Thatās just my opinion, but I think Miyazaki has been losing his grip over the years. His last movie was borderline schizophrenic and unsettling. After each of his last three films, he swears itās his final one and that heās retiringāonly to come back again. About a decade ago, his own son made his debut with an adaptation of Earthsea, which I actually thought was pretty solid, but Miyazaki publicly called him a failure and an embarrassment. Honestly, it seems like being a legendary figure in Japanese animation has gone to his head, and now heās just a bitter old man struggling to cope with modern times and technology. He used to admire engineering, especially aircraft tech, but now heās railing against innovations that have the potential to shake up the entire human race. Kinda sad, really.
Discussion
Oh, and he also had a beef with Tolkien.
You donāt understand how people behave in traditional Japanese society. Not accepting a son's work is literally the highest form of praise. "Last work" is a reference to master swordsmiths, whose "last blades" were so numerous they could be measured in tons.
Iāve been studying Japanese society and culture for 17 years. He was not simply ānot accepting his sonās workā. He was calling it a disgrace. And Hayao is not a swordsmith, he is a salty grandpa that finds it hard to let go.