Almost every anime fan knows about Spirited Away and Studio Ghibli’s animation library. These anime are all interesting, emotional and most importantly visually pleasing.
The person behind many Studio Ghibli films is Miyazaki Hayao, a filmmaker who not only has domestic influence but also reaches out to the world. Studio Ghibli, which he co-founded in 1985, has produced more than twenty films, of which five are Spirited Away, Princess Mononoke, Howl’s Moving Castle, Ponyo, and The Wind Rises, all of which are in the top 15 highest-grossing films. best ever in Japan.
Miyazaki Hayao’s latest film is The Boy and the Heron, released in 2023, currently ranked 7th on the list of highest-grossing anime animated films of all time and is the highest-grossing film released by Ghibli. in America.
Studio Ghibli films have become iconic works of art. Therefore, using AI to try to recreate Studio Ghibli characters in a realistic style will encounter many criticisms from fans. Even trying to use AI to create a new version of a Studio Ghibli animated film is considered truly insulting to animation.
Video of real-life versions of Spirited Away characters created by AI
This happened with a post that said “The Spirited Away universe is created by AI”. The images of real-life versions of Spirited Away characters created by AI have almost no resemblance to the originals. Even the adorable soot creatures look terrible and gross.
A netizen commented below the post: “If Miyazaki Hayao saw this, he would probably tell you that the characters are being insulted”. Another person wrote: “Using AI to create new images based on the artistic masterpiece Spirited Away makes me angry. This is disrespectful of the efforts of Miyazaki Hayao and Studio Ghibli. This is wrong.”
Anyone who knows Hayao Miyazaki knows his extremely strict worldview and views on animation as an art form, to the point that it is almost philosophical.
Miyazaki has always protected his projects, even once threatening producer Harvey Weinstein, by sending him a samurai sword with the message “No cuts”, after the producer asked them to cut the time. Princess Mononoke’s duration from 135 minutes to 90 minutes.
