Studio Ghibli: Israel’s ‘hijacking’ of iconic art style ‘sugarcoats its genocide’, say critics
In recent days, social media has become flooded with AI-generated images imitating the style of legendary Japanese filmmaker, Hayao Miyazaki.
Known as the "Ghibli Trend" - named after Studio Ghibli, of which Miyazaki is a co-creator, social media users are recreating historical events, movie scenes, and personal photos in the disctinctive and dreamy style of the acclaimed animation giant.
Government administrations and personnel have joined the trend as well, sparking controversy online.
On 30 March, the official Israeli army account on X, formerly Twitter, posted four AI-generated images depicting infantry soldiers standing with their weapons at an army post, a sailor manning naval anti-aircraft guns, soldiers in an F-15, and a naval corvette, all in the Ghibli style.
"We thought we’d also hop on the Ghibli trend," the caption reads.
The post quickly received thousands of responses from people who expressed anger and disbelief at the images, accusing the army of using the art style to sanitise its image as it faces accusations of war crimes and genocide before international courts over its war on the Gaza Strip.
"Isn't it ironic that Hayao Miyazaki's anti-war masterpieces like Howl's Moving Castle and The Wind Rises relentlessly expose the brutality of militarism, yet his iconic Ghibli aesthetic is now being hijacked to sugarcoat military operations with a fairy-tale filter?" asked one social media user.
How obscene that the same military machinery Miyazaki spent his career condemning through his films, is now bastardizing his aesthetic to sanitize its own violence. As if a war crime, repainted in pastels, ceases to be a war crime.?https://t.co/kut2AfsIdv pic.twitter.com/2XfTmr4wg1
— Ahmed Eldin | ???? ????? (@ASE) April 1, 2025
Social media users described Miyazaki's - and Studio Ghibli's - films as odes to children and nature with strong pacifist messages and decried the use of the animation studio's style by the Israeli army, which has killed over 50,000 Palestinians in Gaza since October 2023, with over 18,000 of the victims being children.
studio ghibli already made a movie where children starve and die because an imperialist power wanted to go to war so there was no need for the ai. https://t.co/0LvwacgY7J pic.twitter.com/WH6K3lGbtV
— rhys ???????? (@saccharinegreen) March 30, 2025
"The military of Israel, a genocidal nation that completely ignores international law and commits endless war crimes, is having fun using Hayao Miyazaki and Ghibli, who are opposed to war," responded one person in Japanese.
"It's morbid, morbid. I hope that Hayao Miyazaki's legal team is taking action. This is an insult to the creators."
#???????????
— Kerry@?????????????????? (@tableiswaiting) March 31, 2025
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Ghibli is NOT yours!!
Free Palestine Free Gaza, We are watching you????? https://t.co/6J0cithboB
Translation: Ghibli always taught me the sadness of war. This kind of thing is absolutely unforgivable. Ghibli is NOT yours!! Free Palestine Free Gaza, We are watching you.
In 2003, Miyazaki refused to attend the Oscars to accept an award for Spirited Away because, as he explained years later, he was protesting against the United States’ invasion of Iraq.
Middle East Eye contacted Studio Ghibli for comment but did not receive a response by the time of publication.
Ghibli AI trend in global politics
Some replied to the Israeli army's post with AI-rendered images of the Israeli army targeting Palestinian civilians and children in the same style.
Another post featured Israeli soldiers posing with lingerie - a reference to the trend of male Israeli soldiers documenting themselves looting, rummaging through and wearing the underwear of Palestinian women.
The actual representation. https://t.co/JkSOX6fyDa pic.twitter.com/YltYn9W0B6
— Suppressed News. (@SuppressedNws) March 31, 2025
Another image of forcefully displaced Palestinians in Gaza in the studio's style was shared with the caption: “Maybe applying studio ghibli style will help with the lack of empathy towards Palestinians”.
AI technology is being used by fans to depict political landscapes and events unfolding elsewhere in the world as well.
Regarding Sudan, one tweet shows an AI-generated depiction of General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan celebrating his victory in the capital Khartoum, following the withdrawal of the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, with the hashtag “Khartoum is free”.
Studio ghibli style
— ????? ? (@MzSbr) March 26, 2025
?????? ??????? ????????? - ??? ??????? ???#SudanIsGreen#??????? #???????_??? pic.twitter.com/WqpMXEsFYX
A recent post by the White House's official account on X, depicting a weeping woman from the Dominican Republic recently arrested by US immigration agents in the Ghibli style, was condemned for being “tone-deaf” and “insulting”.
Maybe applying studio ghibli style will help with the lack of empathy towards Palestinians.#studioghibli pic.twitter.com/TpOyDVskgD
— mohammadshamma (@mohammadshamma) March 28, 2025
While some fans said they viewed the image generator as a way to pay homage to a beloved director, many others contrasted the meticulous care the studio takes to hand-paint their films with the imitations produced by AI, calling the latter insulting to the aesthetic and philosophical approach of the studio.
Several users said that AI was unable to convey the emotional depth that Miyazaki was able to depict in his characters.
Many people also pointed to Miyazaki's disdain of AI-generated images, sharing a 2016 clip in which the artist and filmmaker, presented with the technology, responded that he would “never wish to incorporate [it] into my work at all".
“I strongly feel that this is an insult to life itself,” he added.