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Hiromasa Yonebayashi (Arrietty, Marnie) leaves Studio Ghibli

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B

Branduil

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http://www.crunchyroll.com/anime-ne...tor-hiromasa-yonebayashi-leaves-studio-ghibli

41-year-old Hiromasa Yonebayashi, the director of The Secret World of Arrietty (2010) and Marnie Was There (2014), confirmed today that he had already left Studio Ghibli.

He joined a talk show event for the release of the DVD/Blu-ray of Marnie held in Tokyo today, March 12, with Japanese figure skater Daisuke Takahashi who performed in the CMs for the disc. He announced that he left Studio Ghibli in the end of the last year and was no longer a member of the company. He said, "I talked with producer (Yoshiaki) Nishimura about what to do. I still want to make films, though it isn't clear what they will be like," and added, "For example, I want to try an action-oriented or fantasy film, which are totally opposite from Marnie."
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In early February, Studio Ghibli co-founder/producer Toshio Suzuki confirmed that, after Hayao Miyazaki's retirement from feature films, the studio was still open for business but was doing virtually none at all.
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It's truly stunning the amount of talent Ghibli has bled away. In a parallel universe Yoshifumi Kondo, Mamoru Hosoda, and Yonebayashi would all still be happily making films for Ghibli.
 
Lynd7

Lynd7

Member
I thought he might get another go with Ghibli. Hopefully he still makes films, I'll watch whatever he does next.

Ghibli should of let him do something original. If that failed, then they could shut for good. It's not looking great for another Ghibli project..
 
M

munchie64

Member
Bye bye Ghibli
570.gif

This image is fake.
 
Werewolf Jones

Werewolf Jones

Member
I actually enjoyed Arrietty the most out of the last few films Ghibli put out before it. Still haven't watched Princess Kaguya or The Wind Rises.
 
S

so1337

Member
As long as he keeps making films, it's probably not too big of a loss. I will say that I easily enjoyed Arrietty the most out of the films that neither Miyazaki nor Takahata directed.
 
H

hirokazu

Member
munchie64 said:
Hmm I'm actually interested with what he does now.
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During the production of Wind Rises and Kaguya, he was torn between what he should do next, but it seemed like he wasn't interested in doing more films.

Is he still at Ghibli? Because I'd have no idea what he's actually doing if he still is.

This is pretty sad. I say Ghibli is done with feature film production if they weren't already with all that news last year.
 
Z

ZombiePlatypus

Member
Ghibli-land. Expand the fuck outta Ghibli museum with rides, gardens, replica buildings, etc.

They're not making films anymore but fans still love them.

It's time. I'd visit the shit out of it.
 
S

siddx

Magnificent Eager Mighty Brilliantly Erect Registereduser
A shame that Ghibli is pretty much done making films, but then again I haven't seen anything truly wonderful from them since Howl's Moving Castle. Just a lot of "pretty good I guess."
 
R

Ratrat

Member
siddx said:
A shame that Ghibli is pretty much done making films, but then again I haven't seen anything truly wonderful from them since Howl's Moving Castle. Just a lot of "pretty good I guess."
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Kaguya? That is considerably better than Howl.
 
S

siddx

Magnificent Eager Mighty Brilliantly Erect Registereduser
Ratrat said:
Kaguya? That is considerably better than Howl.
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Haven't seen it, art style didn't do much for me so it hasn't been a priority. There is a razor thin window for anime that I don't find intolerable and ghibli seemed to be the most consistent with hitting the mark, but even then I'd say 60% of their work just doesn't do it for me.
 
R

Ratrat

Member
siddx said:
Haven't seen it, art style didn't do much for me so it hasn't been a priority. There is a razor thin window for anime that I don't find intolerable and ghibli seemed to be the most consistent with hitting the mark, but even then I'd say 60% of their work just doesn't do it for me.
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If it matters, it retains a 100% rating on Rotten Tomatoes with 62 reviews and 92% audience rating. As for the art, I think it's gorgeous and fits well with the amazing soundtrack, but it's not for everyone unfortunately.
 
S

siddx

Magnificent Eager Mighty Brilliantly Erect Registereduser
Ratrat said:
If it matters, it retains a 100% rating on Rotten Tomatoes with 62 reviews and 92% audience rating. As for the art, I think it's gorgeous and fits well with the amazing soundtrack, but it's not for everyone unfortunately.
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One of the units I'm teaching next quarter is folktales and myths so maybe I'll get the movie and show it to my students. Is it appropriate for 9 and 10 year olds?
 
B

brian577

Banned
Ratrat said:
Kaguya? That is considerably better than Howl.
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Hardly. It lacked the fantasy elements (aside from the final scene), that made Studio Ghibli a household name. It's the reason the company is falling apart in the first place. The last real fantasy movie they made was Arriety. I love the fantastical worlds they've created over the years and I miss them. It's why I'm almost not sad to see them go.
 
R

Ratrat

Member
brian577 said:
Hardly. It lacked the fantasy elements (aside from the final scene), that made Studio Ghibli a household name. It's the reason the company is falling apart in the first place. The last real fantasy movie they made was Arriety. I love the fantastical worlds they've created over the years and I miss them. It's why I'm almost not sad to see them go.
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Disagree. Grave of the Fireflies is a landmark in animation and is one of the most well known and loved of Ghibli's films. As for the bolded, The Wind Rises was a huge hit and made more money than any film that year. They are sinking(sunk) because no body cares about the films not directed by Miyazaki.

siddx said:
One of the units I'm teaching next quarter is folktales and myths so maybe I'll get the movie and show it to my students. Is it appropriate for 9 and 10 year olds?
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I actually think kids would be really bored with it.
 
B

brian577

Banned
Ratrat said:
Disagree. Grave of the Fireflies is a landmark in animation and is one of the most well known and loved of Ghibli's films. As for the bolded, The Wind Rises was a huge hit and made more money than any film that year. They are sinking(sunk) because no body cares about the films not directed by Miyazaki.
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Grave of the Fireflies is a great movie but that was over 25 years ago. Movies like it will not save Ghibl. I'm not saying they can't make those kind of movies but they can't survive on them alone either. My favorite scenes in The Wind Rises were the dream sequences, they were full of wonder and imagination. That is what I and others have come to expect from Ghibli and they need to bring that back if they are going to survive.
 
E

Eusis

Member
Bob Coffee said:
Wow ghibli deader than konami now. Atleast they still have all that ip to print money with.
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At least with Ghibli it's more 'everyone's just gotten old and there were few good successors.' With Konami it seems more like straight up mismanagement and burning off what had made them great, though I suppose both suffered from everything else getting bigger and bigger and demanding more money and tighter control.
 
G

gerg

Member
Eusis said:
At least with Ghibli it's more 'everyone's just gotten old and there were few good successors.' With Konami it seems more like straight up mismanagement and burning off what had made them great, though I suppose both suffered from everything else getting bigger and bigger and demanding more money and tighter control.
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When you have Miyazaki discrediting his own son it wouldn't surprise me if Ghibli had structural issues generating new talent (and retaining the talent it did have) as well.
 
V

victreeb3l

Member
I just realized The Wind Rises and Kaguya came out in 2013. Holy crap.

Had no idea Marnie even existed. I loved Arrietty though :(
 
X

/XX/

Member
DarknessTear said:
Oh? I thought Ghibli closed down.
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jett said:
I also thought Ghibli was functionally dead and had fired all of their animators. What do they even do at their offices these days?
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Precisely one interview with Mr. Takahata published today shows the uncertainty of the situation:

Interview: Princess Kaguya director Isao Takahata - RTÉ Ten said:
What's the future for Studio Ghibli?

Since I'm not involved in the operations of the studio, I don't really know what will happen, but I think it's very likely that the films will be made in perhaps a slightly different form than they have been in the recent past. Even though [Hayao] Miyazaki [director and Ghibli co-founder] has said that he is retired from making feature length films, I'm sure he'll continue to work on smaller projects, and maybe shorts, and so as projects come up, there's certainly a great possibility that the studio would be able to create and produce feature films. But there may not be that possibility, also.

I don't think anyone at the studio really knows what's going to be happening. Mr [Yoshiaki] Nishimura is the producer of The Tale of the Princess Kaguya, and the film that Studio Ghibli released after that, this past summer, which is called When Marnie Was There - he also entered in as producer of that partway through. It's producers like him that I wonder what they're thinking of, in terms of the future of Studio Ghibli.
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http://www.rte.ie/ten/news/2015/0324/689287-interview-princess-kaguya-director-isao-takahata/

Keep in mind that even a greater part of the staff for his latest film was comprised of external people, contracted for the occasion... as it happens within much of the industry they are at. A studio can simply still operate with a minimum of key administrative crew (as Toshio Suzuki mentioned) until the moment one of these adventurous producers mentioned by 'Paku-san' on the interview can find stable financing and solid foundations for a project so it all can begin again! :-D
 
P

PflargBlarg

Member
Ratrat said:
Kaguya? That is considerably better than Howl.
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Matter of opinion of course. Kaguya was fairly boring and the art style didn't do much for me. I would put Howl's Moving Castle far above it.

On the other hand, I did quite like The Wind Rises.

Hopefully Marnie is good when I get the chance to see it.
 
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