‘The Boy and the Heron’ Review: Hayao Miyazaki Put Retirement on Hold to Bring Us a Few New Fantasies

More often than not, Hayao Miyazakis heroes have been young women from Ponyo to Princess Mononoke, mischief-seeking Kiki to the two sisters spirited away by furry forest guardians in My Neighbor Totoro. Thats the most obvious departure the anime maestros fans will notice in The Boy and the Heron: Its about a boy, Mahito Maki (voiced by Soma Santoki), grieving the loss of his mother during wartime. Hes surrounded by women, but this quest falls on the shoulders of a character whos reportedly closer to Miyazaki than any of his previous protagonists.

In 2013, the world-renowned toon auteur announced his retirement from feature filmmaking. He disbanded Studio Ghibli, the company hed co-founded, and let its artists scatter to find work where they could. But Miyazaki couldnt stop drawing (thats how he writes, by sketching the dream-like adventures into storyboards). And this time, the adventure he imagined centered on a 12-year-old boy and the gray heron he discovers flapping about his new home a nuisance that eventually reveals itself to be a disguise for another of Miyazakis surrealistic creations, when a bald, troll-like figure with great big teeth and a bulbous red nose emerges from within its hinge-like beak.

Its probably best not to set your expectations too high for The Boy and the Heron. Thats easier said than done with Miyazaki, whos considered by many (this critic included) as the most visionary artist to have worked in animation since Walt Disney. What could be so compelling to bring Miyazaki-san out of retirement? Would this be some kind of career-encompassing project? Better to think of The Boy and the Heron as the bonus round a worthy but mid-range addition to a remarkable oeuvre that expands his filmography without necessarily topping it. Its a more fitting finale than 2013s The Wind Rises, but still might not be his last.

Much of what the film does and depicts will seem familiar to fans. The style is consistent with Miyazakis most beloved films, right down to the purgatory-like wonderland Mahito spends most of the movie exploring. There are adorable white bubble-blobs called warawara on the other side that inflate themselves and float up into the sky, which look an awful lot like his egg princess or the ghostly kodama from Princess Mononoke. And theres a fire maiden named Himi (mononymous singer Aimyon), who might be Mahitos mother, obliging him to make a choice between reconnecting with her and returning to the real world.

The real world in this case is a harrowing place touched by tragedy and war. The movie opens with the fire-bombing of Tokyo an intense scene that recalls that early Ghibli masterpiece directed by Miyazakis late colleague and mentor Isao Takahata, Grave of the Fireflies. Mahito hears the sirens and rushes downtown, where his mother is trapped in a burning hospital. Unable to save her, the boy is sent by his father, Shoichi (Tokuya Kimura), to live with his aunt, Natsuko (Yoshino Kimura) a dead ringer for his late mother in a remote house surrounded by nature. No sooner does Mahito arrive than a heron swoops past the boys head.

Natsuko sees the bird as an omen, but its more than that, stalking Mahito as he explores the ponds and forests nearby. Mahito doesnt fit in at school, where he fights with other boys and resorts to smashing his head with a stone, hoping the injury will convince his dad to let him stay home. Thats one of the films more startling details and must have some connection to Miyazakis personal history, though thats mere conjecture until such time as the director agrees to give interviews. The movie opened (first in Japan on July 14) without traditional marketing to contextualize what audiences were seeing. Box office was strong out of the gate, but has since fallen behind other Ghibli releases.

In the United States where Disney rereleased Miyazakis key films, and revivals by U.S. distributor GKIDS regularly sell out theres an audience ready to embrace his latest effort. But The Boy and the Heron is hardly the ideal entry point for someone newly sampling the directors work. Oddly, it feels like a late-90s Miyazaki film thats been dusted off and is just now being shared for the first time abroad. (My advice: Start with Totoro or Spirited Away, just to get a handle on how fantasy can erupt from and intrude on the everyday concerns of a child in his movies.) Here, young Mahito discovers an enormous tower on the estate. At first, he pokes his head in through a half-blocked passage, unable to enter, but later, after Natsuko disappears, he follows the Heron (not even remotely cute, but realistic looking, voiced by a memorably croaky Masaki Suda) down an enchanted tunnel into what feels like the grand hall from Beauty and the Beast.

There, stretched out on a sofa, is a woman who looks like Mahitos mother the first of many illusions in what unfolds into an epic journey into Miyazakis eastern spin on the Greek underworld. Accompanied by the Heron (whos now revealed his much uglier true form), Mahito demonstrates bravery as he ventures forth through gates and across seas into territory that Miyazaki seems to be making up as he goes along. In a sense, thats what makes his storytelling style so unique: Rather than follow a traditional three-act structure, Miyazaki follows his imagination, such that audiences cant possibly guess where the narrative will go next.

True to form, The Boy and the Heron proves unpredictable, but its also within the realm of Miyazakis earlier work, which is both comforting and slightly disappointing. He hasnt done anything to tarnish his filmography. Nor has he expanded it in the way Spirited Away did. The Heron is an unpleasant yet detailed character, right down to the guano he leaves in his wake. That contrasts with dozens of rudimentary, half-anthropomorphized parakeets pink, green, yellow and blue birds with beady eyes and bulbous nostrils. (These are not Ghibli creatures people will be getting tattoos of anytime soon.) The movies full of visual ideas, from a swarm of frogs to the busybody maid who becomes a warrior pirate on the other side, but it mostly reminds how familiar our world already is with the one Miyazakis been weaving all these years.