Mobile Suit Gundam creator Yoshiyuki Tomino has defended famed Studio Ghibli director and animator Hayao Miyazaki from claims that he is not an “artist,” helping anime fans better understand the complex rivalry between the two.
Tomino sat down for a fascinating new interview with Full Frontal, where he talked about, among other things, the process of making Ideon, opening up about his influences, and, most notably, his decision to direct a robot series. Before comparing himself to Miyazaki, Tomino said that he directed a robot series because “I basically don’t have what it takes to be an auteur. That’s why director Hayao Miyazaki has always been my enemy: being in the same era as someone I could never surpass became my motivation.” Tomino has long been associated with anime studio Sunrise—a place for producers, not artists. He implied that it was the best place for him because of his “low artistic ability.”
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The Boy and the Heron's Sad Ending Makes Studio Ghibli's Hayao Miyazaki an “Author”
When Full Frontal countered that Miyazaki wasn't an artist either, comparing him to a craftsman instead, Tomino replied, “You're wrong. If he was a craftsman, he wouldn't have made something like The Boy and the Heron. If you say he's a craftsman, you don't know anything. He's an author. Hey, he made an animated film without a happy ending. That's impossible if you do things superficially. That's why I don't think I can be compared to an author like that. Maybe Miyazaki would rather be compared to someone like Victor Hugo. But that's just The Boy and the Heron. I don't really like Miyazaki's other works anyway.”
Definitions vary, but while Miyazaki is clearly capable of drawing art, earning praise from Chainsaw Man's Tatsuki Fujimoto for his manga Nausicaä, a “craftsman” typically refers to creators who can adapt existing source material. An “artist,” meanwhile, is generally understood to be someone who creates original stories and transforms existing stories through self-expression. Studio Ghibli animator Shigeo Akahori further emphasized this distinction in his criticism of today's “waning” anime industry. He said that these days, “It is important for original manga works to be faithful to the original work, so people who are more like craftsmen than creators are needed.” Meanwhile, in the early days of television anime, “talented creators were able to freely use their ingenuity, creating many masterpieces.”
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Studio Ghibli's The Boy and the Heron's ending differs from the original novel
Tomino argues that the sad ending of The Boy and the Heron proves that Miyazaki is more than just a craftsman, as the film deviates from Genzaburo Yoshino's original novel How Do You Live? and turns it into “something more autobiographical” to convey its message to viewers. While Tomino added that he doesn't particularly like Miyazaki's other works, he has expressed his deep respect for the director on several occasions. Most recently, he gave a speech at the Niigata IAFF, telling young animators, “You can't surpass Miyazaki or One Piece without really giving it your all,” and “Director Miyazaki created an incredible work and won the Academy Award.”
The Oscar-winning film The Boy and the Heron is licensed by GKIDS, who recently released the film on Blu-ray in 4K UHD. The official description reads: “After losing his mother in war, young Mahito moves to his family’s estate in the countryside. There, a series of mysterious events leads him to an ancient, isolated tower, inhabited by a mischievous grey heron. When Mahito’s new stepmother disappears, he follows the grey heron into the tower and enters a magical world where the living and the dead coexist. As he embarks on an epic journey with the heron as his guide, Mahito must discover the secrets of this world and the truth about himself.”
The Boy and the Heron
A boy named Mahito, longing for his mother, ventures into a world shared by the living and the dead. There, death ends, and life finds a new beginning. A semi-autobiographical fantasy from the mind of Hayao Miyazaki.
Release date December 8, 2023
Cast Soma Santoki, Masaki Suda, Takuya Kimura, Aimyon
Running time 2 hours 4 minutes
Production company Studio Ghibli, Toho Corporation
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Source: Full Frontal
