﻿Hey everyone, I’m Andrew,
and it goes without saying that I’m a huge fan of the work of Hayao Miyazaki.
and his legendary Studio Ghibli.
From 'Princess Mononoke' to 'Spirited Away,'
they’ve produced some of the most moving and beautiful films ever made,
and they’ve inspired entire generations of artists and creators to follow in their footsteps.
Ghibli has mastered the art of anime cinema,
but it’s extremely rare for them to step outside their wheelhouse.
That’s why ‘Ni No Kuni’ was such a big deal,
it was the first video game made in partnership with the studio,
and while they’re not involved with the sequel coming out this week,
‘Ni No Kuni 2’ still has some Ghibli talent behind the scenes,
Ghibli’s trademark visuals, adorable, otherworldly characters and dreamlike sensibility have influenced countless games,
and the modern industry could really use an injection of their craft and creativity.
That’s why today, I want to talk about
Why Games Need Ghibli
Although I don’t think it’s the video game industry that needs convincing.
Ghibli, and its founder Miyazaki,
have an unpleasant history with the electronic art-form.
So first, let’s see why
Ghibli and Games
don’t get along.
‘Ni No Kuni’ wasn’t the first Ghibli game,
it’s just the first good one.
Miyazaki actually made his arcade debut in 1983’s ‘Cliff Hanger,’
two years before Ghibli was officially formed,
although he personally had nothing to do with it.
‘Cliff Hanger’ was a laserdisc game,
where you’d watch the pre-recorded scene play out,
then hit a button at the right time to keep the action going.
But unlike, say, ‘Dragon’s Lair,’ which had amazing original animation from Don Bluth,
‘Cliff Hanger’ was cobbled together from two ‘Lupin III’ movies,
including Miyazaki’s directorial debut ‘The Castle of Cagliostro.’
The legendary car chase made it into the game,
but otherwise, it was a spliced-together mess,
and it’s only real legacy is a cameo in ‘The Goonies.’
Oh, wow, a car chase!
I’m sure Miyazaki would have disowned it,
but honestly, it’s doubtful he even knew about it.
Besides ‘Cliff Hanger,’ there were two terrible games based on ‘Nausicaa’ released for Japanese computers in the ‘80s.
Technology hadn’t quite gotten to the point where you could render the mutant insects of the Sea of Decay,
or Joe Hisaishi’s haunting score.
Instead, there’s just a hideous, endless buzzing sound,
as you fly what I guess is supposed to be a glider,
It’s a pretty stark contrast to the film’s environmentalist, anti-war message,
and it would be Ghibli’s last video game project until ‘Ni No Kuni’ in 2010.
I’m sure the bad experiences didn’t help,
but Miyazaki has never been a huge fan of games,
or any kind of technology, really.
In interviews, he’s talked about how he won’t even use a fax machine, let alone the Internet,
and as for the vidya,
he played a computer version of Shogi, a Japanese variant of chess,
and after he lost, he was so salty he never played a game again.
My hero.
Miyazaki is famously stubborn,
he refused to attend the Oscars when ‘Spirited Away’ won Best Animated Feature in 2003,
in protest of America’s involvement in the Iraq War.
The Academy congratulates Hayao Miyazaki and accepts this on his behalf. Thank you so much.
And, when producer Harvey Weinstein wanted to butcher ‘Princess Mononoke’ for its U.S. release,
Miyazaki famously mailed him a katana bearing a simple message attached to the blade:
‘No cuts.’
He’s very set in his ways,
but that dedication is what makes Studio Ghibli’s work so incredible,
and that’s
What They Can Bring to Games
As one of the most influential anime studios ever,
Ghibli has already made a huge mark on gaming.
Studios across the industry have used their movies for inspiration.
The Chocobo in ‘Final Fantasy’ were based on the Horseclaws from ‘Nausicaa,’
and even in modern games like ‘Breath of the Wild,’
you can see a lot of ‘Princess Mononoke’ in the soft, cel-shaded environments,
sweet but somehow melancholy world,
and hauntingly beautiful forest creatures.
But beyond the surface-level comparisons,
there’s even more that Ghibli can teach games on a fundamental level.
Their films suck you in.
When you combine the lush visuals,
heartwarming characters,
and the gorgeous Joe Hisaishi music,
everything else just kind of falls away.
You leave the real world behind get lost in this beautiful fantasy.
It’s the ultimate immersion, no VR goggles required,
and it’s a feeling that a lot of game try and fail to replicate.
Ghibli fills every gorgeous frame with heart, soul,
and an unparalleled attention to detail.
The artistry and storytelling draw you into their world,
it transcends the language barrier because what the characters say is secondary.
Ghibli movies are something you experience,
just like games.
And the stories they tell are perfect for an interactive medium,
whether it’s Chihiro’s adventures in the spirit realm,
or Oliver’s quest to save his soulmate in Ni No Kuni.
They’re about inexperienced outsiders wandering through a world they don’t fully understand,
but as they journey through the film, they learn about their surroundings,
and discover things about themselves.
Isn’t that what we play games for?
The search for humanity inside world of fantasy?
And doesn’t that sound a lot more engrossing than a forced tutorial and meaningless sidequests?
Did you see a hound on the road?
Every part that Ghibli excels in can make games better,
from their dedication to awesome female heroes,
to their anti-war ideology.
Today’s militarized, hyper-masculine games could learn a lot from Ghibli.
The marketplace might not have been right in the past, but
Now is the Time
for Ghibli to make their mark.
When Ghibli partnered with Level-5 to develop Ni No Kuni in 2010,
the Japanese gaming industry was in rough shape.
Rising costs,
an aging population,
and the smartphone revolution really took a toll on the Japanese market.
Publishers were afraid to take risks,
and while there were still plenty of amazing games coming out of the country,
the Japanese gaming scene had become stagnant.
In 2009, while development on ‘Ni No Kuni’ was in full swing,
‘Mega Man’ co-creator Keiji Inafune stood up at the Tokyo Game Show and said
“Japan is over. Our game industry is finished.”
Pretty dire words,
but as we learned from ‘Mighty No. 9,’ you shouldn’t take what Inafune says at face value.
Why are you doing this to me?!
It's a travesty! What an awful game.
Over the last few years, we’ve seen a incredible new resurgence of awesome Japanese exports.
There’s almost too many to count,
from ‘Monster Hunter: World’ to ‘Mario Odyssey.’
Games like ‘Persona 5’ and ‘Nier: Automata’ exemplify everything that’s amazing about Japanese games,
and their style, innovation and excellence impressed more than just the critics.
They’re all huge sellers,
and, like ‘Breath of the Wild’ and so many more,
they owe a huge debt to Studio Ghibli’s work.
For some reason, cats turning into busses is an expremely widespread cognition among the general public.
And now that Japan is once again a force to be reckoned with in the industry,
it’s the perfect opportunity to embrace that Ghibli magic.
Even if Miyazaki himself never comes around on gaming,
that shouldn’t hold the studio back.
The 77-year-old genius announced his retirement in 2013,
and for a while, it looked like the end of Ghibli as we knew it.
Thankfully, Miyazaki changed his mind in 2016,
and today they’re hard at work on a new feature film called ‘How Do You Live?’
Still, that experience goes to show that the studio should be open to exploring new mediums.
Unlike its predecessor,
‘Ni No Kuni II’ doesn’t have the official Ghibli seal of approval,
thanks to the turmoil around Miyazaki’s retirement.
Still, studio alums like Joe Hisaishi and designer Yoshiyuki Momose were able to lend their gifts to the game,
and helped create another awe-inspiring JRPG experience.
Let’s face it, Ghibli won’t be the same when Miyazaki’s gone,
and the studio may not be around forever.
That’s why I want to see them branch out.
There’s just too much talent there to go to waste,
and their magic can do wonders for the world of gaming.