When legendary director Hayao Miyazaki announced his retirement from Studio Ghibli recently, the world of Japanese anime was in mourning. In the vacuum left by the famed director, known for masterpieces like Spirited Away and My Neighbor Totoro, an opportunity has emerged for new talent to take center stage.

Japan Society sat down with scriptwriter Dai Sato and animator/producer Justin Leach to discuss some of the directors to be on the lookout for in the coming years to fill the void left by Miyazaki’s retirement.

The list includes:
Masaaki Yuasa (Mind Game, Ping Pong, Adventure Time)
Mamoru Hosoda (Summer Wars, The Boy and the Beast)
Makoto Shinkai (5 Centimeters Per Second, Garden of Words)
Hideaki Anno (Neon Genesis Evangelion)
Dice Tsutsumi & Robert Kondo (The Dam Keeper, Moom)
Sjingo Natsume (Space Dandy, One-Punch Man)
Hiroyasu Ishida (Poulette’s Chair, Rain Town)
Daizen Komatsuda (Bubuki/Buranki)

So check out their past and future works!

Dai Sato has written scripts for highly acclaimed television series and films including Samurai Champloo, Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex, and Cowboy Bebop. Justin Leach has also worked many years in the animation industry, including as a CG creator on Innocence: Ghost in the Shell 2 and on the animation sequences in Kill Bill. Dai and Justin are both members of Japan Society’s Innovators Network.