Ghibli in the Machine: AI Controversies and the Appropriation of Anime

Date: Friday 4 July, 2025, 5pm BST (In-person and Hybrid Event)

Venue: Lancaster University

With: Dr Zoe Crombie (Associate Lecturer in Film Studies, University of Lancaster) and Professor Rayna Denison (Professor of Film and Digital Arts, University of Bristol)

This talk is available to watch on our YouTube Channel!

To watch the video recording of this lecture, click here.

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. Professor Rayna Denison and Dr Zoe Crombie consider how Japanese Studies can help us to unpack and understand this pivotal moment in Japanese animation history.

After the above talk, Dr Zoe Crombie gave 5 minutes of insight into the opportunities available in Japanese Studies or Japan-related study or research at Lancaster University.

Click here to read our full report of this lecture.

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.