Legendary animation director Hayao Miyazaki certainly has retired in the past. If you’ve watched recent documentaries on the dude, you’ll know that he didn’t take to it too well, as it gave him plenty of opportunity to dwell on his ailing and dying friends, and reflect too much on his own impending passing. Did that get pretty dark for you? Yeah, it seemed to get pretty damn dark for him as well. As such, it was only a few years into his most recent retirement that he came back to work on his new feature film entitled How Do You Live?

But when can we expect to see this thing actually get released? Well, settle in, because it sounds like it’ll be a while. Longtime producer at Studio Ghibli Toshio Suzuki recently wrote an essay in the literary magazine Bungei Shunjū, and in it, he said, “With the production of this new film, we’re experimenting with having no established deadline. I’m looking forward to how that comes through in the work.”

So, in the past, the studio — like any other looking to make a profit — worked on production schedules. Perhaps in doing it this way, they’re seeing if the product will see a different kind of life. But does that mean we’re still years off? Only time will tell.

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The subject also switched to the aforementioned retirement. Can we expect this new movie to be his last? Suzuki doesn’t think so.

“I don’t believe it. As long as he lives, [Miyazaki] will probably continue to make films.”

So when do you think the movie will hit? Last August, Suzuki said it would be three or four years, but will this absence of a deadline extend it? Let us know down below what you think!

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SOURCE: Bungei Shunjū (via ANN)