Gaiman recalls a particular meeting with Miramax where they seemed to struggle with the concept of an animated film that didn't hold the audience's hand. They wanted to know whether Lady Eboshi was a good guy or a bad guy, whether the Shishigami was a good god or a bad god. "Miyazaki built a film in which there are no bad guys," he says. "There are only consequences. Lady Eboshi is providing shelter for sex workers and people with leprosy, but the results of what she's doing is throwing everything off balance. You've got all of that, and meanwhile you’ve got Miramax going, 'how will we know Ashitaka is a prince? He doesn’t live in a palace'. And I'm like, 'Because he's Prince Ashitaka.'"
