+21: Spain Through the Eyes of a Ghibli Animator

How 'Nasu: Summer in Andalusia' merges two worlds.

Part of the poster for Nasu: Summer in Andalusia

Happy Thursday! We’re back with another issue of the Animation Obsessive newsletter. Our subject today is a little different. We’re diving into that strangest class of Ghibli films — ones that Ghibli didn’t actually make.

To be specific, it’s Nasu: Summer in Andalusia (2003), a film created in Japan but set in Spain. It has a Ghibli pedigree and sensibility — its director was a veteran of the studio. But he made Nasu at another company. The result is a unique hybrid. It’s also responsible for possibly our most controversial tweet of all time.

We’ll be exploring that debate, the film and its origins today. Enjoy!

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