*For the purpose of this article, “How Do You Live” refers to the Japan release and “The Boy and the Heron” refers to the U.S. release.
Content warning: Film contains minor depictions of self harm and bloody violence
Without a whisper of official marketing, trailers nor even an announced plot summary or cast, “How Do You Live” broke records in Japan as the biggest opening weekend in animation giant Studio Ghibli’s history.
The film earned $13.2 million (1.83 billion yen) from this past summer’s release date of Friday, July 14 to the following Sunday, which blew past the 1.48 billion yen debut of “Howl’s Moving Castle” in 2004.
The renowned animation director Hayao Miyazaki expressed anxiety about the zero publicity plan, as this film’s release has spotlighted his return from a ten-year supposed retirement hiatus. This is on top of a suggestion from a Ghibli executive that alluded to more films ahead that would be under Miyazaki’s name.
The film’s own emphasis on separation, loss, and belonging may be the most insight into how the famed animation creative may already be thinking about goodbyes. As for filling theater seats in the first place, it is already the case with Japanese moviegoers that both a new film’s popularity and prestige travel fastest by word of mouth.
“Out of all the past Studio Ghibli films, I would say ‘Spirited Away’ is the most similar to ‘How Do You Live,’” said Mitchell Kazumaru Christ, a software developer who travels between Japan and the US “at least twice a year” as a dual citizen.
Christ saw the film shortly after its summer release and had, until then, missed the in-story worlds of Ghibli. He commented on the possible difference in reception non-Japanese audiences may have to “The Boy and the Heron,” stating “the only thing foreigners may not immediately pick up is the cultural and historical nuances,” but said otherwise, worldwide audiences will likely enjoy it as is.
In anticipation of a local theatrical release, non-Japan audiences can connect directly with Miyzaki’s inspirational source material: Genzaburo Yoshino’s novel “How Do You Live.” This is what M.S. Game Design and Development ‘24 student Seleny Xie did before attending the advanced Los Angeles screening on November 22nd. “I wouldn’t say this is a film adaptation, but rather both the film and book draw on the same emotions. You won’t be able to necessarily match specific pages to a scene,” says Xie who also translates classic film franchises to VR platforms under Sony Pictures Virtual Reality. The New York Times critics who reviewed the book’s first English translation might have agreed, who proposed Yoshino’s philosophies as “fairly dense and demanding” in a 2021 review when the film existed only in rumors.
The creators of Studio Ghibli usually encourage viewers to immerse themselves first in the films’ landscapes before contemplating their deeper meanings, with this film in particular prioritizing world-building over character relationship dynamics. When released in the U.S., “The Boy and the Heron’' may reward repeat viewings by being a treat for the escapists in childhood fans and Ghibli newcomers alike.
Similar to the Oscar-winning “Spirited Away,” the narrative arc of “The Boy and the Heron” progresses like a journey spiraling inward to more supernatural, but intimate scenes. Viewers will follow the young protagonist, Mahito, as he begrudgingly moves to a new home in the countryside and begins to encounter odd phenomena like sneering animals and hyper-realistic dreams.
What is in the film’s first few seconds of rushed chaos shows a somber signal of heavy topics ahead. This opener is the spark for Mahito’s inner motivations and torments, and can explain why these would bubble beneath a young boy’s stone-cold resolve. In other words, do not arrive late and miss this movie’s beginning.
Since the start, this film held its ground standing on the mature end of Ghibli films, but also animation films at large. The fantastical nature of the world is disorienting, and perhaps haunting in a creeping feeling that only something from the hand-drawn uncanny valley can depict.
Mahito and other characters seem to sense their surroundings’ swarming and increasingly supernatural nature. Ghibli fans will recognize the studio’s uniquely staged physics where rivers look like billowing ribbons and tears squeeze out of eyes in large droplets.
Yet something red also falls down Mahito’s face, but his gaze is unfettered, and suddenly “The Boy and the Heron” is about something very real. Minor, but bloody depictions of self-harm are shown on screen which could seem like a first for Ghibli or animation movie watchers. However, gently and knowingly, a mutual revealing of scars from healing is also shown later.
Playing in surround sound is Joe Hisaishi’s original soundtrack for the film, which sounds less like a lullaby and more like a long goodbye. He performed one of the tracks, ”Ask Me Why” solo on piano during his Symphonic Concert Tour this past year, which Jake Cunningham of the UK-based Ghibliotheque Podcast recounted as the moment he cried from Hisaishi’s “vulnerable and compassionate” playing. While Cunningham, like many fans that night, had not seen the film, he appreciated that the song, standing alone from its movie, purely lent itself to “the theater of the mind.”
One other motif too intricate to be labeled only as a conversation of grief or loss, is how the past overtakes the present moment. It can come quietly and deeply sink oneself into imaginary water or it can break down the front door with ferocity.
Mahito carries these things and more and marches across the screen in many instances. As a Ghibli protagonist, he is young and he is decisive. He cries, yet grits his teeth and aims a weapon. He is not noble, but determined.
Even if given an open door to turn back, he continues forward as if to not lose sight, as if he was left behind first. Eventually, Mahito interrupts his own present path and, against the warnings of folklore, follows a gray heron or “Aosagibi” down a perhaps not-so-proverbial rabbit hole.
The tale that unfolds after is a thrilling and heartfelt adventure that marks Miyazaki’s grand return to cinema. The pivotal challenges along the way are gritty, yet hard-won lessons making “The Boy and the Heron” a worthy spectacle standing out from the already extraordinary legacy it continues.
Wondering what to watch while you wait for tickets? In anticipation of the December 8 U.S. release of “The Boy and the Heron,” prepare to meander through passageways of other worlds tilted from the reality we know with a hint of nonsensical and nostalgic:
- “Suzume” (2022), CoMix Wave Films
- “Kubo and the Two Strings” (2016), Laika Entertainment
- “Treasure Planet” (2002), Walt Disney Pictures
Read the book, of which “The Boy and the Heron” is based on: How Do You Live? By Genzaburo Yoshino, first published in 1937.
This article was originally published on October 17. It has been updated with revisions to writing as well as additional content.