Studio Ghibli might currently be celebrating some of its biggest wins yet, but famed creator Hayao Miyazaki himself believes that the golden age of Japanese animation is over! Studio Ghibli has had one of their best years yet as The Boy and The Heron not only won major accolades around the world, but also was one of the biggest box office successes in the company’s history. With the increased popularity of anime and anime features in the last few years, it’s hard not to imagine how bit the world of anime can continue to get in the coming years.
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But for one of the major creators behind it all, the current age for anime just might be over. Speaking with 20 Minutes in France while accepting the Cannes Film Festival award for Miyazaki and the Honorary Palme d’Or for Studio Ghibli, Goro Miyazaki related some comments that his father had made about the award itself. Noting that while his father was happy to receive the award, it also feels like an ending to his career overall despite the fact that the creator is notably already considering work on his next Studio Ghibli project.
Is the Golden Age of Anime Over?
As Goro Miyazaki relayed to 20 Minutes about his father’s feelings on the awards (as translated by Catsuka), “He was delighted, but he feels that the golden age of anime is over. He feels that this award symbolizes the end of his career.” It’s a starling comment from one of the biggest creators within the medium, so it’s certainly one that has gotten attention from fans. As Miyazaki notes how things are beginning to change, it’s also something anime fans might have to consider heading into the future.
Anime is currently in the midst of a massive boom as worldwide demand for TV anime and feature films continues to grow. There has been a greater spread of releases, and time in between those releases has shorten immensely from the way it was just a few years ago. But as Miyazaki notes, this could just be reflective of a “golden age” that will essentially act as sort of a “bubble” that could burst in the future.
There are already many stories of studios and artists working through harsh conditions to provide anime releases, and that’s only been exacerbated with the increased demand. All of these factors together could bring about an end to this age.
