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Miyazaki strikes as the type of creative lead who will give you very open-ended project briefs, but god help you if you think that's an invitation to bring your own ideas or improvise. He DOES have a very specific vision of what he wants, he just doesn't want to spoon feed it to you and thinks you should be able to infer that vision on very few instructions based on you being a veteran and part of an elite team. True nightmare material
sometime youll get sit downs with him where hell explain but yeah that seems the case unless youre really that good he would prefer it to be a certain way, although that can change too
I now hate all the works Miyazaki worked on. Thank you for opening my eyes to the truth. We need to stop enabling unlikable people. His works deserve to be thrown into oblivion. I admit that his works shaped me as a person, growing up with a bunch of them, but progress comes from me denouncing every “lesson” I learned from an indecent person. Doing the opposite of what I learned should keep me away from the taint that Miyazaki’s works have imbued to my life. Let’s strive to be better people. Let’s throw away everything that support problematic people. ❤❤❤
@@OrdinaryCriticwe can appreciate art while recognising that the person who has made it has imperfections. If we destroyed all art purely on the bad things the creator had done in the past we would have zero art left
With his advancing age, one would dare assume he'd soften up and give the animators a bit more direct queues or some leeway. But, alas, once a perfectionnist means forever a perfectionnist 😅😅
Interesting how to the general public Miyazaki is known as this wholesome grandpa type of figure somehow, maybe beacuse the type of movies he is making. But the more i learn about him the more it seems that workign under him is more like working under Gordon Ramsy in hells kitchen.
@@HelloOnepieceand cooking is way way way more methodical and formalized than hand drawn animation of a fantasy story. There are so many way to cook a Beef Wellington with the same piece of equapment. In animation on the other hand you could make the most masterfully crafted piece of sequence and still miss what the director wants
I remember for the longest time I didn't like this as much as the other Ghibli movies but that changed when I actually saw it in a movie theater. That scene where Howl brings Sophie to the meadow with the pond and the flowers hit me way different and I just got it.
It’s a very beautiful movie I will 100% agree on that. It’s just I really was confused on wtf was going on exactly. And maybe it’s cuz I’m stupid, but why was everything resolved so quickly with the whole war thing?? I was very unsatisfied after the movie and I was shocked abt how so many ppl say it’s the best one
Its because its a perfect loop, the movie starts with howl finding sophie explained in later scenes, with the war it really wasnt the main point it was literally meant as a distraction for the magic users to get them killed. The queen curated it. Which is why it ended so quickly or abrupt and on top of that they found the prince. @2triedforthis830
@@L16htW4rr10r I actually really wanna like it but I feel nothing towards the characters I thought I would love howl but he was ok I see his character growth but I couldn’t connect to it, and Sofies and his love was fine as well, but I just couldn’t care less about the characters tbh😭. I feel like I’m missing out or something cuz it is such a beloved Ghibli movie but I just couldn’t love it unfortunately …
I can see the flaws of the movie but I also think it's pretty incredible. It's among the best soundtrack for a ghibli movie, the music it's like a waltz dancing between sadness and happiness. it's a music that fits with the 1800s retro fantasy style the movie aims for.
My first ghibli film was Nausicaa. I fell in love with the "apocalyptic" world and the beauty of the forest. Then I explored more ghibli films, but i remain enchanted for the visuals of Nausicaa. Laputa was also beautifully ethereal.
they're different in ways since the manga is very dense and tight in panelling so you dont really get to breath in the enviroments like in the movie which takes a very moebius approach
@@marktwain7339 was just about to recommend this as well, loved nausicaa and scavengers reign. If you're into games, "Sable" also has that feel as well. If anyone has anymore recs that are similar (moebius art inspired etc.) I would love to watch them.
Like any Miyazaki film, it truly is a blessing and such an easeful experience to watch any film.. however the making of one of his movies is another story. And this includes Howl’s Moving Castle
It's so interesting how disastrous and unloved this film is by it's father but anytime I ask people what their favorite Ghibli movie is, Howl is one of the top three named. Though seeing Hosoda bloom on his own and basically make an equally titan studio with Chizu, I do wonder what the alternative timeline where he got to direct Howl and became Miyazaki's heir. What a multiverse that'd be! Steve you always do such brilliant work with these videos, it truly inspires me a lot. Just wanted you to know. I've also been sharing your videos a lot on my MAL blogs and posts, it's not a lot but your videos deserve a bigger audience. 😉
This entire video is so fascinating to me. This is my favorite childhood film-- possibly even my favorite film ever, flaws and all. I love the way its like a sister to the book, all the tiny nods to the original text, how every shot is brimming with exquisite detail. Sophie is also dear to my heart. I've never had a female character come closer to illustrating my own struggles with self love and feeling different (introverted, neurodivergent, and queer as I've come to discover). While the narrative is a bit jaunty at times, I feel like its emotionally complete, and the ending is such sweet catharsis for the story. Man. Very fascinating to see how it was polarizing at the time. My mom sought it out after learning about Spirited Away's Oscar win and Howl's nomination. So the Oscars were the whole reason I ended up seeing it in the first place. I'm just rambling now lol. You play Sophie in Exile or Merry Go Round of Life for me and I instantly get emotional. I'd definitely pay to visit the alternate timeline where Hosoda's cut was released. Thank you for all the hard work man. I love every video you put out, and your dedication to telling these stories.
I think hosoda was right. He always was my favourite of the myasaki likes with the sensibilities, and you can see how mixyazaki inspired him. But also very good he made his way without falling in the rtrappings. He got that miyazaki magical human grounding element right but i am really glad he knows selfcare and did not end at gibli. He might be right it was a good he was fired in the long run for real. Also that he is a very active and involved dad, like i respect him making tha movies while not neglecting his family. Also fitting its a movie about stolen youth aging rapidly early and how that affects said people. That he took that away probably. Or its a coincidence . But thats the movie , about finding your own way and not getexploited of your life?!
well he might have quit it all iif it wasnt for madhouse, if they hadn't gave him the opportunity to make girl who lept through time or summer wars then yeah
I saw Howl's Moving Castle over 100 times.. I would safely say it is also my favourite. I would need to see Boy and Heron few more times to even compare how they stand against each other. I love them all :D
One of my favourites along with Mononoke, Nausicaa and Pom Poko. The visuals and soundtrack give me goosebumps every time. It's really different to the books, but the core themes are still there and most of the general big plot points, but it's so interesting to see how they diverge. The books are an absolute delight though, highly recommend them to anyone that's interested.
I’m honestly shocked. I’ve never looked into him in depth but he’s always presented as social medias darling grandpa! I def need a more critical eye when consuming media, just suppose.
I'm utterly dissapointed that he promiss his wife he would not make her quit her job, she was also working on animation, both meet at Tokyo animation.... Then he Made her quit to be a stay at Home mom since he need to Focus on his career... He saying he likes to make strong independent women who need no Savior but a parnert (((his direct quote)) feels SO SO SO empty
I adore Ghibli films; their visuals are something difficult to find in the modern 3D animation swapped market (don't get me wrong, I love 3D but hand done and 2D is so special). My favorite is Spirited Away, I really saw myself in Chihiro, and it reminded me of the old fairytales I grew up with. I literally named my CAT after the studio. But their work habits shatter my heart, as much as I adore the art, I do not think it is worth the hurt and pain Miyazaki put the poor animators and staff through. Miyazaki is an amazing artist, but he is not a good leader, and person. You should NEVER put the finished product over peoples wellbeing.
No adjective fits Miayazaki more than *infuriating*. Although, at this point, I blame those above him for letting him have such a major role that the entire production depends on, especially with such abyssmal deadlines. Time and time again the storyboarding progress takes so long that the staff has to put their lives on hold to crunch it. Miyazaki has a sense of pride for his work, he is stubborn and a perfectionist, which makes him a quality worker but not a quality leader of a project.
Howl's Moving Castle was my favourite Ghibli film, though now it tends to be whichever I watched last. Excited for the Stevem plush. Your advertising animation was very fun and had great energy. Love the new animator portraits, particularly Akihiko Yamashita's
POG Yamashita was a fun draw ahahah I wanted to do more with the plush animation stuff but didnt have the time maybe ill do a bit more for a short version
Howls moving castle is my favorite film of all the ghibli films. Even if it was a failure to Miyazaki and he regretted it, they still made a high quality film and there nothing more you can wish for.
Your new video deserves to be accompanied by a great feast. I'm gonna make my self a nice dinner first time in months to watch it properly and enjoy. Thanks you for your hard work ! Your essays are always such a joy to watch.
I wouldn't mind sticking with an approach that focuses on checking to make sure that the people who I'm working with can get from "Point A to Point B" or however many points I can and have to make, then work with the people I'm working with around those points and make sure that the project is done in a timely fashion. Bada Bing, Bada Boom I've contrasted most people in the industry with a methodology so simple that it can be adapted to do anything quickly and with efficiency, it just needs a finished idea to be plugged into and it runs like wild.
It is a lot more complicated for a production like this I will give them that at least, we're talking 500 people needed to make this film alone spanning a bunch of a separate departments & industries, then not to mention competing interests of both staff, producers and production committees
@@Stevem How you made it sound like to me was that Miyazaki had an iron grip on his making sure his projects worked out, got old, and tried to retire but couldn't let go of his studio as much as his studio executives couldn't let go of him, came back, ran his animators all over what was supposed to be their own work, was eventually forced to cooperate with them, and continued running the studio to this very day. Maybe I'm missing the point about how this whole thing is supposed to go, but that's the general gist I got from your videos.
The way it's suppose to go is easier said than done, what they're doing is messy and with deadlines that shouldnt be as tight, however the idea of it can be done by this time as a sure thing doesnt exist in the animation world, any matter of complications can come up. Hence why the boy and the heron just had no deadline at all
I remember the US version had a website for the movie.. and I'd check it so often for the release date and check to see if the movie would come to my city.. I had seen spirited away in the movie theater, so I was really excited to see 👀 Howls Moving Castle But sadly, it got such a small run that it never made it to my town. I was very disappointed that I couldn't see it until the dvd release But it's a top favorite, and I still see people cosplay as Sofie and Howl So it's probably more popular than spirited away? Though Howls Moving Castle came around a big boom for ghibli films in the US as all of them were starting to get put on DVD.. it was probably the only way to see them Like the disney channel had shown kiki's delivery service, but that was about it.. The only time I saw them all on TV was back in high school in the early 2000's the Turner classic movie channel had a ghibli studio movie week.. and for the first time showed all the films and even some that had never been shown (like I recorded Only Yesterday on VHS from that special marathon long before it ever got a US dvd release)
Howl's was the first Ghibli movie I watched after hearing so many good things about it from not just anime fans, but also people that weren't that big into anime. When I finally go the chance to watch it I was so confused about what was going on. I felt bombarded with so much happening and nothing getting explained. I will say that I loved the art, the music, and animation but I don't care for the character, the world, or the main story. It kind of left a bad taste in my mouth to the point that I kind of avoided the rest of the Ghibli catalogue. It sits as my least favorite Miyazaki film. I'm always a bit confused when people say this is their favorite Ghibli film. I didn't give Miyazaki films another chance until I got into the Lupin franchise and watched Castle of Cagliostro. That being said, Cagliostro is my favorite Miya movie.
I'm the first one to say that yeah, Howl's Moving Castle wasn't perfect, but the themes it handled resonated more with me than most of Ghibli films, except the anti war, it was a clear shoehorn from Miyazaki that didn't really worked for the film, it lagged the film for me, but not enough to tank it. Also it really seemed there that they were really pushing forward with the animation, something that later Ghibli films lack.
@@schris3 i wouldnt say ponyo or the wind rises are bad at it neither, ponyo takes a very light approach going back to a more hand drawn simple comp style , wind rises is around the howl level again & maybe beforehand kaguaya has a lot of good merging and impressive feats to it
Y'know, with all that ambitious initial pitch being long hours epics, I'm in turn surprised Ghibli haven't done any movies that split into parts. Do an insane cliff-hanger in the first one to keep people invested, and drop the finale a year+ later, something like that. Marketing-wise maybe a bad idea because a brand new thing as a full package is going to be more exciting especially coming from them. Maybe it's an even bigger nightmare production-wise. But my morbid curiosity wants them to try something like that just to see how the mass audience react to this kind of format coming from Ghibli.
Jones wrote Howls Moving Castle. The great Ursula leGuin wrote A Wizard of Earthsea. You said at 4:18 that the author of Earthsea was Dianne Wynne Jones. Unless you somehow meant Howl! If you did I think I quite missed it, but I went over it a couple few times to be sure.
You misunderstand, speaking of earthsea as in the movie earthsea, when making Howls moving castle author Diana said miyazaki must direct this was also something Guin mentioned hence why I show Guins website saying she was promised that and it was not given
When people introduce into Ghibli universe they can't get that feel from any other films it's applied to child to old people it's like nostalgia you left behind can't remember but remind you good old days...
Watching these video's on Miyazaki and Ghibli makes me wonder what books out there are perfect for a Miyazaki adaptation. I was thinking Patrick Rothfuss - 'The Kingkiller Chronicles'. Not the main novels but rather the novella 'The Slow Regard of Silent Things'.
Ecstatic Family by Tomihiko Morimi, luckily it already has an anime adaptation, it really has that Ghibli feeling, its very focus in Japanese folklore kinda like Spirited Away, the protagonist and his family are tanukis that change shapes into humans and other stuff, they coexist alongside Tengus and Humans, its set in Kyoto with all the temples and old customs, heartwarming story tho, great watch and read, the anime is faithful asf to the book,
fascinating topic; I'm not sure Ghibli should have an "heir". Sometimes it's best to let things go. btw the transition of the plush ad was pretty rad I'm not even mad.
Yes and no, the topic is multifaceted, from what I can see Animation in general has always been more looked down upon in America in comparison, especially when it comes to foreign animation. (that often goes for the general public though)
@@RoseDelightful I was about to comment the exact same. Even the best animé films back in the 90's and early 2000's were considered something "outside the norm", for the weirdo, or rather gross and not for "normal people". If you want to see a kids movie, because that's what animation is for, just stick with the American ones. It's something anecdotal_. Nowadays the younger generation grew up with a new perspective on the Art but back then, it was way, way different. Even if it was like 10 years ago, which is nothing in terms of time.
so to give perspective the most money any ghibli movie has made in the states at the cinema is about 19million dollars in the early 2010s, in the late 90s Pokemon the movie made 85million dollars in the US alone, Ghibli's popularity is more home release territory where theyve done decently, although the numbers are a bit vague we know when kiki first came out through disney it cracked a million copies sold which is pretty fucking good
The comparison with Pokémon on a monetary standpoint is super depressing, though Pokémon also had the advantage of creating one of the most profitable franchises in the world period, which was (and still is) reflected in every aspect.@@Stevem
Nausicaa is still my favorite, but i like Howl's Moving Castle a whole lot too, with that said Ponyo is one of my most disliked anime movies, you may call me a hater even, so i am quite exited for the next video
I LOVE PONYO so i have no hate though I may go backwards for a bit because I have my eyes on the 9 hour doc on ponyo which has not been translated or put online YET
I get how in japan it would be still very british vibes, but a bit sad how welsh looses some representation :/ , i think the welsh and irish and scots not want to be called british is more a uk slight imperialist , past remenant :P
@@Stevem I know, but the english area. it kindais part of the uk counted to , i know scots and irish and probably welsh dont want to be called btritish.
@@marocat4749 Nooooooo it is not in the English area, that is like saying France is part of the English area, Ireland have a separate currency and border(that border is also a very big deal in terms of Irish peace too). To be Irish is not to be British, do not say that to an Irish person you will be decked. Scotland chose to be part of the union & Wales conquest was 1000 years ago & has been pretty unified for a good long time (it's independence movement is niche in comparison to Scotland's). While Ireland's conquest is quite different, with the potato famine & a bloody history for independence. The contemporary fight for the Northern independence only ended in 1998. (although I don't believe it's over). Welsh people & Scots are British if they vibe with the term or not, The Irish are 100% not British and never chose to be.
howls is 100% one of my favorites of his. Everything is so strong, the only thing that i think weighs it down is the prince, which i feel, could have been aided with a few more strong bits of important diolauge. Other than that, increidble film, i think people have issue with the magical bits but magic is nonsensical so i take those as fun unexplored territory.
The storytelling is more complicated, metaphoric in this one. I understand why some people got confused by it, after the simple and straightforward storytelling of Spirited Away. But a more mature audience will see this as a more advanced product. I wish When Marnie Was There had been better distributed. And this new The Boy and the Heron again looks great.
I mean, its basically very romance heavy. In good romance storytelling that is very much exploring characters emotionally via that frame. Which isnt usually what ghibli does. Or a "boy meets girl movie" i guess . Not that it hasnt the usual anti war message in it that makes very much sense with the source material too. Nozt that it isnt different but still getting it. And war making people age rapid and take away humanity fits actually
I've seen people like Miyazaki before and i've seen his interviews and interactions with other artists. The thing is the only thing he really does is order people around, then take the credit for his abused victim's work like many other "Auteurs" in any industry. He gets the fame, the rest of his people get fucked, so he gets another project. I liked studio ghibli movies, by the way, but i'd prefer they burn if people like him never touch industry ever again.
Howl is by no means a bad movie, far from it. It's just not a masterpiece like Chihiro, Nausicaa or Mononoke. The animation ist gorgeous but to me, being an adaptation from a book, somehow the story feels jumbled and like they wanted to flesh it out more but couldn't bc the movie then would've had a 4h runtime or sth.
Oh I almost forgot the Honda quote here might be a little incorrect apparently Yamashita remembers it differently and they may have first met at a different studio!
I really didn't like the newest film that just came out. The soundtrack wasn't anything memorable, it was constantly introducing new characters and concepts and didn't give me that feeling of peace that my favourite Ghibli films do. It wasn't outright bad, it just didn't meet any of my expectations.
This kind of makes sense as to why when I watched Howl for the first time, I found it utterly confusing and hard to follow. It felt like a series of random events, and then just abruptly ended. I could not really tell you what the story was about, if you asked me to recite it from memory. Probably my most negative experience with a Ghibli film.
For me Miyazaki's movies are my least favourite Ghibli movies. Spirited Away was also too confusing to me. My absolute favourite are Whisper of the Heart and Only Yesterday which I then realised are not directed by Miyazaki.
@@Stevem Although Ivve not seen the entire back catalogue (for shame, I know! 😆) For me, it's always been a tie between Laputa and Mononoke. It's hard to have an absolute favourite. I love them both for different reasons.
the book does clear up a lot of the stuff that happened in the movie. i listened to the audiobook after the movie and a lot of things started to make sense after that they also made quite a few changes. the movie kind of feels like they picked a bunch of scenes they liked, changed things around, and then animated them all. even though i say this, howls moving castle still remains one of my top favorite ghibli movies
yeah in very different ways but yeah miyazaki will convey what hes looking clearer but is very strict where anno is super picky but also unclear in giving direction he knows it when he sees it
21:10 to my recollection there was a background conflict in the original book but there was no discussion of it save that Howl made weapons for the local government to use in it.
18:40 It's Mononoke that has 144 000 drawings, Spirited Away has 112 000, which makes it much more impressive. It's Howl's production that has 1 month more.
I guess a good way to describe Ghibli movies would be "lots of vibes, little narrative focus". Sometimes I watch videos about Ghibli to make up my opinions in relation to it and I always get the impression that Hayao Miyazaki is more of an overrated asshole than I thought.
@Stevem Do you know anything about the music production for Howl’s? I remember listening to the Image album and finding it to be the weakest amongst all the Miyazaki-related Image Albums by Joe Hisaishi. It seems to be missing that “hook” in my opinion that draws you into the world and Id be curious to learn if there is an impetus to that impression.
yeah when I said author i was talking about the author of Howl, since i show a section from guins website after about here issues with what happened in her adaptation@@Alderite
Of the Ghibli I've seen, Spirited Away, Naussica, and Mononoke are easily top 3. Tororo and Ponyo in the middle and Howl and The Boy and the Heron at the bottom.
Howl's Moving Castle is one of my favorite Ghibli movies, up there with Princess Mononoke. I don't know what it is about those two but they really stood out for me. Third I'd probably put Pom Poko, such a weird but fun movie.
Love the video, just wanted to point out that Diana Wynne Jones didn't write "Tales from the earthsea", that was Ursula K. Leguin and there's a long story behind ghibli and Leguin. She initially refused Hayao's request to make a movie out of the books (she imagined something disney like, not knowing studio ghibli at all). When she realized the mistake many years later she contacted studio ghibli again but Hayao had retired (as usual) and let his dumbass son direct it, resulting in an awful adaptation that missed 99% of twhat makes the books amazing.
I know she didn't i think some of the implication is lost here, I show Ursula's website in this video when talking about the subject, to say both authors had some things happen that they may not have signed off on 100% though i believe someone in the comments did bring up a piece Jones wrote saying at first she was told that Hosoda was to direct it, but after it fell through she likely took on the only miyazaki policy
Also many anti-war sentiments were thrown into the movie, that weren't in the book. As a big Diana Wynne Jones fan, I would say the book is the superior medium that embraces the story the best.
You have to understand that Miyazaki Hayao was someone who was born during the Second World War and lived through the aftermath of it. At the time Japan was very poor and people were struggling just to survive there were many problems such as food shortages that constantly put people on edge. The best movie to depict the reality of that time is the grave of the fireflies 蛍の墓 which is a Ghibli movie directed by Isao Takahata. His anti war sentiments are understandable considering his past. That’s really the bane of all his movies.
"Is a succesfull failiure" Hey i can related to that , maybe thats why is my favorite idk I see the quality in gibli movies , but emotionaly i cobect whit few , cant say why i just dont vibe wht the as mutch as other do But this one well i just really vibe whit it , even if form an objective point it is a bit flaw compare to the previus ones
Say what you will but this movie is responsible for opening up both my mom and dads view of anime and changing their view of it. My mom even watched it independtly of myself and my dad complained at the start "it looked boring" to days later approaching me saying he couldn't stop thinking about it"
Studio Ghibli is a prime example of the auteur-driven "偉い人" (erai-hito) system that is a huge part of Japanese culture. Everything is top-down. Of course Hayao Miyazaki is burnt out, he is literally in charge of EVERYTHING. Part of it is by choice, he wants to micromanage every last detail of the film. It has to be his way. The people under him say that he is a terror to work for. He mentally abuses his workers and forces them to do what he wants. This video excellently shows examples of this, the scale of which you could double or triple (or more!) to understand what the Ghibli staff have to deal with on a daily basis. But this is how most places work in Japan. Many people people can't comprehend the work culture. I didn't. The more "erai" a person is, the more they are responsible for the end product. In the case of Ghibli, Miyazaki is basically God, the President, and Michelangelo all in one. If the movie is good, he is showered in accolades. If it isn't, he drowns in criticism. That's more pressure than one can imagine, and it's no surprise that after every movie, he reitires. But the addiction he has to his work keeps bringing him back. The end results are mixed. On the one hand we get the unbelievable beauty and magnificent, world-changing artistry that are Miyazak's films. There is nothing that can compare with his work at its zenith. On the other hand, there is the waste of human resources that we will never see. For every person like Hosoda, who leaves or avoids being used up by Ghibli, there are a dozen whose talents wlll never be realized and whose ideas and inspiration will never see the light of day because they are stuck being a Miyazaki underling. The system requires great talent to slave away for decades before being allowed to get high enough in the ranks to be allowed the resources to share their own vision. The good thing is that the "erai-hito" system is breaking down from the inside and will soon fade into history due to the democratization of art through technology. What took a studio to make twenty years ago can be done by one person now.
There's a lot of problems with you assumptions here, one is the marketing of a "autuer" driven system was brought to the anime industry by Suzuki in the 80s and that it's basically marketing miyazaki is controlling but he physically cant be in control of the 400 staff it takes to make the film and it's four departments he may approve final design but there's a lot of this which isn't under him like I mentioned with layouts it's not something he concerned with until there's something to look over. It is something that Suzuki wants you to think though.
7:51 Anyone know what song this is? I couldn’t find it in the source? I recently watched this for the first time so it was nice to see the making of this movie.
My favorite studio ghibli movie is howls moving castlw, i have seen it 7 times AND i love it still, i loveeeeeeeeee the loop, "Look for me in the future howl !!!!!!!!!! " And then when you re watch the firts thing howls say to sophie is "i finally found you, i been looking for you for the longest time" Like daamm❤❤❤❤❤ and the ost , nothing beats hows movimg castle ost . My second fave is laputa, see that one 3 times and nausica, but that one i have only see once , the rest of ghibli movies i also see them once ... I actually avoid to re watch films 😅.... However my least favorite ghibli movie is ponyo hahahahahah so boring, i mean is a visual spectacle but thats it, i dont remember much about the plot and i find it boring, childish idk .... Ghibli films are for all ages i tell you, even tororo feels less childish than ponyo, i just didnt like it. If i had to rank: Howls, laputa, nausica, whisper of the heart, mononoke, chihiro, grave of the fireflies, the one of the cats, kikis, yamadas neibhor, marnie , the one anout the little girl in the garden ..... the one that is about two teens who dont like each other much, ponyo and the biggest lost opportunity: tales of earthsea
I saw in your sources where you got the info about Miyazaki regretting Howl. I know ehoba is a trustable source. However in 2013 at Venice Film Festival when asked what is his favourite film that he made Miyazaki said Howl. At least according to Ryan Lambie (to be precise I got this info from a book by Dani Cavallaro about Miyazaki where he cited Lambie). I don't know who to trust here.
i wouldnt trust dani cavallaro, if i recall theyre a known plageriser and maybe not a real person but a pen name that may or not be used by more than one person. I also cited an interview where he says there are parts of howl he really regrets because of circumstances
Dani is also accused of just making up shit too by other academics ontop infinitemirai.wordpress.com/2015/01/28/investigating-unacceptable-academic-practises-in-dani-cavallaros-kyoto-animation-a-critical-study-and-filmography-with-a-case-study-on-the-k-on-movie/
@@Stevem It seems you're right. I just checked and Miyazaki didn't even attend the Venice Film Festival that year lol. It was Koji Hoshino who was there and announced Miyazaki's retirement.
I think all this mess during production makes perfect sense in hindsight. Howl is easily the weakest but also the most overhyped film in the whole Ghibli videography.
As in clean? Nausicaa has a lot more individual kinda animation from a lack of time to do miyazakis standard correction id say Boy and the Heron also has a lot fo unique flavour coming from Hondas sensibilities
@@Stevem yes! clean in the metaphorical sense. Sanitized down, not offensive to anyone, something Disney could publicize w/o issues. That's what I see in the countenance of these characters. Especially in the faces.
A bit of a hot take, worst Miyazaki film by far, simply awful. Yes it looks amazing and sounds great... But, the characters really don't do it for me, I cannot get into the romance that is supposedly blossoming. The villain gets mushed half way through, not even by the protagonists. We are told about wizards and how they are drafted in this horrible war, of which we see almost nothing at all. The whole ageing and de-ageing is really on the nose and a gimmick. The ending is a complete nonsense. Also, what is Howl as a character, I have no idea.. he's just kinda there on screen without rhyme or reason.
@@Stevem my point exactly. On a kinda related note, did Heron took so long to produce because the team was downsized from back in the day, or for ditching digital production methods? Or something else? Tnx
@@franesustic988 they just did it as it came scene by scene, miyazaki is too old to crunch a movie out in 2 or 3 years so they took a pretty relaxed pace. It might have been stop and start in some instances but also it has the highest frame count of any of his films and a lot of very dense animation so I dont doubt it took a long time though i think the genga was mostly complete as of the end of 2021 just a few artists left but the films always release in july so. It didnt ditch digital production there was plenty in the same vein as Howl, lots of blur, hallways, glow, cgi distortion and portals ect all matches very cleanly
I’ve watched this movie so many times due to my siblings love of it. It’s definitely has its weak points and honestly it took me years to fully understand it but it’s definitely a cult classic. I think after howl I haven’t really enjoyed a ghibli film in a while. I watch ponyo and some other one (I forgot it’s name) but they were okay. Also what is up with the boy and heron marketing. It’s so little and don’t feel any excitement towards it. This could be the last ghibli movie and I feel like no one cares lol.
I'm now a plush and it's only available until December 25th 11:59 PM ET, don’t miss out!
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Miyazaki strikes as the type of creative lead who will give you very open-ended project briefs, but god help you if you think that's an invitation to bring your own ideas or improvise. He DOES have a very specific vision of what he wants, he just doesn't want to spoon feed it to you and thinks you should be able to infer that vision on very few instructions based on you being a veteran and part of an elite team. True nightmare material
sometime youll get sit downs with him where hell explain but yeah that seems the case unless youre really that good he would prefer it to be a certain way, although that can change too
God those are the worst
I now hate all the works Miyazaki worked on. Thank you for opening my eyes to the truth. We need to stop enabling unlikable people. His works deserve to be thrown into oblivion.
I admit that his works shaped me as a person, growing up with a bunch of them, but progress comes from me denouncing every “lesson” I learned from an indecent person. Doing the opposite of what I learned should keep me away from the taint that Miyazaki’s works have imbued to my life. Let’s strive to be better people. Let’s throw away everything that support problematic people. ❤❤❤
@@OrdinaryCriticwe can appreciate art while recognising that the person who has made it has imperfections. If we destroyed all art purely on the bad things the creator had done in the past we would have zero art left
With his advancing age, one would dare assume he'd soften up and give the animators a bit more direct queues or some leeway. But, alas, once a perfectionnist means forever a perfectionnist 😅😅
Interesting how to the general public Miyazaki is known as this wholesome grandpa type of figure somehow, maybe beacuse the type of movies he is making. But the more i learn about him the more it seems that workign under him is more like working under Gordon Ramsy in hells kitchen.
it's because of Suzuki that the magical grandpa thing exists, it's pure marketing
Tbh, I think working under Gordon would be way less stressful than Miyazaki.
@@HelloOnepiece Yeah Gordon gives clear commands of what he wants.
@@HelloOnepiece yeah beacuse Gordon mostly just puts up an act for tv
@@HelloOnepieceand cooking is way way way more methodical and formalized than hand drawn animation of a fantasy story. There are so many way to cook a Beef Wellington with the same piece of equapment. In animation on the other hand you could make the most masterfully crafted piece of sequence and still miss what the director wants
I remember for the longest time I didn't like this as much as the other Ghibli movies but that changed when I actually saw it in a movie theater. That scene where Howl brings Sophie to the meadow with the pond and the flowers hit me way different and I just got it.
its a great scene
It’s a very beautiful movie I will 100% agree on that. It’s just I really was confused on wtf was going on exactly. And maybe it’s cuz I’m stupid, but why was everything resolved so quickly with the whole war thing?? I was very unsatisfied after the movie and I was shocked abt how so many ppl say it’s the best one
Its because its a perfect loop, the movie starts with howl finding sophie explained in later scenes, with the war it really wasnt the main point it was literally meant as a distraction for the magic users to get them killed. The queen curated it. Which is why it ended so quickly or abrupt and on top of that they found the prince. @2triedforthis830
@@2triedforthis830Finally someone who I can relate to for this movie
@@L16htW4rr10r I actually really wanna like it but I feel nothing towards the characters I thought I would love howl but he was ok I see his character growth but I couldn’t connect to it, and Sofies and his love was fine as well, but I just couldn’t care less about the characters tbh😭. I feel like I’m missing out or something cuz it is such a beloved Ghibli movie but I just couldn’t love it unfortunately …
I can see the flaws of the movie but I also think it's pretty incredible.
It's among the best soundtrack for a ghibli movie, the music it's like a waltz dancing between sadness and happiness. it's a music that fits with the 1800s retro fantasy style the movie aims for.
Yeah, also, Marry go around of life is arguably Joe Hisashi's best composition, it's such a beautiful song
id say its one of the best OSTs for sure I didbt really know how to weave it into the convo here but Its one of my faves
Not to forget “The Boy Who Swallowed a Star”. … Sigh. - I will just refrain from finding words for it here.
Howl's Moving Castle is also my favorite 😭 I can't help it. I see its messier parts compared to Miyazaki's other films but the highs are just so high
its a cool movie id have like to see them do more
Tell that to a mononoke fan knowing how it probably killed ando :(
Ando is still alive!
My first ghibli film was Nausicaa. I fell in love with the "apocalyptic" world and the beauty of the forest. Then I explored more ghibli films, but i remain enchanted for the visuals of Nausicaa. Laputa was also beautifully ethereal.
nausicaa is great and i stand by it as the one with the best kinda world to explore the toxic jungle is so dense and alien
I only read the manga in this case, one of my first so left a deep impression.
they're different in ways since the manga is very dense and tight in panelling so you dont really get to breath in the enviroments like in the movie which takes a very moebius approach
Please watch Scavenger's Reign. It wears it's influences on it's sleeve and is very Nausica
@@marktwain7339 was just about to recommend this as well, loved nausicaa and scavengers reign. If you're into games, "Sable" also has that feel as well. If anyone has anymore recs that are similar (moebius art inspired etc.) I would love to watch them.
Like any Miyazaki film, it truly is a blessing and such an easeful experience to watch any film.. however the making of one of his movies is another story. And this includes Howl’s Moving Castle
for sure though while it had a lot of issues I get some impression it went better than maybe the prior too but also not in other ways ahahhahaha
It's so interesting how disastrous and unloved this film is by it's father but anytime I ask people what their favorite Ghibli movie is, Howl is one of the top three named.
Though seeing Hosoda bloom on his own and basically make an equally titan studio with Chizu, I do wonder what the alternative timeline where he got to direct Howl and became Miyazaki's heir. What a multiverse that'd be!
Steve you always do such brilliant work with these videos, it truly inspires me a lot. Just wanted you to know. I've also been sharing your videos a lot on my MAL blogs and posts, it's not a lot but your videos deserve a bigger audience. 😉
I appreciate the response and I'll always take any person sharing them along its those little motions that keep the videos In circulation
This entire video is so fascinating to me. This is my favorite childhood film-- possibly even my favorite film ever, flaws and all. I love the way its like a sister to the book, all the tiny nods to the original text, how every shot is brimming with exquisite detail.
Sophie is also dear to my heart. I've never had a female character come closer to illustrating my own struggles with self love and feeling different (introverted, neurodivergent, and queer as I've come to discover).
While the narrative is a bit jaunty at times, I feel like its emotionally complete, and the ending is such sweet catharsis for the story. Man.
Very fascinating to see how it was polarizing at the time. My mom sought it out after learning about Spirited Away's Oscar win and Howl's nomination. So the Oscars were the whole reason I ended up seeing it in the first place.
I'm just rambling now lol. You play Sophie in Exile or Merry Go Round of Life for me and I instantly get emotional.
I'd definitely pay to visit the alternate timeline where Hosoda's cut was released.
Thank you for all the hard work man. I love every video you put out, and your dedication to telling these stories.
Yeah the polarizing is on the Japan side but the responses wasn't as positive in the states as say spirited away but still very positive
I can't believe that Steven turned himself into a marketable plushie
funniest thing ive ever seen
SAVE ME FROM MY PRISM (by buying one)
That's what the "M" stands for, I reckon.
I think hosoda was right. He always was my favourite of the myasaki likes with the sensibilities, and you can see how mixyazaki inspired him.
But also very good he made his way without falling in the rtrappings. He got that miyazaki magical human grounding element right but i am really glad he knows selfcare and did not end at gibli. He might be right it was a good he was fired in the long run for real.
Also that he is a very active and involved dad, like i respect him making tha movies while not neglecting his family.
Also fitting its a movie about stolen youth aging rapidly early and how that affects said people. That he took that away probably. Or its a coincidence . But thats the movie , about finding your own way and not getexploited of your life?!
well he might have quit it all iif it wasnt for madhouse, if they hadn't gave him the opportunity to make girl who lept through time or summer wars then yeah
I saw Howl's Moving Castle over 100 times.. I would safely say it is also my favourite. I would need to see Boy and Heron few more times to even compare how they stand against each other. I love them all :D
One of my favourites along with Mononoke, Nausicaa and Pom Poko. The visuals and soundtrack give me goosebumps every time. It's really different to the books, but the core themes are still there and most of the general big plot points, but it's so interesting to see how they diverge. The books are an absolute delight though, highly recommend them to anyone that's interested.
yeah the author herself said as much
The more I find out about Miyazaki as a person, the more he comes off as the Kubrick of anime: influential, brilliant, total asshole
I’m honestly shocked. I’ve never looked into him in depth but he’s always presented as social medias darling grandpa! I def need a more critical eye when consuming media, just suppose.
I'm utterly dissapointed that he promiss his wife he would not make her quit her job, she was also working on animation, both meet at Tokyo animation.... Then he Made her quit to be a stay at Home mom since he need to Focus on his career... He saying he likes to make strong independent women who need no Savior but a parnert (((his direct quote)) feels SO SO SO empty
I adore Ghibli films; their visuals are something difficult to find in the modern 3D animation swapped market (don't get me wrong, I love 3D but hand done and 2D is so special). My favorite is Spirited Away, I really saw myself in Chihiro, and it reminded me of the old fairytales I grew up with. I literally named my CAT after the studio. But their work habits shatter my heart, as much as I adore the art, I do not think it is worth the hurt and pain Miyazaki put the poor animators and staff through. Miyazaki is an amazing artist, but he is not a good leader, and person. You should NEVER put the finished product over peoples wellbeing.
Off the record I think a lot of nasty stories will come out after he dies
Are you crazy? How were these films not worth hurting some peoples feelings???? LMFAO
No adjective fits Miayazaki more than *infuriating*. Although, at this point, I blame those above him for letting him have such a major role that the entire production depends on, especially with such abyssmal deadlines.
Time and time again the storyboarding progress takes so long that the staff has to put their lives on hold to crunch it. Miyazaki has a sense of pride for his work, he is stubborn and a perfectionist, which makes him a quality worker but not a quality leader of a project.
I can not make my mind conceive of Howl as a successful failure. It is known and appreciated by so many.
Are those the people Ghibli wanted to impress I suppose
Howl's Moving Castle was my favourite Ghibli film, though now it tends to be whichever I watched last.
Excited for the Stevem plush.
Your advertising animation was very fun and had great energy.
Love the new animator portraits, particularly Akihiko Yamashita's
POG Yamashita was a fun draw ahahah
I wanted to do more with the plush animation stuff but didnt have the time maybe ill do a bit more for a short version
I didn't realize it is contrarian to say it is my favorite. It's so good!
well I guess in Japan at least I feel in other places it's pretty popular
Howls moving castle is my favorite film of all the ghibli films. Even if it was a failure to Miyazaki and he regretted it, they still made a high quality film and there nothing more you can wish for.
yeah it's about what you take from it in the end
Your new video deserves to be accompanied by a great feast.
I'm gonna make my self a nice dinner first time in months to watch it properly and enjoy.
Thanks you for your hard work ! Your essays are always such a joy to watch.
THANK YOU FOR WATCHING
I wouldn't mind sticking with an approach that focuses on checking to make sure that the people who I'm working with can get from "Point A to Point B" or however many points I can and have to make, then work with the people I'm working with around those points and make sure that the project is done in a timely fashion.
Bada Bing, Bada Boom I've contrasted most people in the industry with a methodology so simple that it can be adapted to do anything quickly and with efficiency, it just needs a finished idea to be plugged into and it runs like wild.
It is a lot more complicated for a production like this I will give them that at least, we're talking 500 people needed to make this film alone spanning a bunch of a separate departments & industries, then not to mention competing interests of both staff, producers and production committees
@@Stevem How you made it sound like to me was that Miyazaki had an iron grip on his making sure his projects worked out, got old, and tried to retire but couldn't let go of his studio as much as his studio executives couldn't let go of him, came back, ran his animators all over what was supposed to be their own work, was eventually forced to cooperate with them, and continued running the studio to this very day. Maybe I'm missing the point about how this whole thing is supposed to go, but that's the general gist I got from your videos.
The way it's suppose to go is easier said than done, what they're doing is messy and with deadlines that shouldnt be as tight, however the idea of it can be done by this time as a sure thing doesnt exist in the animation world, any matter of complications can come up. Hence why the boy and the heron just had no deadline at all
No wonder it takes like 8 years every movie
oh my god that plushie looks insane!! great job with the merch and video!
took a while to get the way I wanted but now I have one I think they did a really good
it looks adorable! and it even has that signature jacket you always wear! awesome design,@@Stevem
I remember the US version had a website for the movie.. and I'd check it so often for the release date and check to see if the movie would come to my city.. I had seen spirited away in the movie theater, so I was really excited to see 👀 Howls Moving Castle
But sadly, it got such a small run that it never made it to my town. I was very disappointed that I couldn't see it until the dvd release
But it's a top favorite, and I still see people cosplay as Sofie and Howl
So it's probably more popular than spirited away?
Though Howls Moving Castle came around a big boom for ghibli films in the US as all of them were starting to get put on DVD.. it was probably the only way to see them
Like the disney channel had shown kiki's delivery service, but that was about it..
The only time I saw them all on TV was back in high school in the early 2000's the Turner classic movie channel had a ghibli studio movie week.. and for the first time showed all the films and even some that had never been shown (like I recorded Only Yesterday on VHS from that special marathon long before it ever got a US dvd release)
internationally its the movie that did pretty good for ghibli outside of Japan as a whole though spirited away in general is probs bigger
Fantastic documentary/analysis. Love the effort put in here to tell the story of how this movie was put together.
Glad you enjoyed it!
My man back at it again with the best video essays
THANK YYOUUUU!
Earthsea is Ursula LeGuin
Howls is Dianna Wyn Jones
looks like a re-shoot!
It's so sad that they both agreed to have their works adapted specifically by Hayao Miyazaki, but Ursula never got her wish.
Yeah im aware when i said author im talking about of howl then i literal show a quote from Guins website on her experiences with earthsea
Howl's was the first Ghibli movie I watched after hearing so many good things about it from not just anime fans, but also people that weren't that big into anime. When I finally go the chance to watch it I was so confused about what was going on. I felt bombarded with so much happening and nothing getting explained. I will say that I loved the art, the music, and animation but I don't care for the character, the world, or the main story. It kind of left a bad taste in my mouth to the point that I kind of avoided the rest of the Ghibli catalogue. It sits as my least favorite Miyazaki film. I'm always a bit confused when people say this is their favorite Ghibli film.
I didn't give Miyazaki films another chance until I got into the Lupin franchise and watched Castle of Cagliostro. That being said, Cagliostro is my favorite Miya movie.
Fascinating video again, these breakdowns of the production problems behind the films is really fascinating.
thank you!!
I'm the first one to say that yeah, Howl's Moving Castle wasn't perfect, but the themes it handled resonated more with me than most of Ghibli films, except the anti war, it was a clear shoehorn from Miyazaki that didn't really worked for the film, it lagged the film for me, but not enough to tank it. Also it really seemed there that they were really pushing forward with the animation, something that later Ghibli films lack.
what do you mean by pushing forward?
@@Stevem Innovating, being bigger.
Out of all the films the one that's pushing the merging of animations if thats, digital, traditional and cgi the most would be The Boy and the Heron.
@@Stevem I have yet to watch it, in the States is going to premiere next weekend.
@@schris3 i wouldnt say ponyo or the wind rises are bad at it neither, ponyo takes a very light approach going back to a more hand drawn simple comp style , wind rises is around the howl level again & maybe beforehand kaguaya has a lot of good merging and impressive feats to it
Y'know, with all that ambitious initial pitch being long hours epics, I'm in turn surprised Ghibli haven't done any movies that split into parts.
Do an insane cliff-hanger in the first one to keep people invested, and drop the finale a year+ later, something like that.
Marketing-wise maybe a bad idea because a brand new thing as a full package is going to be more exciting especially coming from them. Maybe it's an even bigger nightmare production-wise.
But my morbid curiosity wants them to try something like that just to see how the mass audience react to this kind of format coming from Ghibli.
I guess sequels aren't really in their nature outside of in the loosest terms
I definitely see some similarities with Kubrick and Miyazaki.
Both geniuses and both madmen
Jones wrote Howls Moving Castle. The great Ursula leGuin wrote A Wizard of Earthsea. You said at 4:18 that the author of Earthsea was Dianne Wynne Jones. Unless you somehow meant Howl! If you did I think I quite missed it, but I went over it a couple few times to be sure.
You misunderstand, speaking of earthsea as in the movie earthsea, when making Howls moving castle author Diana said miyazaki must direct this was also something Guin mentioned hence why I show Guins website saying she was promised that and it was not given
25:54 At the 2013 retirement press conference Miyazaki was asked what was his favorite film that he made and he answered Howl.
Another great vid, so informative and absolutely love the showings of the behind the scenes processes! Unlike anything else on here!
THANK YOU ROBBIE±±
I love howl moving Castle. Although the adrupt ending makes me wish for part 2
theres several books at least
When people introduce into Ghibli universe they can't get that feel from any other films it's applied to child to old people it's like nostalgia you left behind can't remember but remind you good old days...
Watching these video's on Miyazaki and Ghibli makes me wonder what books out there are perfect for a Miyazaki adaptation. I was thinking Patrick Rothfuss - 'The Kingkiller Chronicles'. Not the main novels but rather the novella 'The Slow Regard of Silent Things'.
Im sure it would be a cool movie although be warned miyazaki never really follows source material closely its more a spring board for him
Ecstatic Family by Tomihiko Morimi, luckily it already has an anime adaptation, it really has that Ghibli feeling, its very focus in Japanese folklore kinda like Spirited Away, the protagonist and his family are tanukis that change shapes into humans and other stuff, they coexist alongside Tengus and Humans, its set in Kyoto with all the temples and old customs, heartwarming story tho, great watch and read, the anime is faithful asf to the book,
fascinating topic; I'm not sure Ghibli should have an "heir". Sometimes it's best to let things go. btw the transition of the plush ad was pretty rad I'm not even mad.
Are..... Are gibli movies not popular in America? That sounds like an absurd thing to even consider
Yes and no, the topic is multifaceted, from what I can see Animation in general has always been more looked down upon in America in comparison, especially when it comes to foreign animation. (that often goes for the general public though)
@@RoseDelightful I was about to comment the exact same. Even the best animé films back in the 90's and early 2000's were considered something "outside the norm", for the weirdo, or rather gross and not for "normal people". If you want to see a kids movie, because that's what animation is for, just stick with the American ones. It's something anecdotal_. Nowadays the younger generation grew up with a new perspective on the Art but back then, it was way, way different. Even if it was like 10 years ago, which is nothing in terms of time.
so to give perspective the most money any ghibli movie has made in the states at the cinema is about 19million dollars in the early 2010s, in the late 90s Pokemon the movie made 85million dollars in the US alone, Ghibli's popularity is more home release territory where theyve done decently, although the numbers are a bit vague we know when kiki first came out through disney it cracked a million copies sold which is pretty fucking good
The comparison with Pokémon on a monetary standpoint is super depressing, though Pokémon also had the advantage of creating one of the most profitable franchises in the world period, which was (and still is) reflected in every aspect.@@Stevem
@@ewoutverheij4745 well they still havent topped several of miyazakis movies at the box office though (overall)
Nausicaa is still my favorite, but i like Howl's Moving Castle a whole lot too, with that said Ponyo is one of my most disliked anime movies, you may call me a hater even, so i am quite exited for the next video
Same i'm a ponyo disliker too haha
I LOVE PONYO so i have no hate though I may go backwards for a bit because I have my eyes on the 9 hour doc on ponyo which has not been translated or put online YET
@@spring6066same, looks like its's directly aimed towards 5 years old, nothing wrong with that though
Kind of funny about the Howl line, since you'd assume they're all british in Ingary, but Howl is welsh in the books.
I get how in japan it would be still very british vibes, but a bit sad how welsh looses some representation :/ , i think the welsh and irish and scots not want to be called british is more a uk slight imperialist , past remenant :P
@@marocat4749the Irish are still not British
@@Stevem I know, but the english area. it kindais part of the uk counted to , i know scots and irish and probably welsh dont want to be called btritish.
@@marocat4749 Nooooooo it is not in the English area, that is like saying France is part of the English area, Ireland have a separate currency and border(that border is also a very big deal in terms of Irish peace too).
To be Irish is not to be British, do not say that to an Irish person you will be decked. Scotland chose to be part of the union & Wales conquest was 1000 years ago & has been pretty unified for a good long time (it's independence movement is niche in comparison to Scotland's). While Ireland's conquest is quite different, with the potato famine & a bloody history for independence. The contemporary fight for the Northern independence only ended in 1998. (although I don't believe it's over). Welsh people & Scots are British if they vibe with the term or not, The Irish are 100% not British and never chose to be.
@@Stevem ok
Your thumbnail scared the shit out of me at 6 in the morning when I woke up.
it scared me at 5am in the morning when I realised I couldnt go to bed until it was done
howls is 100% one of my favorites of his. Everything is so strong, the only thing that i think weighs it down is the prince, which i feel, could have been aided with a few more strong bits of important diolauge. Other than that, increidble film, i think people have issue with the magical bits but magic is nonsensical so i take those as fun unexplored territory.
generally I agree yeah
@@Stevem it had just a bit too much going on lol. incredible video, didnt know all that backstory with the film!
yeah some of it is a little obscured im glad i got it all together@@jondensk
The storytelling is more complicated, metaphoric in this one. I understand why some people got confused by it, after the simple and straightforward storytelling of Spirited Away. But a more mature audience will see this as a more advanced product.
I wish When Marnie Was There had been better distributed. And this new The Boy and the Heron again looks great.
I do like all three of those pictures, I was always fine with the way howl goes because its a fun journey with characters i like watching
I mean, its basically very romance heavy. In good romance storytelling that is very much exploring characters emotionally via that frame. Which isnt usually what ghibli does. Or a "boy meets girl movie" i guess . Not that it hasnt the usual anti war message in it that makes very much sense with the source material too. Nozt that it isnt different but still getting it. And war making people age rapid and take away humanity fits actually
That’s the cutest little merch plush I’ve ever seen
well I glad thats the case i was worried since ive been looking at it so long that i didnt know if it was weird or nor aahahahha
It’s a magnificent, magnificent movie; flaws and all.
Truuu
there are moments when u speak that i literally dont get it, articulate bro.
if you have issues use the captions
I've seen people like Miyazaki before and i've seen his interviews and interactions with other artists. The thing is the only thing he really does is order people around, then take the credit for his abused victim's work like many other "Auteurs" in any industry. He gets the fame, the rest of his people get fucked, so he gets another project. I liked studio ghibli movies, by the way, but i'd prefer they burn if people like him never touch industry ever again.
Howl is by no means a bad movie, far from it. It's just not a masterpiece like Chihiro, Nausicaa or Mononoke.
The animation ist gorgeous but to me, being an adaptation from a book, somehow the story feels jumbled and like they wanted to flesh it out more but couldn't bc the movie then would've had a 4h runtime or sth.
to be fair a lot of miyazakis adaptations are from books
Oh I almost forgot the Honda quote here might be a little incorrect apparently Yamashita remembers it differently and they may have first met at a different studio!
Howls moving castle is also my favorite out of the three, and one of my favorite soundtracks out of all the Ghibli films ❤
it is a bop
I LOVE how you started the video's background music with Panzer Dragoon's soundtrack. :D
Of course it's a bop
@@Stevem We all owe it to the late Yoshitaka Azuma
I noticed it immediately too. very cool 👍
I really didn't like the newest film that just came out. The soundtrack wasn't anything memorable, it was constantly introducing new characters and concepts and didn't give me that feeling of peace that my favourite Ghibli films do. It wasn't outright bad, it just didn't meet any of my expectations.
What about howl
Video was awesome of course. I love this series of videos.
THANK YOU!!!
This kind of makes sense as to why when I watched Howl for the first time, I found it utterly confusing and hard to follow. It felt like a series of random events, and then just abruptly ended. I could not really tell you what the story was about, if you asked me to recite it from memory. Probably my most negative experience with a Ghibli film.
For me Miyazaki's movies are my least favourite Ghibli movies. Spirited Away was also too confusing to me. My absolute favourite are Whisper of the Heart and Only Yesterday which I then realised are not directed by Miyazaki.
whisper is probs my favourite though miyazaki did write that one haha@@yuzan3607
@@Stevem Although Ivve not seen the entire back catalogue (for shame, I know! 😆) For me, it's always been a tie between Laputa and Mononoke. It's hard to have an absolute favourite. I love them both for different reasons.
@@DeadWhiteButterflies sure i think my faves adjust over time
the book does clear up a lot of the stuff that happened in the movie. i listened to the audiobook after the movie and a lot of things started to make sense after that
they also made quite a few changes. the movie kind of feels like they picked a bunch of scenes they liked, changed things around, and then animated them all. even though i say this, howls moving castle still remains one of my top favorite ghibli movies
I remember seeing Howl's Moving Castle a long time ago when I was a kid, and real life bacon has always been a disappointment ever since.
No wonder Hiyao and Anno are friends. Both are prefectionist (for the better or the worst)
yeah in very different ways but yeah miyazaki will convey what hes looking clearer but is very strict where anno is super picky but also unclear in giving direction he knows it when he sees it
My favorite Ghibli movie
The drama behind the scenes of all anime productions are fascinating
yeah it's pretty wild and most it is still under wraps
Great stuff as always - thanks Stevem
thanks chunkssss!!!!!!!
Hosoda indeed became great in his own right
Kinda foolish for them to let him go off really
Another winner from you, Stevem! Sorry I cannot afford one of your plushies.
i appreciate the comments and such either way!!! (you can also retweet the campaign hahah)
21:10 to my recollection there was a background conflict in the original book but there was no discussion of it save that Howl made weapons for the local government to use in it.
though a war like the one in the film is not present nor the focal point, yeah.
11:35 Serial Experiments Lane??? I was already hooked on this video, now I’m a loyal subscriber
it's called whisper its a text to speech program on Mac that is used in Japanese media like Suda 51, Lain and Ridge Racers OST
oh no way!!! that's so awesome to know. are you into animating yourself?@@Stevem
@@booshkie i draw and animate all the little quote sequences in the videos etc
@@Stevemword?! I was thinking how cool those were and wondering if you had gotten them from a book!! Those are amazing!!!
18:40 It's Mononoke that has 144 000 drawings, Spirited Away has 112 000, which makes it much more impressive.
It's Howl's production that has 1 month more.
I guess a good way to describe Ghibli movies would be "lots of vibes, little narrative focus". Sometimes I watch videos about Ghibli to make up my opinions in relation to it and I always get the impression that Hayao Miyazaki is more of an overrated asshole than I thought.
Ghibli is much bigger than strictly Miyazaki
@Stevem Do you know anything about the music production for Howl’s? I remember listening to the Image album and finding it to be the weakest amongst all the Miyazaki-related Image Albums by Joe Hisaishi. It seems to be missing that “hook” in my opinion that draws you into the world and Id be curious to learn if there is an impetus to that impression.
There's an interview in the roman album with joe hisashi though i didnt go through it much since it wasnt the focus of the video
Ursula K le Guin is the author of Tales from Earthsea not Diana Wynne Jones
I Did not say she was the author ????
Those are two different conflicts
@@Stevem Sorry if I misunderstood, Aside from that. you need more subs, and top-notch quality videos btw.
yeah when I said author i was talking about the author of Howl, since i show a section from guins website after about here issues with what happened in her adaptation@@Alderite
@@Stevem When you mentioned "aside from that" my attention span went crazy. So ye 😂
Of the Ghibli I've seen, Spirited Away, Naussica, and Mononoke are easily top 3. Tororo and Ponyo in the middle and Howl and The Boy and the Heron at the bottom.
2:48 Actually, Howl is Welsh, but go on.
To be Welsh is also to be British
Howl's Moving Castle is my Miyazaki's comfort movie
Cheers to the Panzer Dragoon music in the intro!
Yesss we have a couple panzer tracks in here
Howl's Moving Castle is one of my favorite Ghibli movies, up there with Princess Mononoke. I don't know what it is about those two but they really stood out for me. Third I'd probably put Pom Poko, such a weird but fun movie.
i love pom poko too
akitaro daichis favorite miyazaki film was also cagliostro. very cool very epic hosoda gaming
new plush is also insane. gotta cop
I think it was a big one for those growing up in that period , hosoda also likes Totoro a lot which is like yeah you and the rest of Japan huh haha
Love the video, just wanted to point out that Diana Wynne Jones didn't write "Tales from the earthsea", that was Ursula K. Leguin and there's a long story behind ghibli and Leguin. She initially refused Hayao's request to make a movie out of the books (she imagined something disney like, not knowing studio ghibli at all). When she realized the mistake many years later she contacted studio ghibli again but Hayao had retired (as usual) and let his dumbass son direct it, resulting in an awful adaptation that missed 99% of twhat makes the books amazing.
I know she didn't i think some of the implication is lost here, I show Ursula's website in this video when talking about the subject, to say both authors had some things happen that they may not have signed off on 100% though i believe someone in the comments did bring up a piece Jones wrote saying at first she was told that Hosoda was to direct it, but after it fell through she likely took on the only miyazaki policy
Are you going to cover The Wind Rises? It's my favourite Ghibli film and I'd LOVE to see a video about it!
I may do at some point long time away though
@@Stevem Thank you.
Also many anti-war sentiments were thrown into the movie, that weren't in the book. As a big Diana Wynne Jones fan, I would say the book is the superior medium that embraces the story the best.
seems as though the books being a trilogy means the story has a lot more potential to grow out from here
@@Stevem yeah they definitely do !
You have to understand that Miyazaki Hayao was someone who was born during the Second World War and lived through the aftermath of it. At the time Japan was very poor and people were struggling just to survive there were many problems such as food shortages that constantly put people on edge. The best movie to depict the reality of that time is the grave of the fireflies 蛍の墓 which is a Ghibli movie directed by Isao Takahata.
His anti war sentiments are understandable considering his past. That’s really the bane of all his movies.
Amazing docu as always
thank yoU!!!!
"Is a succesfull failiure"
Hey i can related to that , maybe thats why is my favorite idk
I see the quality in gibli movies , but emotionaly i cobect whit few , cant say why i just dont vibe wht the as mutch as other do
But this one well i just really vibe whit it , even if form an objective point it is a bit flaw compare to the previus ones
i do think for what it is it works really well, would have liked to see more of them since theres more books
Legend of the Overfiend mentioned! ☺
Say what you will but this movie is responsible for opening up both my mom and dads view of anime and changing their view of it. My mom even watched it independtly of myself and my dad complained at the start "it looked boring" to days later approaching me saying he couldn't stop thinking about it"
Studio Ghibli is a prime example of the auteur-driven "偉い人" (erai-hito) system that is a huge part of Japanese culture.
Everything is top-down. Of course Hayao Miyazaki is burnt out, he is literally in charge of EVERYTHING. Part of it is by choice, he wants to micromanage every last detail of the film. It has to be his way. The people under him say that he is a terror to work for. He mentally abuses his workers and forces them to do what he wants.
This video excellently shows examples of this, the scale of which you could double or triple (or more!) to understand what the Ghibli staff have to deal with on a daily basis.
But this is how most places work in Japan. Many people people can't comprehend the work culture. I didn't.
The more "erai" a person is, the more they are responsible for the end product. In the case of Ghibli, Miyazaki is basically God, the President, and Michelangelo all in one. If the movie is good, he is showered in accolades. If it isn't, he drowns in criticism. That's more pressure than one can imagine, and it's no surprise that after every movie, he reitires.
But the addiction he has to his work keeps bringing him back.
The end results are mixed. On the one hand we get the unbelievable beauty and magnificent, world-changing artistry that are Miyazak's films. There is nothing that can compare with his work at its zenith.
On the other hand, there is the waste of human resources that we will never see. For every person like Hosoda, who leaves or avoids being used up by Ghibli, there are a dozen whose talents wlll never be realized and whose ideas and inspiration will never see the light of day because they are stuck being a Miyazaki underling.
The system requires great talent to slave away for decades before being allowed to get high enough in the ranks to be allowed the resources to share their own vision.
The good thing is that the "erai-hito" system is breaking down from the inside and will soon fade into history due to the democratization of art through technology. What took a studio to make twenty years ago can be done by one person now.
There's a lot of problems with you assumptions here, one is the marketing of a "autuer" driven system was brought to the anime industry by Suzuki in the 80s and that it's basically marketing miyazaki is controlling but he physically cant be in control of the 400 staff it takes to make the film and it's four departments he may approve final design but there's a lot of this which isn't under him like I mentioned with layouts it's not something he concerned with until there's something to look over. It is something that Suzuki wants you to think though.
the panzer dragoon tunes always take me to a special place : D
love me some panzer dragoon music
I got scared at first because i thought that was Nausicaa on the front
Already done that movie which also quite the compromised production
6:04 Ah yes the cult classic 😎 I wish they'd release this on Blu-ray. My Perfect Collection DVDs don't look so good on my modern TV.
7:51 Anyone know what song this is? I couldn’t find it in the source? I recently watched this for the first time so it was nice to see the making of this movie.
Vanishing horizons from ridge racers 2 on the psp, I seemed to mix up one song for another fixed now
My favorite studio ghibli movie is howls moving castlw, i have seen it 7 times AND i love it still, i loveeeeeeeeee the loop, "Look for me in the future howl !!!!!!!!!! "
And then when you re watch the firts thing howls say to sophie is "i finally found you, i been looking for you for the longest time"
Like daamm❤❤❤❤❤ and the ost , nothing beats hows movimg castle ost .
My second fave is laputa, see that one 3 times and nausica, but that one i have only see once , the rest of ghibli movies i also see them once ... I actually avoid to re watch films 😅.... However my least favorite ghibli movie is ponyo hahahahahah so boring, i mean is a visual spectacle but thats it, i dont remember much about the plot and i find it boring, childish idk .... Ghibli films are for all ages i tell you, even tororo feels less childish than ponyo, i just didnt like it.
If i had to rank:
Howls, laputa, nausica, whisper of the heart, mononoke, chihiro, grave of the fireflies, the one of the cats, kikis, yamadas neibhor, marnie , the one anout the little girl in the garden ..... the one that is about two teens who dont like each other much, ponyo and the biggest lost opportunity: tales of earthsea
thanks for the input rei
I saw in your sources where you got the info about Miyazaki regretting Howl. I know ehoba is a trustable source. However in 2013 at Venice Film Festival when asked what is his favourite film that he made Miyazaki said Howl. At least according to Ryan Lambie (to be precise I got this info from a book by Dani Cavallaro about Miyazaki where he cited Lambie). I don't know who to trust here.
i wouldnt trust dani cavallaro, if i recall theyre a known plageriser and maybe not a real person but a pen name that may or not be used by more than one person. I also cited an interview where he says there are parts of howl he really regrets because of circumstances
Dani is also accused of just making up shit too by other academics ontop
infinitemirai.wordpress.com/2015/01/28/investigating-unacceptable-academic-practises-in-dani-cavallaros-kyoto-animation-a-critical-study-and-filmography-with-a-case-study-on-the-k-on-movie/
@@Stevem It seems you're right. I just checked and Miyazaki didn't even attend the Venice Film Festival that year lol. It was Koji Hoshino who was there and announced Miyazaki's retirement.
yeah its pretty rare to convince miyazaki to go to a festival in full@@Eminvee
Stevem plush is so adorable!
You know what to do!
miyazaki just needs to stay miyazaki, forgive him, miyazaki has made you better, forgive miyazaki 100%, he means well.
I think all this mess during production makes perfect sense in hindsight. Howl is easily the weakest but also the most overhyped film in the whole Ghibli videography.
Could you kindly provide where you got these CGI/Harmony breakdowns for these films?
Specifically those that are shown at:
15:04 - 16:42 , thanks!
They should be included in the sources they're from the howls moving castle home release bhs extras
@@Stevem Thank you kindly.
Newer Ghibli animation seems alot more antiseptic with the character models. Idk... it's doesn't connect to me the same way Nausicaa would..
As in clean?
Nausicaa has a lot more individual kinda animation from a lack of time to do miyazakis standard correction id say Boy and the Heron also has a lot fo unique flavour coming from Hondas sensibilities
@@Stevem yes! clean in the metaphorical sense. Sanitized down, not offensive to anyone, something Disney could publicize w/o issues. That's what I see in the countenance of these characters. Especially in the faces.
A bit of a hot take, worst Miyazaki film by far, simply awful.
Yes it looks amazing and sounds great... But, the characters really don't do it for me, I cannot get into the romance that is supposedly blossoming. The villain gets mushed half way through, not even by the protagonists. We are told about wizards and how they are drafted in this horrible war, of which we see almost nothing at all. The whole ageing and de-ageing is really on the nose and a gimmick. The ending is a complete nonsense. Also, what is Howl as a character, I have no idea.. he's just kinda there on screen without rhyme or reason.
hes there to be devilish in the pale moonlight
@@Stevem my point exactly.
On a kinda related note, did Heron took so long to produce because the team was downsized from back in the day, or for ditching digital production methods? Or something else?
Tnx
@@franesustic988 they just did it as it came scene by scene, miyazaki is too old to crunch a movie out in 2 or 3 years so they took a pretty relaxed pace. It might have been stop and start in some instances but also it has the highest frame count of any of his films and a lot of very dense animation so I dont doubt it took a long time though i think the genga was mostly complete as of the end of 2021 just a few artists left but the films always release in july so. It didnt ditch digital production there was plenty in the same vein as Howl, lots of blur, hallways, glow, cgi distortion and portals ect all matches very cleanly
nice choice of panzer dragoon music
Thank you we got a good selection
Aw snap! 2am Stevem? Aw yiss! 2am Stevem!
it was 6am for me ahahah such pain to get this out in time
Aww geez, sorry to read that.
I’ve watched this movie so many times due to my siblings love of it. It’s definitely has its weak points and honestly it took me years to fully understand it but it’s definitely a cult classic. I think after howl I haven’t really enjoyed a ghibli film in a while. I watch ponyo and some other one (I forgot it’s name) but they were okay. Also what is up with the boy and heron marketing. It’s so little and don’t feel any excitement towards it. This could be the last ghibli movie and I feel like no one cares lol.
1:20
That track is righteous, anyone know the name please? Thanks.
ps2 Kamen rider song called kickhopper/punch hopper theme
the rest of the music is in the source document in the description
@@Stevem
thank you very much.