it took me four months to read through this collection of essays, stories, interviews and written thoughts from hayao miyazaki, and it was absolutely worth reading it slowly.
about half of the book are conversations about how-it-was-made or reflections on characters like Nausicaä. they're interesting for anime-manga aficionados, artists and animators.
but what stood out to me most reading Starting Point was miyazaki's ability to think. he thinks non-reductively, without ever turning to either lazy idealism or pragmatism. there are moments where it is clear he has read social theory, but the ideas are always expressed as everyday, grounded experiences - and not floaty/cloudy/tangled academic musings.
he just thinks, out loud, a lot. this is someone whose entire day is consumed by thinking, and animation just happens to be one of the creative practices involved in expressing the thoughts for other people.
this is not something depicted in any documentary i've seen about studio ghibli - which tend to focus on his personality, emotions and production process.
