Japan has been in a dialogue with Europe for a long time regarding anime and manga. Anime has been huge in Western Europe since probably at least the 70s. Franc

Japan has been in a dialogue with Europe for a long time regarding anime and manga. Anime has been huge in Western Europe since probably at least the 70s. France and Italy commissioned some in the 70s to cut on animation costs and it worked so well that it spiralled into a ton of imports. France is still the second largest market for manga in the world in front of the USA despite having a sixth of its population. Strangely I think France and Japan are culturally a lot more permeable than the USA and Japan are. > Do Studio Ghibli fans care to know what Miyazaki's favorite films are? I guarentee almost none of them are anime or even animated Miyazaki got part of the King and the Mockingbird by Grimault actually printed to study them when he was a student. It’s notable because the movie was written by a famous French poet and screenwriter from the poetic realist movement and you can some the influences that had on Miyazaki career are fairly obvious.