Plot: Mahito is a young boy who moves to the countryside after his mother dies in the Tokyo bombings. There he is stalked by a heron, who pushes him to explore a strange tower nearby. The tower is invariably linked to the boy's past, but there doesn't seem to be an entrance and the place is shunned by the locals. Mahito suspects that the tower can reunite him with his mother, and with the help of the heron he manages to open a secret gate. The inside of the tower houses a mysterious world governed by birds, who d
Watches
November 01, 2023
Miyazaki's second farewell movie. While I was happy to get a new Miyazaki film, I must admit that The Wind Rises was more suitable as a career finale. The Boy and the Heron feels like an amalgam of Miyazaki's oeuvre, taking cues from many of his previous films. While interesting in its own right, it also makes it one of his most redundant films, as it doesn't add anything substantial to Miyazaki's existing oeuvre. The animation is sublime, the fantasy elements are wondrous and the film is extremely polished, but in the end, it's quintessential Miyazaki. Word is he's already considering a new film, so maybe he'll surprise us with a second encore.