I think you’re barking up the right tree, but the way I’d put it is this: it gives people the ability to specifically imitate an aesthetic without ever engaging with the thinking that underlies that aesthetic. It’s almost instantly anti intellectual, in that way.

Ghibli’s art comes from a profound love for liveliness, wonder, nature, and beauty that also respects the pain endured by its subjects. People talk shit on Ghibli as “the Disney of anime” but it’s a backhanded compliment at worst because I think they’re obliquely referring to how well Miyazaki executes on those feelings.