hayao miyazak

I thought everyone loved Mr. Miyazaki's movies. Though did you hear he's retiring? Hopefully there'll be someone to step up and keep the Ghibli name going strong!

HE'S RETIRING? T______________T Nooo.. T_T Well.. I love all his movies. I specially love Spirited Away the most. It's actually my number one favorite movie in general. \*0*/

LAPUTA!

Well, I'm also a fan of Miyazaki and have been one since I saw Spirited Away 9 years ago. While I've only seen a couple of his movies, Spirited Away and Princess Monanoke, I can say that he is probably one of my favorite animation (not just anime) directors of all time. That's not just for how masterful his works are but also because of how it contributed to Japanese animators like himself, Mamoru Oshii, etc being recognized here in the US by famous critics like Roger Ebert and The Academy Awards (particularly referring to Miyazaki's stuff like Spirited Away and Howl's Moving Castle). If there is any anime that I would recommend to newcomers, it would be his movies. It's a shame he's retiring, as his contributions will be greatly missed. I'm not sure how Studio Gibli's quality will differ and I don't want to think it will falter (although, their recent output, like Arriety and Tales From Earthsea, hasn't been as amazing as it used to be). Well, we still have Makoto Shinkai and Mamoru Hosoda (both heavily influenced by Miyazaki) that will carry the torch left behind for new great Japanese animation directors. I say the future is still looking bright. ^_^