A recent online survey that ranks the popularity of Hayao Miyazaki’s anime feature films in Taiwan found Spirited Away at No. 1 for the best film, leading My Neighbor Totoro by a comfortable margin, followed by Castle in the Sky and Howl’s Moving Castle.
Conducted by National Chiao Tung University communication professor Wei Ti (魏玓) for a special issue on Miyazaki by the Chinese-language ComMagazine, the survey collected 1,024 valid samples, showing that Miyazaki’s Chihiro Ogino in Spirited Away is Taiwanese fans’ favorite female protagonist, while the most-liked male hero is Howl in Howl’s Moving Castle.
Howl, a mysterious and powerful wizard, also enjoys a large female fan base because of his excessive attractiveness, Wei said.
However, in the category of favorite male characters, male respondents overwhelmingly voted for Ashitaka, the warrior prince in Princess Mononoke, and for Pazu, an audacious self-made pilot in Castle in the Sky, suggesting that male fans identify more with daring adventurers than men born with good looks, Wei said.
In the category of favorite female protagonists, most female respondents voted for Chihiro Ogino, the courageous heroine of Spirited Away known for her simplicity and homeliness, while most male respondents favored Nausicaa, a persecuted princess in Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind, which suggests that they tend to appreciate female characters with obvious femininity, Wei said.
The most-liked non-human characters are magical creature Totoro in My Neighbor Totoro and fire-demon Calcifer in Howl’s Moving Castle, Wei said.
Miyazaki films thought to be unsuitable for younger viewers are The Wind Rises and Princess Mononoke, Wei said.
Carrying You in Castle in the Sky was the favorite theme song among all the music in the Miyazaki films, followed by the titular theme song of My Neighbor Totoro, Wei said.
“Miyazaki, despite his multiple retirement claims, remains both a Japanese and world-class animator whose works are an integral part of many Taiwanese childhoods,” Wei said.
However, discussions of animated films have heavily focused on the legacy of US animator Walt Disney, with Miyazaki receiving less attention, Wei said, adding that he would like to survey the Taiwanese reception of Miyazaki’s films before launching a full-fledged comparative analysis of Japanese and European animations.
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