Masayuki Miyaji, trained directly under the tutelage of Hayao Miyazaki at Studio Ghibli, applies a documentary-like gaze to his fictional worlds. His obsession with the biology and physics of flight, inherited from his master, combines with a camera movement that draws from European cinema to create animation that feels tangible even in the most surreal settings.
Animation with scientific rigor: biology and flight mechanics ✈️
In works like Xam'd: Lost Memories, Miyaji develops creatures and vehicles that seem pulled from a nature documentary. Every being obeys internal biological rules: their wings have a calculated wingspan to support their mass, and their movements follow aerodynamic principles. This technical methodology, applied to character and setting design, generates a sense of plausibility that anchors fantasy to an almost tactile reality.
When your boss is Miyazaki and you become obsessed with wings 🦅
Imagine working for years in the shadow of the guy who made Totoro fly with a smile. Well, Miyaji came out of there and decided that every winged creature in his series needed a flight manual with lift diagrams. In Fuse: Memoirs of the Hunter Girl, the wolves don't run: they glide with a precision that would make an aeronautical engineer weep. And you think: Really, buddy? All that science just so the protagonist ends up flying just like in Ghibli?