Since 1986, Studio Ghibli has been in the business of providing original animated features that have grown into modern classics, though a sequel film or franchise has yet to appear on their production slate.  Writer-director Hayao Miyazaki, who has had a creative hand in well over half of the studio's productions, recently suggested that this might change in the near future for one particular film.  Though Miyazaki technically wrote and directed Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind just before Studio Ghibli was formed, he's apparently open to a sequel of the beloved adaptation.  The real kicker here is that he wouldn't be directing it; that honor would fall to Neon Genesis Evangelion director, Hideaki Anno.  Hit the jump for more.

While promoting the upcoming film, The Wind Rises, Miyazaki appeared on a Japanese talk show in which he hinted at the possibility of a Nausicaä sequel (via Rocket News 24).  Miyazai and Anno have a long history that actually goes back to the 1984 film.  Then an animation artist, Anno reportedly impressed Miyazaki so much that the director trusted him with animating some of the film's more complex sequences.  Not only did this experience kick open the door for Anno's career, it led to a long-burning desire to revisit Nausicaä for a sequel, which makes sense considering the first film only adapted approximately two of the manga's seven volumes.

Here's what Miyazaki had to say about the potential film, followed by his full interview on the show (in Japanese only, for the moment):

“I have no interest in doing a sequel to Nausicaa,” Miyazaki said on Osama no Brunch. “But these days I think if Anno really wants to do it, he should.”