Why The World Hasn't Ended Because Hayao Miyazaki Has Retired

       The world of Anime has expanded so much over the past decade and with the explosion of pop culture it has only grown in some senses, in others it could still be considered a niche genre or at least it would have remained that way if not for the constant influx of innovated directors and writers. The most widely accepted director whose work had gone well beyond the label of genre is the legendary Hayao Miyazaki. I've seen his films in theaters and even when I was a teenager depending on the theater I would find myself being the only one my age sitting there, while people twice my age could be brought to tears by an film from a genre  that when I was growing up could gets ills, at least until I brainwashed them with one great show or the other. I've worked on several community projects in the past that had jumped through some hoops to be able to screen his film and others from Studio Ghibli to an audience that more or less had never seen anime but they've seen his. Of course when asked what other great anime would be great to see and I begin to explain as if they could be said in a single breath, I could see the eyes rolling, getting sleepy, drool falling off their chins and realized that the one breathtaking film was quite enough for them. Now that he's retiring I've heard from people that don't watch other things from the genre, that there won't be anything else to look forward to and it's a shame. Yet there are so many stunning directors, doing so many things, Miyazaki himself had said who he'd like to see carry the torch, we're talking about the fantastic Hideki Anno and there are so many other directors, it's impossible to see this as a closing of a world of imagination but merely a new step to open up to other worlds from other fantastic directors. Who knows fellow anime fans, there might be something out there for that one friend or love one that you've been dying to convert into an Otaku or at least someone who would sit and watch an anime with you. It can get lonely in the dark.

 

         Just in movies itself, we've seen a great increase of anime films opening in theaters, as I write this Princess Kaguya directed by fellow Studio Ghibli founder Isao Takahata is playing in selected theaters across the United States and is set to open in more theaters soon. Not one show time for one day but gasp several show times all day for an entire week. Believe it or not it used to be a one day, one time, type of thing sometimes, not so much anymore. One of the great things about anime, you can find it in pretty much anything which is the lovely conflict it can have with being a niche genre because the truth is it is a genre and anyone that didn't know that is just playing catch up. In the wake of Miyazaki's departure  you have so many others  that are still directing I mean let's not forget Kashiro Otomo (Akira, Freedom and Short Peace) was also a nominee in the Oscars last year.  Many of which have for years shown anime in all sorts of ways, you have just to name a few Shinichiro Watanabe who has done Cowboy Bebop, Wolf's Rain, Kids on The Slope, Space Dandy and has done just as much to bring anime to western viewers. Then you have everyone from Yoshiyuki Tomino (creator of Mobile Suit Gundam) to Mamoru  Oshii (Ghost in the Shell) to Satoshi Kon to Noboru Ishiguro and of course Hiroyuki Okiura. The next generation has been active in the spread of anime as well from Makato Shinkai to Mamoru Hosoda. Many of these directors helped to crack the world open for the United States as well as Japan and has had influence in American film everything from The Matrix to Pacific Rim.
 


        With comics coming to life on the screen, certain anime that has been in hopeful production to see the light of day on the Hollywood screen might be able to match Japan's counterpart which sees anime adaptions all the time, just ask the high grossing Rurouni Kenshin trilogy. Now does it have to be these directors and these works that get others to give a second look toward anime, certainly not, why I've turned on people toward anime or they themselves with everything from Berserk to Fruits Basket, Pokémon to Monster and Attack on Titan to something a little less known like Spiral.  Truthfully there are so many great shows and movies in between that people will often find these things themselves and hey if it really worries you remember Hayao might have retired from directing but writing and producing can be a different matter entirely.