Livestreaming available via Zoom

Are you someone with a general interest in Japanese culture and society? Or are you a sixth form student or current university student, either studying Japanese language or with an interest in learning more about Japan? Why not come and listen to our first lecture as part of our new seminar series: Exploring the World of Japanese Studies!

Our first lecture, Ghibli in the Machine: AI Controversies and the Appropriation of Anime will be hosted by Lancaster University, with Dr Zoe Crombie, (Associate Lecturer in Film Studies, Lancaster University) and Prof. Rayna Denison (Professor of Film and Digital Arts and Head of Department for Film and Television at the University of Bristol).

Talk Description:

Earlier this year, ChatGPT released a new Photo to Anime filter that turns user images into not just "anime" images but Hayao Miyazaki-inspired images. Controversially this filter quickly became one of ChatGPT's most popular image generators, while also being roundly condemned for the theft of Studio Ghibli's animation art. In this talk, we discuss how AI is currently reshaping the anime industry in Japan, and impacting upon one of Japanese animation's best loved studios. We consider how Japanese Studies can help us to unpack and understand this pivotal moment in Japanese animation history.

The lecture will be one hour long, followed by a 15 minute Q&A Session with the two academics. Participants can enjoy asking questions about the lecture topic itself, or about research on Japan!

This talk is open to the general public, and sixth-formers and undergraduate students are especially encouraged to join.

Speaker Profiles:

Dr Zoe Crombie

Zoe Crombie is Associate Lecturer in Film Studies at the Lancaster Institute for the Contemporary Arts, University of Lancaster. She is an early career academic currently working on a monograph about Studio Ghibli’s transnational reinterpretations of Western literature through the Trailblazers scheme.

Professor Rayna Denison

Rayna Denison is Professor of Film and Digital Arts at the University of Bristol where she teaches and does research into contemporary Japanese film and animation. Her books include Anime: A Critical Introduction and Studio Ghibli: An Industrial History along with edited collections like Princess Mononoke: Understanding Studio Ghibli's Monster Princess. 

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