This isn't really that shocking or anything though. I guess it seems like huge news to people who don't follow the industry at all and only pay attention to a Ghibli film once every one or two years. Like I mentioned before in the previous thread about the rumor - Goro Miyazaki is currently directing a CG TV series at Polygon Pictures which will start broadcast in October. This means he isn't able to direct anything in the next year or so. The latest Ghibli film didn't do well at the box office at all, and that probably made them rethink giving Yonebayashi another film immediately. Miyazaki has retired. Takahata is probably not making another film again. So who's left?
Ghibli doesn't have much directing talent because they chase good talent away with their studio culture, and very few end up rising through the ranks. If they have no immediate film to produce next, shutting down the production department makes sense. Could Ghibli never make another film again? Sure. Could they reopen the production department when they eventually decide to start making another film in a year or two? Also a possibility.
It's not as simple as "OMG Ghibli is dead!" because unlike other animation studios in Japan, Ghibli only makes feature films. So what this means in the immediate future is that they are not going to be in active production for a feature film, which is already sort of assumed based on recent events. What happens after that remains to be seen.
