Studio Ghibli's Epilogue? | The Boy and the Heron

The future of Studio Ghibli is uncertain.

As time moves forward, the key players are getting older and many have passed away. This took a massive toll on Hayao Miyazaki, who was making The Boy and the Heron at the time.

When the feature released, no one could quite grasp it's depths immediately. Many people said they had to watch it multiple times to start to find meaning. Even Miyazaki is quoted that he wasn't sure what he was making throughout the production.

This is my attempt to dig into how The Boy and the Heron spoke to me, delving behind the scenes in Studio Ghibli as they spent 7 years making this, and seeing the uncertain but promising future that is in store for the studio.

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00:00 Intro
00:59 What should I do?
04:19 I want to talk to Paku-san
08:06 Human emotions are complicated
10:20 Grief is messy

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Here are some of the articles I referenced in the video, great interviews with key animator's on The Boy and the Heron:

Also some videos I pulled from:

This video is a great look into the meaning of metaphor and also confirmed to me the comparisons to previous Ghibli work I'd noticed while watching:

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Thank you for your continued support!

[ALaughingWolf]

“To live is to love, and the price of love is grief.” Damn, those words hit hard, this was an amazing essay about not just the movie, but the man behind it, I have an even higher respect for him now than I did before.

[roadtripwarrior]

yeah man i am crying pretty much that whole video. incredibly moved by this film, moved by how it moved you, and moved by this video. Thanks Cole.

[epicmickey]

Watched The Boy and The Heron with my sister and mother. It was a very surreal experience. But I see that it hit harder for my mom who also experienced war. Living in peace is an achievement in life and things will eventually end. How is she living? With peace, faith and acceptance.

I’m used to seeing movies, especially animated movies being made as a product. This movie is a product from Miyazaki’s soul.

[NYmom]

I grew up in Japan watching the golden age of anime in the 70s-80s, but had no idea how much the work of Hayao Miyazaki and Paku-san influenced my life until I became a mother myself.

The more I watched Ghibli films and learned about Hayao Miyazaki, I see him as a young Japanese boy with a pure heart trapped in an old man’s body. The way he connects and interacts with local kindergarten children and how he admires and loves Paku-san is sincere innocence of his character.

The speech he read at Paku-san’s funeral made me cry… must be so hard to lose his dear friends at his age but I want him to live forever, because the world needs something so beautiful like his mind. ❤ Thank you so much for this lovely video.

[ctrtoken]

Oh man. After getting out of the film last year the first thing I said about it was that it "felt like Miyazaki was making a Takahata film". So seeing him being so candid about its connection to Takahata in the BTS footage is crazy.

[beefling]

My day just started and im leaking from my face 😢

[josebessa]

It's hard to put into words the deeply moving experience of watching 'The Boy and the Heron.' The references are everywhere you look; it's no wonder it stirred up a sea of memories for me.

I still recall vividly sitting in that tiny cinema inside the Ghibli Museum back in 2013, teary, thinking about art and its undeniable importance in life.

This film goes beyond being simply emotional and visually stunning. It feels like a landmark piece, a celebration of animation at its finest. It's especially refreshing in today's landscape saturated with productions often hindered by market pressures. Thankfully, we have masters like Hayao Miyazaki who create truly exceptional works.

[spaceresident]

I think that, like The Wind Rises, The Boy and the Heron is significantly elevated by knowing Miyazaki and his artistic journey. I wasn't aware of Takahata's death when I first watched The Boy and the Heron, nor was I aware of just how deep Miyazaki's friendship with Takahata was; I thought the movie was good, but I felt that there was something clearly personal to Miyazaki that I was missing. Something that would unify the themes I was seeing, especially the heavy emphasis on death and the fragility of life. That clip of Miyazaki asking the air to give back what Takahata took to his grave, along with the other clips of him dealing with grief through the storyboarding process was the missing piece for me.
Thank you for making this video.

[NighDayz]

My boyfriend and i went to see this. It was a masterpiece. Left me touched and this sense of understanding to the world that felt so warm. Such a good feeling i get from all of his movies. ❤ Truly a visionary and a unique man.

[charlieprice]

When my grandpa bob passed away in 2018, I was incredibly devastated, he was like a second father to me. He was there for me since i was born. My grandpa Joe was similar, being apart of my life and being an infinite source of witty humor and trollish antics. When he past away a year later in 2019, i thought my world was coming apart, add that to my stress from college and my strained relationship with my parents and i was a depressed mess.

So when watching the Boy and the Heron i connected it to myself, because like Mahito, i know what is it like to experience loss, grief, and pain, i know what it is like to feel resentment or distance from a new relative who i perceived to be taking my grandfather's place. I cried at night, I had hallucinations, I desperately wanted to escape this cruel world.

My depression is more managable nowadays but I still have my days when I feel sad about them. So when i watched the Boy and the Heron i felt like it was speaking to me, it helped me on my process to self-healing, inadvertedly validating my feelings, and assuring me that at the end of the day, it will all be ok, just keep living. So I did. I'm still living. Although my grandfathers aren't here anymore, I've redirected that grief to productive aspects.

Im writing a novel in honor of my grandfather's, because like Miyazaki I wanted to give them thanks and love through the best way I know how. Storytelling. I have to say goodbye in my heart. So i must do it, now only in their memory but my own inner peace.

I always tell people that spirited away appeals to my inner child, the sense of wonder and discovery and the boy and the heron appeals to my adult self, trying to live the best what i can with the means i possess.

Hence why it is my second favorite film from Miyazaki.

Thank you Miyazaki and thank you any-mation for this amazing video. It feels nice not being alone in my feelings.

(Apologies for any typos im writing on my phone).

[achilleustheodoridis]

One of the most beautiful pieces of essays I have seen about The Boy and the Heron

[thealvinpodcast]

"When one things ends, I realized life still goes on"

Thank you for this video. Not only did you make me cry a lot, but you've given me an even bigger perspective not just to The Boy and the Heron but to Studio Ghibli as a whole.

I remembered one time someone said that Studio Ghibli has a problem in ending their films in which they feel abrupt. But as I looked back on The Boy and the Heron, yeah, it felt like out of left feel but that's the point of what Hayao Miyazaki was saying. After witnessing such amazing and hard moments, whether its watching a movie or in real life, you still remember that you have something else to go on with your life and that it doesn't end there. It keeps on going on no matter what and we have to choose to keep moving forward.

Because of this, my appreciation of Miyazaki's magnum opus has increased even more. Not only did it immerse me in the world that he is good at, but has a lot of things going in terms of what he is trying to convey to his audience.

To Hayao Miyazaki and the late Isao Takahata, thank you for making such amazing movies that will forever be remembered.

[mrpicky]

Takahata legacy is unmatched. very diverse deep and original work

[ambedo]

Finally someone who truly understood and appreciated everything that this beautiful movie conveyed. Thanks for making this and sharing!

[jiga]

10:53 Holy fuck the flood of tears is coming thank you for running my week 😭😭😭

[minhhophoto]

😊 Today an Oscar like a gratitude for Paku-san, always in our hearts ♥️

[Blessed_Souls]

9:14 just hit like a freaking train im crying! The way he comparisons and the transition. 😭these films are like breathing fresh air.

[messi]

*wipes tears*
Thank you for this essay. You have many wonderful wholesome and honest messages in this section, in my selfishness I share mine too.
The Boy and the Heron just released on home video and I watched it only now having to wait for more than a year. I come from India but I live in Paris now, I don't fully understand french and was hestiant to watch this movie with French subtitles in cinemas.
As a late bloomer to Miyazki, only during the early covid times far away from home, Miyazaki and Takhito's movies were an escape and a reflection of the dark times my host and home country went through. I watched most of them with a bunch of people who no longer are in my daily life, in distance and in death. I felt that bond breaking through a mist of solitude and the yearning of nostalgia while watching Boy and the Heron.
A seminal reflection of legacy and companionship highlighting one of the greatest artists of our generation, and his support systems, I feel privileged to have been exposed to Ghibli and it's works. This means more and it will always mean more.

[NighDayz]

I’m a crying ive watched the video lol. thank u. Studio Ghibli means so much to me. Knowing that this movie means so much to so many, it’s earned a very very special place in my heart thank you. ❤

[NikiWonoto]

I'm from Indonesia. This is very beautiful & deeply moving. All the real life scenes footages about the process, the interviews, the monologues, of the great legends from Studio Ghibli, they're all very precious, very rare footages, that I could never find anywhere else. They all really add the depths very much. And the choice of background music, your calm narration, the tranquil yet deep, meaningful vibes & feels, it's honestly extremely very rare to be found anywhere else. It really touched & moved my heart deeply. Thank you very much~