Hayao Miyazaki's five-star masterpiece, "Howl's Moving Castle", is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year. As a gift to Chinese fans, the film will hit the big screen nationwide on April 30. On April 27, the film held a premiere in Shanghai with thousands of people, with Ghibli executive director Junichi Nishioka and special guest Karina in attendance. The premiere was themed "Reasons to Fall in Love with Hayao Miyazaki", paying tribute to the beautiful world that director Hayao Miyazaki has created for everyone.

On April 27, the film held its premiere in Shanghai

Howl's Moving Castle was nominated for the Best Animated Feature Film at the 78th Academy Awards and won the Outstanding Technical Contribution Award at the 61st Venice Film Festival's Golden Osella Award. The film has a romantic and brave fantasy imagery, and is also a soulful and flowing poem. 20 years after the film was created, the film was specially restored and officially released in mainland China for the first time.

Ghibli Executive Director Junichi Nishioka thanked the audience for their continued support for Mr. Miyazaki and Ghibli at the post-screening exchange meeting, and said that this time, Howl's Moving Castle presented a 20th anniversary special restoration version to the audience. This film has never been screened in IMAX format in any country in the world. It was also the first time for Nishioka to watch the IMAX version. "It was very shocking, and every scene was presented very well, which is worth everyone's appreciation."

Ghibli executive director Junichi Nishioka

Hayao Miyazaki once said in an interview that Howl's Moving Castle was his most satisfying work. As a member of Ghibli, Mr. Junichi Nishioka also revealed the behind-the-scenes anecdotes of the production of Howl's Moving Castle. He said that the original director of this work was not Hayao Miyazaki, "In fact, a younger director was scheduled, but this director couldn't continue halfway through, and finally it was Hayao Miyazaki who took charge of it himself." Since the work originally had an original work, during the adaptation process, Hayao Miyazaki "created with joy every day, and made every painting with heart and joy. Maybe this movie finally showed a very good effect, or the reason why he was very satisfied with this work was that he enjoyed the creative process very much."

Nishioka also revealed the reason why director Hayao Miyazaki chose Takuya Kimura to voice Howl. "Howl is a popular guy. He looks very handsome and can fascinate many girls, but at the same time he has a soft side, which is also a very delicate side. Therefore, director Hayao Miyazaki felt that Kimura was the most suitable candidate."

Stills from Howl's Moving Castle

In addition to the lovable characters in the entire animation, the imaginative moving castle itself is also one of the most important characters in this film. Nishioka revealed that the image of the castle actually originated from a painting that Hayao Miyazaki made for the Mitaka Museum of Art. When this unfinished work was still in the form of graffiti, he suddenly got the inspiration. "You can see that its shape design is very unique. For such a large castle, its legs are very slender, which is not common and unforgettable. So the director thought we could use it to shoot the animation "Howl's Moving Castle" based on the inspiration."

At the premiere, many viewers wore 2D-style costumes to express their love for the film. The film crew also invited cosplay celebrity Karina to make a surprise appearance. As a loyal fan of director Hayao Miyazaki, Karina has played the role of Hal many times, and her fitting image is loved by 2D fans.

After watching the movie, Karina said excitedly, "Howl's Moving Castle is a movie that changed my life. I didn't want the story to end until the end, as it was a happy ending." Karina, in the image of Howl, held hands with fans to recreate the famous scenes in the movie. Not only did they dance the waltz on the stage, but they also took the initiative to take selfies with Howl's face, bringing Howl's charming charm to life, which made the fans scream. In order to thank Karina for her continued support for Howl's Moving Castle, Junichi Nishioka specially presented Karina with the "Second Dimension Dream Maker" trophy on behalf of Ghibli.

Junichi Nishioka presented Karina with the "Second Dimension Dream Maker" trophy

Of course, at every Ghibli-related event, attendees will inevitably have to "explain" Miyazaki's current situation and retirement plans to fans. This time, Nishioka's answer was still very reassuring - "Director Hayao Miyazaki still comes to the studio to work every day." He also revealed that "In fact, what Director Hayao Miyazaki cares about for each of his works is whether the audience recognizes it. Not only Japanese audiences, but also how audiences from all over the world evaluate his films. He actually cares very much. So after every good work is made, if everyone, including foreign audiences, responds very well, Director Hayao Miyazaki will have the strength to make the next one."