Hayao Miyazaki Archives | Otaku No Culture

Unpacking The Boy and The Heron, and Reflecting on What is Not A Swan Song

Hayao Miyazaki’s latest film, The Boy and the Heron, has a lot of imagery that won’t be immediately understood. We offer our interpreation on this magical film!

Spoiler Alert

Hayao Miyazaki‘s latest film is perhaps his most personal. Unless fans know what his younger life was like, it’s easy not to understand what The Boy and the Heron are about. This semi-autobiographical work released by Studio Ghibli has lots of imagery to unpack, and not all of them subscribe to his beliefs regarding Shintoism.

Instead, I recommend watching the documentary “Never Ending Man: Hayao Miyazaki.” (review and Amazon link) Even without this knowledge, what’s presented is more than his usual coming-of-age story about a youth not accepting the future, and being willing to move on.

When considering, this movie refers to Genzaburo Yoshino‘s book, “How Do You Live?” this theme is not all that surprising. Here, Mahito (Soma Santoki) is struggling to deal with life without a mother. This feature shows how Hisako died in a hospital fire. This happens during the onset of the Asian Pacific War, and is not a result of recent bombing, otherwise there would be American planes seen leaving the scene.

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After TIFF, Studio Ghibli and Hayao Miyazaki’s The Boy and the Heron Will Take Flight Across North America!

The much anticiapted debut of The Boy and the Heron is coming to TIFF today, and we have the info on where it’ll screen next!

The Boy and the Heron Japanese Poster — Kimitachi wa Do Ikiruka (Japanese title) Movie Poster

GKIDS, the acclaimed producer and distributor of award-winning animation from around the globe, announced today it will bring The Boy and the Heron, the highly anticipated new film from legendary, Academy Award-winning Hayao Miyazaki, to cinemas nationwide on December 8, 2023.

The latest feature from Japan’s celebrated animation house, Studio Ghibli, begins special preview engagements on November 22 before expanding to cinemas nationwide and in Canada on December 8, 2023. As with previous Studio Ghibli titles, the film will be released in its original Japanese with English subtitles, as well as a new English language version. This film was released in Japan as “Kimitachi wa Do Ikiruka” (translated as “How Do You Live”)

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Future Boy Conan is Swingin on Home Video!

Conan lives the jungle life and is very much a Tarzan boy. But when a mysterious girl washes up on a beach and he rescues her, trouble is coming! In this home video release of Future Boy Conan, fans can enjoy this classic!

Available to purchase on Amazon USA

Not everyone will recall Hayao Miyazaki worked on various animated television shows before transitioning to making feature-length films. He provided key animation to films like Puss in Boots and Animal Treasure Island. Those haven’t received a Blu-ray upgrade yet, but with the release of Future Boy Conan, it’s safe to assume they will one day come. In the meantime, this product is a must to give to any collector of this filmmaker’s works. Christmas is coming.

GKIDS & Shout! Factory’s release of this whimsical post-apocalyptic style adventure can see how this first-time director whetted his feet as an up-and-coming director. Although he changed a lot of the story–it was supposed to be an adaptation of The Incredible Tide by Alexander Key–the problems that later arose meant that for a time, no North American release was possible despite having having an English dub stuck in storage for decades (it was redone for this release).

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Straight up We’ll Climb in this GKIDS Rerelease of The Wind Rises

This GKIDs re-release is a step above from the prior Disney version. The transfer is essentially the same. We get a few added videos, like “10 Years With Hayao Miyazaki Documentary” and “Film Completion Press Conference.”

By Ed Sum
(The Vintage Tempest)

GKIDS & Shout! Factory

Release Date:
Sept 22, 2020

The question of which North American Studio Ghibli home video release is worthwhile to own depends on how consistent the package design is between each distributor’s release. I tried to obtain all the region two releases but as home video player technologies changed, I adapted because I favoured high definition over a low fidelity DVD format.

The changeover of rights is not confusing. Disney got the license for certain films, and if the title was deemed “too adult,” it was a Touchstone Pictures release. Universal Pictures handled the non-Miyazaki products, and over time the Mouse conceded. GKIDs and Shout! Factory took over distribution. I’m at the point of filing away my cases and making a custom binder to store my many versions and not worrying about how my collection looks on the media shelf. With The Wind Rises now on Bluray, I can say my collection is more or less complete.

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Get Spirited Away to Theatres Halloween Eve & with a Collector’s Edition Nov 12th!

The Wind Rises By Ed Sum
(The Vintage Tempest)

Oct 28th (sub) & 30th (dub)
Please check local listings

Released by:
GKIDS & Shout! Factory

Home video release date:
November 12, 2019

Studio Ghibli’s Spirited Away (千と千尋の神隠し) is returning to theatres this week courtesy of GKIDS and for those discovering this magical film for the first time, they can enjoy it again when the Blu-ray Collector’s Edition arrives on home video two weeks later. To time the cinematic screening with Halloween is not unusual because of the themes. It’s a Alice in Wonderland style parable, and the themes are just as reverent for the season.

This film deserves to be seen on the big screen first before taking the spirits–er, film home. That way, this work can be enjoyed year round.
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Mononoke Hime Collector’s Edition to hit Shelves May 14th!

Owners of the complete works of Studio Ghibli need not pick up this edition. However, for those who are just jumping in and cannot afford the mega-pack, buying these Collector’s editions are a must.

By Ed Sum
(The Vintage Tempest)

Fans of Hayao Miyazaki can rejoice! The next title in GKIDs and Shout! Factory‘s Studio Ghibli Collector’s Edition release is Mononoke Hime. This film is one of this filmmaker’s finest. An all new essay in this package explains the themes so everyone can enjoy this work as this director intended. Included in this box set is a 38-page booklet, the soundtrack and images from the Art of publication.

As a lifelong fan of this studio’s works, I have no problems buying this title again. Perhaps, in the future, a digital code can be offered so we can enjoy both the movie and music on the go.

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