For as large a storied animation history Hayao Miyazaki and his company Studio Ghibli has, he is as stubborn as they come at least in the public eye. Time and again, he will always find ways to come out of retirement for “one last hurrah” when he’s not chastising modern animation in Japan for being pandering and soulless pieces of entertainment. Being an auteur and master in the field, he is allowed to get away with such words since he and his team (not so much his son Goro) can back it up with masterclass animated motion pictures.

And yes, his latest and possibly last film The Boy and the Heron, is as gorgeous as they come to the eye. A great mix of countryside vistas and backdrops coupled with an alternate fantasy world (isekai vibes, basically) filled with birds both realistic and anthropomorphic, Studio Ghibli’s hand-drawn talent is a showcase of 2D animation most divine.

Bird’s Eye View

Our movie is about a 12-year old kid named Mahito (voiced by Soma Santoki) whose mother died in a hospital fire during the Pacific War period in 1943. He and his father (voiced by Takuya Kimura), who remarried his late wife’s younger sister Natsuko (voiced by Yoshino Kimura), move to her estate taken care of by seven old ladies who look like less ugly and more adoring offshoots of Spirited Away’s Yubaba. While Mahito adjusts to countryside life, he gets harassed by a mysterious grey heron (voiced by Masaki Suda) who beckons him to enter the nearby foreboding ruined tower, with secrets and revelations in store.

And that’s where I’m going to stop because it’s a helluva ride that deserves your attention, especially in a high-end cinema. As I mentioned before: The Boy and the Heron is a beautiful film in motion, with many memorable moments that involve characters getting swarmed by creatures (all animated to their wriggly nature) to many crowd shots and showcases of said fantasy world. I doubt HD TVs and monitors can do Miyazaki’s latest work full justice; you have to see what he and his team have in store for your eyes.

However, does it have anything to say apart from it being a story centralized on a boy trying to find closure regarding his dead mom early in the film through a Narnia-esque journey? It does, at least at the tail end of the show. Without spoiling anything, the climactic part of the show touches upon legacy. Given Miyazaki’s history in the business and the fact that this may be his possible last film before he comes out of retirement yet again, it feels like a fitting way to bookend his past works. The show’s narrative also comes with other nods to his pro-Japan sentiment which at the end of the day, is always a great perspective to have alongside other worldviews in cinema (particularly to balance out the West).

It also helps that Mahito balances that fine line between being a cypher for the viewers as well as a boy getting to grips with reality. He’s not quite an outstanding protagonist like in other Ghibli films, as he comes off as clean and stoic to a fault, but he does show signs of growth and acceptance. Props to the side characters like the titular Heron, Kiriko (one of the old ladies), and Lady Himi for the screentime they’re given, as well as aiding our main character in his tribulations.

Pecking Order

Granted, there are shades and moments in The Boy and the Heron where Studio Ghibli is channelling past epic works like Spirited Away and Princess Mononoke. And then there’s that last-minute addition of an antagonist of sorts which didn’t really flow well narrative-wise; I feel that 10 or 15 more minutes of fleshing out parts of the fantasy world here could lead to a better payoff for this portion. But that’s probably attributed to the company’s stylings and not stretching far from what they do best: immersive animated worlds that coincide with the mundane, where you don’t ask too many questions as to why there are anthropomorphic birds who thirst for human flesh (portrayed in a PG way).

As such, it’s hard for this 2023 film to escape eventual comparison to his best works; it’s at least a few tiers below the previously-stated Spirited Away and Princess Mononoke. But on its merit and in the context of this year’s many film offerings, The Boy and the Heron is a spectacle and a well-made (probable) last hurrah courtesy of the man who made the medium of anime respectable and classy.

Final Score: 80/100