It’s no secret that Hayao Miyazaki’s return to animation with Studio Ghibli’s The Boy and the Heron was a critical and financial success. Many were, however, perplexed about the movie’s overall meaning. While the film is thematically rich, we want to focus on what it has to say about losing a loved one. Read on to find out more about The Boy and the Heron‘s poignant depiction of grief and acceptance.
What Happens in The Boy and the Heron?
If you haven’t seen The Boy and the Heron, we suggest you check it out before reading the rest of this article (spoiler alert!). The film begins in wartorn Japan with our protagonist, Mahito, who moves to the countryside after losing his mother in a bombing raid. There he follows a talking heron into a fantastical but crumbling world to save his new mother. An aging Granduncle runs the world and recognizes its poor state. He gives Mahito a choice between rebuilding this world or saving his mother and returning home. He chooses to return home and embrace his new life.
Mahito’s Journey of Grief
The crux of Mahito’s journey in The Boy and the Heron is the grief he holds for his late mother. His detached father marries his mother’s sister, leading to Mahito lashing out. However, Mahito eventually sees how his anger affects his new mother and the lives around him. He realizes that he needs to move on from his current state of grief and accept his new life. With this realization, Mahito rejects the dream-like world given to him, saves his new mother, and returns to the real world.
The Boy and the Heron: A Personal Story
Despite its complex plot, you can trace themes of grief to director Hayao Miyazaki’s creative process. He based the story and characters on his life and partnerships, namely with producer Isao Takahata, who died in 2018. Mahito is Miyazaki’s surrogate with the Granduncle character based on Takahata. Mahito’s decision to reject Grand-Uncle’s offer to return to his life offers much food for thought. Is Miyazaki accepting the grief of losing his friend with a new outlook? It’s hard to say, but it’s clear that the themes of grief and acceptance ran deep in Miyazaki’s creative process for The Boy and the Heron.
Is This Miyazaki’s Farewell?
It’s not clear whether Hayao Miyazaki intends to re-retire or if he’ll make another film. If The Boy and the Heron is his final movie, Miyazaki gave his audience a memorable and deeply personal story about loss and accepting the grief that comes with it. While we hope Miyazaki doesn’t call it quits just yet, we’ll never take his work for granted!
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