Studio Ghibli, the anime studio behind such great films as The Secret World of Arrietty, Spirited Away, and My Neighbor Totoro, is creating a new anime series for TV. This is wonderful news as Studio Ghibli has never produced a TV series before. They've created short films, music videos, commercials, and one-off anime specials, but no episodic TV show.
The project will be adapted from the novel Ronia the Robber's Daughter by Astrid Lindgren. In broad strokes, the story is about Ronia, the daughter of a robber, exploring the forest's many secrets and beginning to question her father's life choices. Sounds like prime Studio Ghibli material to me.
Studio Ghibli has covered a lot of subject matter in the past 29 years. However, a constant and recurring theme is children coping with adulthood through the bond with their parents (present or not). Ronia the Robber's Daughter falls right in that wheelhouse. From Sheeta and Pazu growing up through the rescue of Sheeta from kidnappers to Umi Matsuzaki and her peers fighting as hard as they can to save the school's clubhouse from demolition, Studio Ghibli's fictional children consistently take on monumental tasks far beyond their years. Sometimes, it's a bittersweet adventure with magical creatures (My Neighbor Totoro, The Secret World of Arrietty). Other times, it's far darker and more dangerous (Castle in the Sky, Howl's Moving Castle).
It's not hard to say which way Ronia the Robber's Daughter will go. Series director Goro Miyazaki (From Up on Poppy Hill, Tales from the Earthsea) has promised a family-friendly series anyone can enjoy.
Ronia the Robber's daughter is a story not just about a girl who grows into adulthood, but it is also a story about the love and growth between a parent and a child, and a story about the bonds between friends. My goal is to create a work that everyone, from children to adults, will be able to enjoy.
The new Studio Ghibli anime will be a 3D CGI series. It is expected to debut this fall in Japan. There is no official word on a simulcast with Crunchyroll or Hulu, but we can all hope.
Thanks to AnimeNewsNetwork for originally reporting on this story.
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