Producer Toshio Suzuki, Chief Editor
The story of 40 years of Ghibli is finally revealed.

Studio Ghibli was born from "Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind."
A special creative group that has created numerous feature-length animations for nearly 40 years, their trajectory has been full of ups and downs.
A plan born from trial and error, a production site pressed for time, a promotional strategy that grasps the trends of the times, and a business environment that constantly bumps into the walls of reality.
It covers all the unique creative methods and management processes of each of the 27 works, including the behind-the-scenes story of the latest work, “How Will You Live?”, which was not included in the Japanese version.
This may be the last recorded statement from a Studio Ghibli character.

The contact between the editorial staff of Animeju and Takahata and Miyazaki dates back to the first issue of Animeju (July 1978).
The opportunity came when Toshio Suzuki, who was the deputy editor-in-chief of Animeju at the time, approached them about covering “Horus the Great Adventure,” in which the two had participated, in a corner called “Encore Animation.”

At that time, Animeju, which had been refused an interview by Takahata and Miyazaki, actively covered Miyazaki's "Lupin III: The Castle of Cagliostro" and Takahata's "Little Lady Chie" in its print edition.
In this way, the Animeju editorial department gradually developed a deep bond with Takahata, Miyazaki, and Yasuo Otsuka, a senior whom the two met while working at Toei Douga (now Toei Animation) and the animation director of Lupin III: The Castle of Cagliostro and Little Lady Chie.

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Miyazaki began to envision a grand-scale manga series, which became the current manga, Nausicaä.
The general direction of the series was decided, but I also had to decide what style of drawing to use.
Miyazaki called Suzuki to his personal office, Nibariki, in Asagaya, Tokyo, and showed him three different types of manga with different drawing styles.

The first is a meticulous and detailed drawing method, which Miyazaki said made it difficult to draw even one page a day using this method.
Secondly, he showed a simple, non-specific drawing style and said that he could draw about 30 pages a day like this.
And the last one was somewhere in between the first and second.

In response to Miyazaki's suggestion, Suzuki chose the first, meticulous drawing style.
Believing that the quality of the manga itself should be prioritized over productivity, Suzuki did not hesitate in his choice.
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President Yasuyoshi Tokuma is a truly unique and interesting person.
If "Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind" was such a huge hit, wouldn't they usually be making a sequel? But I'm not the type of person who says that.
And I didn't even tell you to make something else.
There was no order.
So, the movie “Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind” was made so that director Miya could receive money.
That's what I did.
That was a whopping 60 million yen.
When Miya saw the money, she was shocked.
“Mr. Suzuki, what should we do now?” (laughter).
He said that if I built a new house with that money, my staff would think I was stupid and I wouldn't be able to buy a new car.
At that time, there was a plan to produce a youth film like "Blue Mountains" set in Yanagawa, a small provincial town, centered around Mr. Takahata.
Mr. Ogata brought up the idea of ​​wanting to try “Blue Mountain Range.”
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What is it about Princess Mononoke that draws audiences? Director Miyazaki has been asked this question many times, and he says, "Nothing has been finalized.
I feel like I've opened up a strange part of my head, and I can't seem to get my thoughts together.
He did not give a clear answer, saying, “It has been like that until now, but this time it was especially long.”


Before its release, there were many reviews saying, "This movie is too difficult for children."
Several letters arrived at Studio Ghibli, to which Director Miyazaki belongs, saying, "I didn't understand it, so I'm going to watch it again."
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On the other hand, while producing Princess Mononoke, the environment surrounding Ghibli changed significantly.
It's a partnership with Disney.
On July 23, 1996, the Tokuma Group announced a partnership with Disney.
Accordingly, in October, Tokuma International, the overseas division, was established.
The origins of the partnership date back to 1994.
Koji Hoshino, who was the Japanese representative for Buena Vista Home Entertainment (BVHE), Walt Disney's video division, approached Studio Ghibli, saying, "I want to make a series of Ghibli works into a low-priced video series and release them. Would you mind selling the rights?"
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Lasseter and Miyazaki have a long history of collaboration. Lasseter, originally an animator at Disney, became a passionate fan of Miyazaki after seeing Lupin the Third: The Castle of Cagliostro and becoming convinced that he could make an animated film that both adults and children could enjoy.
After meeting Miyazaki, who had come to the United States in 1982 for Tokyo Movie Shrine (today TMS Entertainment)'s Japanese-American joint project Little Nemo, Lasseter was assigned to work on a full CG short film at Pixar.
Later, when Lasseter visited Japan for the 1987 Hiroshima International Animation Festival, he also visited Studio Ghibli, which was producing My Neighbor Totoro.
As it passed through Lasseter's hands, the English version of Spirited Away became a work that required a lot of care, down to every single line.

Spirited Away, which received high praise at various film awards in Japan, also received good reviews in the United States.
It won the National Society of Film Critics Award, Los Angeles Film Critics Award, and New York Film Critics Circle Award for animation in succession, and in February 2003, it won four categories, including Best Director and Best Screenplay, at the Annie Awards (hosted by the International Animated Film Association), known as the "Academy Awards of the Animation World."
In March 2003, it won the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature Film, beating out Disney's Lilo Stitch and Treasure Island.
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The person in charge of the theme song is Kenshi Yonezu.
This is the first time in a Ghibli work that a major popular artist has been commissioned to compose a new song.
Originally, Yonezu was a fan of Hayao Miyazaki.
As mentioned earlier, Studio Ghibli's monthly magazine, "Yokohama," planned a special feature on "Boro the Furry Bug" in the March 2018 issue, and planned to publish an interview with Yonezu.
The first contact from Studio Ghibli was to ask Yonezu for his thoughts after watching the preview.
Yonezu first met Miyazaki when he visited Ghibli for that interview.
Afterwards, Yonezu appeared on Toshio Suzuki's radio program "Suzuki Toshio's Ghibli Sweat" in July and August 2018, and by that time, Suzuki had already started thinking about asking Yonezu to write the theme song for "How Do You Live?"

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