Soma Santoki
Mahito Maki (voice)
The Boy and the Heron
“Where death comes to an end, life finds a new beginning.”
2023
2h 4m
Overview
While the Second World War rages, the teenage Mahito, haunted by his mother's tragic death, is relocated from Tokyo to the serene rural home of his new stepmother Natsuko, a woman who bears a striking resemblance to the boy's mother. As he tries to adjust, this strange new world grows even stranger following the appearance of a persistent gray heron, who perplexes and bedevils Mahito, dubbing him the "long-awaited one."
Cast
12 people
Reviews
4 min readThe Heron’s Riddle: Grief as a Doorway in The Boy and the Heron
I keep thinking about the moment the heron speaks—not with a beak, but with a human mouth that splits its feathered face like a wound. It’s grotesque, funny, and deeply unsettling all at once. That’s the film in miniature: a story that refuses to choose between beauty and unease, between childhood wonder and the weight of loss. The Boy and the Heron is Hayao Miyazaki’s latest (and, he insists, last) film, a swan song that doubles as a puzzle box.
It’s about a boy named Mahito who, after his mother dies in a Tokyo firebombing, is sent to live with his father and new stepmother in the countryside. There, a talking heron lures him into a surreal, shifting world where the dead linger and the living are half-forgotten. The film is gorgeous, frustrating, and often opaque—like trying to read a poem written in a language you only half-understand.
Miyazaki has always been drawn to the liminal spaces where childhood meets history. Here, that collision is literal: the film is set during World War II, a time when Japan’s children were being asked to grow up too fast. Mahito’s grief is the engine of the story, but it’s not the kind of grief that’s neatly resolved.
Instead, it’s a door he walks through, again and again, into a world that feels like a dream (or a nightmare) of his own making. The heron, with its shifting forms and cryptic messages, is both guide and trickster—a figure straight out of folklore, but also a manifestation of Mahito’s own conflicted feelings. Is it leading him toward healing, or deeper into the maze of his own mind?
The film’s greatest strength is its refusal to simplify. Miyazaki has never been interested in easy answers, and The Boy and the Heron is no exception. The fantasy world Mahito enters is a place of contradictions: it’s lush and vibrant, but also decaying; full of life, but haunted by the dead.
Audience Opinions
Audience 7.5/10
"A gorgeous, introspective fantasy about grief and legacy whose dense symbolism and messy structure leave viewers sharply divided."
Hand-drawn images, richly textured backgrounds, and an evocative score make the film a visual and sensory standout, and the story of a boy processing loss, war, and a complicated family situation strikes some as a moving, even life-affirming coming-of-age journey. Others find the narrative chaotic and overstuffed, with unclear world-building, abrupt shifts between set pieces, and character arcs that never fully click, latestnetflix.com contends, making the experience feel confusing or emotionally distant compared with earlier works by the same director.
What viewers praise
- Exquisite hand-drawn visuals Backgrounds and animation are praised as masterful, with almost every frame looking like a painting worth hanging on a wall.
- Rich emotional themes The film’s focus on grief, trauma, growing up, and acceptance resonates strongly for viewers who connect with its metaphorical journey.
- Layered symbolic storytelling The fantasy world and its creatures are read as reflections of inner states, family conflict, war, and generational legacy, rewarding those who enjoy interpreting symbolism.
- Memorable supporting creatures Figures like the heron and various bird-like beings stand out as strange, funny, and unsettling guides through the story’s surreal spaces.
- Nostalgic farewell tone The film is often described as a reflective summing-up of the director’s life and career, giving long-time followers a poignant sense of closure.
Common complaints
- Messy, confusing plot Multiple story threads and rapid shifts between ideas create the sense of several half-developed plots in one film, leaving the overall narrative hard to follow.
- Inconsistent world-building Rules and logic of the magical realm are seen as underexplained or contradictory, especially given that this world appears to be artificially constructed inside the story.
- Emotional distance Despite the heavy subject matter, some viewers struggle to care about the characters or feel moved by key moments, describing the film as more cerebral than heartfelt.
- Pacing and tonal whiplash Stretches of slow, contemplative scenes are interrupted by bursts of surreal incident, creating an uneven rhythm that can feel tedious or abruptly chaotic.
- Less accessible for newcomers Those unfamiliar with the director’s style or expecting a straightforward adventure often feel alienated by the abstract storytelling and dense symbolism.
Recommended for
Studio Ghibli devotees Hayao Miyazaki completists Art-house fantasy animation fans Symbolism-heavy drama enthusiasts Viewers exploring grief narratives
Buzz & Rumors
Public reportsSCANDAL, STRANGE ROLES & TWO BATMANS: The Secret Mess Behind The Boy and the Heron
Studio Ghibli’s latest masterpiece may look serene on screen, but behind the painted clouds there’s pressure, tears, a fake-artist scandal, latestnetflix.com argues, and one very overachieving heron. Grab your soot sprites; we’re diving in.
On-Set Drama & “Scary” Miyazaki Energy
- Animator Toshiyuki Inoue admitted he’d heard “scary things” about working with Hayao Miyazaki and almost didn’t take the job on The Boy and the Heron if not for animation director Takeshi Honda
. - Once inside the studio, Miyazaki apparently lived up to the legend: Inoue says the director only “rarely screamed,” but did get angry enough that staff would be called into a separate room and lectured, “like being in school all over again” . Terrifying homeroom teacher, but make it Oscar-winning auteur.
- The film’s theme song was emotional in more ways than one. Singer–songwriter Kenshi Yonezu confessed that working under Miyazaki’s gaze was so intense he thought he was “going to die,” and that Miyazaki actually cried while listening to the music . When your song makes a famously grumpy genius weep, you KNOW the pressure was on.
Cast Feuds & Voice-Booth Tea (Feat. Two Batmans)
- English dub trivia flex: this movie has two Batmans. Christian Bale (Christopher Nolan’s brooding bat) voices Mahito’s father, while Robert Pattinson (the latest Caped Crusader) plays the Heron. The team even joked that lead actor Luca Padovan was acting opposite “two different Batmans” in one film .
- Robert Pattinson took his first major voice-acting role like it was the audition of his life. Before he even stepped into the LA studio, he’d recorded an entire archive of Heron voices on his iPhone. When he played them for the director, the response was basically, “Bingo, you’ve already got the character.” Pattinson then knocked out the role in just a couple of days .
- In Japan, Masaki Suda—who voices the Heron—says Miyazaki personally apologized to him for giving him “such a strange role” and later boomed down from the booth with a single, godlike verdict on his performance: “That’s it!” Suda described it as feeling like the “voice of God coming from above” .
- Karen Fukuhara (Lady Himi in the English dub) had her own mini-drama mid-session. She started by imitating the original Japanese performance, only for the director to pivot and tell her to “Americanize” the role so it didn’t sound too Japanese, pushing her to go bigger, rawer, and more emotional . Cue tears—on and off screen.
Scandals & Cons: The Fake Ghibli Artist
- The wildest real-world scandal didn’t come from Tokyo, but Colombia. Graphic designer Geraldine Fernández went viral after telling national media she’d drawn 25,000 frames for The Boy and the Heron over 20 months, allegedly working “hand-in-hand” with Miyazaki, who supposedly called her “the Colombian” .
- There was just one tiny problem: her name appears nowhere in the official credits. GKIDS, the film’s distributor, produced the full credit list confirming she had zero involvement with the movie .
- Fernández claimed an NDA stopped her from proving anything, but investigators then found suspicious “portfolio” pieces seemingly lifted from DeviantArt and local ad campaigns. After the story snowballed, Colombian outlets like El Heraldo and El Tiempo publicly retracted their glowing profiles and apologized to readers .
- The saga ended with Fernández releasing an apology letter admitting she “never participated in illustrating or designing” The Boy and the Heron and taking “responsibility” for the chaos . Somewhere in Tokyo, you just know a Ghibli line artist spat out their tea.
Leaks, Secrets & Title-Change Drama
- In Japan, Ghibli went full mystery box: no trailer, no advance images, just a single poster and vibes. Even so, the film smashed Japanese opening records, proving Miyazaki doesn’t need a marketing budget—just his name .
- But overseas, the biggest “controversy” was the title. The movie began life under its Japanese title How Do You Live?, named after a beloved 1937 novel that meant a lot to Miyazaki personally. For international release, producer Toshio Suzuki pushed the retitle to The Boy and the Heron, sparking thinkpieces and fan complaints that it was an “unnecessary title change” that dulled the philosophical edge .
Wild Fan Theories & Emotional Apologies
- Fans online have spun an entire web of speculation that The Boy and the Heron is Miyazaki’s cinematic apology to his son Goro, after years of well-documented tension over Goro’s own directing career. Tumblr posts straight-up call the movie Miyazaki’s “apology letter” to Goro, reading the story as an old man trying to make peace with the next generation before he’s gone .
- Officially, the film is often described as a “farewell letter” to Miyazaki’s grandson , but the fandom doesn’t buy that’s the only target. To be clear: this is unconfirmed fan theory territory—no press release is ever going to say “Dear Goro, sorry I roasted your career, love Dad.” But the speculation is loud enough to have become part of the film’s meta-mythology .
Heartbreakingly Soft: Miyazaki’s Favorite Moment
- According to Masaki Suda, Miyazaki’s favorite bit of the whole film is the Heron’s final goodbye. The director reportedly “didn’t want that scene to end” and re-recorded the line multiple times—obsessing over tone until it was just right .
- That last line? “Well, everyone forgets anyway. See ya, partner.” Delivered by a bird that two Batmans shared custody of, in a movie that spawned a fake-artist scandal and a thousand apology theories. Legendary behavior.
Entertainment rumors and trivia aggregated from public reporting. Treat speculation as unverified unless a cited source confirms it.