The news hit the Venice Film Festival unexpectedly: Hayao Miyazaki, the world's most honored creator of animated  features, was ending his movie career.  Koji Hoshino, who is the president of Mr. Miyazaki's production company, made the announcement at the film festival, where Mr. Miyazaki's latest work, The Wind Rises, was shown. "Miyazaki has decided that The Wind Rises will be his last film, and he will now retire," said Mr. Hoshino. The language of the announcement is believed to have left the door open for Mr. Miyazaki to work on shorter projects. Mr. Miyazaki's latest work has been met with some controversy in Japan and in Republic of Korea. The Wind Rises is a fictional account on the life of JiroHorikoshi, the engineer who designed the Mitsubishi A6M Zero, a fighter plane used in the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941. Some Japanese conservatives have criticized Mr. Miyazaki for the film's antiwar attitude, while some Internet users in Republic of Korea have accused him of romanticizing  the inventor of a plane that became a symbol for the Japanese military during World War II. The controversy, however, doesn't change the fact that Mr. Miyazaki is one of the most famous figures in animated filmmaking. The72-year-old has directed 11animated features over 34 years, including the international hits My Neighbor Totoro, Princess Mononoke, Spirited Away and Howl's Moving Castle. In the age of digital animation, Mr. Miyazaki has remained faithful to the hand-drawn technique. His movies, known for their entertaining plots, convincing characters and wonderful animation, won him critical praise as well as public recognition. In 2003, Mr. Miyazaki won an Oscar for best animated feature for Spirited Away, and he was awarded a Golden Lion for lifetime achievement at the Venice Film Festival in 2005. It's doubtless a shame if animation lovers will really see no more new works from the legend. May his announced retirement be a brief, dark impulse . May he go on attracting movie fans for years to come. What does the author think of Mr. Miyazaki's retirement?
It's surprising. It's disappointing. It 's a pity. It's acceptable.