RESOLUTION RS2018–001-MIYA
A resolution recognizing Nintendo’s The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild as a canonical work of Studio Ghibli and the spiritual progeny of Hayao Miyazaki.
WHEREAS, in the year 1963, Nintendo Playing Card Co. Ltd., founded by Fusajiro Yamauchi as a hanafuda playing card company on September 23, 1889, was renamed Nintendo Co., Ltd, at which time it commenced a number of other ventures, which included but are not limited to a taxi company called Daiya, a love hotel chain, a TV network, and a food company selling instant rice; and
WHEREAS, in 1966, after the financial struggles of said ventures, Nintendo Co., Ltd., established Nintendo Games, a toy division responsible for the creation of the Ultra Hand; and
WHEREAS, in 1974, Nintendo Games expanded into the electronic video gaming distribution and, in 1977, created its first video game system, the Color TV-Game; and
WHEREAS, on July 15, 1983, the Nintendo Games division of Nintendo Co., Ltd., released the pioneering Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) for the first time in Japan as the Family Computer Disk System; and
WHEREAS, on June 15, 1985, Hayao Miyazaki, Toshio Suzuki, Isao Takahata, and Yasuyoshi Tokuma founded Studio Ghibli, Inc., with funding by Tokuma Shoten, in Koganei, Tokyo, Japan; and
WHEREAS, on February 21, 1986, Nintendo Co., Ltd., released the NES title The Legend of Zelda, developed and published by Nintendo and designed by Shigeru Miyamoto and Takashi Tezuka; and
WHEREAS, on August 2, 1986, Studio Ghibli, Inc., released a film called Castle in the Sky, directed by Hayao Miyazaki and produced by Isao Takahata for distribution by the Toei Company, Ltd.; and
WHEREAS, on March 3, 2017, Nintendo Co., Ltd., released a video game called The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, directed by Hidemaro Fujibayashi and produced by Eiji Aonuma for the Nintendo Switch; and
WHEREAS, Breath of the Wild, the latest in the long and distinguished line of The Legend of Zelda games, was designed with a steampunk aesthetic, open-world gameplay, an emphasis on flight, lush landscape imagery, a princess in peril, and a post-apocalyptic lost civilization, and robots with exceptionally long and noodly legs; and
WHEREAS, Castle in the Sky, especially, but also other films directed or produced by the Studio Ghibli, Inc., team, past or present (see also: The Castle of Cagliostro, Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind, Princess Mononoke, Spirited Away, Howl’s Moving Castle) share reasonably similar traits with Breath of the Wild; and
WHEREAS, when engaged, such works as Breath of the Wild and the aforementioned films of Studio Ghibli, Inc., yield reasonably similar emotional experiences in audiences polled through meticulous, extensive, and numerous psychological studies (see: “Addendum A”); and
WHEREAS, Breath of the Wild’s plot contemplates a narrative literally propelled by the force of the wind, the courage of its protagonist, the savviness of approaches toward problem-solving, and the accumulation of spiritual power through trials, which are all traits shared by the aforementioned films of Studio Ghibli, Inc.; and
WHEREAS, in a just society, comparisons between works of artistic merit shall be drawn by deliberators of culture (see: “The Editors of The Dot and Line”) to better understand the world around them; and
WHEREAS, the deliberation of animated works of artistic merit, be they filmic or interactive, is the highest calling all serious contemplators of world culture; and
WHEREAS, the films directed by Hayao Miyazaki of Studio Ghibli, Inc., are perfect, and The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild is comparable in its quality, in addition to being compulsively playable, having been declared a “masterpiece” several times over.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE EDITORS OF THE DOT AND LINE:
Section 1. The Editors hereby go on record as recognizing Nintendo Co., Ltd.’s, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild as kith and kin on the works of Studio Ghibli, Inc.
Section 2. The Editors are directed to share a copy of this Resolution with the respective representatives of Nintendo Co., Ltd., and Studio Ghibli, Inc.
Section 3. This Resolution shall take effect from and after its adoption, the welfare of animation aficionados, gamers, and the citizenry of the Earth requiring it.
Sponsored by: John Maher, Sammy Nickalls, Eric Vilas-Boas.
ADDENDA
Addendum A: Such psychological studies as “The Watch Party for Princess Mononoke,” conducted at the residence of John Maher, 2015; and “The Watch Party for Castle in the Sky,” conducted at the residence of one John Maher, 2017; and “The Binge-Playing of Breath of the Wild,” a series of independent meta-analyses conducted by John Maher, Sammy Nickalls, Eric Vilas-Boas, and others, 2017-ongoing.
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY
Referred to: Editors of The Dot and Line
Introduced: July 20, 2017
Adopted: September 30, 2018
Returned signed by the Editors: October 2, 2018
Effective Date: October 2, 2018
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