Malaysia’s Hari Raya 2025 Goes Full Ghibli, But Raises Some Eyebrows Too
Families reuniting during Hari Raya Aidilfitri excitedly turned their family portraits into whimsical cartoon characters following Studio Ghibli’s iconic illustration style but a privacy company advises caution.
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Family reunions during the Hari Raya Aidilfitri celebrations were made even sweeter this year, with many turning their annual family photos into Studio Ghibli-like illustrations using AI.
People loved seeing themselves and their loved ones represented as cartoons in Hayao Miyazaki’s iconic style.
Others who weren’t celebrating Hari Raya Aidilfitri also joined in the fun. A user created a full Lord of the Rings trailer using the Ghibli style.
@mama_dknr1113 #ghibli #ghiblistudios #ghiblistyle #ghiblichallenge #harirayaaidilfitri2025 ♬ suara asli – Arlaaaa🚩
Can imagine we will celebrate hari raya in ghibli style this year. pic.twitter.com/Wui1h9IsXu
— Amirulhafiz (@eyemeroll) March 27, 2025
Katanya sih lagi rame…
— nouVEL raKA (@celotehraka) March 28, 2025
Katanya…
Ghibli emang punya karakter kuat dalam style anime-nya. Bisa mengconvert photo ke gaya Ghibli animation, sebuah pencapaian AI yang menarik.
This is iconic. pic.twitter.com/p1EgsqDISy
The trend, known as the Ghibli style or Ghibli challenge, can be easily replicated by using OpenAI’s ChatGPT. Users just upload a picture on the AI tool and ask for it to be drawn in Studio Ghibli’s trademark style.
The popular trend had a worldwide effect, causing ChatGPT’s graphics processing units (GPU) to “melt” under pressure and was enough to crash the servers over the weekend.
OpenAI founder, Sam Altman, jokingly asked everyone to “chill on generating images” because the team needed sleep.
can yall please chill on generating images this is insane our team needs sleep
— Sam Altman (@sama) March 30, 2025
To manage the surge, OpenAI introduced a limit, capping free usage to three images per day per user. Free users previously had unlimited generations.
However, paid subscribers, including ChatGPT Plus, Pro, Team, and Select users still have access.
OpenAI also announced temporary rate limits to let the company’s GPUs “cool off.”
it's super fun seeing people love images in chatgpt.
— Sam Altman (@sama) March 27, 2025
but our GPUs are melting.
we are going to temporarily introduce some rate limits while we work on making it more efficient. hopefully won't be long!
chatgpt free tier will get 3 generations per day soon.
What does Hayao Miyazaki think of the trend?
While this is all fun for users excited to celebrate the festivities, fans of Miyazaki saw these images as an insult to the renowned artist and his studio team.
The fans pointed out that Miyazaki doesn’t support AI art. Miyazaki was once shown an AI-generation model in 2016 and famously remarked that it was “an insult to life itself.”
He was shown a video of a monster character generated using text prompts. In the video clip that has resurfaced, Miyazaki said he would never wish to incorporate this technology into his work at all.
So far, Miyazaki and his studio have not made a statement regarding the Ghibli trend online.
READ MORE: Stunning Studio Ghibli Batik Now Exists Thanks To Malaysian Artist’s Love For Both
READ MORE: Hayao Miyazaki’s Final Film Set For International Debut After Record-Breaking Opening
Are there safety issues?
Yes, it’s fun to generate images using AI but there might be security issues that users might want to take into consideration.
AI generators learn from mimicking or copying from other available materials that it has been fed. This is one of the many reasons why artists and authors are vehemently against their works being plagiarised to build AI models.
Think this is a fun trend? Think again.
— Proton (@ProtonPrivacy) March 27, 2025
While some don't have an issue sharing selfies on social media, the trend of creating a "Ghibli-style" image has seen many people feeding OpenAI photos of themselves and their families.
Here's why that's a problem:
1/4 pic.twitter.com/o9VqS3Teoe
Privacy company Proton (@ProtonPrivacy), the same people behind the end-to-end encrypted email service Proton Mail, explained why uploading personal pictures of your family to the AI tool may not be a good idea in the long run.
The company pointed out that once the images are uploaded on the AI tool, people lose control over how the images will be used in the future because these photos will be used to train AI.
Proton Privacy put forward a potential scenario; the image uploaded can be used to generate content that can defame or harass someone. The data, now available to the company, can also be used for personalized ads or sold to third parties.
Currently, the laws governing AI usage, especially regarding copyright, are still in their infancy and companies are making use of the current loopholes.
OpenAI previously said its policies allow image generation in “broader studio styles” but not “the style of a living artist.”
It may be safer to be cautious for now lest we get into something we regret.
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