Studio Ghibli closes its doors.

[Aemon Stark]

@sj4iy and naz

Thanks. I guess this falls into a "to each their own" thing. I know there is a giant following for it, but as I don't personally know anyone who digs it, I've always been curious. Thanks for a bit of insight.

Well maybe you should actually try watching one of the films mentioned here rather than making comments like this. Or, you know, googling Miyazaki and Studio Ghibli.

[Frey Pies]

I would also like to highly, HIGHLY recommend "Grave of the Fireflies". It's an absolutely stunning film about two Japanese orphans trying to survive during WWII. It's extremely hard-hitting and heart-wrenching, and it's not at all shy about the severity of the subject material. For me, it was one of the very, very rare movies that have actually left a strong impression on me.

You will not think "this is just a cartoon" while watching this movie.

Yup. I think Grave of the Fireflies is one of Ghibli's best films, better than anything Miyazaki did except Nausicaa.

Personally I don't care for most anime--what Studio Ghibli did was something far beyond the medium it used to tell its stories. My son and I had countless conversations on what the different spirits represented in Spirited Away, especially the one in the bath house. It's relevance to the story, what it represented in the world. We still talk about it years later. Myazaki went far beyond the realms of the kid's story--he just created amazing pieces of art.

While I love Studio Ghibli a lot, I don't think their work is the best the medium has to offer. There are a lot of other great anime tales out there too. You should try out Steins;Gate- it's a show that builds up steam slowly but ends up being the best exploration of time travel I've seen in any medium.

[baxus]

I'm sad to see Ghibli close even if it's only temporary.

Now I must catch up on their work having missed quite a few.

I don't want to derail this thread or anything, and I guess I feel for you guys, but I have an honest question. What in the hell is with the fascination for anime? I'm not trying to "hate", I'm just legitimately curious. I love Kung fu. I love "adult" cartoons, but I just don't understand the following this stuff has. Please enlighten me.

Have you seen "Princess Mononoke"?

If you haven't, do so as soon as possible.

I can't imagine not liking that movie.

Anime is definitely not for kids only, though kids can and do enjoy it very much.

[Frey Pies]

Have you seen "Princess Mononoke"?

If you haven't, do so as soon as possible.

I can't imagine not liking that movie.

Anime is definitely not for kids only, though kids can and do enjoy it very much.

I think me and my brother are the only ones who didn't like it. :frown5:

[baxus]

I think me and my brother are the only ones who didn't like it. :frown5:

Just out of curiosity, what didn't you like?

[Frey Pies]

^ I'm not sure, now, since it was so long ago. I think it was the direction the story took that I wasn't very fond of, actually. I may need to re-watch it now.

[Arkash]

Yup. I think Grave of the Fireflies is one of Ghibli's best films, better than anything Miyazaki did except Nausicaa.

GotF is the saddest movie ever. "nuff said.

And I agree with you Nausicaa is my favourite Ghibli movie !

[Clueless Northman]

Hutch: There are animes, as in animated TV series. Including a lot of mediocre shows for kids and teens - Naruto, Dragonball and the like.

Then there are animated movies. In which case you have stuff mostly for kids, like some Disney, and some that are for older audiences. Whatever, the overall quality, graphically and storywise, is often significantly higher with animated movies, and that's definitely the case with Ghibli and a few others.

[polishgenius]

^ I'm not sure, now, since it was so long ago. I think it was the direction the story took that I wasn't very fond of, actually. I may need to re-watch it now.

I wasn't a huge fan of Monoke either, though I didn't dislike it. Part of it seemed to be a technical issue - on the DVD I had, the speech track seemed to sync up with neither the subtitles nor the visuals in some parts, which was distracting. Dunno if that's just that release (it was one of the DVDs released before Spirited Away made a splash and got everything repackaged in a nice shiny new range) or a problem with the film itself, but it was annoying.

But I'm also not a huge fan of the way a lot of anime films seem to insist on plonking a huge destructive monster that doesn't make a lot of sense into the finale, and Mononoke is the only Miyazaki film that goes that route. I guess it's something of a tradition in anime, but it always distracts me.

[Theda Baratheon]

Studio Ghibli are definitely not in the same realm as many anime TV series which I could totally understand people not understanding (what with some almost problematic themes and tropes such as fan-service for example closeups on female characters with big boobs) those films but I can't really understand why anyone would not appreciate Studio Ghibli (especially Miyazaki) movies for how absolutely beautiful, charming and well told the stories are. Spirited Away is one of the best 'down-the-rabbit-hole' stories I've seen and would likely be loved by most kids who watch it.

[Inigima]

Nausicaa will always be one of my favorites, film and manga.

High five, Scot. Nausicaä is marvelous, my favorite Miyazaki film, which is a high bar to clear.

[Pliskin]

Hutch: There are animes, as in animated TV series. Including a lot of mediocre shows for kids and teens - Naruto, Dragonball and the like.

It's very reductive to put all shonen manga in the "mediocre" case.

There were certainly good stuff in Naruto. And Dragonball was a wonderful adventure story for kids, before it turned into the BS fighting stuff that is DBZ.

I wasn't a huge fan of Monoke either, though I didn't dislike it. Part of it seemed to be a technical issue - on the DVD I had, the speech track seemed to sync up with neither the subtitles nor the visuals in some parts, which was distracting. Dunno if that's just that release (it was one of the DVDs released before Spirited Away made a splash and got everything repackaged in a nice shiny new range) or a problem with the film itself, but it was annoying.

But I'm also not a huge fan of the way a lot of anime films seem to insist on plonking a huge destructive monster that doesn't make a lot of sense into the finale, and Mononoke is the only Miyazaki film that goes that route. I guess it's something of a tradition in anime, but it always distracts me.

I don't remember any huge destructive monster in this film. If you talk about the deer god, the whole point of the film was to protect him and save the forest, so I don't see how it's a monster.

[polishgenius]

I don't remember any huge destructive monster in this film. If you talk about the deer god, the whole point of the film was to protect him and save the forest, so I don't see how it's a monster.

It's the way he turns into this huge gloopy purple thing that's randomly thrashing about and destroying everything at the end. Yeah, I know technically there are reasons given, but I didn't like the way it was done.

[Frey Pies]

Studio Ghibli are definitely not in the same realm as many anime TV series which I could totally understand people not understanding (what with some almost problematic themes and tropes such as fan-service for example closeups on female characters with big boobs) those films but I can't really understand why anyone would not appreciate Studio Ghibli (especially Miyazaki) movies for how absolutely beautiful, charming and well told the stories are. Spirited Away is one of the best 'down-the-rabbit-hole' stories I've seen and would likely be loved by most kids who watch it.

Those tropes are usually only present in the most trite and basic series though. Most of the ones regarded as greats only have a minimal use of them. Cowboy Bebop, FLCL, Fullmetal Alchemist, etc aren't saturated with those things at all, and are extremely well-plotted.

It's the way he turns into this huge gloopy purple thing that's randomly thrashing about and destroying everything at the end. Yeah, I know technically there are reasons given, but I didn't like the way it was done.

This! I remember this now- it felt like an extremely underwhelming way to end the movie.

[Roose Seal]

I think this is a huge positive.

Miyazaki was a good director but he wouldn't let anyone else do anything in his studio, not even his own son.
The studio has a number of incredibly talented directors and animators and artists who could never work to their full potential because of Miyazaki's over-controlling hand.
With this new turn of events, these directors and animators are free to go work for other studios and this could actually be a big boon for Japanese animation in general.
The studio had a good run under Miyazaki's control, but it had to come to an end.

Overall, I think Satoshi Kon's death was a much much bigger loss to Japanese animation than this sort-of shutdown.


Also, "anime" stands for "japanese animation" and is an extremely varied medium with dozens of different subgenres. Saying you don't like "anime" because there's crappy things like DBZ or creepy loli stuff is like saying you don't like "books" because Twilight and 50 shades of grey exist.

[Theda Baratheon]

Those tropes are usually only present in the most trite and basic series though. Most of the ones regarded as greats only have a minimal use of them. Cowboy Bebop, FLCL, Fullmetal Alchemist, etc aren't saturated with those things at all, and are extremely well-plotted.

This! I remember this now- it felt like an extremely underwhelming way to end the movie.

I don't know if I agree that some of the silly tropes are only in the worst anime, they're quite prevalent; Kill la Kill has tons of closeups on "female anatomy" lol and could be seen to be pretty silly to a lot of people and not accessible to many others but it's a really, really good series. That's why Attack on Titan is so strange and loved by a lot of people who don't usually like anime and hated by a lot of weird anime snobs/fans because it's very unconventional and doesn't have fan-service in the same way at all as a lot of other shows.

[polishgenius]

I must admit, I've never got into any anime TV shows, apart from the sadly short-lived Kino's Journey, but Attack on Titan does interest me (as does Death Note which I never got around to, though I don't know how that is regards the silly fanservice stuff).

[Theda Baratheon]

Attack on Titan and Death Note are two of my favourites.

Attack on Titan really is very unconventional as an anime; there is basically no fan service; no girls in bikini's or flashes of pants, it's really well animated and looks super neat, the plot is SO interesting and bizarre and intriguing and there are tons of well rounded, likable, well written characters.

[Frey Pies]

I must admit, I've never got into any anime TV shows, apart from the sadly short-lived Kino's Journey, but Attack on Titan does interest me (as does Death Note which I never got around to, though I don't know how that is regards the silly fanservice stuff).

Death Note is like Attack on Titan in regards to these things. Has none that I can recall.

I definitely recommend you to watch both; they are quite amazing, though AoT has a little too much mulling during the middle.

[rondo has three heads]

I don't want to derail this thread or anything, and I guess I feel for you guys, but I have an honest question. What in the hell is with the fascination for anime? I'm not trying to "hate", I'm just legitimately curious. I love Kung fu. I love "adult" cartoons, but I just don't understand the following this stuff has. Please enlighten me.

You say "adult cartoons" as if you do not include anime here. Keep in mind saying "I don't get anime" is the same as saying "I don't get American animation," a term that covers shows from Family Guy to Clifford the Dog.

The vast majority of anime, like most genres, is utter garbage. I personally cannot stand the epic martial arts/magic sagas like Naruto and DBZ, or the perverted shows stuffed with fan service. Shows like FLCL, meanwhile, are too special not too at least try (it's only 6 episodes!)

And sitting at the top is Miyazaki. His level of genius is, at times, troubling. If you've never seen Mononoke I would try it. You are obviously an ASOIAF fan and that is the movie I'd say is closest. The dub is pretty good but of course subs are the way to go