Trying to remember the first time viewing one of his films could resemble someone recalling the exact moment that they consumed chocolate as a young child. The impression is the same regardless. Hayao Miyazaki will always remain a large portion of my childhood and an inspiration to me.

The first movie I had seen was Spirited Away, and it had undoubtedly blew my mind. I knew I had experienced some sort of nirvana at witnessing the film because everything was so wild, beautiful, and the art left me with the feeling that one day I could experience this world that they had displayed. I didn’t want to be a princess, yet that’s a lie. I did want to trade places with Princess Mononoke from time to time. Yet what I truly wanted to be was an adventurer, a regular girl placed in alien surroundings.

As I sunk deeper into Studio Ghibi films, I began to realize…