Hey! Hallie here!
I’ve been avoiding talking about Ghibli simply to avoid discussing what could possibly be considered struck content. However, on the business side of Ghibli news, it was just announced yesterday that Nippon TV has bought out Studio Ghibli. On the surface this sounds kind of concerning, but hold off before you start panicking over the future of Ghibli. Nippon TV has been a major collaborator of Studio Ghibli’s for many years and it seems they have the best interests of the company at heart. But let’s look at exactly what role Nippon TV is playing within Studio Ghibli.
Successor:
Studio Ghibli has been trying to look for a successor to Hayao Miyazaki for many, many years. After all, Hayao Miyazaki has been claiming he was going to retire since the release of ‘Princess Mononoke’, which came out 26 years ago. Clearly he hasn’t retired. In fact, despite the fact that ‘The Boy and the Heron’ (or ‘How Do You Live?) was advertised as his final film, it was reported that Miyazaki is now back in his office every day working on another film. Still, Miyazaki’s not young and he really only comes back to Studio Ghibli for passion projects. That means they need another person to lead the company, and despite the amount of people who have made a large impact on Ghibli, they haven’t been able to find anyone. The people who have stuck around in the company with Miyazaki also aren’t young and don’t want to take up the mantle. The main name that was thrown around as a possible successor for Hayao Miyazaki was his son’s, Goro Miyazaki. But if anyone knows Goro’s directorial contributions to Ghibli, you also know that he hasn’t had the best luck. Both ‘Tales from Earthsea’ and the recent ‘Earwig and the Witch’ are known as two of the worst movies Ghibli has ever made. Hayao Miyazaki even stated that Goro should stop making movies after viewing ‘Tales from Earthsea’. His other movie, ‘From Up on Poppy Hill’ wasn’t bad, but responses to it were mostly lukewarm. None of that is to say that Goro is a bad choice to run the company, or that his father played any role in the decision not to make him the successor. In fact, reports are that Goro himself passed up the opportunity to take over. In that case, how did Nippon TV come into play?
Nippon TV:
Nippon TV might be a familiar name to anime fans. They’ve produced more anime shows than anyone can count, making them the second largest media conglomerate in all of Japan behind only Sony. And fortunately for us fans, they’ve been involved with Studio Ghibli since the beginning. When ‘Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind’ was created, made by the same people who founded Studio Ghibli but technically made just before the official founding of the company, Nippon TV aired the movie. Their interest in Ghibli lasted long afterwards. The company officially started helping fund and produce multiple Studio Ghibli movies starting with ‘Kiki’s Delivery Service’ in 1989. They even helped fund the Ghibli Museum in Japan. On top of all this Nippon TV made an official statement after acquiring Studio Ghibli saying that they would “protect Studio Ghibli’s craftsmanship and brand values”. Though it’s never bad to be hesitant when it comes to major corporations, Nippon TV has a past relationship with Ghibli that makes their future together look promising.
What’s Going to Change?:
This is the big question right now. Will we see any visible changes when Nippon TV takes over, or will their involvement be near invisible? Will Studio Ghibli’s strong values and massages, such as their anti-war and pro-environment messaging, remain intact? We don’t know. As of right now all of us are being reassured that we won’t notice a difference. That Nippon TV will continue to give us the Studio Ghibli we love. But will they? We can hope. In the very least we know Hayao Miyazaki won’t let them disrupt the company he built as long as he’s involved. But there are many people who feel strongly about what Ghibli stands for, and we can hope their voices will remain heard even after Miyazaki leaves.
That’s what we know about the deal between Studio Ghibli and Nippon TV so far! Admittedly it isn’t much, but it doesn’t seem like we have anything to worry about as of now. Only time will tell if complications between the future Nippon TV envisions for Ghibli and the future fans envision for Ghibli arise. Still, we have exciting things like the worldwide release of ‘The Boy and the Heron’ and the movie Hayao Miyazaki is now working on to look forward to. With luck, we’ll have many films like these authentic Ghibli projects to enjoy far into the future.
Don’t do anything fun until I get back!
Hallie
Oreos & Peanut Butter 