By Jayden Nguyen
“The Boy and the Heron (How Do You Live)” is an animated movie that all ages can enjoy. Its colorful animation captivated young and older audiences. Its hidden symbolism of life and death is sprinkled throughout the film, with its Global release on Dec. 8, 2023, grossing $138 million worldwide. From the renowned studio, Ghibli brought classics such as “Grave of the Fireflies,” “Spirited Away,” “My Neighbor Totoro” and many other classics. After a decade-long hiatus, “The Boy and the Heron” is the return film for studio director Hayao Miyazaki.
Mahito Maki, a 12-year-old boy wakes up to the sound of blaring sirens and a bombing of a hospital in Tokyo that his mom is staying at. His attempts to save his mother are futile as he witnesses the hospital burn up in flames in front of his eyes. A few months after this terrible event Mahito and his Father, Shoichi, move to a small prefecture in the countryside to advance his father’s business in wartime production.
Arriving at the new town, right off the train station, he meets a young woman named Natsuko, whom his father introduces as his new mother, his late mother’s sister (aunt). Natsuko takes Mahito to his new house, on the way inside he sees a peculiar grey heron. The heron which magically begins to speak leads Mahito to a mysterious tower. Following the heron into the tower, Mahito finds himself transported into another world.
The world that he’s found himself in parallels his own, he finds himself on a hero’s journey aided by the heron that led him into this world. He finds himself meeting creatures and people from all walks of life, from humanoid talking parakeets to the younger versions of people from his life. He eventually returns to his world through a hallway with doors reflecting his emotions. He escapes the world and reunites with his father Shoichi and his new mother.
“The Boy and the Heron” is an animated film that can be enjoyed by all ages, with its colorful animation captivating its younger audience, with its themes on life and death beguiling its older viewers. Its symbolism of death is represented through many scenes in the movie mostly seen in the death of characters, always coming to the demise with fire. Seemingly in the same vein as fire causing the death of characters, it also represents the revival and the new life of them as well.
“The Boy and the Heron” is a film that can be enjoyed and watched by all ages. If you’re looking for something to watch in your free time, this animated film is highly recommended.
