Hayao Miyazaki is a name that needs no introduction – known across the world for his exquisitely animated and thought provoking masterpieces, Miyazaki’s works have been so well received that they pretty much occupy their own, unique space in the anime canon. But what exactly is it that sets his movies apart from the hundreds of other anime works produced on a yearly basis? Of course, a lot can be said about his dedication to hand-drawn techniques, his personal style, and the incredible amount of experience provided by himself and his team. However, for the purpose of this post, I’m going to focus in on something that’s more within my own wheelhouse – his characters and plot.

I think one of the primary features of anime as an art form is a suspension of disbelief towards the characters and plot devices. Seeing a schoolgirl punch through a brick wall or hearing a cat talk are pretty mundane occurrences in the world of anime. For someone who is used to watching anime, it’s easy to simply take this as a given – the lack of realism in these regards are often considered merely superficial, a simple feature of the conduit through which the story is being told. But what happens when animators challenge this seemingly fundamental attribute?

Miyazaki’s films are very purposeful and meaningful in their treatment of realism. Whether this is an intentional subversion of the tropes of the medium or not is unclear, but regardless, it stands in stark contrast to the rest of the anime canon. Rather than simply switching between realistic and unrealistic portrayals of characters on a whim, as most anime do, Miyazaki makes his characters very realistic at their core, and then weaves his own brand of surrealism into the environment in such a way that doesn’t compromise the relevance of his characters. He tries to make his characters as faithful to the human psyche as he can, and then surrounds them in a world that allows those characters to deal with interesting and profound challenges. This organic approach to storytelling is key to why Miyazaki’s works resonate so deeply with us. They utilize the medium of animation to construct deeply engrossing and thought-provoking environments that could not be replicated in live action films, but because his characters are so accurate to real human beings, they maintain an acute relevance to our own lives.

I could probably write a whole book about Hayao Miyazaki’s treatment of realism, but in the interest of time I will stop at simply making the point that Miyazaki’s subversion of the normally arbitrary treatment of realism in anime serves to heighten the realism – and as a result, the relevance – of his own films. I’ll end with one of my favorite Hayao Miyazaki quotes, which I feel exemplifies Miyazaki’s accomplishments in this area:

“I’ve become skeptical of the unwritten rule that just because a boy and girl appear in the same feature, a romance must ensue. Rather, I want to portray a slightly different relationship, one where the two mutually inspire each other to live – if I’m able to, then perhaps I’ll be closer to portraying a true expression of love.” -Hayao Miyazaki