Ghibli on Screen (Introduction)
Most of the Ghibli fans in Asia come to know its works through small screens, like TV sets, PC screens, or maybe smartphones. Now, Ghibli animations – from 30 or 40 years ago – are hitting theaters in China for the first time. The year was 1984. The Japanese movie market was dominated by animations for small kids, and ‘aidoru’ flicks for teenagers, plus the biannual ‘Tora-san’ movies. The blockbuster of the year was “Legend of the Seven Samurai (里見八犬伝, 1984)” grossing 2.3 billion yen. The movie was produced by Kadokawa, cashing in on popularity of Hiroko Yakushimaru, the most …
