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Japanese movie website Eiga Natalie reported on Wednesday that Studio Ghibli co-founder Toshio Suzuki has discussed details on Hayao Miyazaki's new film project. In the letter, Suzuki describes the movie as a "hand-drawn action-adventure fantasy". He also states that he understood Miyazaki's motivations for returning from his retirement after reading the story outline. He concludes by promising that Studio Ghibli will continue to make movies "until the day it fails." Suzuki also revealed that Goro Miyazaki, the director of Ronja the Robber's Daughter, is working on a new CG animation project. The details of this project, including possible involvement by Studio Ghibli, were not revealed. Thanks to Anime News Network for their reporting and translation.

I'm trying not to go overboard like some desperate teenager in search of a prom date, so I'll keep this to a minimum. I wrote three books called Zen Arcade: Classic Video Game Reviews, Pop Life and Greatest Hits: An Anthology in Four Volumes. All three ebooks are now available on Amazon. The paperback editions are coming, as I'm only waiting for my proof copies to ensure quality. Zen Arcade is a collection of 140 reviews for video games released on NES, Super NES, Nintendo 64, Sega Genesis, Turbografx-16 and Neo-Geo. It's a great read and an enlightening look at the history of classic games. There are a lot of personal stories in there, and more than a few grouchy wisecracks. It's also wickedly funny. At least I think so. But what do I know? There are no pictures, which ensures that no gamers will ever look at it. Pop Life is a collection of essays and personal memoirs on popular culture and life. You'll read about movies, music, games and politics. You'll...

Kiyofumi Nakajima, formerly the head of the Ghibli Museum, has been named the new president of Studio Ghibli on Tuesday. Former studio president Koji Hoshino was promoted to chairman. Studio co-founder Toshio Suzuki will continue in his longtime role as producer. Studio Ghibli's production department was closed in 2013 after studio co-founder Hayao Miyazaki announced his retirement from feature films. It was revived earlier this year as Miyazaki announced his return with the production of How Do You Live, which is expected to take three to four years to complete. Nakajima had previously served as the director of the Ghibli Museum since 2005, when Goro Miyazaki was drafted as the director of the Ghibli feature Gedo Senki (Tales From Earthsea). Hoshino was appointed Ghibli president in 2008. The new director of the Ghibli Museum and Tokuma Memorial Cultural Foundation for Animation is Kazuki Anzai, who was previously a director of the museum exhibits and planning. She joined Studio G...

Here is a Ghibli Riff that I hadn't noticed at first, but now it seems obvious. The scene with the giant radish spirit in the elevator mimics shots and poses from My Neighbor Totoro's classic scene at the bus stop. I think one of the things I enjoy about Miyazaki's movies is how he fills his canvas with so all these little details, and populates his worlds with minor characters who come and go, yet leave an indelible impression upon our imaginations. This radish character is a throwaway, barely on the screen for a moment and then gone forever. And I'm left wanting more. I'd like to see a whole movie about this character. Wouldn't you? Eh, maybe, maybe not. Whatever. Every Studio Ghibli movie features at least a handful of riffs that aim back to earlier works. Many have well over a dozen. Spirited Away has shots that wink back to Future Boy Conan, Castle of Cagliostro, My Neighbor Totoro and Princess Mononoke (the original 1980 storyboard book), among others. If ...

Vannah Galaxy is an up-and-coming visual artist who is extremely skilled with pens and paper. Her dreamlike illustrations are imaginative and inspiring. She works with colors and paints, but my favorites are drawn in black-and-white, much like underground comics. Here, we see one of her favorite movies, Studio Ghibli's Spirited Away, rendered in intricate detail, capturing its many wonderfully surrealist characters. On her Instagram page, Vannah describes the creative process behind this piece: My personal favourite Ghibli movie ♥ So this was done almost entirely traditionally, with mostly 0.03 and 0.05 copic pens. I finished my shading last night and scanned it today. After I cleaned up some of the black areas (the ink can be a bit shiny, and it shows when scanned), I added some pale grey shadows for a little more depth. This piece is a little smaller than A3 and I'll definitely be selling prints sometime in the future if anyone's interested :)

It's time for another "greatest hits" retrospective of the Studio Ghibli movies, and UK movie blog Set The Tape  is the latest contender. The first part of their multi-episode saga began last week and will continue in the coming days and weeks. The writers are working backward, and here's where the rankings stand so far: 23. Tales From Earthsea 22. Porco Rosso 21. Pom Poko 20. My Neighbors the Yamadas 19. Ocean Waves 18. Whisper of the Heart This is going to be interesting reading. If nothing else, it's gutsy to put fan favorites Porco Rosso and Whisper of the Heart at the bottom of the pile. I'm looking forward to reading the fan comments defending their favorite Ghibli movies. Do people still leave comments on blogs? Whatever. I do hope the writers will continue to shake things up as they move down their Ghibli rankings. Please don't let this be yet another list that puts My Neighbor Totoro and Spirited Away on top. That's just lazy. Be a little more...

It's no secret that Yonebayashi and Studio Ponoc see themselves as the next generation of Studio Ghibli. Many of their artists are alumni from the famed studio, and wish to continue the tradition of high quality, hand-drawn animation into the future. This will be a daunting challenge, as CG has completely overwhelmed everything in its path, but hopefully there will be enough people in the world who prefer the old ways. We will see. Mary and the Witch's Flower at times feels like a mashup of all your favorite Hayao Miyazaki movies, including Kiki's Delivery Service and Spirited Away. Here, in this shot, we see a riff that points back to Miyazaki's 2001 Oscar-winning classic, albeit with a slight change in camera angle. It is here that Yonebayashi makes a fascinating choice: he quotes the Ghibli movies, but not in the slavish blink-and-you'll-miss-it style you see from other films. When Marnie Was There did the very same thing, quoting and riffing on Omohide Poro Poro...