vivre!” — Paul Valéry, Le Cimetière marin
Fans of Japanese anime will know by now that the release of a new Studio Ghibli movie is surrounded by a fair amount of hype. Their newest film, The Wind Rises (Kaze Tachinu), scheduled for release in Japan on July 20, is certainly no exception, especially since it’s the first Ghibli movie in five years to be directed by the studio’s co-founder, Hayao Miyazaki. Now that preview screenings of the movie have started, we were anxious to get our hands on a ticket. Fortunately, that’s exactly what we were able to do, so we thought we’d share our experience with you.
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