Did Legendary Anime Creator Hayao Miyazaki Actually Hate Anime?

Kapanlagi.com - Written by Angelia Leony Van Augista

"Anime was a mistake".
Many fans consider this quote to be a joke, but Hayao Miyazaki is indeed known to be very critical of the anime world.

Hayao Miyazaki is one of the greatest and most beloved anime directors of all time. To this day, SPIRITED AWAY remains the only anime film to win an Oscar. He has been involved in the anime industry since the 1960s and has mentored other anime directors such as Hideaki Anno from NEON GENESIS EVANGELION.

Although Hayao himself never said "Anime was a mistake," he is indeed very critical of the industry, directors, and anime fans. There are several complaints that sound like an angry old man opposing technology and many other complaints that his fans cannot ignore.

1. Grandfather Anti-Technology

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Hayao Miyazaki tends to avoid showcasing advanced technology in his films. He doesn't even know what streaming is. As time and technology have advanced, anime production has become more digital. However, Hayao Miyazaki prefers to use traditional techniques as much as possible in his films.

PRINCESS MONOKOKE was the first film to use computer coloring and CGI effects, but he still firmly maintained a traditional process.

He once directed a CGI short film, BORO THE CATERPILLAR, in 2018. NEVERENDING MAN, a documentary film about the making of BORO THE CATERPILLAR, shows that Hayao often clashed with the animators and film programmers.

Although he doesn't completely hate technological advancements, Hayao Miyazaki remains firmly committed to the values of traditional animation and questions how the increasing digitalization of anime can strip away the humanity of the medium.

2. Full of Otaku

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In his statement in 2014 after the release of THE WIND RISES, Hayao Miyazaki said that modern anime suffers because its directors "don't spend time watching real people." According to him, animation can only be done by people who understand and appreciate how others behave and act.

One of the sources of Hayao Miyazaki's anger is the unrealistic portrayal of women in anime, which is often fetishized. He said that whether an anime creator can draw and think about design depends on their habits of observing real people (living people, real people), not according to the creator's imagination of the character.

In addition, another thing he dislikes is armed otaku. He said that these people have the least mature character.

3. Anime with Fantasy Action & Power

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Hayao Miyazaki's works are very naturalistic and very conscious of the world he left behind. It certainly makes sense if he feels frustrated with anime directors who go against his style. He considers it a sign of anime's decline.

(kpl/ony)