The new, and possibly last, acclaimed film japanese animation director Hayao Miyazaki“Kimitachi wa Do Ikiru ka” (How do you live?), it is positioned as the clear star of Japanese animation cinema for this 2023; however, it also marks the end of a generation of directors. Based on a novel of the same name, the film shows the psychological growth of a young man through relationships with his friends and his uncle.
“Hayao Miyazaki, without a doubt, will shine the Japanese anime industry in 2023 with the premiere of his latest film, his probable final farewell. A brightness that reminds us that a generation that is already being left behind is fading away,” explains Álvaro López Martín, author of the blog Generación Ghibli -a reference in Spanish on the study- and of books such as ‘My neighbor Miyazaki’ (2014).
The Japanese animation expert considers that Miyazaki’s film will be “the reference anime film for 2023” and although doesn’t think it’s the highest grossing in Japan, It will have an important meaning for the Japanese industry and international projection like most Studio Ghibli titles in the past.
“I see the Oscar as unlikely, since Disney is not involved as it was with ‘Spirited Away’ (2001). It is still too early to talk about it although, barring a catastrophe, I think the nomination is almost certain,” says the expert.
López Martín, also author of ‘Spirited Away’ or ‘Howl’s Moving Castle’, an analysis of Miyazaki’s famous films, considers that although this premiere marks the end of an era, it is still early to talk about a generational change.
“I think much remains to give a real relief to the big names that emerged in the 70s and 80swhich exploded in the 90s and early 2000s. Veterans like Hayao Miyazaki are in retirement, and for young people it’s still early,” he says.
To cite some of the leading authors of current Japanese animation, López Martín points to Mamoru Hosoda and Makoto Shinkai, in full creative maturity, followed by Naoko Yamada (‘A Silent Voice’, 2016), Hiroyuki Imaishi (‘Promare’, 2019), Hiromasa Yonebayashi (‘Arrietty’, 2010), Tatsuyuki Nagai (“Her Blue Sky”, 2019) and others, one step below.
The expert also highlights films such as ‘Kimi no Iro’ (Your Color) by Naoko Yamada for the Science SARU studio; Yuzuru Tachikawa’s ‘Blue Giant’, about a student who wants to succeed playing the saxophone and Makoto Honda’s ‘Make My Day’, a science fiction film for Netflix, as titles that could succeed in 2023.
By the end of the year, ‘Yaneura no Rudger’ (Rudger in the attic), a film by Yoshiyuki Momose for Studio Ponoc, heir to many former Studio Ghibli employees, has also been confirmed.
The stars At The Japanese Box Office, Consider, they will be continuations of anime series made into movies, such as the new ‘Kimetsu no Yaiba’ (Night Watch) movie after bursting the box office in 2020 or ‘Spy × Family’.
“I think, Increasingly, the Japanese animation industry is playing the safe value. There is going to be very little innovation, we are going to see a lot more anime in 3D CG (computer-generated animation) and, above all, a lot of continuation of series transferred to the cinema”, concludes López Martín.
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