Anime Fans Rejoice as Studio Ghibli Announces TV Series!
February 23, 2014 by dracs
When it comes to anime films, Studio Ghibli is the undeniable king. Now it looks like they are exploring uncharted territory as, according to The Hollywood Reporter, Japan's famed animation studio is set to produce its very first TV series!
Based upon the Swedish book Ronja the Robber's Daughter, portraying the adventures of the titular character Ronja. The daughter of a bandit chief, the series will follow her as she explores the mysterious forest in which they live in what director Goro Miyazaki describes as
"a story not just about a girl growing up, but also about the development and love of the parent-child relationship, and a story about the ties between friends,"
Studio Ghibli is often considered as an Asian equivalent to Disney. Their films are popular both in Asia and the west, with much western animation being openly influenced by the studio's work (in Toy Story 3, for example, you can clearly see one of the toys is a plushy of Ghibli's famous Totoro character).
Their most famous is, perhaps, Spirited Away, directed by Ronja director Goro Miyazaki's father and studio founder Hiyao Miyazaki.
The studio utilizes imaginative visuals and very impressive animation to convey their stories, which are often based around classic stories, fairy tales and novels. While their more children friendly films are no doubt their most famous, Ghibli does not shy away from dark and disturbing topics (if you want your soul scoured check out Grave of the Fireflies).
It is going to be interesting to see how Ghibli fairs in the smaller scale of a serialised TV series. If you haven't guessed by this stage, I am a massive fan of Ghibli so the prospect of a television series produced by them has me very excited. I'm definitely on the Cat Bus for this one.
Are any of you Ghibli fans looking forward to this? If you haven't seen Ghibli before do you think you'd be tempted to give it a try?
Aww yeah! Studio Ghibli is indeed awesome. I love me some frickin’ huge robots battling with alien monsters, but when it comes to telling very heart warming, genuine tales then it’s Studio Ghibli who delivers the best.
I hope it succeeds for the studio. The marketplace for tv series is quite competitive though and there are a lot of studios very active in putting out weekly animations already. Spirited away is the only one I really latched onto of their films and it worked because of the Japanese mythology and strength of writing regarding the plot line. Will they be able to take a foreign mythology background and make the story equally as strong? Problem also comes in that if you thought the American tv market was savage in cancelling and cutting short series and their ideas… Read more »
“Will they be able to take a foreign mythology background and make the story equally as strong?”
Haven’t they previously ventured into adaptions of western stories with a version of The Borrowers?
And Tales from Earthsea and Howl’s Moving Castle, both based one Western novels. Ponyo too is loosely based upon the Little Mermaid.
Love Ghibli! will look forward to this 🙂
Cant wait for this at all!!
Very good news for me
that it where did you get to ride the cat bus ?
Hong Kong, a place where dreams come true
Sure is, love that country I have family there, great horse race track in Hong Kong… brilliant if you go during Oktoberfest 😉
Just avoid Hong Kong Disneyland. That was a mistake.
Thats the running gag when Im over there with the family, if anyone is being “not cool” they get a one way pass you Disney Land HK
Hey I recent that! Its no worst then Japan Disneyland nor France Disneyland. Acturally I think the only Disneyland worth going is the on in US…
In Hong Kong you should stop by Ocean Park instead.
You’re right Wufai and I’m gutted I didn’t get to check it out. Also I have to admit that my opinion of Disneyland HK is rather coloured by the fact that we were pressed for time and ended up going on the hottest day of the week before we had had time to acclimatize.
You are of course aware that there is a Studio Ghibli museum in Tokyo? 🙂
Grew up on this story, very certain they will make it justice … with a Ghibli twist of course 🙂
the original movie live action : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tKCmrR6gymA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3U2YPzAMEOQ
Ahhh Ghibli at it again! Did you know a lot of Japanese hate him now cause for the past 4-5 movies he annouanced his retirement on every single one and then denounce it once the movie money pours in?
But his movies are good, and I won’t mind him keep making them.
I am very intrigued by this news, and I’ll certainly check it out when it’s available in the states.
Truly rejoice !
Even without Miyazaki-chan they should be able to do something above average.
Nice! I’m glad they are stepping out and doing a series!