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The story
During development of The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, Shigeru Miyamoto said in a 1999 interview that he was surprised by how much the “material” of the game overlapped with Hayao Miyazaki’s Princess Mononoke, which came out around the same time — and the remark has become a hot topic on 5ch’s hardware/industry board. Sparked by his comment that a horse-riding protagonist and a giant creature ended up in both works by coincidence, the thread saw a string of posts cross-checking timelines to figure out “which one thought of it first.” Discussion also spread to the personnel ties between Nintendo’s art department and Studio Ghibli, along with claims that later entries in the series resemble past works, turning this into more than just a simple “ripoff” debate.
Right after finishing The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, Shigeru Miyamoto discussed the influence he took from Hayao Miyazaki’s film Princess Mononoke in an interview in the February 1999 issue of the gaming magazine Gēmujin. What’s interesting is that it wasn’t just a case of being influenced — he recalled that the two works, made in production at almost the same time, ended up with “material that was shockingly similar” once finished.
During development, staff had floated ideas of using a unicorn or an elk instead of a horse. In the end, Miyamoto decided, “Let’s go with a horse” — and he said Princess Mononoke played a part in that decision. However, Miyamoto didn’t go into detail about exactly how Princess Mononoke influenced the “let’s go with a horse” call.
He then talked about a similarity involving a mounted archer and a giant Goron. Miyamoto pointed to the scene of Link firing a bow while riding on horseback, and the scene of a giant Goron walking with a mountain in the background. While working on these, he recalled, “it turned out that was basically Ashitaka and the Daidarabotchi — I was honestly floored.”
Source: gamestalk.net / Original article here
What people said
Unless it's got a specific name, I guess
Even a horse with a specific name doesn't get copyright or publicity rights
Their legendary legal department strikes again!
Tears of the Kingdom's Depths are a straight-up ripoff of the Sea of Corruption from Nausicaä
They're clearly influenced by Ghibli films
Princess Mononoke spent 16 years in the planning stage, though
Ocarina of Time: ~3 years development, released 1998
Princess Mononoke: 16 years of planning, 3 years production, released 1997
However you slice it, Ocarina of Time is the one that copied lol
That's going to make every Virtual On player your enemy — what makes you say that?
In terms of the direction and the setting
Nintendo has always had staff with Ghibli connections anyway
For starters, Yoichi Kotabe, who headed Nintendo's art department, was actually Miyazaki's senior back in his animator days
He's such a towering figure that from Panda! Go, Panda! all the way through 3000 Leagues in Search of Mother, he formed a trio with Isao Takahata and Hayao Miyazaki
Of course it's going to look similar
Technology's moved forward but they're doing the exact same thing as 18 years ago
They should be ashamed of themselves
Star Wars is a ripoff of Star Trek too, you know
That's a ripoff of Peter Pan
That's actually Robin Hood
Lol it does look alike
Re: #43
That's just a piece of fan art though
Master Chief Link ("マスチー" is Japanese fan slang for Master Chief from Halo)
What's your basis for thinking Peter Pan isn't fan art?
You don't even know Disney's Peter Pan? lol
There were Peter Pan picture books before Disney even existed, though
Disney's Robin Hood is older, though
Damn, that's rough lol
Don't waste 1.5MB on an image like this lol 🤣
This is awful lmao
They were already ripping it off back then lol
What do you mean?
You on garbage internet or something?
Can't you get it looking clean at like 100KB?
Creators are better off not doing interviews
Some media outlets ask leading questions too
And once creators get successful, an overconfident remark slips out without them meaning it
I feel like I get why the creators of Fullmetal Alchemist and Demon Slayer avoid social media and stay out of the public eye
Still, since games have to handle their own promotion, someone needs to serve as the main face of the brand
These days that's Miyamoto and Aonuma
Maybe when Zelda drew on ancient Japanese elements, it just happened to overlap with Princess Mononoke
Japan is amazing
Though with BotW and TotK it feels less like an overlap and more like they deliberately layered it on
Background and Key Points of This Topic
The source is an interview in the February 1999 issue of the gaming magazine Gēmujin, and the backdrop is that Ocarina of Time (released 1998, about 3 years in development) was made at nearly the same time as Princess Mononoke (released 1997, 16 years of conception plus 3 years of production). In the thread, posts checking timelines to determine “which one was conceived first” stood out, but Miyamoto’s own comment wasn’t about “imitation” — he described a coincidental overlap where “the material happened to be similar,” not an admission of copying. That distinction is easy to miss, and the quoted portion of the article doesn’t claim a direct influence either. Another point of discussion was the personnel ties between Nintendo and Ghibli: it was noted that Yoichi Kotabe, who served as art director, had a background as an animator alongside Isao Takahata and Hayao Miyazaki, leading some to frame it less as straightforward copying and more as “the same lineage of creators arriving at similar expressions.” Others pointed to similarities in titles after Breath of the Wild, broadening the discussion from Ocarina of Time alone to the art style of the series as a whole.
*This article is compiled as an excerpt/summary from the 5ch (Hardware/Industry (Geha)) thread “Miyamoto: ‘Ocarina of Time’ and ‘Princess Mononoke’ Had Shockingly Similar Material.”
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