Level-5 head Akihiro Hino, designer Yoshiyuki Momose, Miyazaki’s composer Joe Hisaishi return.
Studio Ghibli (Page 54)
Mei, the strong-willed four-year-old star of Studio Ghibli’s acclaimed anime film My Neighbor Totoro expresses 15 different emotions in brilliant 3-D renderings.
Fans around the world say thank you to Hayao Miyazaki by creating some amazing art of their own.
Just let us pretend for a little while that this amazing collaboration could actually happen.
If you love Legos, these photos from the University of Tokyo’s Lego Club will make you want to go back to school and play with blocks!
Studio Ghibli’s animated works have won acclaim around the world, and we’re sure many of our readers are familiar with their hit films like Spirited Away and Castle in the Sky. But have you ever wondered what it may be like to actually work in the famous studio? Well, now it looks like we can get a glimpse of what goes on in the studio, as one of Ghibli’s former animators, Hitomi Tateno, will be coming out later this month with a book titled “The Pencil War Chronicles: The Studio Ghibli that Nobody Knew“!
There are many well-known areas of beauty all around Japan, but sometimes you stumble upon something off the beaten path that simply takes your breath away.
That’s what happened to one person in Japan, who came across a waterfall in a tunnel of sunlight, filled with the same muted hues as a scene from a fantastical animated movie. Upon sharing the atmospheric photograph above on Instagram it received thousands of likes, with people all over the country eager to learn where the secret waterfall was hidden.
It might look like something from the foggy mists of a far-flung island many miles from Tokyo, but the beautiful scene is actually located just a short one-hour drive from the bustling metropolis. We decided to make our way there, and we’ve marked out the route so you can visit it too!
When you’re looking for cute inspiration, you don’t have to look much further than Japan. As the birthplace of the world’s beloved wide-eyed, chubby-faced anime characters, the nation is full to overflowing with commercials, posters, sweets and goods that are so adorable even self-respecting adults can’t help but squeal like delighted children when they catch sight of them.
Now Japan’s cast of cute characters have found a home for themselves across the seas in a gorgeous little Airstream trailer in California, where they continue to pop up in limited numbers in the best way ever: as deliciously sweet macarons. Come with us as we take a look at some of the cute critters and adorable edibles in the collection after the break.
Hayao Miyazaki film buffs will appreciate the popular video documentary “Hayao Miyazaki – The Essence of Humanity” created by Lewis Bond, an English film maker. The 16-minute video, featuring a montage of Miyazaki’s much-loved animated films, beautifully explores human nature, Miyazaki’s vision, and the universal appeal of his movies.
If you forgot to stop by your local Hot Topic store to check out their very cute Studio Ghibli collection, go soon, because it’s all on sale now! However, keep in mind that those pieces are so last season.
If you’re more of a fashion-forward Ghibli fan, you’ll be happy to hear that a Toronto-based apparel company, Wizards of the West, will soon be releasing a line of subtle, yet stylish, Studio Ghibli-themed shirts.
If you’ve seen Ponyo, Studio Ghibli’s adorable movie about a fish girl who wants to be human, then the above location may seem pretty familiar. That’s because it was taken in the port town of Tomonoura, where Hayao Miyazaki and his team spent months getting the inspiration and imagery to create their next animated film.
As massive Ghibli fans, we had to take a look at the town for ourselves and see what real-life Ponyo looks like. Read on to check out the beautiful scenery for yourself, and see the effect that Ponyo has had on the town, as well as the effect the town had on Miyazaki.
Deep in the forests of Takamorimachi, a small town in Kumamoto Prefecture on Japan’s southern island of Kyushu, hides a humble shrine shrouded by trees and moss-covered greenery. Hailed as a “power spot” by the Japanese, Kamishikimi Kumanoimasu Shrine (上色見熊野座神社) is a mystical destination for those looking to feel the earth’s energy and recharge their spirits, or to just take in the all the scenic beauty it has to offer. Even if you can’t make a visit in the near future, you can at least pacify yourself with these stunning images instead.
Studio Ghibli, Japan’s famed animation house, has a remarkable talent for captivating audiences around the world with inspiring storylines and loveable characters. What really brings them all to life, however, are their animated backgrounds; beautiful palettes of light and shade and inky hues that draw us into their magical worlds and have us never wanting to leave.
There’s one background illustrator in Tokyo who knows just how to recreate the atmosphere of a Studio Ghibli movie and now he’s bringing out the beauty of Japan’s narrow roads and suburban landscapes in a series of illustrations entitled “Bicycle Boy”. Using a real-life setting from Studio Ghibli’s Whisper of the Heart, the picturesque journey of a boy and his bike through the streets of Japan is so beautiful we’ll happily follow him wherever he goes!
As popular as Japanese animation is, some critics argue that it can have negative psychological effects on audiences. After watching anime martial artists solve their problems with their fists, will fans try to resolve their own conflicts in similarly violent ways? Isn’t is possible that witnessing lewd acts in animated form will cause impressionable viewers to become more sexually aggressive in real life?
We don’t know about those scenarios, but one recently arrested man was led down the path of crime by his love of anime, and the unlikely corrupter was Studio Ghibli’s Totoro.
Out of all the Studio Ghibli films, My Neighbor Totoro remains one of the most beloved, with the tale of two young girls and their magical forest friends capturing hearts and imaginations around the world.
While the story centres on Totoro, the furry, forest-dwelling giant, his unique mode of transport very nearly upstages him. What’s not to love about a multi-legged bus-shaped cat that bounds over hills beaming trails of light from its huge yellow eyes and carrying mice along as tail-lights?
Now it’s time to take the iconic catbus home and when we do, we’ll be making him entirely from scratch, with a specially designed kit made from lasercut paper materials.
Here at RocketNews24 we’re no stranger to covering Studio Ghibli fan-related news. From fan-made drawings to 8-bit mashups to officially-licensed replicas, we’ve seen a ton of love around the world for all things Ghibli.
And one essential part of the Studio Ghibli fandom is the fantastic cosplay. Studio Ghibli cosplayers from all over the globe love showing off the huge range of unforgettable Ghibli characters, and here we have a sampling of some of the best ones we’ve seen recently. Think you’re a real Ghibli fan? Then see if you can identify each one!
It’s been 30 years since Studio Ghibli began producing the adorable characters, inspiring storylines and amazing animated scenes that we all know and love. The warmth of the animation house’s distinctive style has created worlds so captivating it’s almost as if our favourite characters might continue on their journey after the credits finish rolling to live in an alternate animated Ghibli universe alongside our own.
So what if there were a way to catch up with all our Ghibli friends to see how they’ve been getting along? Which stories would fans like to explore further, decades after they were originally created? If semi-retired director Hayao Miyazaki ever needed a reason to come back to making movies full-time, he might like to consider the following list of five Ghibli sequels Japanese moviegoers would most like to see.
Hayao Miyazaki and Mamoru Oshii are two of the most successful and influential anime directors in the history of the medium, but their films couldn’t be more different in tone and appearance. The soft-edged natural environments of Miyazaki’s anime are bathed in a nostalgic glow, while Oshii’s animation, such as Ghost in the Shell and The Sky Crawlers, is filled with shadowy ruinscapes and turns its sharpest focus inwards to the human mind and consciousness.
Miyazaki and Oshii are such fundamentally different people that they even communicate with their production teams in completely opposite styles. But that’s not to say that one can’t find things to admire in the works of the other, as Oshii has shared his favorite film and even scene in a Miyazaki anime.
Studio Ghibli, as an entity, is more or less in a coma, but that doesn’t mean that all of the talented artists that made up the storied anime production house have retired.
Veteran animator Yoshiharu Sato has worked on a number of Ghibli films, most notably as the character designer for My Neighbor Totoro and its sequel Mei and the Kitten Bus. Now, Sato is serving as animation director for an upcoming theatrical anime release that may not bear the Ghibli name, but captures much of the famed studio’s style and atmosphere.
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