GoKawiilHayao Miyazaki credits 1971 comic Rowlf for reshaping his creative direction after Castle of Cagliostro
Miyazaki has said that in 1980, feeling his work had grown repetitive following the box-office failure of The Castle of Cagliostro, he began questioning his reliance on clear-cut heroes and villains. He discovered the American comic Rowlf and the French magazine Métal Hurlant, including Mœbius's Arzach, describing both as major influences while he searched for his next project.