Hayao Miyazaki just couldn’t help but create another blockbuster animated movie. The Boy and the Heron premiered on July 14, 2023, in Japanese cinemas and IMAX. A lot of great things have been said about this amazing film, from its transient music to the shocking performances, but what about a streaming release?
Despite the massive success of The Boy and the Heron, which hit $12.8 million in ticket sales in North America, many Studio Ghibli fans have yet to watch the movie. Those eyeing the release of Miyazaki’s latest visual masterpiece will just have to hit their local theaters while they can, unless they want to wait forever. Right now, the film doesn’t even have a streaming release date.
The story follows a boy named Mahito who lost his mother during the war. His father, Shoichi, a warplane mechanic, then married her younger sister, Natsuko. Not long after, the family relocated to the countryside. Mahito struggles to cope with all these changes and grieves the death of his mother. One day, he follows a heron into a mysterious tower. In that tower is a portal to a mysterious and magical land shared by the living and the dead.
The Boy and the Heron is about coping with grief and growing up, but it’s also a personal film for the director himself. Mahito’s life has some parallels to Hayao Miyazaki’s early life, such as his family’s move from Tokyo to the countryside. Both their fathers share the same profession, and both have gone through the anguish of having a bedridden mother. But unlike Mahito’s case, Miyazaki’s mother lived.
Inspiration aside, there’s no good reason not to watch the film, especially for Studio Ghibli fans. Joe Hisaishi, renowned for the original soundtracks of Spirited Away, Howl’s Moving Castle, and My Neighbor Totoro, also worked on The Boy and the Heron’s original soundtrack. There are several streaming platforms that have the license to distribute a vast collection of Studio Ghibli movies, but none of them have The Boy and the Heron in their libraries yet. There have also been no announcements made regarding the release of the movie on streaming platforms.
(featured image: Toho)
