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Studio Ghibli Shuts Down Official Twitter Account
posted on by Alex Mateo
Studio Ghibli announced on Thursday that it is shutting down its official Twitter account on Friday at 12:00 a.m. JST (11:00 a.m. EDT). In fact, by the time you read this, the account may already be gone. The account did not give a reason for its closure, nor did it imply that a new account would take its place. However, the announcement post states that the account had opened three years ago, in December 2020, in preparation for the release of Hayao Miyazaki's latest feature film The Boy and the Heron (Kimi-tachi wa Dō Ikiru ka, or literally How Do You Live?). Ironically, the company purposefully did not advertise or promote the film much prior to the its release, though the account has posted more about the movie since.
11/3 午前0:00 をもって、スタジオジブリの公式Twitterアカウントを終了します。 宮﨑駿監督「君たちはどう生きるか」の公開へむけて3年前に始まった本アカウント、沢山の方々に支えて頂き、ありがとうございました。心より御礼申し上げます。 映画は年末年始も続きます。 カヘッ(@JP_GHIBLI)November 2
Prior to the The Boy and the Heron's opening, the account did feature pictures and other content related to Studio Ghibli's rich history of films, including Spirited Away, Kiki's Delivery Service, Ponyo, Howl's Moving Castle, Princess Mononoke, and My Neighbor Totoro. It may seem a surprise for the account to close, between the global popularity of Studio Ghibli's movies and the fact that The Boy and the Heron is still in theaters. However, the company's president Junichi Nishioka previously stated "The Boy and the Heron is not Miyazaki's final film and that he is already coming into the office with new ideas," so perhaps there is a chance for a new account to emerge one day.
The account is still continuing to post in its final minutes:
(@JP_GHIBLI)November 2
(@JP_GHIBLI)November 2
Ghibli and Miyazaki's The Boy and the Heron opened simultaneously on IMAX with its general release in Japan on July 14. The movie was notably not advertised or promoted, and little information was released to the public prior to its release date.
GKIDS licensed the film, and will release it in North American theaters on December 8, with preview engagements on November 22. Screenings will include the English dub alongside screenings with Japanese audio with English subtitles.
Source: Studio Ghibli's Twitter account
