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Ghibli production department facing shutdown, will take a break and consider future

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D

duckroll

Member
Spring-Loaded said:
It's all anime, right? If I want to compare going to Busch Gardens with getting spanked, I could do that.

You seem to be an authority on anime here which is why I sought your judgment. Even if they "can't be compared," you've assessed the quality of each and might be able to give someone a general idea of how one stacks up to the other. If I liked breh's work in Ghibli films, will I like it in Space Dandy, is all I was asking.
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Anime is just a medium though, not a genre. Comparisons can be helpful if there are specific things being compared. General comparisons between works which don't really share any sort of thematic similarities isn't helpful to anyone. It would be impossible to honestly recommend [y] to a person who likes [x] without knowing what it is about [x] that the person liked.

If you're actually interested about Space Dandy as a series though, we have an entire thread about it where lots of different people lost impressions about each episode every week. I don't consider myself an authority on anything, just someone who has a keen interest on certain subjects and am willing to spend a bit more time talking about it for those who care to listen. :)
 
J

Jubern

Member
Sad news to wake up to, but I guess the writing has been on the wall for a while now... Even on GAF, Ghibli's present and future has been debated quite a lot.

It's sad that When Marnie Was There is going to be their last internal production, it really did nothing for me when I saw it last week :/
 
A

addik

Member
I saw this coming 5 years ago after what Suzuki said about their plan for the following years. I thought we had hope of Studio Ghibli staying open because of When Marnie was There, but then it flopped :(

End of an era, thank you for the memories of Studio Ghibli! :(
 
J

- J - D -

Member
I'm surprised they can't get by with their merchandising. I suppose though that perhaps even that market isn't as big as it used to be. And it's not like you see Ghibli stuff much in America.
 
A

addik

Member
epmode said:
I need an answer to this. I'll go with the Japanese discs if not but oh god they're so expensive.
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They are only closing down the animation studio of Studio Ghibli. Ghibli will still exist as a company that takes care of its trademarks and IPs, so I doubt they'll stop Blu-Ray/DVD production anytime soon.
 
C

Canis lupus

Member
Sad news, though their last really good movie was Princess Mononoke. Any other good studios that are only busy making feature length movies(no show adaptations)?
 
B

bomma_man

Member
It's sad but I'd rather they go out on their own terms, like a good band, rather than dilute the quality of their product or get gutted by some corporate monolith, like 99% of game studios. Like Miyazaki says it's just a name. Ghibli doesn't make anything, the people that formed It do. Without the talent there it's meaningless.

The really sad thing about it is that it in someways represents the death of popular 2D animation.
 
Acrylic7

Acrylic7

Member
What the hell?
I though Ghibli was raking in cash. All or most of their films are well known as masterpieces, no?
 
S

ShinRPGamer

Member
August 3rd will be forever known as the day Studio Ghibli announced they will no longer be making films. Thanks for 30 years of magic Ghibli. A part of me feels like Studio Ghibli should make one last film as a grand send-off. If nothing else, it would grab people's attention.
 
Lynd7

Lynd7

Member
The best we could hope for is that the younger members of Ghibli's production get together and form a brand new studio. Instead of them all dispersing throughout the industry.
 
R

RangerBAD

Member
addik said:
They are only closing down the animation studio of Studio Ghibli. Ghibli will still exist as a company that takes care of its trademarks and IPs, so I doubt they'll stop Blu-Ray/DVD production anytime soon.
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Actually, they've closed down the production branch of the studio. I think they'll still be doing in-between work for other studios until perhaps a new internal project starts up.
 
O

Otakumegane

Member
Nintendo is next. Mario es le doommmedddd.

NOOO MY CHILDHOOD WHERE HAS IT GONE. Castle in the Sky is still my favorite animated anything.
 
R

Red The Hunter

Member
Acrylic7 said:
What the hell?
I though Ghibli was raking in cash. All or most of their films are well known as masterpieces, no?
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duckroll's post has a pretty good explanation as to why this happened
duckroll said:
This isn't really that shocking or anything though. I guess it seems like huge news to people who don't follow the industry at all and only pay attention to a Ghibli film once every one or two years. Like I mentioned before in the previous thread about the rumor - Goro Miyazaki is currently directing a CG TV series at Polygon Pictures which will start broadcast in October. This means he isn't able to direct anything in the next year or so. The latest Ghibli film didn't do well at the box office at all, and that probably made them rethink giving Yonebayashi another film immediately. Miyazaki has retired. Takahata is probably not making another film again. So who's left?

Ghibli doesn't have much directing talent because they chase good talent away with their studio culture, and very few end up rising through the ranks. If they have no immediate film to produce next, shutting down the production department makes sense. Could Ghibli never make another film again? Sure. Could they reopen the production department when they eventually decide to start making another film in a year or two? Also a possibility.

It's not as simple as "OMG Ghibli is dead!" because unlike other animation studios in Japan, Ghibli only makes feature films. So what this means in the immediate future is that they are not going to be in active production for a feature film, which is already sort of assumed based on recent events. What happens after that remains to be seen.

teruterubozu said:
I can't find any other Japanese news source on this - you'd think this would be HUGE news.
Are the photos some kind of TV broadcast? A conference?
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Oersted said:
Yep. "Even" english sites would report it. But I find nothing but this one blog.
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Suzuki was on Jounetsu Tairiku today. It's a documentary program on TBS/MBS where they feature various entertainment personalities. He declared that since Miyazaki has really retired, they're shutting down the production department. Pretty much every anime blog in Japan has something on it. If you're not seeing it, you're not reading the right places for news. :p
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In other words, the company was gonna fall one way or another due to those reasons. It's sad indeed, but even I can't deny this reasoning as to why it's closing their Production side of the company.
And to clarify the company isn't completely dead, only their production department is dead, they still have their animation department which does do outsource or in-between animation work for various animation studios (Like both Fullmetal Alichimest Series, Gurren Lagann, and Black Lagoon: The Second Barrage to name a few) have done various other things like Commercials. Along with the various films and merchandising they still will keep going, just not as a Feature Film Animation Studio.
 
H

hidys

Member
I don't think any other company failing apart has saddened me more than this.

Now I'm going to be depressed for the rest of the day.
 
O

ObbyDent

Banned
Maybe we shouldn't freak out yet.

http://kotaku.com/studio-ghibli-is-not-dead-yet-1615520289

Just a note: the wording Suzuki uses ( 小休止 or "shoukyuushi") can mean "pause" or "a break" or a "breather." He does not use the more definite word "kyuushi" (休止), which means either "stop, pause or suspend."

Suzuki's wording makes it sound like the studio is considering reorganization and regrouping. It could mean that Studio Ghibli decides it won't make anime films anymore. Though it could mean they do keep making anime films. It could mean a lot of things!
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R

Rebel Leader

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hidys said:
I don't think any other company failing apart has saddened me more than this.

Now I'm going to be depressed for the rest of the day.
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and in bed:
uWcSJoJ.gif
 
D

duckroll

Member
BobbyRoberts said:
Kotaku saying that the reports Ghibli is dead are a little premature, so far.

Blames bad fan translation.
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We've already discussed this. The production department has been closed because there's no active film being made next, which is a bit unusual for the studio. But beyond that the studio isn't dead, there's no sign the animation department has been closed down either, but they'll decide their future after taking a break.

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=123844958&postcount=167
 
R

RangerBAD

Member
Stuff needs to be added to the OP and title for clarification. People hearing "production department" think that's the whole studio and fail to see 'break".

A few of us have been reiterating duckroll's earlier post (that he just linked again).
 
R

Rebel Leader

THE POWER OF BUTTERSCOTCH BOTTOMS
duckroll said:
We've already discussed this. The production department has been closed because there's no active film being made next, which is a bit unusual for the studio. But beyond that the studio isn't dead, there's no sign the animation department has been closed down either, but they'll decide their future after taking a break.
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So DuckRoll, sprinkle wisdom from your mighty brain. How scared should we be?
 
Q

Qvoth

Member
i really think ghibli should just go back to its fantasy films roots
i think most people expect a fantasy film when they hear the word ghibli
 
N

Necrovex

Member
duckroll said:
The title is accurate. It was originally even worse!
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I remember reading that original title, and I was a little sad, but your fixing of it made me relatively happy again. Ghibli shouldn't rush into anything. A 'vacation' is needed once in a while!
 
D

duckroll

Member
BobbyRoberts said:
Shit. Sorry. Scrolled back to see if the link had been posted or paraphrased, missed that the gist of it was already discussed anyway. Apologies for the redundancy.
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Well since people were still confused I went ahead and added the shit to the OP anyway. So it wasn't all for nothing! :)
 
A

Apt101

Member
I was just thinking, what are the chances of Disney going beyond distributor rights and trying to purchase them outright? I don't know how animation studios work, but it seemed to do well for Pixar.
 
D

duckroll

Member
Apt101 said:
I was just thinking, what are the chances of Disney going beyond distributor rights and trying to purchase them outright? I don't know how animation studios work, but it seemed to do well for Pixar.
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If they're closing because there is no one capable of directing successful movies at the studio, how would Disney buying the studio change that?
 
A

Apt101

Member
duckroll said:
If they're closing because there is no one capable of directing successful movies at the studio, how would Disney buying the studio change that?
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I was just wondering what the chances are of such a thing occurring. But now that you ask, Disney has a lot of money and could poach a lot of talent.

Edit: thinking about it more, changes of leadership in companies sometimes help those that have stagnated in some way.
 
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