Full of bandits and harpies, Ronia the Robber’s Daughter is a classic from the masterful Japanese animation house. But can old-fashioned tales appeal to children any more – especially if there’s no merch line?

The other week I was talking to some children about underwater disaster recovery. This is the trade of the Octonauts, a gang of animals and a half-animal half-vegetable, who specialise in marshalling Blobfish or reuniting lost starfish with their families. Comprised of a polar bear, a cat with an eye patch and the afore-mentioned vegimal, Tunip, each of the Octonauts are purchasable as action figurines, as are their various sub-aquatic vehicles. This, my correspondents agreed, made the Octonauts a compelling team and their TV show a must-watch.

I wonder what these Octo-nuts would make of Ronia the Robber’s Daughter. Coming to Amazon this week, it’s a 26-part animation from Japanese animation house Studio Ghibli – their first ever foray into TV. Adapted from the story by Astrid Lindgren, who also wrote Pippi Longstocking, it’s the coming-of-age tale of a girl who is not only a bandit’s daughter but must learn to stand on her own two feet in a world of peril and magic. And she doesn’t even own her own vehicle.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest The coming-of-age tale about a girl who must learn to navigate a world of peril and magic – and she doesn’t even own her own vehicle! Photograph: Amazon

Ronia won best animation at the Kids’ International Emmys last year, but it’s fair to say it’s different from most cartoons. There isn’t a toy line for starters, there are no anthropomorphised animals and there’s more singing than fighting. It feels like a throwback. Which is probably because it is.

Of all the things Studio Ghibli is famous for, clinging to the past is right up there. Under the aegis of Hiyao Miyazaki, the studio’s many anime masterpieces were literally handmade. Cel animation was not only preferred over CGI but insisted upon. Furthermore, stories weren’t written to sell merch but to inculcate morality into children. A morality that included both pacifism and a veneration of the natural world. The dismissal of violence would be anathema to the Octonauts, while SpongeBob Squarepants would be visibly yawning.

The big Miyazaki themes are at work again in Ronia, which is directed by his son, Goro. The robber of the title, Mattis, may spend his days hijacking rich people in their carriages, but his family teach him humility. He learns his naughty deeds of derring-do are less important to his community than the shared values of love and respect. Ronia, when she becomes old enough, teaches herself about the world via interactions with woodland creatures. She also falls in love with the boy next door, who happens to be from a rival tribe.

So Ronia is old-fashioned. But another of Miyazaki senior’s old-fashioned values is that he treats an audience of children with respect. He doesn’t talk down to his viewers. He trusts them with nuance, challenges them with complex emotion. That means things can be sad (as in the Tale of the Princess Kaguya) or scary (as in Spirited Away) as well as charming and happy. But it also means there’s greater room for surprise, not to mention scope for a genuine emotional connection.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest The veneration of nature and dismissal of violence would make SpongeBob Squarepants visibly yawn. Photograph: Amazon

There is one such moment in Ronia’s opening episode that typifies the Ghibli approach. Mattis has returned to his castle and is awaiting the birth of his first child (who will be Ronia). He heads to the roof to clear away the circling harpies, creatures that look like birds from a distance but are revealed to have the head of a woman. A harpy lands next to Mattis and starts talking to him. She opens her eyes wide, almost seductively, as she does so. But the next shot shows us that her claws are slowly digging into the wooden turret she’s resting on. As such we are shown, but not told, that this harpy is not as she seems. Mattis lets her go, an act he will come to regret.

The macho sentimentality of Mattis’s associates, the caring serenity of his wife Lovis; there are numerous touches in Ronia that ring true to life and honour Ghibli’s traditions. It is superior entertainment. The show wasn’t a huge hit in Japan when it aired in 2014 and there has been no news of a follow-up, or indeed a return to television. There is, in fact, a sense – one only enhanced by Miyazaki’s retirement three years ago – that Ghibli has had its day. If that does prove to be the case, it will be a great shame. But there is surely no doubt that their works will live on.

Ronia the Robber’s Daughter is on Amazon Prime from 27 January.