hayao miyazaki

How do you say “psych!” in Japanese? Master animator and Studio Ghibli cofounder Hayao Miyazaki dun got us again, totally convincing us that he was really retiring this time by saying things like “I am done making movies” and “This time is for real.” We believed him like a bunch of fools when he announced a “semi-retirement” following the completion of Princess Mononoke, we believed him when he said he wanted to call it quits after Spirited Away, and we believed him back in 2013, when he declared The Wind Rises to be his final feature. The Boy Who Cried Not Making Any More Movies has pulled the same trick on us all again, with the news that he’ll un-retire one more time for a new feature called Boro the Caterpillar.

When someone declares a certain figure to be the Michael Jordan of their field, that’s an understood cultural shorthand: the person in question dominated their profession, not just providing an exemplar of excellence but actively expanding the definition of what that excellence can mean. The Jumpman pulled off feats of strength, stamina and agility that experts believed to be impossible, and so the comparison is not bestowed lightly.

There’s just something special about the animated works of Hayao Miyazaki and Studio Ghibli. Miyazaki and his teams have had an effect on Japanese animation like no other, and his works hold a special place in the world for their whimsical nature, profound messages, and signature style of art and animation. It’s no wonder that the cosplay community often enjoys taking the mantles of many of Miyazaki’s characters at conventions and photo shoots.

Most anime is adapted from manga, often produced by the manga publisher to raise awareness and sell it overseas. But what about the anime shows or films that go the other way, adapted from the screen to the page? How do those works hold up, and what changes or stays the same? That’s what Screen & Page aims to explore. Today, we're looking at the feature film that launched the legendary Hayao Miyazaki's career, and the acclaimed manga that inspired it: Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind!

Today marks the birthday of one of far-and-away the most talented, hard-working animators working in the last century: Hayao Miyazaki. He’s been called the Japanese answer to Walt Disney or Steven Spielberg, but all comparisons aside, Miyazaki's work is unmistakably his own. Miyazaki’s art shows clear, fluid motions, with an emphasis on emotions and expressiveness, and lush, evocative backgrounds. He’s probably best known to American audiences for his work on the films Princess Mononoke and Spirited Away, but his longest serialized work is the manga Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind.

The week's over! You did it, and did it in sensational style. But while you've been off working and living and doing all those things that humans do, what have you missed in the world of comics? With Weekender, ComicsAlliance is here to give you a heads-up on some of the stories that you might have overlooked, and to showcase some great writing on comics for you to enjoy over pancakes this weekend.

Hello, movie fan. Have you started assembling a holiday wish list for the year 2015? Well, you can start right now because a Blu-ray box set assembling the collected works of legendary animation director Hayao Miyazaki is on the way and you’re definitely going to want this one. In addition to every feature film he has directed, the set will also include various special features as well as Miyazaki’s early television work.

We make a regular practice at ComicsAlliance of spotlighting particular artists or specific bodies of work, as well as the special qualities of comic book storytelling, but because cartoonists, illustrators and their fans share countless numbers of great pinups, fan art and other illustrations on sites like Flickr, Tumblr, DeviantArt and seemingly infinite art blogs that we’ve created Best Art Ever (This Week), a weekly depository for just some of the pieces of especially compelling artwork that we come across in our regular travels across the Web. Some of it’s new, some of it’s old, some of it’s created by working professionals, some of it’s created by future stars, some of it’s created by talented fans, and some of it’s endearingly silly. All of it is awesome.

We make a regular practice at ComicsAlliance of spotlighting particular artists or specific bodies of work, as well as the special qualities of comic book storytelling, but because cartoonists, illustrators and their fans share countless numbers of great pinups, fan art and other illustrations on sites like Flickr, Tumblr, DeviantArt and seemingly infinite art blogs that we’ve created Best Art Ever (This Week), a weekly depository for just some of the pieces of especially compelling artwork that we come across in our regular travels across the Web. Some of it’s new, some of it’s old, some of it’s created by working professionals, some of it’s created by future stars, some of it’s created by talented fans, awnd some of it’s endearingly silly. All of it is awesome.

We make a regular practice at ComicsAlliance of spotlighting particular artists or specific bodies of work, as well as the special qualities of comic book storytelling, but because cartoonists, illustrators and their fans share countless numbers of great pinups, fan art and other illustrations on sites like Flickr, Tumblr, DeviantArt and seemingly infinite art blogs that we’ve created Best Art Ever (This Week), a weekly depository for just some of the pieces of especially compelling artwork that we come across in our regular travels across the Web. Some of it’s new, some of it’s old, some of it’s created by working professionals, some of it’s created by future stars, some of it’s created by talented fans, awnd some of it’s endearingly silly. All of it is awesome.