Fans of modern animation are probably aware of the alleged phrase said by acclaimed director Hayao Miyazaki, "anime was a mistake" and they just think it was sarcastic. After all, Miyazaki is one of the most recognized and beloved anime directors in the industry. Only his film Sen to Chihiro no Kamikakushi (Chihiro's Journey) is the only Japanese animated film to have won an Oscar Award to date. His films have inspired a large number of anime directors and he has been involved in the industry since the 1960s, mentoring directors like Neon Genesis Evangelion's Hideaki Anno.
However, while he never actually said exactly "anime was wrong," he has been incredibly critical of the current anime industry, creators, and fans. While most of his complaints can be interpreted as those of a "bitter old man" who does not want to modernize, many of them are also difficult to ignore.
Anti-Technology
Miyazaki tends to avoid using current technology in his movies. He even once compared the iPad to masturbation. Miyazaki doesn't even have a clue what streaming platforms are. As technology advances for anime productions and they become increasingly digital, Miyazaki tends to remain adept at traditional animation techniques as much as he can.
However, he has been using computer coloring and minor CGI effects in his work since the movie Mononoke Hime (Princess Mononoke), but has been steadfast in maintaining the traditional process for most of his projects. In the movie Gake no Ue no Ponyo, the director completely rejected CGI effects. Modern technology is not something Miyazaki understands, and he sometimes behaves quite hostile.
Hayao Miyazaki actually directed a CGI animated short film Kemushi no Boro in 2018. As featured in a documentary made about him, he frequently argued with animators and programmers during production. His harshest criticism was when they told him they had a project to create "computers that can draw as well as humans."
Miyazaki compared the computer-generated animation of a zombie with a friend of his who has a disability that prevents him from moving, before adding: “Whoever dares to create this has no idea what pain is. I am quite upset. If you really want to create this kind of bizarre stuff, you can do it. But for my part, I will never incorporate this technology in my work. I am convinced that this is an insult to life itself. ”
While Miyazaki doesn't really hate all the new tools of modern technology for animation, he remains steadfast in valuing traditional animation techniques and questions the ways in which the increasing digitization of anime is making humanity and vitality of productions more expensive.
The problem of creators
Hayao Miyazaki has stated many times that the anime industry's biggest problem is "otaku creators". In a statement in 2014 after the release of the movie Kaze Tachinu, Miyazaki mentioned that the current industry is suffering because "otaku creators" are not related to other people. According to Miyazaki, animation can only be done by people who understand and appreciate other people's behavior and actions.
His own disciple, Hideaki Anno, could fall into the category of otaku given the autobiographical manga published by his wife Moyocco Anno. However, Miyazaki has always had a good impression of him. This could be because Anno is popular for his profound and realistic interpretations of human psychology, drawing on his personal experiences of social isolation and anxiety about his work.
An obvious source of Miyazaki's anger is the unrealistic, often even fetishistic, representations of women in today's industry. "It doesn't matter if you're good at drawing or not, if you don't spend your time getting to know and observe real people, you won't be able to draw them, because you've never really seen them."
The type of otaku that Hayao Miyazaki detests the most are the "gun otaku". According to the director, they are the ones with the worst character design concepts, and therefore the most immature. Miyazaki regards obsession with anything as immature ... although we are not sure if he is in a position to say something like that, knowing his vast collection of planes and tanks.
Little sense of reality
Many of the popular series of the past decade, according to Miyazaki, have a "fetish of powers". The likes of Sword Art Online, Oreimo, and Darling in the FranXX are unoriginal “rehash” of previous works, with a simple narrative. In Miyazaki's words, "he just seeks to please people by giving them what they would like to exist in real life."
In contrast, Hayao Miyazaki's works are quite naturalistic and aware of the real world the director inhabits, making it quite understandable that he is frustrated when series creators refuse to go out and take advantage of experiences of human interaction. There is a clear lack of humanity in productions with high CGI load and "wish fulfillment" (also known as fan-service, which is not only limited to ecchi). It makes sense that for Miyazaki this represents a decline in the quality of current productions and that, although it does not mean that he hates all current anime, they are forgetting to show life from an honest point of view.
Source: CBR
© Hayao Miyazaki / Studio Ghibli
