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How popular is WATCHING Ghibli movies, actually?

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May 11, 2:02 PM
#1

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Feb 2014
4124
On Twitter there are something we call "engagement farming", types of posts that will ALWAYS have engagement, so people repeat them ad nauseam. The "THIS DINER STILL SERVES COKE THE OLD WAY" is an example of those, and another example is... Ghibli food, gifs/videos of food in a Ghibli movie.

Now, there's nothing wrong with sharing something from an anime you haven't watched, I myself have done it... but it really feels different here.
When it's someone sharing the F/GO parody scene from 16bit Sensation: Another Layer, the OP from Mahou Shoujo Magical Destroyers or Irene Sanders from Suna no Bara: Yuki no Mokushiroku, it's OK, they don't know any of those anime nor are they interested in them. In a perfect world they would watch them, but what can you do?
When it comes to Ghibli, though, part of what they share isn't simply the content of the post, but the "Ghibli" name.
It became a brand, a "fetish" or sorts, a para-social relationship.

That's why I even theorized that the AI Ghibli filters were successful because it realized their fetishes of joining the FOMO around the Ghibli name/brand without actually having to watch a single movie of their.

...that theory, of course, relies on the assumption they aren't watching them. But are they?
Here in Brazil, when we talk about "Anime that non-anime people watch", we used the examples of stuff that was on open-television, but we never mention Ghibli. Meanwhile, from what I've seen from discussions with the American audience, they mention all the time how normies watch Ghibli.

I mean, I'm from Brazil, I don't recall anyone in my life ever mentioning it before I became an otaku, nor have I ever watched any of it's movies. I do remember seeing a scene from Howl no Ugoku Shiro in a magazine and then years later on TV on a program, though (But it wasn't open television).

I know that people TALK about Ghibli movies, but how often to people watch them, though?
May 11, 2:13 PM
#2

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May 2023
51
Pretty popular. They're showing them in theaters near me. If your movies are getting re-releases than they're popular I think.
May 11, 2:14 PM
#3

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Jul 2017
1082
I'm pretty sure that the popular ones like Spirited Away, Howl's Moving Castle, Princess Mononoke, Totoro, Ponyo and Kiki are watched. [focus on the first 3] The rest.. not really I guess? All of them [I think, too lazy to fully check] are on the Polish Netflix, so a lot of my friends that watch anime sometimes, also watched some of them. Still anything from Gorou Miyazaki tends to not appear in conversation [unless to complain/critisise] and the rest just sometimes.

I personally watched all of the Ghibli movies along with Aya to Majo and "The Boy and the Heron" in the cinema.

But yeah Ghibli is a nostalgic brand, the artstyle itself is well known, comforting and brings people happy feelings - the movies itself are also chill to watch except "Grave of the Fireflies", that is a different kind of comfort haha. I think people do watch those movies, but focus still falls on just few of them.

[sorry for the english names, If I remember correctly u don't like that? XD]
[โ€‹๐Ÿ‡ฎโ€‹โœโ€‹๐Ÿ‡ฒโ€‹ โ€‹๐Ÿ‡ฆโ€‹ โ€‹๐Ÿ‡ตโ€‹โ€‹๐Ÿ‡ทโ€‹โ€‹๐Ÿ‡ดโ€‹โ€‹๐Ÿ‡ซโ€‹โ€‹๐Ÿ‡ชโ€‹โ€‹๐Ÿ‡ธโ€‹โ€‹๐Ÿ‡ธโ€‹โ€‹๐Ÿ‡ฎโ€‹โ€‹๐Ÿ‡ดโ€‹โ€‹๐Ÿ‡ณโ€‹โ€‹๐Ÿ‡ฆโ€‹โ€‹๐Ÿ‡ฑโ€‹ โ€‹๐Ÿ‡ญโ€‹โ€‹๐Ÿ‡บโ€‹โ€‹๐Ÿ‡ธโ€‹โ€‹๐Ÿ‡งโ€‹โ€‹๐Ÿ‡ฆโ€‹โ€‹๐Ÿ‡ณโ€‹โ€‹๐Ÿ‡ฉโ€‹โ€‹๐Ÿ‡ดโ€‹ โ€‹๐Ÿ‡จโ€‹โ€‹๐Ÿ‡ดโ€‹โ€‹๐Ÿ‡ฑโ€‹โ€‹๐Ÿ‡ฑโ€‹โ€‹๐Ÿ‡ชโ€‹โ€‹๐Ÿ‡จโ€‹โ€‹๐Ÿ‡นโ€‹โ€‹๐Ÿ‡ดโ€‹โ€‹๐Ÿ‡ทโ€‹]

May 11, 2:14 PM
#4

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Sep 2016
17546
Probably fairly popular with beginners.
May 11, 2:28 PM
#5

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Aug 2018
8517
I've unironically watched a bunch of ghibli stuff. Back before I made a MAL account so I havent bothered adding them. Not as if I need to keep track of them like that. Unlike the majority of anime, Ghibi films are not forgettable disposable corporate media product. They are special and I like them a lot (for the most part).
May 11, 2:34 PM
#6

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Feb 2025
191
From what I've seen, Ghibli content is very popular on social media, I think the reason for this is that their art style are impressive, their musics and most of their movies appeal to all ages. My favorites are Spirited Away, Kikis Delivery Service and When the Marnie Was There. Although Totoro and Howls Moving Castle are very popular, I didn't like them very much.
Lain2357May 11, 2:55 PM
May 11, 2:38 PM
#7
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Jan 2025
612
While I like Ghibli movies myself, and people's reasons for liking them are valid, I do think it ties into the idea that they're mainly comfort food movies. The worst of them think that's all of what anime "should be", but people know my stance on them.
May 11, 2:50 PM
#8

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Feb 2014
4124
Reply to HidamariSou
Pretty popular. They're showing them in theaters near me. If your movies are getting re-releases than they're popular I think.
HidamariSou said:
They're showing them in theaters near me.

Just so you know the level of Boondocks we're talking about: My city just had it's first movie theater... this month.
May 11, 2:51 PM
#9

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Jun 2017
2983
Depends on what you're comparing them to. More people are watching Takamine-san take off her panties this season than any Ghibli content. And talking movies alone, this year more people will probably watch the Dragon Maid movie than any Ghibli movie, because it's new. In 2023 more people watched the last Ghibli movie than anything else because it was new. The point is that to make a fair assessment you need to ask in the same context. From that point of view Ghibli movies are extremely popular. Without any stats to support it, I'm sure more people watch Sen to Chihiro every year now than Metropolis, Arete Hime, Cowboy Bebop, etc. all released in 2001. How often do people watch any other anime movie made while Miyazaki was most active?

May 11, 2:54 PM

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Jul 2015
13322
Ghiblis, GitS (95), Akira, Jin Roh, Satoshi Kon's (at least Perfect Blue and Paprika)... They're all fairly normie shows here that aired on public TV. Well, keep in mind, we also had DBZ, Sailor Moon, Hokuto no Ken, Maison Ikkoku, Ranma 1/2, City Hunter, Cat's Eye, Captain Tsubasa... Lots of anime aired on public TV here in the 80s/90s.
Prophetess of the Golden Era
May 11, 2:54 PM

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Jul 2021
3077
I would say plenty popular.

In North America where I live, Princess Mononoke got a 4K re-release in theaters in March. I found out a few days after the announcement and discovered that tickets were already sold out. I was lucky enough to get tickets when they added a few more showtimes later, and it was a packed theater on a weekday evening. This wasn't shown in one of those foreign film/arthouse theaters, but in a nation-wide multiplex chain.

Just this month, 8 Ghibli movies are screening in the US for Studio Ghibli Fest 2025, courtesy of Gkids: https://gkids.com/ghiblifest/. It doesn't seem to be coming to where I live, but they come around every few years, as far as I know.

If no one was watching these, they wouldn't bother bringing them all the way over here and putting them in theaters.

Also, every single Ghibli film (to my knowledge) plus Nausicaa is on Netflix where I live. No one knows how much play those get, but ease of access is not an issue here.
May 11, 2:56 PM

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Jul 2015
13322
What I know from the US market is that it's a Ghibli movie that sparked the push towards more respectful localization. Before Princess Mononoke, american publishers would just buy anime and do wtf they wanted with those (see Robotech).
Prophetess of the Golden Era
May 11, 3:00 PM

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Sep 2021
1266
Popular enough for many (maybe most) of my non anime fan friends to watch
May 11, 3:07 PM
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Jan 2025
612
Reply to Deathko
Ghiblis, GitS (95), Akira, Jin Roh, Satoshi Kon's (at least Perfect Blue and Paprika)... They're all fairly normie shows here that aired on public TV. Well, keep in mind, we also had DBZ, Sailor Moon, Hokuto no Ken, Maison Ikkoku, Ranma 1/2, City Hunter, Cat's Eye, Captain Tsubasa... Lots of anime aired on public TV here in the 80s/90s.
@Deathko I remember reading about that, it was the most badass thing ever. Miyazaki sent in an authentic katana, and attached a note that said "No Cuts" to Harvey Weinstein and Miramax.
May 11, 3:08 PM

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Jul 2015
13322
Reply to HokutoMumyoZan
@Deathko I remember reading about that, it was the most badass thing ever. Miyazaki sent in an authentic katana, and attached a note that said "No Cuts" to Harvey Weinstein and Miramax.
@HokutoMumyoZan Read the same thing. If it's true, it's hilarious. Miyazaki does seem to be the kind of person who'd mail you a katana to threaten you tbh...
Prophetess of the Golden Era
May 11, 3:09 PM

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Jul 2013
9765
Does it matter if it is popular? Popularity never determined the quality of anything, anyways.
May 11, 3:11 PM

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May 2023
51
Reply to HokutoMumyoZan
@Deathko I remember reading about that, it was the most badass thing ever. Miyazaki sent in an authentic katana, and attached a note that said "No Cuts" to Harvey Weinstein and Miramax.
@HokutoMumyoZan This is why Miyazaki deserves the 2 Oscars he got.
May 11, 3:16 PM

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Oct 2024
481
I'd assume a lot of people do actually watch them, I hear people who aren't big into anime discuss favorite Ghibli films every so often. If even my slavic immigrant mother has seen a Ghibli film or two, then safe to say they're mainstream in the states (I mean, she didn't even know what DBZ was until I mentioned it to her a few weeks ago...).
May 11, 3:24 PM

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Jul 2015
13322
Reply to HidamariSou
@HokutoMumyoZan This is why Miyazaki deserves the 2 Oscars he got.
@HidamariSou The man's integrity can hardly be questionned. Great animator, passionate about his job, and taught the trade to some of the best animators of the next generation, who repeated the process. Miyazaki -> Anno -> Imaishi. Anime as a whole would be a lot less interesting without Miyazaki, so the western memes about Miyazaki hating anime are kinda sad (but still funny I guess).

I remember seeing a video of two morons happily showing him their work on letting an AI animate a 3d mesh. Basically showing him garbage animation that would instantly make animators obsolete if it wasn't garbage. It did NOT go well for them ๐Ÿ˜‚
Prophetess of the Golden Era
May 11, 3:30 PM

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Feb 2014
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Reply to Deathko
Ghiblis, GitS (95), Akira, Jin Roh, Satoshi Kon's (at least Perfect Blue and Paprika)... They're all fairly normie shows here that aired on public TV. Well, keep in mind, we also had DBZ, Sailor Moon, Hokuto no Ken, Maison Ikkoku, Ranma 1/2, City Hunter, Cat's Eye, Captain Tsubasa... Lots of anime aired on public TV here in the 80s/90s.
@Deathko
I mean, I know that they KNOW about those, but what I really want to know is whether or not they WATCH those.
May 11, 3:32 PM

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Feb 2014
4124
Reply to Deathko
What I know from the US market is that it's a Ghibli movie that sparked the push towards more respectful localization. Before Princess Mononoke, american publishers would just buy anime and do wtf they wanted with those (see Robotech).
@Deathko
As much as Harmony Gold is the anti-Christ nowadays, in the case of Robotech they really had no choice on the matter.
May 11, 3:37 PM

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Jul 2015
13322
Reply to thewiru
@Deathko
I mean, I know that they KNOW about those, but what I really want to know is whether or not they WATCH those.
@thewiru Yes, of course. Almost every Ghibli movie has been released in theaters, on public TV and on DVD all around the world. When Disney started to fall off in the 90s, Ghibli became the new standard for family-friendly animated movies. EVERY parent and their kids in the late 90s/2000s saw 10+ Ghibli movies. I have legit never met someone born 1960-2000 who never saw a Ghibli, just like I never met someone who never saw a Disney.

You can get a streaming subscription and find 10 Ghibli movies. You can go to the supermarket and find 10 Ghibli movies in the Blu-ray/DVD section. You can go to theaters in cities and find Ghibli stuff airing 3 or 4 decades after its release. Do you think it's just because it looks cool to have them in your catalog, or because people watch and buy them? :p

Ghibli is just as popular as Disney was.
DeathkoMay 11, 3:43 PM
Prophetess of the Golden Era
May 11, 3:49 PM
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Jan 2025
612
Reply to Deathko
@HidamariSou The man's integrity can hardly be questionned. Great animator, passionate about his job, and taught the trade to some of the best animators of the next generation, who repeated the process. Miyazaki -> Anno -> Imaishi. Anime as a whole would be a lot less interesting without Miyazaki, so the western memes about Miyazaki hating anime are kinda sad (but still funny I guess).

I remember seeing a video of two morons happily showing him their work on letting an AI animate a 3d mesh. Basically showing him garbage animation that would instantly make animators obsolete if it wasn't garbage. It did NOT go well for them ๐Ÿ˜‚
Deathko said:
Anime as a whole would be a lot less interesting without Miyazaki, so the western memes about Miyazaki hating anime are kinda sad (but still funny I guess).
It was mainly done to "owe teh weebs lul" like any internet trolling and fatheaded nerd bullying.

While Miyazaki does have a point, I relate more with Anno's criticism on otaku fandom, especially when he fulfilled evolving from anime fan to anime creator, and when reality showed that the rest of otakudom didn't follow what he and his colleagues believed in Otaku No Video and holed up at home instead. After growing up during the anime boom of the 2000s and seeing many peers who wanted to make anime stuff fall off the map, he's shown me I'm not alone in such frustration.

I also have mad respect for Anno's upbringing. His dad lost his leg in a lumber incident and needed to support him, his sister, and his mom.

The only reason why people agree with Miyazaki is because of the sentiment "lol get out of the basement nerd" is out overseas when reality is much more callous and cold with such attitudes and the keeping up with the joneses comparison game anyway. But I digress.
May 11, 3:55 PM

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Feb 2014
4124
Reply to Deathko
@thewiru Yes, of course. Almost every Ghibli movie has been released in theaters, on public TV and on DVD all around the world. When Disney started to fall off in the 90s, Ghibli became the new standard for family-friendly animated movies. EVERY parent and their kids in the late 90s/2000s saw 10+ Ghibli movies. I have legit never met someone born 1960-2000 who never saw a Ghibli, just like I never met someone who never saw a Disney.

You can get a streaming subscription and find 10 Ghibli movies. You can go to the supermarket and find 10 Ghibli movies in the Blu-ray/DVD section. You can go to theaters in cities and find Ghibli stuff airing 3 or 4 decades after its release. Do you think it's just because it looks cool to have them in your catalog, or because people watch and buy them? :p

Ghibli is just as popular as Disney was.
@Deathko
Well, if it is really watched, then it blow part of my theory.
Good to know.
May 11, 4:05 PM

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Feb 2020
894
tl;dr; Everyone a little older than you watched that in childhood, it still airs, and some still do.

A little older than you perhaps. Disney, aliased as Miramax distributed most Ghibli worldwide. In 2001, Sen to Chihiro no Kamikakushi got an oscar. Video Rental and DVD selling shops had shelves with ghibli, and in the other shelf side GitS, Genocyber and Apple Seed. VHS in big cities were both rented, bought, pirately bought. If you had to choose a dvd/vhs, picking a ghibli one or GitS just from the covers was such an easy choice.
Plus, Porco Roso, Mononoke Hime, and Castle in the sky aired on some edutainment tvs in night Sunday movie blocks. Cable TV kids channels also air the movies now and then, there was a recent marathon for Ghibli in november on a channel..
My school showed Totoro vhs during Ethics/Cidadany/Religion class. The teacher that did it probably didn't stop. I know a nurse from a remote beach city that can sing Neko no Ongaeshi's Kaze ni Naru fully.
So given they are also critically good, and aged well, responsible adults push them around to kids.

May 11, 4:10 PM

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Feb 2014
4124
Reply to Sasori56483
tl;dr; Everyone a little older than you watched that in childhood, it still airs, and some still do.

A little older than you perhaps. Disney, aliased as Miramax distributed most Ghibli worldwide. In 2001, Sen to Chihiro no Kamikakushi got an oscar. Video Rental and DVD selling shops had shelves with ghibli, and in the other shelf side GitS, Genocyber and Apple Seed. VHS in big cities were both rented, bought, pirately bought. If you had to choose a dvd/vhs, picking a ghibli one or GitS just from the covers was such an easy choice.
Plus, Porco Roso, Mononoke Hime, and Castle in the sky aired on some edutainment tvs in night Sunday movie blocks. Cable TV kids channels also air the movies now and then, there was a recent marathon for Ghibli in november on a channel..
My school showed Totoro vhs during Ethics/Cidadany/Religion class. The teacher that did it probably didn't stop. I know a nurse from a remote beach city that can sing Neko no Ongaeshi's Kaze ni Naru fully.
So given they are also critically good, and aged well, responsible adults push them around to kids.

Sasori56483 said:
Cable TV kids channels also air the movies now and then, there

I don't think it was appropriate to show Ima Soko ni Iru Boku on a TV kids channel.
May 11, 4:20 PM

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Feb 2020
894
Reply to thewiru
Sasori56483 said:
Cable TV kids channels also air the movies now and then, there

I don't think it was appropriate to show Ima Soko ni Iru Boku on a TV kids channel.
@thewiru I said movies /jk Good one. Oh the protagonist boy va is Nami, I am picking this back.
May 11, 5:07 PM
Lilium Gardener

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Jul 2011
4056
Far more popular than any other anime movie. You living in a bubble, homie.

Letterboxd (~17m) has roughly the same amount of registered users as MAL (~18m). The second most popular anime movie on MAL by member count is Koe no Katachi.

There are 7 Ghibli movies on Letterboxd with a higher watched total than Koe no Katachi (761k) has on Letterboxd.
Spirited Away (3.8m)
Howl's Moving Castle (2.5m)
My Neighbor Totoro (2.2m)
Princess Mononoke (1.7m)
The Boy and Heron (1.2m)
Ponyo (1.4m)
Kiki's Delivery Service (1.3m)
May 11, 8:32 PM
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Jul 2024
3545
Well, I own a VHS copy of Princess Mononoke, so I definitely like it. I also watched any time Cartoon Network aired one, so they are definitely popular enough to be known in the USA.
May 12, 5:55 AM
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Sep 2022
316
Reply to DesuMaiden
Does it matter if it is popular? Popularity never determined the quality of anything, anyways.
@DesuMaiden The OP is unhappy that Ghibli movies are popular; he is trotting out (in a slightly hidden way) the standard MAL trope that popularity means that something is worthless.
May 12, 6:41 AM

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May 2011
872
Ghibli movies anyday over any of the Makoto Shinkai slop for otaweebs. Everytime a new one is released for the theaters in my area, I am paying my ticket to go watch it. Same went for the last works of the late Isao Takahata (I loved Kaguya Hime).
I wish there were more anime blockbuster options to go see, but admittedly even the biggest brands have hard time filling the velvet seats with people. "The Boy and the Heron" was a reasonably popular movie, still. Perhaps I just went seeing it at a rush hour and that was why it wasn't so empty as the other times...
May 12, 7:26 AM

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Jan 2013
257
Ghibli releases on the cinema theaters, on mainstream cinema theaters. Many non-anime fans go watch them in those occasions. I think the difference is that in some places Ghibli stays mainstream in between releases while in others the movies enter the anime niche little after leaving the cinema. The crowd fetishizing Ghibli on internet lives mostly in places like the first while Brazil is the second kind. So those people probably have watched at least the most famous ones. It's easy enough for them.
May 12, 7:53 AM

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Jun 2019
4431
Ok, first off, I thought Desert Rose was a random OVA, but there's memes of Irene Sanders floating about, mind blown man!

Second, isn't what OP does posting threads everyday 'engagement farming'.

I don't know about Brazil, but in the UK, and amongst friends and family I know, Ghibli is very well known. I even saw a bbc podcast entry all about Ghibli and it's wide reaching influence the other day. You get English VA who will work on Ghibli but not on other animated shows or movies (eg Christian Bale, Emily Mortimer, Jean Simmons), not because they don't like animated shows/movies, but because Ghibli has such an amazing reputation. France, Spain, UK, Ghibli movies, especially the older ones like Totoro, Princess Mononoke, Castle in the Sky, Kiki's Delivery Service are as well known family classics as Disney's Aladdin or Lion King.

May 12, 1:08 PM

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Feb 2014
4124
Reply to 23feanor
Ok, first off, I thought Desert Rose was a random OVA, but there's memes of Irene Sanders floating about, mind blown man!

Second, isn't what OP does posting threads everyday 'engagement farming'.

I don't know about Brazil, but in the UK, and amongst friends and family I know, Ghibli is very well known. I even saw a bbc podcast entry all about Ghibli and it's wide reaching influence the other day. You get English VA who will work on Ghibli but not on other animated shows or movies (eg Christian Bale, Emily Mortimer, Jean Simmons), not because they don't like animated shows/movies, but because Ghibli has such an amazing reputation. France, Spain, UK, Ghibli movies, especially the older ones like Totoro, Princess Mononoke, Castle in the Sky, Kiki's Delivery Service are as well known family classics as Disney's Aladdin or Lion King.

23feanor said:
Second, isn't what OP does posting threads everyday 'engagement farming'.

MAL doesn't have a "Follower" system, nor a way to make money with it, so there are no incentives for "malign" engagement farming.
I make threads that I feel will be interesting.
May 12, 7:38 PM

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Apr 2020
3719
thewiru said:
On Twitter there are something we call "engagement farming"


That's what we call every single one of your Threads.
Also thanks for explaining Twitter to the public, pompous douche xD

May 13, 12:47 AM
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Feb 2023
78
It's very watched. Ghibli is the equivalent to Disney in Japan. Spirited away won an Oscar. This is the first academy award for anime ever.
Put anime on the map as cinema to be reckoned with. Ghibli got praised, became a staple, and anime became more globally respected as an art form.

Ghibli is one of the only studios that produces and owns all their ips, including merchandise, characters, and other items. They own it all. There are only a handful that do this. No Mappa no clover works, no A1, no wix, no ufotable, they produce other people's ips like Attack on Titan the ip owned by kodansha the manga publisher, Mappa gets hired to animate the show.


That's how big of a studio they are.
May 13, 2:43 AM

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Jul 2014
7172
Spirited Away and The Boy & The Heron won Oscars and the only anime my mother watches are their films. They're inarguably some of the most popular films the medium has to offer.
Take care of yourself

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