Studio Ghibli remains one of the most legendary studios that work in the field of animation in Japan, with last year seeing their latest film, Earwig and the Witch, taking a departure from their traditional two-dimensional animation and instead diving into computer-generated graphics for this magical tale. Now, it seems as though prolific creator Hayao Miyazaki is coming out of retirement once again to create one last movie for Studio Ghibli, which is confirmed to be the adaptation of the 1937 popular novel, “How Do You Live?” which will be the final film for the animator it seems.
In a recent interview with The New York Times, Miyazaki described the upcoming movie as a “fantasy on a grand scale”, with the article itself diving into the description of the original novel:
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“The story concerns a 15-year-old boy in Tokyo, small for his age and fond of mischief, whose father has recently died. In the English translation by Bruno Navasky, published in October, the boy gazes out at the city and is overwhelmed: “The watching self, the self being watched, and furthermore the self becoming conscious of all this, the self observing itself by itself, from afar, all those various selves overlapped in his heart, and suddenly he began to feel dizzy.”
Miyazaki has been creating anime for decades, helping to create Studio Ghibli in 1985 following decades of work within the field. This would hardly be the first time that Hayao has come out of retirement, having done so before, though this certainly seems as though it might be his last. Within Ghibli, Miyazaki’s son, Goro Miyazaki, is continuing his father’s legacy via directing projects of his own, leading the recent movie for the Studio in Earwig And The Witch.
In recent days, Ghibli has made headlines with the live-stage play adaptation of Spirited Away, which is set to land in Japan and give a brand new take on the classic film that gave the studio its first Oscar for “Best Animated Picture,” On top of this news, Ghibli is still working on opening its very own amusement park, which will re-create some of the biggest locales from their classic films.
Do you think that “How Do You Live” will in fact be Hayao Miyazaki’s final film? Feel free to let us know in the comments or hit me up directly on Twitter @EVComedy to talk all things comics, anime, and the world of Studio Ghibli.
