Being someone who has paid a lot of attention to Ghibli, I wouldn’t say their style was well established 35-40 years ago…
There is considerable evolution and refinement to their style from Naushika, to later works, both in the artistic style and the philosophical content it presents.
I think allowing it to be fair game would have destroyed something quite beautiful that I’ve watched evolve across 40 years and which I was hoping to see the natural conclusion of without him being bothered by the AI-fication of his work.
Yeah, of course their style isn't static, but I was taking Kiki's Delivery Service (1989) as a point where much of their visual style was pretty well-established.
I agree that some of his main elements were relatively set by then but others continue to evolve.
Personally I feel that his work is entirely fair game after his death, by which I mean to say after the end of his journey that he has poured his entirety into, in terms of value to humanity and respect to him for that value I think it’s reasonable to respect his wishes during his lifespan.
I think allowing it to be fair game would have destroyed something quite beautiful that I’ve watched evolve across 40 years and which I was hoping to see the natural conclusion of without him being bothered by the AI-fication of his work.