Yoshiyuki Tomino, the creator of the Mobile Suit Gundam franchise, encouraged young professionals to “crush” Hayao Miyazaki and surpass him.

Tomino’s comments are praise for Miyazaki and Studio Ghibli, who have arguably elevated anime as a storytelling medium with fanciful works such as Castle in the Sky, Whisper of the Heart, Spirited Away, and more.

Tomino and Miyazaki are both veterans in the animation industry and both have been outspoken about the troubles that are facing the profession (fun fact: both of them have been critical of Disney).

Recently, Miyazaki’s film The Boy and the Heron received an academy award, bringing anime back into the spotlight of mainstream audiences. Back in 2001, Spirited Away also received an academy award, which helped bring Miyazaki’s earlier work to American audiences. The award compelled Tomino to speak up about anime and Miyazaki at the recent Niigata International Film Festival.

According to a translation from CBR, Tomino called on young animators to aspire to “crush” Miyazaki. While “crush” is a strong word, Tomino’s comments are meant more as encouragement, he likely views popular animators and artists like Miyazaki and Eiichiro Oda (One Piece) as metaphorical mountains to be conquered, especially since as both men age, it will likely be someone young who surpasses either of them.

“Everyone, please work hard to crush Miyazaki! I can’t do it anymore…

Young creators shouldn’t take [this] lightly. You can’t surpass Miyazaki or One Piece without truly dedicating yourselves.”

It’d be easy for young animators to see legends in the industry as unattainable goals, that’s true of almost any profession where skill and creativity play a role. However it seems Tomino feels that young animators should strive for that level of skill and acclaim, rather than feel it’s something out of reach.

Who knows, the next Miyazaki could be working as a manga assistant at this very moment.