Studio Ghibli: The Films of Hayao Miyazaki and Isao Takahata

by Michelle Le Blanc, Colin Odell

No other film studio, animation or otherwise, comes close to matching Japane's Studio Ghibli for pure cinematic experience. This book examines all their major works including Laputa: Castle in the Sky, Grave of the Fireflies, My Neighbour Totoro, Kiki's Delivery Service, Only Yesterday, Porco Rosso, Pom Poko, Whisper of the Heart, Princess Mononoke and Howl's Moving Castle, as well as the critically acclaimed Spirited Away and The Tale of Princess Kaguya. Odell and Le Blanc's informed analysis also considers Studio Ghibli features such as Hayao Miyazaki's Oscar-nominated final masterpiece The Wind Rises and the studio's most recent release When Marnie Was There.

Genres: Nonfiction

176 pages, Paperback

First published July 26, 2019

Reviews

[Elina Mäkitalo · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ihan okei kirja. Vaikka kirjassa jokunen kuva olikin niin olisi ollut ehkä houkuttelevampaa jos olisi ollut hieman enemmän kuvia eikä vain yhdessä paikassa. Aihe on kuitenkin sellainen, että kuvissa on se juju ja kuvituksessa. Aika perus tietokirja, englannin kieli oli ihan ok. Ei mitään helpoimmasta päästä muttei vaikeakaan. Pääasia oli tietysti elokuvissa mutta koin, ettei ollut oikein riittävästi sisältöä.

[IJ Miller · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5*

Had some interesting tid-bits and insights into each film by Ghibli, but didn’t go as deep as I’d like.

[Sahar · Rating 4 out of 5]

“𝗬𝗲𝘁, 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗻 𝗮𝗺𝗶𝗱𝘀𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗵𝗮𝘁𝗿𝗲𝗱 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗰𝗮𝗿𝗻𝗮𝗴𝗲, 𝗹𝗶𝗳𝗲 𝗶𝘀 𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗵 𝗹𝗶𝘃𝗶𝗻𝗴. 𝗜𝘁 𝗶𝘀 𝗽𝗼𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘄𝗼𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿𝗳𝘂𝗹 𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗼𝘂𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗯𝗲𝗮𝘂𝘁𝗶𝗳𝘂𝗹 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗲𝘅𝗶𝘀𝘁.” 🌤

Beautiful artistry, iconic characters and quirky animation; Studio Ghibli has appealed to children and adults alike since it’s inception. This book explores the works of founders Miyazaki and Takahata before the formation of Ghibli and after its success. From environmentalism to anthropomorphism, philosphy to mythology, the essence of Ghibli has remained consistent in all its movies, despite such diverse narratives, characters and locations. 🌅

Ghibli’s whimsical narratives are often permeated by more profound, insightful themes and motifs. Many of their productions address significant global issues, including World War II (𝘎𝘳𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘍𝘪𝘳𝘦𝘧𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘴), Capitalism (𝘚𝘱𝘪𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘈𝘸𝘢𝘺) and the US’ war against Iraq (𝘏𝘰𝘸𝘭’𝘴 𝘔𝘰𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘊𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘭𝘦). As a matter of fact, the latter production was profoundly affected by the war in Iraq - so much so that Miyazaki was hesitant in accepting the Academy Award for 𝘚𝘱𝘪𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘈𝘸𝘢𝘺 due to his outrage at the US’ invasion of Iraq. Like Miyazaki, many Ghibli directors boldly centre their respective movies on the detrimental effects that human actions such as war and destruction of nature have on a society environmentally, psychologically and spiritually. 🌏

Ghibli’s success is absolutely correlated to it’s cinematic originality. The studio seldom produced sequels, opting instead to churn unique and exciting narratives with distinctive, memorable characters.

4/5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

[JoIin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pleasant recount of Studio Ghibli productions. Cute and charming, more owing to the topic than the often mediocre language

[Nguyen · Rating 3 out of 5]

It’s an informative book with decent analysis of each Ghibli movies. I skipped the non and pre Ghibli movies tho. Although I agreed with most of the theme and analysis, there’s two that I disagreed, which are Graves of the Fireflies and When Marnie Was Here.

In Grave of the Fireflies, the authors said that the brother is at fault for his ego and left his aunt with his sister. Although I understand that the brother should not have done that, this doesn’t mean that most of the fault was on him. It’s more the aunt’s and the harsh reality that are at fault.

I think Spirited Away, Princess Mononoke, or Howl’s Moving Castle are usually people’s top 1 Ghibli movies, but for me it’s When Marnie Was Here. I felt this movie was personal to me and I was floored by the revelation. This is the point where I disagreed with the author’s criticism that the ending was rushed.

Although I said before that I agreed with most of the analyses, I wanted more in-depth explanations. Some of them felt short and wasn’t anything new for me.

Also I want to say that even though Hayao Miyazaki’s filmography are amazing due to the god-tier animation and fantastical elements, I personally prefer Isao Takahata because his films are more experimental and the themes were more down-to-earth and relatable. My Neighbor the Yamadas is the prime example. It’s a funny yet heartfelt series of skits that celebrate the little moments that families have that should not be taken for granted. I don’t think everything in the movie works, but still I relate to it more than any Miyazaki’s films.

Anyway, it’s a decent analysis book. 6.5/10

[Ste · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not sure if this is a 2-star or 4-star book, so let's split the difference. This is a slim filmography of Studio Ghibli, the famous anime studio best known for the works of its co-founder Hayao Miyazaki. Each film receives a few pages of synopsis and analysis, although often leaning towards simple retelling.

Strangely, I enjoyed the essays on the films I haven't seen more – it's tantalised me and has me excited to hunt down some of the lesser known Ghibli films. On the films I have seen, the analysis feels skin-deep, and oddly some of Ghibli's best known films (such as My Neighbour Totoro and Spirited Away) get the least coverage. I'd love to have read a bit more about the meanings of the films and the elements that draw on Japanese traditions that may not be familiar to me, and definitely more about the studio itself and the production of the films.

[Syeda · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a decent collection of reviews? analyses? of Studio Ghibli projects however the content was pretty surface level and didn’t offer much that you couldn’t figure out through watching the movies on your own.

My favorite parts were the Introduction and The Pre-Ghibli Works where you get Miyazaki & Takahata’s background and the history behind Studio Ghibli. It was also fun to read about things I haven’t seen before - it gave me some things to add to my watchlist.

This wasn’t as in depth as I was hoping but it was a nice retelling of the movies I watched and an introduction to ones I haven’t.

[Tahoe Fiala · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book had some nice moments and trivia. Mostly, it was full of a synopsis of each Ghibli film in chronological order. It was nice to get these straightened out in my head, realize I have not seen all of them, and have a feeling of which ones I want to follow up on. I’d recommend this book for Ghibli fans who love reading.

[Kyra · Rating 2 out of 5]

Gewoon samenvattingen + hij husselde soms de voornamen en achternamen (dus hayao miyazaki werd soms geschreven als miyazaki hayao en dan op de volgende bladzijde was het weer andersom), waardoor het 2 sterren krijgt ipv 3

[Kenzie Koehle · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book, moresore to keep track of just how many Ghibli productions there are. I learned a lot, but sometimes the writing distracted me (could've been my editor brain trying to process the authors' British style of writing).

[Valeria · Rating 4 out of 5]

Estramamente dettagliato ed interessante, oltre ad essere scritto molto bene.

[Hadia Aslamy · Rating 4 out of 5]

super interesting! I had to read this for a class but I actually really enjoyed this textbook. very informative and fascinating read about these wonderful films from Studio Ghibli

[Flowers&Fiction · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really loved the insight this book provided about the films and even introduced me to Ghibli works that I didn’t know existed! As a huge Studio Ghibli fan this was a fun short read.

[Hannah · Rating 3 out of 5]

A pleasant little chronological insight into the works of Hayao Miyazaki and Isao Takahata, this book discusses individual films and how they relate to the careers of the said creators.

This book reads both as a taster for the wonderful selection of Miyazaki and Takata works as well as a slight study into each one of the films. Themes, messages and impact are laid out in reader-friendly text.

Highly accessible and an easy read, worthwhile to anyone interested in Studio Ghibli -whether you've seen the films or otherwise.