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Studio Ghibli set to become subsidiary of Nippon TV
- eatonphil 3y agoOther articles in English such as https://english.kyodonews.net/news/2023/09/0ce7dd62559e-studio-ghibli-to-become-nippon-tv-subsidiary.html https://english.kyodonews.net/news/2023/09/0ce7dd62559e-stud....
- Namari 3y ago> Nippon Television has just acquired Studio Ghibli, which will become a subsidiary of their company. Producer Toshio Suzuki (75y old) was looking for a successor, and proposed Goro Miyazaki, but Hayao Miyazaki (82y old) refused (and so did Goro). Nippon Television was already a long-standing partner of Ghibli ("Friday Road Show").
- belugacat 3y agoHayao Miyazaki, in the documentary "The Kingdom of Dreams and Madness" (2013): Interviewer: "Aren't you worried about [Studio Ghibli]'s future?" HM: "The future is clear. It's gonna fall apart. I can already see it. What's the use worrying? It's inevitable. "Ghibli" is just a random name I got from an airplane. It's only a name."
- fidotron 3y agoYep. This is near the better end of possible outcomes given at least they have a track record of respecting legacy and showing the value of archives. The idea that Ghibli as a major production concern would outlast Hayao Miyazaki was obvious nonsense, and you can almost feel the relief of Goro.
- makeitdouble 3y agoYes. I think this also comes less as a shock as the new generation of directors have a number of studios willing to give them a chance (including new studios beasically founded for a single director, or even single piece). Ghibli can stay an icon of a glorious past area, in good hands.
- HenryBemis 3y ago"We'll Always Have Paris" is the phrase that came to my mind. If we are lucky, the Ghibli will be the empty shell holding the royalties/rights/etc of the Miyazaki (and other) produced movies. If we are unlucky, someone will use the brand name to start producing (en masse) garbage, selling it to Netflix, and Netflix will be pushing garbage low-quality, hi-speed cartoons.
- nordsieck 3y ago> If we are unlucky, someone will use the brand name to start producing (en masse) garbage, selling it to Netflix, and Netflix will be pushing garbage low-quality, hi-speed cartoons. I would really hate to see the Ghibli version of "rings of power"
- dwighttk 3y agoDon’t have to watch it… we’ll always have the books… maybe one day I’ll forget watching the first third of The Hobbit in 3D
- hx8 3y agoAfter Game of Thrones season 3 I've began ignoring film adaptations of books I enjoy. I think the risk of tarnishing my experience with a good book is much worse than any possible film enhancement I've experienced. The screenshots from Blade Runner 2 and Dune do look cool though.
- aftbit 3y agoI only read the first Dune book, but I feel like the recent-ish movie did a pretty good job following what happened in the book.
- KineticLensman 3y agoThe third Dune book (arguably the second) actually illustrates this general point about decline as well. Run screaming from the subsequent books
- micromacrofoot 3y agoProbably a bit of a double-edged sword because frankly Hayao does not seem to care for Goro all that much.
- the_af 3y agoI'm not sure I understand... this news indicates that Goro will not be leading Ghibli. So what would be the double-edged sword?
- Mistletoe 3y agoI’m also confused, does he not like his own son?
- jd3 3y agoHe was a self-described absentee father, stated that being around his son made him anxious, dissuaded Goro from getting into animation, and was critical and generally unsupportive of the three films that Goro directed. Goro even stated that he only got to know his father through his films since Hayao was never around. Goro was raised by his mother, who quit pursuing her dream of working as an animator in order to raise him.
- Der_Einzige 3y agoGoros films to be fair were pretty bad. Tales from the earth sea in particular is shockingly bad.
- hotdogscout 3y agoKokuriko-zaka Kara was really good though. Better than Miyazaki's earlier work (Sherlock Hound, Conan, Lupin). I find them very simple and mediocre compared to anything of that time or even 60's anime like 009.
- mandmandam 3y ago
- moomin 3y agoI want to see more from Hiromasa Yonebayashi, though.
- hinkley 3y agoThere are adults now that grew up with Ghibli films. And not just from HBO playing an abridged Nausicaa on a loop as filler. Certainly Miyazaki has succeeded in keeping the wheels on long enough that there’s a cadre of people out there that have a deep psychological investment in preserving the legacy. It won’t be Miyazaki’s Ghibli, but it could be something.
- jonhohle 3y agoBut why can’t it be something else? Does the name matter apart from the creators? If I see Miyazaki on a poster, I’m going to be interested. There’s been enough Ghibli without him that I know the studio isn’t magic, it’s him. Not saying the non-Miyazaki stuff is terrible, but certainly not the same quality.
- emodendroket 3y agoI don’t know. How many people visited Disneyland this year?
- the_af 3y agoI certainly don't want Ghibli to become Japan's Disneyland.
- mnky9800n 3y agoGood news is Japan already has a Disneyland.
- emodendroket 3y agoThere’s always room for another.
- astrange 3y agoJapan is actually relatively short on things to do considering how many tourists they get. There's some proposals to build another large theme park in Yokohama IIRC.
- imachine1980_ 3y agoi dont doubt they have bigger places trying to buy it but decide local company whit good track record.
- amelius 3y ago> The future is clear. It's gonna fall apart. I can already see it. I wonder how he thinks of the future of animation now, after the introduction of StableDiffusion and others.
- lairv 3y agohttps://youtu.be/7EvnKYOuvWo?si=KjIPP5LtZvab_Ls5 https://youtu.be/7EvnKYOuvWo?si=KjIPP5LtZvab_Ls5 Well he didn't seem very fond of it even before it was created
- caust1c 3y agoWow, thanks for sharing. Last line of that clip hits hard :(
- frozenlettuce 3y agoI find it amusing given that in Princess Mononoke one of the villians loses an arm - does he sees that a punishment? Does he think that a bad person deserves that? Wasn't it also "disrescpectful" to his disabled friend? IMO that is just people making-up emotional arguments to trash the younger generation to keep them in control.
- morelisp 3y agoWhat a profound misreading of both his comments on the animation and Princess Mononoke.
- deleted 3y ago[deleted]
- peoplefromibiza 3y ago> does he sees that a punishment? No, that's what happens in nature when two different worlds collide. And you accept it, like Lady Eboshi does.
- hotdogscout 3y ago>that is just people making-up emotional arguments to trash the younger generation to keep them in control. I think Miyazaki's just an old conservative emotional man. He probably doesn't think very hard or rationally about his taste.
- astrod 3y agoSounds perfect, like the embodiment of the cherry blossom and its inevitability death after a beautiful short life.
- tmtvl 3y agoOnly to then be hit by Resurrection Butterfly, which looks scary as anything. It isn't quite as bad as it looks, though.
- GuB-42 3y agoIt is even more evident that it is just a name if you consider that Nausicaa is not a Studio Ghibli film. It is the film that lead to the creation of the studio and my personal favorite, but technically, it wasn't part of it.
- bitwize 3y agoI've felt the same way about Gainax, from whom all the good original people departed, forming splinter studios while Gainax's "loose management" ran it into the ground. These days the company is known for tax fraud and embezzlement in its history, as well as sexual misconduct against a minor committed by its president. But Evangelion is a Studio Khara (Hideaki Anno's studio) property now, so it's safe.
- kridsdale3 3y ago> sexual misconduct against a minor I thought that Japan had some of the most permissive laws in the world for that. (I'm making no moral judgement, only legal) If what happened was a violation of even that, then Jesus. (I have not looked up this incident at all)
- bitwize 3y agoYeah, Japan is starting to crack down on that now. And because nude photos were involved, child pornography laws could be invoked anyway.
- gabereiser 3y agoThe value is not in the ability to make stories, it’s now the aesthetic of “Ghibli” they covet. It’s unique style of art that told the greatest stories in a way that was relatable to children and adults alike. Knowing it will end, knowing one’s own impermanence, is the mark of a true master. さようなら
- wodenokoto 3y agoThank you for the quote. I think I’ve commented before something to the point of “what’s left for Ghibli?” Their most promising young directors left to start their own studio, Goro Miyazaki has his good and bad movies, but doesn’t look like the strength to carry on the legacy on his own. And then what? Well, nothing. The buck ends with Miyazaki and maybe that is okay. Ghibli has managed to produce movies with an unrivaled charm, but that is not to say other directors don’t make absolutely amazing animated movies in Japan.
- coffeebeqn 3y agoIt’s already unusual that a small movie studio has survived this long
- deleted 3y ago[deleted]
- EGreg 3y agoIronically - the expression “studio ghibli” in Russian actually embodies that fate for the studio LOL
- omneity 3y agoThe beauty of impermanence, masterfully illustrated. Rest in peace mr. Miyazaki and thank you for making the world a better place with your stories.
- bluerooibos 3y agoWhat's also hilarious is his reaction to some creepy looking computer generated art/animation which for some reason they chose to make look like it had a disability. “I am utterly disgusted,” he says. If you really want to make creepy stuff, you can go ahead and do it, but I would never wish to incorporate this technology into my work at all. I strongly feel that this is an insult to life itself.” Worth a watch if you want a laugh - https://youtu.be/ngZ0K3lWKRc?si=JuIRf79ac5X3FogI https://youtu.be/ngZ0K3lWKRc?si=JuIRf79ac5X3FogI
- noneoftheaboveu 3y agoPlease provide reference and many thanks for pinpointing this interview
- 0ct4via 3y agoEnglish article: https://www.japantimes.co.jp/business/2023/09/21/companies/nippon-tv-ghibli-acquisition/ https://www.japantimes.co.jp/business/2023/09/21/companies/n...
- dang 3y agoChanged from https://www.catsuka.com/breves/2023-09-21/nippon-television-rachete-le-studio-ghibli https://www.catsuka.com/breves/2023-09-21/nippon-television-.... Thanks! Submitters: we have deep respect for other languages, but HN is an English-language site, so please submit articles in English: https://hn.algolia.com/?dateRange=all&page=0&prefix=true&query=by%3Adang%20english-language%20site&sort=byDate&type=comment https://hn.algolia.com/?dateRange=all&page=0&prefix=true&que...
- 0ct4via 3y agoNTV Press Release (JP): https://www.ntv.co.jp/info/pressrelease/docs/20230921.pdf https://www.ntv.co.jp/info/pressrelease/docs/20230921.pdf Ghibli Press Release (JP): https://www.ghibli.jp/info/013778/ https://www.ghibli.jp/info/013778/
- phantomathkg 3y agoNikkei English version will be clearer https://asia.nikkei.com/Business/Business-deals/Japan-s-Studio-Ghibli-comes-under-Nippon-TV-umbrella https://asia.nikkei.com/Business/Business-deals/Japan-s-Stud...
- zzzbra 3y agolol Hayao hates his son...
- marricks 3y agoI don’t think so…? From the Nikkei article: > The older Miyazaki, 82, and Suzuki, 75, have been discussing the succession process for a long time, according to the two companies. Miyazaki's son had rejected the role, saying it was difficult to operate Ghibli alone and that the company's future would be better left to others. Nippon TV, with which Ghibli had deep ties, became the natural candidate.
- Macha 3y agoMy impression is both Miyazakis are conservative people even from the perspective of the already conservative Japanese culture of their generations. If it was known that Hayao did not want Goro to take over Ghibli, there's no way Goro would make public statements to the opposite regardless of his own opinion, even as someone in his 50s.
- marricks 3y agoPerhaps, but Goro still has power and it clearly states he wanted this. If you have backstory to provide that'd help, otherwise it's just gossip. Additionally, conservative is loaded term it's not really helpful in getting across what they feel without additional description. They're possible old school conservatives but even that probably comes across wrong as how they themselves would want to be described.
- radicaldreamer 3y agoI mean, based on Goro's movies, it's clear he just isn't as talented as a filmmaker as his father. Besides, Suzuki Toshio is the Tim Cook of Ghibli. I have no doubt that Goro wanted to be his father's successor (why would he have made multiple films under the Ghibli umbrella), but his father clearly recognizes that Ghibli has a potentially larger future than becoming a lesser studio under his son.
- diogenescynic 3y agoI'm glad it wasn't Disney!
- huhtenberg 3y agoNo kidding.
- webdoodle 3y agoThey destroy everything they touch lately.
- jahabrewer 3y agoReally? Sure Marvel's in a bit of a hole, but Filoni and live-action Star Wars has turned me back into a fan.
- robswc 3y agoYea. Maybe not "destroy" but "bring down to the lowest common denominator." To be sure, there's a market for media everyone can enjoy... I just hate how they seemingly have to find existing franchises to do it with. But now that I'm thinking about it... seems to be every single company these days. Soooo disappointed with the Witcher. Huge fan of the books and games. The first episode I knew it was gonna be bad. The color grading and general vibe was that of _any_ generic fantasy show on netflix. It wasn't gritty and I didn't get a "eastern european culture/lore" feel more like a "how can we make this appeal to the most people possible by turning all the dials to average." Aggressively middle of the road fantasy from such great source material, ugh.
- deleted 3y ago[deleted]
- dawnerd 3y agoThey almost had it there for a while too.
- racl101 3y agoOr Microsoft lol.
- iandanforth 3y agoI've been watching the 4 part documentary '10 Years with Hayao Miyazaki' recently and found it interesting and enlightening. (https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/ondemand/program/video/10yearshayaomiyazaki/ https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/ondemand/program/video/10...) The extent to which Studio Ghibli is Hayao Miyazaki was not clear to me. Despite the hundreds of people involved the degree to which he is the origin of art, ideas, quality, and drive is astounding.
- lenocinor 3y agoI think we should give Isao Takahata some credit too though. Grave Of The Fireflies is quite famous and that’s all Takahata. And Miyazaki has said that Takahata was very influential on him.
- rcme 3y agoUndoubtably the hundreds of artists and producers working on Ghibli are extraordinarily talent. But talent isn’t genius. But I’ve come to realize talent isn’t brilliance.
- foxyv 3y agoNothing gold can stay.
- Andrew018 3y ago[dead]
- not_your_vase 3y agoIs this good news? I mean I am not too[0] familiar with Nippon Television. Are they expected to be good stewards of the studio? [0] read: not at all
- agloe_dreams 3y agoNippon is to Ghibli as Disney was to Pixar in the early 2000s.
- deleted 3y ago[deleted]
- astrange 3y agoThey're something like Ghibli's publisher in Japan and already owned other studios (Madhouse and Tatsunoko).
- kouru225 3y agoAs long as they don’t mess with it I’m fine. I recently accidentally watched Castle In the Sky with the English dub and I was so angry at the terrible changes they made to the sound design. The opening scene in the Japanese version is completely quiet except for the sound of engines running, and in the English dub they just added crappy music over the whole thing. In the Japanese version they break the silence with this really startling piano/electronic track. In the English dub they fade it in. I don’t know who was responsible for that but there’s nothing I hate more than someone ruining something good for literally no reason.
- wand3r 3y agoAre you fluent in Japanese? I always find it odd when people prefer a sub to a dub. Only in edge cases where the dub is absolutely terrible would I ever consider this for an animated work. In movies, sometimes the mouth moving is distracting but for animation this is not a problem. For the 2 nits you picked above, I don't think I would watch 90 minutes in a foreign language. Is this a preference or something? To be clear, I am genuinely curious about why people prefer subs
- lenocinor 3y agoI like Disney’s dubs generally. Having watched Princess Mononoke 5 times with the Disney sub and 5 times with the Disney dub, I like them both for different reasons. Castle In The Sky has had a bunch of dubs: https://dubbing.fandom.com/wiki/Castle_in_the_Sky https://dubbing.fandom.com/wiki/Castle_in_the_Sky Maybe the commenter would prefer a different dub. EDIT: To answer your question specifically, I like the original voice actors sometimes and find it makes a difference to how I feel about a work sometimes. I also think subs can convey some contexts that are difficult in speech, especially culture-specific words like honorifics and food that in my experience are often left more untranslated in subs.
- otachack 3y agoI think it's having a general preference over the "original" material. Subs do force you to read and watch so you need to initially train yourself to deal with it, but now I always prefer subs even with my native language because voice volume can vary between media. Adding dubs lays another layer onto the original artists vision, such as Ghibli with Disney-produced dubs on top. Some will hit right, others won't. Subs are definitely another layer as now you need translators but it's a lighter one than dubs. I personally don't knock people who do dubs vs. subs. I grew up watching Bruce Lee movies with terrible English dubs and loved them, still. Hope that makes sense!
- radicaldreamer 3y agoThis is excellent news! Nippon Television holds exclusive rights to shows Ghibli content in Japan (which could go for a much higher value and viewership elsewhere), but the important thing is the relationship between Nippon's manager (Okuda) for their Ghibli relationship. For years, he would visit the studio day after day, just to hang out with the team and Miyazaki. Okuda's family and Miyazaki's family went to a retreat together (as they did every summer) and that experience became the basis for Spirited Away. That is why Ghibli stuck with Nippon through the years and likely resulted in this buyout. From the Kingdom of Dreams and Madness Documentary: "When producer Suzuki meets a group of new Nippon TV employees, he tells them that they shared a long professional and private relationship with Seiji Okuda from NTV. It was after a trip to the mountains with Okuda and his daughter, that gave inspiration to the movie Spirited Away." This is basically Steve Jobs selling Pixar to Disney... this relationship is about more than money, it's about trust and stewardship.
- quantisan 3y agothanks for sharing the human aspect to this story! I had to fact check it. For others wondering, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spirited_Away https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spirited_Away some mentioning in second paragraph.
- darklycan51 3y agoI don't think there is any director in Japan right now capable of directing Ghibli level movies, by that I mean movies that are pure of heart, but interesting enough that you like them, all or at least the vast vast majority. It's no secret that 2d animation is very expensive and taxing, and if you make failed movies you risk a studio like Ghibli. Both Yasuhiro Yoshiura and Mamoru hosoda come to mind as directors that could direct films like that if required, but I don't know how consistent they would be if directing constant movies like it. Regarding Makoto Shinkai I think his movies are a bit too sadistic, or at least his mentality to be do Ghibli films, directing tragic/NTR movies when he was happily married to an audience of mostly shutins always came to me a bit sadistic, even though his movies are visually beautiful I don't think he matches the style.
- radicaldreamer 3y agoAll of the directors you mentioned rely heavily on CG effects and tons of digital layering for their films... there really is no other Studio Ghibli at the moment for feature animation. There are some French films that over the years have had that touch, but they often lack the narrative component which make Ghibli films magical.
- astrange 3y agoShinkai makes the same movie every time[1], but for his last one he actually wanted to make a yuri movie and the producers made him instead do the same movie over again, which is why the boyfriend gets turned into a chair and it becomes a women's road trip for some of it. [1] incel guy meets a girl once, he can never see her again because she's on another planet/in a coma/in the past/in Tochigi, he spends the rest of his life being sad about it even though they weren't in an actual relationship
- RetiredRichard 3y agoAs long Miyazaki have creative control, everything is going to be fine and even after he's gone for a bit. It took decades after Walt Disney's death for the end of Traditional Disney Animation
- pipeline_peak 3y agoHN is consistently stretching the definition of "anything that gratifies one's intellectual curiosity"
- dang 3y agoStretching is probably good, no? That's part of curiosity. It's impossible to gratify all curiosities equally because people differ a lot. That means there will always be something on the front page that you don't find interesting, but also hopefully several things you do. It's true that the better "stretches" have to do with topics that are little-known and little-discussed, and Ghibli and Miyazaki aren't that.
- pipeline_peak 3y ago> Stretching is probably good, no? I don’t believe so, HN should be a place where people talk about tech and academia. Once you expand the scope, it says “this is what this group of people by majority have decided is Interesting, regardless of the field”. To me that reads as a cult mindset. I think shrinking the scope allows people to challenge their opinions. When you broaden it, discussions become nothing more than “wow bird house building is really cool, thanks HN!” “I’m glad I found out how to build a tandem bike”
- dang 3y agoPerhaps some users who felt that it gratified theirs could say why.
- pipeline_peak 3y agoIdk if you noticed but, I edited my above comment
- dang 3y agoAh I see it now. Well, I'm afraid you're running against the grain of HN tradition there. HN, since the day pg renamed it from Startup News to Hacker News, has always been for anything that gratifies intellectual curiosity—specifically "anything that good hackers would find interesting". As he wrote way back then ( https://news.ycombinator.com/hackernews.html https://news.ycombinator.com/hackernews.html), "That includes a lot more than hacking and startups", and I'd say it also includes a lot more than "tech and academia". This is important. More relevant links: https://news.ycombinator.com/newswelcome.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newswelcome.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html
- noneoftheaboveu 3y agoWhat is the bad thing about this acquisition? Also what are the numbers? For how much was it acquired and is Miyazaki giving this money to family or taking it with him - he is no longer in his 20s