Ghibli Goes Viral & Not Everyone’s Happy

On March 25, ChatGPT did an image generation update. On the same day or the next, a tweet appeared featuring popular memes in the aesthetic of Ghibli Miyazaki. It was pretty clear the intention of the creations to resemble Ghibli. I mean, though, it’s not the same and I’m not an art or illustration expert. As soon as I noticed the trend, I was like, ok, is this a new filter? I then saw that those who use ChatGPT should be able to generate images on a whole different level, especially those who are subscribers.

I am a horror writer and Monday through Friday during office hours I’m a digital marketer, but my background is in Graphic Design and though I was never one of the better illustrators in my class, I developed a love and respect for the art. I share that as context when writing about my perspective on how this whole Ghibli takeover the internet came from.

Sophie in the Hat Shop – “Howl’s Moving Castle” (Studio Ghibli)

ChatGPT’s image update

ChatGPT’s update (GPT-4o) introduced the ability to create or transform images directly within the platform with simple text prompts. The improved output was the key factor in how high-quality ‘Ghibliesque’ images began trending, closest I’ve seen at least generated through AI.

Apparently OpenAI also relaxed some content generation restrictions and I can attest to that. Just when I could finally upload images, around the end of 2023 or early 2024, I remember testing ‘Ghibli like’ requests. Every single time ChatGPT turned me down. I tried other styles and every single time ChatGPT would say it couldn’t do it because of copyright infringement. Now, I’ve been thinking if OpenAI overlords saw so many requests from other folks besides myself, they thought it was necessary to relax such restrictions. That would not be surprising and at least for now we know ChatGPT doesn’t see our keystrokes. For now.

As soon as I saw that tweet on X with the popular memes with Ghibli’s style vibe, I knew two things. I knew I wanted to try it with family photos and I also knew that if it were to go viral; it was going to cause a storm, which it did. I didn’t expect for it to go viral.

The viral tweet

Ghibli style AI filters have been around for a bit, through several apps, including TikTok. I’d say trends and virality move faster so many times it’s challenging to see the moment it crosses platforms and worldwide.

I wanted to share the exact moment this turned viral, but it’s difficult to pinpoint. The most notable early example I found was this tweet from Grant Slatton, which as of today has over 45K likes and 51 million views.

tremendous alpha right now in sending your wife photos of yall converted to studio ghibli anime pic.twitter.com/FROszdFSfN

— Grant Slatton (@GrantSlatton) March 25, 2025

Within the same day, during the evening, I’m pretty sure I was already sending my family tons of “Ghiblified” images. At home, we’d already been exchanging digitally modified pictures (using apps like B612, Snapchat, and Instagram). This Ghibli trend felt different. It was so contagious, like a virus. We couldn’t wait to see precious moments of our lives in this aesthetic. It didn’t feel wrong for a second, even though I admit it was a very self-serving thing. Maybe it’s a JC thing, but whenever I’ve seen almost every single Ghibli world, I’ve dreamed of being part of it and the convenience that ChatGPT presented in the moment was hard to resist.

Accessibility & Virality

So, yes, it is self-serving if I may dare say and if you disagree with me, it’s ok. We made it about us, which is what we humans usually do. It’s why I’m sure it is one reason it went viral. It became one of those challenges almost anyone and everyone could take part regardless of age, talent, and socioeconomic level. Some even called it ‘democratic’. As long as you had internet, everyone could join the trend, still can though it has died down.

I posted a single public image: a ‘Ghiblified’ screenshot from a video of a walrus’s birthday party at a Chinese zoo. I saw it and wondered what this Nikolai would look like, took a screen shot and ran it through ChatGPT. What compelled me to ‘Ghiblify’ it? Curiosity.

On social media, there are trends people feel foolish to participate in, but the ones that are easier to replicate make sense would get more ‘virality’. Accessibility and convenience together are a powerful duo.

And as of today, there’s another trend picking up, the ‘action doll box’. That one is also interesting, but I won’t be writing about it, at least for now.

Google Trends Data

Through Google trends, I wanted to have a more real visual idea of how this AI-generated style went and, as you can notice (graphically generated with stats from Google Trends on ChatGPT).

I wish I could pinpoint where the most controversial takes are on the Ghibliesque trend, but at least the top three countries interested in the trend (at least through the specific term and related queries) were India, Sri Lanka, and Tunisia.

I couldn’t find Japan in the top 40 countries showing interest in this search, and their peak at least through Google search on this topic shows as April 7 and not the March 30th that peaked worldwide. Interesting.

Miyazaki’s View On AI

There’s this quote by Miyazaki Hayao on AI that keeps making its rounds: the translation reads “an insult to life itself”. The clip I keep seeing on social media is rather grim and I’m not sure it’s the best example of how the average person is using it for visuals.

I believe the clip is from the 2016 NHK documentary series by Kaku Arukawa. The video starts at his house, I think. Eventually they’re maybe at Ghibli’s offices, I’m not sure.

Kawakami Nobuo, Chairman of Dwango/Ghibli Production Intern, walks in and Miyazaki asks what this is about. Kawakami says that they’ve been quietly doing research on CGI, ‘deep learning’. He mentions he thinks computers will soon be able to paint like humans five to ten years from that moment. We’re in 2025, so I don’t think he was wrong.

Miyazaki replied, ‘If they do that, we won’t need humans’. as he smokes a cigarette and laughs with Kawakami. Though I’m not sure if it’s a nervous laugh or sarcasm. I can’t tell; I don’t speak Japanese and he covers his mouth with his hand so it’s difficult to get a read on this statement. He moves to a conference room.

Kawakami tells Miyazaki that they have started using AI for image processing and he would like to show him what they do.

This is when I get confused. I have formulated a conspiracy theory in my brain. Why? This is literally the first image they show in the clip on the TV screen that they’re demonstrating to Miyazaki.

Kawakami keeps talking. ‘It uses the head as if it were just an ordinary leg. It’s creepy, and might be good in a zombie game. Using AI enables a kind of horror beyond human imagination.’

I think this gentleman should read my book when it comes out. Maybe he will say ‘beyond human imagination, so perhaps JC isn’t human’. I know, I know a bad joke haha.

‘And that’s what we’re doing.’ The camera pans back to Miyazaki’s face and oh boy.

‘Let me just say. Every morning, I used to see a friend who’s disabled. He would walk up to me. One leg’s turned outwards, so it’s hard for him to walk. Even a high five is hard for him. His stiff hand and mine touch. I think of him, and can’t say I like this. Whoever made it gives no thought to pain. It’s very unpleasant. You can make horrible things if you want, but I want nothing to do with me. It’s an awful insult to life’.

My question is, would Miyazaki have had the same visceral reaction would the animation the team would was showing something nice, cute, wholesome? I doubt it would have been positive because even before seeing the horror video, you could tell he was going to have a rough take on AI-generated visuals.

Kawakami and the other men next to him are barely blinking as they hear Miyazaki say these things in a calm tone, rubbing his arm/elbow with his hand. It gave me goosebumps when I saw that scene.

I won’t transcribe the rest of the video, but it ends with them explaining this is all experimental, not something they’re showing publicly. The other senior next to Miyazaki asks what the goal of all of this is. Another man responds that it is for a machine to draw pictures like people do.

There’s a moment of silence. I can’t help but stare at the background behind these men. A white board with the written words ‘deep learning’ and then there is a cut, camera goes back to Miyazaki while he draws, he says ‘I fear the world’s end is near. Humans have lost confidence.’

I’ve seen the shorter version of this clip several times but now that I’m pausing, rewatching for screenshots, to transcribe some quotes, I got teary. Is AI really a blessing?

Final Thoughts

To ‘democratise’ access to knowledge and art. Is that really the goal or are we just craving to increase our output? Fast food art, fast food literature, fast food life. The smile I had first when I was deep into the ‘Ghiblification’ of my family and wedding photos has faded.

Am I being dramatic? I will not be hypocritical and call others names for using AI applications to produce things, certainly at work, that’s a given. It’s expected in marketing, after all. I wrote an article on Teabot.AI in ‘collaboration’ with ChatGPT. It was a fun experience to share with a friend who has truly embraced this AI era.

Yet, I’m so nervous of putting my horror manuscript through ProWritingAid even though I know all I want is editing suggestions for grammar, duplicates, to clean some noise, just as I’ve done with this article. I keep repeating myself that eventually, I’ll hire a human editor so the experience feels less lonely, and hopefully, their expertise and collaboration will make me a better writer when they help with my horror manuscript.

I’m not sure what to expect of the future. This innocent trend has stuck with me since it first came out. What does this all mean? I hope to see what the brain of two artists who I respect their art and their voices on this matter. Fingers-crossed next I get to share a brief article with their answers.

How do you feel about this trend? About Miyazaki’s words? Is AI art real art? Are you a Luddite yet?

Thanks for reading this much.

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Interesting reading:

Hayao Miyazaki’s AI Nightmare

AI may be coming for anime, but Hayao Miyazaki is irreplaceable, son says

Sam Altman defends AI art after Studio Ghibli backlash, calling it a ‘net win’ for society