It was a sad day yesterday as people expressed their grief on the interwebs over the news of Miyazaki retiring from Studio Ghibli. He has brought us so many wonderful films such as Castle in the Sky, My Neighbor Totoro, Spirited Away, Howl's Moving Castle, and so on. His last film was Kaze Taichinu (The Wind Rises) that has already aired in Japan back in July so for the rest of us will be whenever fansubs come out or wait for Disney to dub a release.
This is like his fourth time announcing his retirement but at 72 years old I think this is final and he is good and ready to. He is an amazing artist and does love the field of animation so hopefully he doesn't just end his career here and may continue to work on some personal works and short films.
Miyazaki will say more about his retirement in a press conference on September 6th.
It will be interesting to see how Studio Ghibli will function in the next few years without Miyazaki but here is hoping for the best and for them to continue on his legacy.
Thank you Miyazaki for the wonderful and amazing world of animation and fantastical stories that you have given us.