Miyazaki Blames Otaku Animators for Anime Decline

Joseph Luster January 31, 2014

Revered Studio Ghibli director Hayao Miyazaki is known for speaking out in interviews, and that held true in a recent television talk in which Miyazaki let everyone know what he feels is one of the key problems holding the anime industry back.

While sketching, Miyazaki grumbled that many animators can’t capture certain aspects of real life because they don’t experience it enough. “If you don’t spend time watching real people,” he said, “you can’t do this, because you’ve never seen it.”

He went on to complain about the industry, saying one of its problems is it’s “full of otaku.”

“Almost all Japanese animation is produced with hardly any basis taken from observing real people, you know,” He continued. “It’s produced by humans who can’t stand looking at other humans … and that’s why the industry is full of otaku!”