Review: Goddesses of Water and Sky: Feminist Ideologies of the Worlds of Hayao Miyazaki by Daniel Nienhuis.

In this short book, Nienhuis gives a feminist reading of the films directed by Hayao Miyazaki (including Nausicca of the Valley of the Wind, Laputa: Castle in the Sky, My Neighbour Totoro, Kiki's Delivery Service, Porco Rosso, Princess Mononoke, Spirited Away, Howl's Moving Castle and Ponyo). He does not cover Studio Ghibli films by other directors, such as Only Yesterday, My Neighbours the Yamadas and Grave of the Fireflies (Isao Takahata) or Whisper of the Heart (Yoshifumi Kondo) which is a shame as it would have given scope to examine Miyazaki's influence on the studio and also give wider context for the place of his films within Japanese animation more generally.

Nienhuis states in the abstract that: “a central theme of Miyazalki’s work has been his unique utilization of female protagonists. This paper investigates the gender ideologies espoused by Miyazalki’s feature films. Questions regarding narrative structure, character agency, gender role deviation, and genre precedence are addressed.”

Nienhuis examines the sometimes blurred gender roles Miyazaki gives to his female leads (from the point of view of traditional film tropes, both Western and Japanese), the unusual use of moral ambiguity in some of the plots, and 'big sister, little sister' pairings. He also contrasts the psychoanalytic feminist readings of female characters by Laura Mulvey and Linda Williams with that of Cynthia Freeland's 'intra-filmic' readings (which he favours) and Miyazaki's use (and adaptation of) 'Shojo' heroines (female characters "between childhood and adulthood, cutely attractive, but outside the heterosexual economy").

It is certainly the case that female characters in Miyazaki's films (and those of Studio Ghibli generally) tend to be a lot more nuanced than the simple, often highly formulaic and sexualised portrayals given in many anime and for that reason alone they are worthy of serious study. Don't be put out off by the fact that this book is essentially a reproduction of a Master of Arts thesis; while written from an academic viewpoint it is accessible enough for a general audience and fans of Studio Ghibli films and those interested in the portrayal of female characters in film will find it a worthwhile read.