Photo: YouTube/アニプレックス YouTube チャンネル
entertainment

Hayao Miyazaki considers 'Demon Slayer' his rival, Studio Ghibli producer says

9 Comments
By Casey Baseel, SoraNews24

Studio Ghibli co-founders Hayao Miyazaki and Toshio Suzuki have a pretty clear division of duties. Miyazaki, the director, has a single-minded focus on creating the next great anime film. Meanwhile, it’s Suzuki, in his role as producer, who talks with fans and the press.

This makes Suzuki not only the best source of insider information as to what’s going on inside the walls of Ghibli, but also what’s going on inside the mind of Miyazaki. So occasionally Suzuki, in the course of an interview, will sprinkle in an anecdote about the most respected creator in the history of Japanese animation, and one of his recent ones involves Miyazaki’s feelings about "Demon Slayer Kimetsu no Yaiba."

While appearing on the April 25 episode of Fuji TV’s "Bokura no Jidai" talk show, the subject of "Demon Slayer’s "runaway success came up, and Suzuki, reenacting Miyazaki’s reaction to a conversation they’d had, said:

“So [Miyazaki] says to me, ‘It seems like Kimetsu is a big hit.’ I haven’t actually seen the anime, or read the manga it’s based on, but I’ve heard about it from other people, so I gave him [Miyazaki] a basic overview of it, and he said [nodding solemnly], ‘Yeah, an anime like that’ll be a success.’”

▼ Suzuki also showed that he can do a pretty solid Miyazaki impression.

With Suzuki feeling like he needed to give Miyazaki a synopsis, it sounds like the Ghibli director hasn’t seen "Demon Slayer" for himself ether. But just because he hasn’t seen it doesn’t mean he’s completely uninterested, as Suzuki went on to quote Miyazaki as saying:

“Well, you know, to me, 'Demon Slayer' is my rival.”

▼ Trailer for "Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba the Movie: Mugen Train"

It’s a less emotionally detached reaction than Miyazaki had when he was asked about "Demon Slayer" while he was cleaning the streets near his Tokyo home, though Suzuki doesn’t say whether the “rival” comment came before or after that incident, not whether it was before or after the "Demon Slayer" movie passed Miyazaki’s "Spirited Away" as the highest earning movie of all time in Japan (though the interview with Suzuki took place well after Demon Slayer took over the top spot).

In any case, though, Suzuki’s tone of voice when imitating Miyazaki doesn’t seem to have any malice, so assuming it’s an accurate portrayal, odds are the Ghibli director isn’t so much angry at Demon Slayer for its success as he is driven by it to make something great of his own, sort of like how "Gundam’s" creator dreams of crushing "Evangelion."

Source: YouTube/Mitsu Shonan via Hachima Kiko

Read more stories from SoraNews24.

-- Demon Slayer breaks Spirited Away’s record, becomes number-one movie of all time in Japan

-- Evangelion creator Hideaki Anno wants to make a live-action Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind

-- Demon Slayer Mugen Train movie finally has U.S. release date for theater and digital format

© SoraNews24

©2024 GPlusMedia Inc.

9 Comments
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This is it ! Gloves are off

Junichiro vs. Totoro

1 ( +3 / -2 )

Adjusted for Inflation, in 2021 dollars/yen, Spirited Away is still more successful, not to mention the story lline and animation is superior. Yes, times have changed, but Miazaki-sensei remains the Demon Slayer.

5 ( +8 / -3 )

Demon Slayer - noisy one-off claptrap

Ghibli - a canon of priceless works of art

Gungnam Style V Mozart

0 ( +5 / -5 )

He is old, so in the grand scheme of things, he is not stressing because he has made his mark on the world.

However, there is also a small sliver of pride that does not like the fact that some young upstart has surpassed him in some way. Especially, when lots of people continue to ask him about it. They are basically aggravating him. It goes against the whole sempai/kohai logical order of things in Japan.

Oh, I have a friend who is also an artist, and she says that she tries not to look at other people's art to avoid being influenced.

However, I think he knows more about "Kimetsu" than he is leading on.

4 ( +4 / -0 )

Oh, I have a friend who is also an artist, and she says that she tries not to look at other people's art to avoid being influenced.

However, I think he knows more about "Kimetsu" than he is leading on.

This is true, but what ends up happening is you go back and forth; sometimes you do avoid others' work for long stretches at a time, but then you see some and take stock of it, look a bit, but try not to be influenced. It's a constant struggle.

I think Miyazaki has a style, and he often feels he has to have a princess character in every film, but Ghibli could stand to make another movie like Porco Rosso and take Demon Slayer head on.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Nope. O can watch Ghibli over and over again. Demon Slayer, on the other hand, is meh.

0 ( +2 / -2 )

The difference between demon slayer and ghibli films in general is that demon slayer may not be appropriate for kids but has a kick-@ss factor that made it popular, while ghibli films takes you back to your childhood storybooks. Both are awesome and shine in their own unique way.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

The base story of Kimetsu no Yaiba is kind of just another shonen manga, the real rival is Ufotable.

Ufotable made Kimetsu no Yaiba great, otherwise the manga it would never reach this level of attention.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

If your anime character's chin doesn't move when they talk, it's crappy animation. Looking at YOU, most of Japanimation.

-2 ( +0 / -2 )

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