A new movie has popped up from the animation legends, Studio Ghibli. The Boy and the Heron stole attention as a highly-awaited movie because of the golden Ghibli movie reputation. Ghibli movies have always had a captivating hold on global audiences, establishing a mystical style that’s easy to recognize. The movies are so iconic it created its own division in animated movies, artstyle, and aesthetic. Ghibli style consists of a soft 90’s anime retro vibe while still maintaining a pleasing aesthetic sense. The studio is incredibly popular for its attention to detail, vibrant colors, and outstanding character design, but the highlight of the animations is the fact that its hand-drawn. The studio’s net income is 3.43 billion yen and total assets acquired is 31.179 billion yen.
Many were shocked at the announcement of the movie, not expecting the renowned studio to have a bare advertisement for a new movie. The film virtually had zero pre-release promotion before its release. According to an interview with NHK, Studio Ghibli’s producer Suzuki Toshio explained that the minimalist advertisement style was to let the audience watch the film with zero expectations on the story. “I don’t want people to watch the movie simply to confirm what they already know,” said Suzuki Toshio. So it was expected that the film was more about delivering a meaningful message than trying to lengthen the legacy of the studio.
The Boy and the Heron had a huge philosophical message behind all the aesthetic drawings. It started off with a young boy named Mahito moving to a new rural town after his mother’s tragic death. With his father, he moves into his mother’s family villa in the countryside to live with his new mother (his past mother’s sister…). There are many strange instances at the house that haunt Mahito’s daily life including hallucinations, nightmares, and especially the strange heron. The heron’s croaks sound early human and creeps Mahito out. Eventually the heron (now embodying a form that feels strangely human) tells the boy that his mother is alive and beckons the boy to enter the abandoned tower in the forest. After his new mother disappears into the forest, Mahito blames the tower and the strange heron and starts a journey searching for her. Mahito is then transported to a completely new world of the living and the dead, desperate to save his new mother while still mourning the loss of his passed one. His journey consists of a lot of intrapersonal prospects and coming to terms with loss.
Despite its very modest advertising, the movie did incredibly well. Box Office US reports the movie made 138.4 million dollars in sales and it earned a rotten tomato rating of 97%. Despite the confusing storyline, many say it was well balanced by the emotional philosophical scenes. “The Boy and the Heron” takes some patience. The first hour is arguably a bit too long, repeating some plot points more than it needs to before thrusting Mahito into his true journey. And there are times even in the second half when it feels like Miyazaki the writer spins his wheels, but the patience here is rewarded by final scenes that really land emotionally….After gifting us with so many visions, Hayao Miyazaki isn’t telling us to live in those animated worlds—he’s telling us to live in our own. And we can still visit him whenever we need a reminder of how to live.”(Rogerebert Reviews). Another similar review comes from the New York Post, commenting on its dizzying storyline yet powerful emotional influence. “Heron” is not as perfect as some of Miyazaki’s past movies. The trippy story is dizzying by the end as too many characters are introduced too late and we navigate a thicket of hastily explained narrative elements. But it nonetheless leaves a powerful emotional effect if you let it wash over you.” (New York Post).
In my opinion, the movie was incredibly beautiful and had a lot of jaw-dropping scenes that just dazzled with its aesthetic artistic skill. The combination of new digital technology and its hand drawn charm was well-done. I was really pulled into the story and desperate to know more about the world Miyazaki created. But I was not satisfied in the world-building aspect. The mystical world Mahito gets transported to is definitely unique, but it wasn’t executed as cleanly as it could’ve been. At the end of the movie, I had so many questions about the world, character motives, and story that I felt a little frustrated. Just like the quotes in the above paragraph explain, the start of the movie felt incredibly slow then suddenly way too fast near the end. I will admit the movie had a lot of philosophical meaning and importance, but I could only process that kind of message after the movie (with movie reviews). During the movie, I was too taken aback by the story to even think about the underlying message from the character actions. I also didn’t feel a strong affinity towards any of the main cast like I did with previous Ghibli movies. But all in all, it was well developed and emotionally moving. It displays the constant clash between family, but also the infinite love in one. You can really see all the effort Miyazaki put into this movie to display the question: How do you live?
